FIRE-BREATHING dragons, milk bars, tanks, trumpets and Trabants!
Not to mention a plethora of medieval squares, bars, cafes, churches, museums, hotels and shops.
Welcome to Krakow the ridiculously cheap, jaw-dropping cultural epicentre of Poland!
easyJet’s early departure and short flight from Edinburgh to Poland’s former capital a UNESCO World Heritage city meant that I had an almost full first day there to look forward to.
It’s less busy than other big European cities, but is still Poland’s most popular city for weekend breaks and with good reason.
The people are friendly, the beer is cheap (and strong) and the sightseeing is first class.
There are some really interesting and diverse excursions, meaning you could easily make this into a week-long holiday.
Take a stroll through the busy hubbub of the Rynek Glowny, Europe’s largest medieval market square, dominated by the stunning towers of the 13th Century Gothic St Mary’s Basilica.
Towers that have been immortalised due to a long-dead trumpeter who quite literally got it in the neck when an arrow stopped him in his tracks as he tried to warn the inhabitants of an imminent Mongol invasion.
This occasion is still celebrated every hour on the hour.
A short walk through the ancient cobbled streets brings you to the magnificent regal and religious splendour of the Wawel Royal Castle and its gold-topped cathedral.
With so much opulence on show, you can see why the city was deemed such a prize by hordes of invading Tartars, Mongols and, more recently, the Nazis.
Underneath this Gothic fortification, on the banks of the wide and scenic Vistula River, the legendary fire-breathing Wawel dragon stands guard ready to pounce.
Archery lessons, which are available, might be worth considering!
A filling lunch of Polish peirogi’s (dumplings) and placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes) washed down with a bottle of Red Ronda in the excellent Miod Malina certainly goes down a treat.Not only is the fare delicious, it’s also incredibly cheap.
Your pound certainly travels well here with an average meal costing around 25 zloty (£5) per head and a bottle of Polish wine just 20 zloty (£4).
A quick wash and brush up back at the hotel, as well as a few wee Wisniowka cherry vodkas to steady our nerves, and we were straight back out to sample the carnival night-time atmosphere.
Dinner downstairs in the sumptuous and decadent Piano Rouge was excellent.
Their Cracovian meat platter as a starter, washed down with a bottle of their local red Ronda wine had me bursting at the seams.
A very sobering but fascinating visit to the old Jewish quarter, the ghetto and Schindler’s Factory is a must.
The factory is now a commemorative museum, dedicated to the heroic businessman Oskar Schindler and the hundreds of lives he saved during Krakow’s barbaric years of Nazi occupation.
It will put you through an emotional wringer, as will a visit to the nearby holocaust memorial concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau.
No trip to Krakow would be complete without trying a ‘Crazy Tour’ in a 1967 Trabant car of the old Communist district of Nowa Huta.
It’s a tour like no other a hilarious bone-shaking ride that you will never ever forget.
Built in 1949 as a Communist town, Nowa Huta’s broad tree-lined avenues and apartments would not look out of place in any western European city.
Echoes of its Stalinist past sit on almost every corner including a state-subsidised Milk Bar cafe, pictures of Lenin and a massive Soviet tank.
Whizzing around in a Cold War classic Trabant certainly made this tour feel authentic.
One thing’s for sure Krakow is as cheap as chips, crazy and absolutely cracking!Facts…easyJet holidays (easyjet.com/holidays or tel: 020 3499 5232) are offering three nights at the four-star Golden Tulip Hotel b&b on October 29 from £240 per person flying from Edinburgh, based on two people sharing a twin or double room.
Prices include flights and accommodation but exclude baggage. More details: www.bit.ly/KRAKOW-eJh
Polish National Tourist office: www.poland.travel/en-gbRead more Sunday Post travel – click here
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