The Flavors and Shadows of Kraków: Our Return to Poland’s Historic City

I had traveled to Kraków once before, in 2006 when I lived in London I spent a weekend there on my own. I remember lots of beer and pierogi, crowds of drunks there for hen and stag parties, and oppressive heat in July. Kraków was popular then and remains popular now, by far the most touristy destination we visited on our trip to Poland.

This time we took the train from Wrocław in our shared first class cabin and walked the short distance from the train station to the Hotel Saski, just off the main market square. We managed to arrive just before the rain did and get settled into our room.

After we checked in we headed out to do some exploring and more importantly, look for a place for dinner. Since my last visit, the square has been almost completely renovated and even with the rain and overcast weather, it was full of people. There were lots of people enjoying a drink under umbrellas but we didn’t want to risk eating outside, so we explored options around the square. 

We hadn’t done much planning ahead for the food situation and we found many restaurants were all booked up. We were lucky to find a spot at Pod Aniolami (Under the Angels), a beautiful historic building with multiple rooms known for its old Polish dishes. We got a table near their wood fired grill so we could watch the action. It felt like a pretty touristy place but we had a great meal, with grilled meats, baked cheese and amazing desserts, finishing up with some dessert vodka. It was a great first dining experience in Kraków.

Breakfast at the Saski

Our hotel had a beautiful dining room where we enjoyed breakfast the next morning. While I was waiting for Mark to come back to the table from the buffet, I noticed a couple across from us. The guy was big and bald and she was younger and pretty. I don’t know if I would have noticed them at all without their oversized luggage they had with them at the table.

When I happened to glance over there, I saw the guy throw something on the woman’s food and she jumped up and screamed. The servers came over and fussed over them for a while in Polish. I don’t know what happened but I’m still thinking about it. I didn’t see them again for the rest of our stay.

Making Pierogi

We had booked a Pierogi making class with Kraków Urban Tours. We had learned about this class from Rick Steves’ Monday Night Travel and were looking forward to the opportunity to spend time with a local. After a bit of a confusing start trying to figure out where to meet, Kasia found us and took us to the nearby Stary Kleparz, a historic market where locals have been shopping since the mid 14th century. 

Kasia had her shopping list of things we needed to buy to make our meal, and instead of just tagging along with her while she shopped, she had me write down how to ask for everything in Polish, and we went to each stall to get the things. I had to ask for butter, sausage, potatoes, onions, pickles, etc. Mark didn’t want to participate so it was all up to me.

I was a little shy at first, but I’m glad I did it. It was much more engaging and everyone was really friendly and nice. Kasia did the hard part, settling the money and paying. Pretty soon we had everything we needed for our meal.

We took an Uber to Kasia’s apartment that was a little bit out of town and the three of us spent the rest of the morning making pierogi ruskie, one of the most popular varieties of the ubiquitous polish dumplings.  We made the dough from scratch, boiled and mashed the potatoes and combined them with cheese to fill the dumplings. We had some boiled, then fried a second set with some onions and oil. Yum! We washed them down with delicious local beer. Soon we were regretting our oversized hotel breakfast but we managed.

We really enjoyed getting to know her and learning more about what it was like for a young person living in Poland. It turned out to be a great morning to spend inside since it poured rain the whole time we were there. 

Walking the Planty

After our cooking class, we donned our raincoats and ventured out for a walk. As it turned out, we had great mild weather for touring around Kraków. 

A short walk away from our hotel is the Planty, a big circular park around the town that replaced Kraków’s original medieval fortifications and moat. It’s a beautiful landscaped area with lots of places to sit, fountains, and plenty of trees. Even though it was a bit wet it was filled with people walking around and enjoying the afternoon. 

We walked through the area and eventually found ourselves at Wawel Castle, one of the central tourist attractions in Kraków. It’s at the top of a hill and overlooks the nearby Vistula River, a huge presence over the town. The royal castle dates back to the 14th century and Kazimierz the Great. During World War II it was occupied by the Nazis so it escaped destruction, although much of the art and artifacts were stolen or destroyed. We were there late in the afternoon so unfortunately we couldn’t see most of the things inside, but we were able to explore the outside, the gardens and the beautiful inside courtyard. 

We walked around the courtyard learning about the architecture and the history thanks to our Rick Steves guidebook. One of the things he mentioned was the “Wawel Chakra,” believed to be one of seven main energy centers created by the Hindu god Shiva when he threw seven sacred stones to earth. We were able to figure out where it is, in a non-descript corner of the courtyard and walked over to check it out. Sure enough, there was a man hanging out there and lots of worn spots on the wall where people came to touch the spot. 

Mark started chatting with the man about the place and he was friendly but didn’t stay long. Perhaps we disturbed his meditation.

The Wawel Dragon

After we explored the castle we walked down by the river to check out the Wawel Dragon. There is a cave that you can visit which was closed, but outside there is a big bronze dragon statue celebrating the legendary beast. We didn’t really know what to expect but we saw lots of people standing around, including kids. Evidently it is supposed to breathe fire every few minutes. We waited a while for it to go, but unfortunately it must have been turned off. 

Canadian burgers in Krakow

On our way back to our hotel, we found a cute little Canadian burger spot – Antler Burger and Poutine. It was quick, very fresh and just what we needed after a long day of walking. We didn’t have the famous Canadian fries with cheese and gravy but we did have a couple of very fresh burgers. 

We walked back through the beautiful market square again and got back just before it started raining again, and in time to enjoy the gorgeous indoor pool at our hotel before it closed. 

Exploring the darker side of Kraków’s history

The next day we set out to explore more of Kraków’s more recent history. We started with a visit to the old Jewish quarter, Kazimierz. It also dates back to the 14th century when it was its own independent city until the early 19th century when it was connected to Kraków’s old town. After tragedy and upheaval during World War II and the Soviet era, it is now a thriving area with lots of shops, restaurants and cultural attractions.

Before World War II, Kraków had an estimated Jewish population around 50K, and after the Nazis invaded Poland it swelled to about 70,000 with new arrivals who fled or were deported into the area. By March 1941, the Germans expelled more than 55K and forced the remaining Jews to a tiny ghetto on the other side of Kraków and away from this traditional quarter. We saw that part of town later in the day.

Today there is a quaint little square filled with trees and plenty of places to explore. We started at the small Remuh synagogue, dating back to 1558, with a historic cemetery in the back. It has been lovingly restored and there are volunteers working inside and out. The cemetery, one of the oldest in Europe, was particularly solemn with people visiting and praying outside. It was heavily desecrated during the war then restored. The community built a wall from the fragments of broken tombstones recovered after the war.

We ran into some other Americans with their Rick Steves guidebooks outside the synagogue and took the opportunity to snap a photo together at the Jan Karski bench. Jan Karski was a Polish resistance fighter who gathered information about the Holocaust during the war and reported back to British and American leaders, who failed to act, probably because they didn’t believe the atrocities at the time.

Across the square, we visited the Old Synagogue, the oldest in Poland and a much bigger gothic style synagogue, which includes a museum of the Jewish community. After our visit, we had a pleasant lunch at a hip restaurant nearby before heading across town for our tour of the Oskar Schindler Factory. 

Schindler’s Factory and the Jewish Ghetto

Stephen Spielberg filmed much of Schindler’s List in pretty Kazimierz but most of the events in the film occurred across town in the Zablocie district, a former industrial district about fifteen minutes away. Part of the former enamel factory is now a museum about life in Kraków during the Nazi occupation.

We had booked an English tour of the museum, but before we arrived we stopped at the nearby Ghetto Heroes Square. This was where the Nazis gathered the Jews before sending them off to the death camps. Now there is an Empty Chairs Memorial with 70 different sized chairs, symbolizing those left behind.

On one corner of the square is the Eagle Pharmacy, the only pharmacy that was allowed to operate within the Ghetto. It’s now a nice compact museum with lots of original equipment and history of its owner, Tadeusz Pankiewicz and how he helped support the community during the war.

When you cross into this area it feels so stark and bleak compared to vibrant Kazimierz. I was struck by how quiet and somber it was and it was a shock to go just a couple of blocks and see tons of tourists headed into the Schindler museum.

After some confusion we figured out how to get in and meet our tour group. It is a huge museum with lots to see, so it was nice to have a guide to point out the highlights, but there were also lots and lots of people inside, especially toward the beginning of the exhibits. 

It starts with a replica of a train station and many photos of happy Poles headed back to the city after their summer holidays in August 1939. Germany invaded September 1 and by September 6, Kraków had fallen and was declared the capital of the General Government, the area of Poland that was not directly annexed to Germany. The Soviets invaded from the east on September 17 so within a couple of weeks, the sovereign country of Poland was gone.

The museum does an amazing job telling the history of Kraków’s occupation and the brutal history of the Jewish Ghetto. Approximately 15,000 Jews were forced to move into an area less than a square mile that had previously housed about 3,500 people. Members of the community were forced to build a wall of stone and barbed wire around the ghetto. Over a few years more Jews were forced in and anyone found outside would be punished by death. 

The museum has a re-creation of part of the ghetto that was really realistic, you could feel how dark and scary it must have been to live there. Our tour guide took us through and told us the story which made it a bit easier to deal with versus reading every individual plaque. But no matter what it was an emotional and exhausting look at what the city of Kraków went through during the war and the unbelievable cruelty of the Nazis during the war.

Oskar Schindler’s story has brought many to visit the factory since the movie came out in 1993. The museum opened in the former factory in 2010 and they have preserved his original office, but his part in the story is but a small part of this extensive museum. 

After our visit we ran into our American friends we met in Kazimierz and enjoyed a nice chat with them in the small coffee shop afterwards. One of their group stayed almost until the museum closed, his friends were teasing him a bit but I really admired that he took so much care to look at everything in the museum. They were on their way to Warsaw next and I fully expected we would run into them again, but unfortunately we did not.     

After our visit we popped next door to a Krako Slo Wines and I was able to wind down with a nice glass of red. I really needed it.

Black Duck Restaurant

We spotted this place on the first night we were in Kraków and for our last dinner, we asked the lovely front desk team at the Hotel Saski to book us a table there. They were able to squeeze us in at the end of the night, and I’m so glad we did. Mark had pork schnitzel, one of his favorites, and I had a delicious duck burger. I finished up with a flight of delicious sweet Polish vodkas. It was great way to finish our short trip to Kraków.

Moving on

Many people who visit Kraków also take a side trip to either Auschwitz-Birkenau or to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. I visited Auschwitz the first time I came in 2006 and while it was an incredible experience I will never forget, I wasn’t up to going again. The salt mines look interesting for a day trip but we opted for the pierogi making instead. I was glad we wound up with a bit more time exploring the town and connecting with Kasia instead of sitting on a tour bus for half a day. If we ever do get back to the area, I hope to check out some of the natural areas south of the city instead.