Kraków

This was my second time in Kraków, and another quick trip, but I was able to see so many new things. We happened to visit during an unseasonably cool and rainy period during the summer so the pictures look gloomy. However, if you can still enjoy visiting a city while wearing a rain jacket and sweater during the summer, then you know it's a place full of charm.

While is Kraków, it is critical to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. They are outside of the city, and it is best to go with a guide. You can take a tour that will pick you up from a hotel (you don't have to be staying there, but just wait outside or in the lobby). It is a profound and solemn experience to visit these places where such sadness and suffering occurred. 

Ghetto Heroes Square in the Podgórze district, the former Jewish Ghetto of Kraków

I needed a down day, and to do my laundry. An upgrade from laundromats with humming dim lights and metal chairs are the combo cafes and laundromats that I have seen more and more of, including one in Belgium that a friend and I spent the whole day in because we misread the machines and accidentally took three hours to dry a load of clothes. I spent one morning, working on my computer and drinking coffee, at the Frania Cafe while washing my clothes in the back. The staff is very friendly, will help you with the machines, and they don't mind if you occupy a table for a few hours while enjoying their delicious apple cake. 

Something I've only recently experienced but have come to look for in new cities is a Free Walking Tour, and Kraków has a great one. I find these companies and their guides are driven to educate visitors by a deep love for their city, and therefore you learn so much. This company offers many routes ranging from WWII history to street art, both free and paid - I would have taken another if I had more time. They have a trademark yellow umbrella, and while it may say free, leaving a tip of 20 złoty (around 4 - 5 usd/eur) is the least you can offer for the rewarding experience they have provided.

A rainy day for a walking tour...you can see the yellow umbrella in the distance

Think of Polish food, and I at least, think of pierogi. My friend and I were so eager to try them that we ended up having them twice in one day. You can have them fried or boiled; we chose the latter both times. First, for lunch, we went to Kuchnia u Babci Maliny, a little log cabin in the basement of a university building, based a recommendation from a Polish friend. For dinner we found Pierozki u Vincenta, which had a large assortment in a room decorated with the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, complete with a starry night on the ceiling. My favorite are the cabbage and mushrooms, or any combo of potato and cheese.

We had some planning to do for our trips ahead, so we spent some quality time cafe-ing. Cheder, on the hip Józefa Street in Kazimierz, was a cozy retreat from the rain outside. They serve coffee, teas, and other beverages along with small snacks like hummus, and with pillows to relax on it is a great place to catch up on some work. Cafe Botanica, located between the Jagollonian University and Wawel Castle, has an ambiance that transported us from the unseasonably cool weather to a remote rainforest locale. They serve lunch fare as well as coffee and deserts, which allowed us to weather a panic of having not planned our trip to Warsaw the next day. Advice - reserve your train tickets in advance and book early to find an economical place with a central location to stay. 

Street art in the Kazimierz district

For this trip, we Couchsurfed for the first time! We found this experience to be really positive. The apartment was located to the east of Kazimierz district, the former Jewish quarter that today is full of cafes, street art, and vintage clothes. This is definitely the place to escape to after a mandatory stroll through the Stare Miasto, or Old Town, that while is beautiful to see, is full of tourists, hawkers selling the standard made-in-china souvenirs, and young women offering a horse-drawn carriage, cruel and made worse when you realize this ingenue does not drive the carriage, but summons a old man whom she must ride arm-in-arm with. Ew.

We heard good things about the public transport in Kraków, but we mostly walked and took Uber when it was raining, or when we were lazy. However, had we been motivated, the city is very walkable.

I am hearing of more and more people traveling to Kraków, and it is clearly becoming more suited to tourists. There are plenty of attractions that one who visits European capitals would enjoy, and even more alternatives to discover and retreat to after.