Zakopane

After spending a few days touring Krakow, Nick wondered if we were going to spend the whole vacation sight-seeing. So we decided to change the pace a bit and took a bus to Zakopane, a winter resort in southern Poland's Tatras Mountains for a little skiing (Nick) and snowboarding (Alison). We were directed by the tourist information office to the Nosal slope, which had several short runs of varying difficulty - one of which was very steep. (We might have been better off at the Gubalowka, with a longer but gentler slope reached by a funicular. But for some reason the owner had the slope closed off for skiing.) Renting equipment and lift tickets was surprisingly inexpensive. It was a beautiful day to spend on the slopes in the fresh mountain air.



Nick's up there somewhere!


...and made it down safely.


Alison started on the training hill since she hadn't been on a snowboard in a long time, but worked her way up to longer runs.




Zakopane was a nice way to precede our visit to Auschwicz with Alison and Nick the next day. We saw things we hadn't seen during our first visit and it was still difficult. When we returned to Krakow, we had a very nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Cherubino.

Wielicka Salt Mines

After touring the Wawel (castle) in Krakow and its great cathedral, we took a mini-bus to Wielicka (vee-LEECH-kah), one of two major salt mines near Krakow. Ever since the Stone Age, this area has been a source of salt, first through boiling brine to extract it from easily reached top layers and then in the 13th century digging for salt gradually created these great mines. For centuries, salt was the major source of wealth for this region of Poland.

Listed as a UNESCO monument since 1978, the Wieliczka mine has 9 levels and the tour covers a series of chambers full of carvings and statues - completely decorated in salt. In the large room pictured, above, everything is made of salt....the crystals in the chandeliers, the floor "tiles," the wall carvings....the miners spent a lot of time down here and used their spare time to carve statues and chapels.

The Last Supper carved into the salt mine wall

Typical statues found in the salt mine.

John and Alison at the gate to the Krakow castle (our morning tour before the salt mine).

They're Here!

Alison and Nick arrived safe and sound on December 19 (though Nick's luggage did not....fortunately he packed a change of clothes in his carry-on, since it took 2 days for them to deliver his checked bag). We were able to rent the apartment across the hall from ours for them to stay in for the first few days they were in Krakow - though not nearly as nice as our place, it is convenient. It was so great to see them!!! I know it's been a while since I've posted on the blog, but that's because our apartment is in a University building and apparently when the school is on holiday, the computer services shut down as well so we didn't have any internet service. As you will read later, we also did some traveling. But for their first night here, we took them to a traditional Polish restaurant (Polskie Jadlo) and then let them rest. Not only do they have jet lag to deal with, but both have just finished their semester exams.

Alison at the Brama Florianska (Florianska Gate), what's left of the 14th century defensive walls of the city. When the walls were taken down in the 19th century, the medieval moat just outside the walls was filled in to creat a park circling the city, called The Planty.

The next day I had to do some work at the University, so I took them along to see where I work. Then we spent the afternoon touring Krakow....the Barbican (fort), the old town wall and Florianska gate, the old town market square (with St. Mary's church and the "cloth hall"), the "Royal Route" (Florianska and Grodzka streets), St. Francis' Basilica (with my favorite stained glass windows) and Jagiellonian University. Alison wasn't feeling well, so she and I went "home" while Nick and John went to our favorite pizza place. Not much snow, but it's VERY COLD!!!

The Barbacan, the 15th century fort built just outside the city's defensive walls.

Krakow Ethnographic Museum

Today we toured a wonderful little museum located in the old (14th century) town hall in the Kazimierz section of Krakow. This is a folk museum with examples of houses, re-creations of real interior rooms using orignial furnishings, various machines for making and decorating textiles, a fantastic costume collection, and great displays showing how Polish people celebrated holidays (particularly Christmas and Easter) in the 19th century, among many other things.

We love the little museums here...just right for an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon. The Wyspianski Museum and the Jozef Mehoffer House are both renovated houses devoted to the works of well-know Polish artists; the Czartoryski Museum is a bit larger museum showing a very impressive private family collection (including a DaVinci and a Rembrandt); the Jagiellonian University Museum is about the old building in which it is housed as well as the history of the university; we saw the Christmas Crib display at the History Museum downtown on the main square; and then there's the huge Wawel castle, which is a museum of a whole different sort. We are not running out of things to do and see....

Back to Winter

All the main streets in the old town are decorated for Christmas: Above is Florianska

The lights decorating the main square...John think they look like beer mugs

We're back to cold and snow....just in time for Christmas.

One of the many Christmas Market booths in the square

Wooden bead necklaces are very traditional (particularly in red), but they have also become somewhat of a fashion statement amoung the young women here. Many of my students wear them.

This is how Krakow lights up their fountains in the winter - they're beautiful!

Szopka (Christmas Cribs)

A special Christmas tradition in Krakow is the building of szopka (pronounced SHOP-ka). Originally designed as portable theaters for puppet Nativity plays, now these Christmas "cribs" have become elaborate structures that are nothing like the crèches we are used to. They are very colorful and richly-decorated extravaganzas inspired by Krakow’s churches, with the spires of St. Mary’s church in the main square prominent in many of them. All have a nativity scene included somewhere, but there are a lot of other things going on too: some have moving parts, some have electric lights, and all have a tremendous amount of decorative detail. There is a competition each year for the best cribs, including a category for children and teens. It must take the major portion of a year to construct one!

The successful entries for the current year are displayed in the City of Krakow Historical Museum throughout the holiday season. We toured this year’s exhibition and they were amazing…some very large and elaborate, others like little jewel boxes. We also discovered that the grand prize winners from previous years are on display at the mall we walk through on our way home from the University.

We have decorated our little apartment for Christmas, including a wreath, a little tree, Christmas cards (including one with a picture of a szopka), and a poinsettia. We have our gingerbread cookies from Torun and now we’re just waiting for Alison and Nick to arrive – seeing them will be our best Christmas gift!

Torun - the End of our Trip to Northern Poland

Statue of Nicholas Copernicus, Torun-born scientist/author of the heliocentric theory (that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the "universe.")

OK, so we tried again to do a short "stop-over" at a town we wanted to see on our way home from Gdansk. This one went better than our side trip to Zamosc, but not by much. The nice weather we experienced in Gdansk turned to nasty rain (at least it wasn't snow and ice) by the time we reached Torun. But this time we had the train schedule for getting back to Krakow before we stopped and bought our tickets home before we went into town.

One of the gates leading to Torun's town square

Torun is best known as the birthplace of Nicholas Copernicus (the university here - Copernicus University - has a prominent astronomy program) and for its gingerbread. We stashed our luggage in a locker at the train station and took a taxi into town...took pictures of the old town square, including the statue of Copernicus, walked down to the ruins of the Teutonic Knights' castle (which the locals dismantled brick by brick in the 15th century after they chased the Order out of town - guess they were happy to see them go), and stopped in one of several gingerbread stores to stock up on a supply of cookies for Christmas.

A little of what's left of the Teutonic Knights' castle and fortification walls

Then we grabbed a bus to get back to the train station...it was very crowded and John and I got separated. He was by the door and I could see him. When the bus stopped, I saw him nod and thought he meant this was the place to get off, so I exited the bus. As the last one of the crowd to get off, the bus door closed right after me and when I looked around, John wasn't there! (Later I found out his "nod" meant that there was a seat for me up front with him.) Fortunately, I saw the route the bus was taking and it wasn't too far a walk to the train station. And John was there waiting for me. Just another little adventure! We made the train - a long trip back to Warsaw and then back down to Krakow. We love these little trips, but it's always good to get back "home."

Torun is also known for its magnificent old brick buildings...here are a few:

Can you see the 1311 date on the upper left corner?