Europe

Kraków, Poland City and local notes: Line on Travel’s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips. With a millennium of Polish royal history and its historic buildings, Kraków is Poland’s biggest tourist attraction. There’s a whole body of Kraków travel literature; this is a short review of some personal highlights. I had about four days there, took two out-of-town excursions, and managed to see the places that were top on my list, though not everything there was to see. My entire focus was on the old town. I hardly ventured into modern Kraków. In the vicinity. Kraków is where you embark for tours of Auschwitz. I did that, and for a lot of reasons don’t think this is the time to write about it. But whatever history you know, or pictures you’ve seen, being there will affect the lives of thoughtful visitors. So go, as hideous as it was. I also took an excursion to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a shorter trip, the oldest operating salt mine in the world. It’s an interesting place but be aware that you spend a lot of time underground in an atmosphere suffused with sodium chloride. Your lips taste salty when you exit. I didn’t lick my hands or wrists to see how they tasted, but I did lick a wall in the mine when our guide challenged us to test it. The walls and even floor “tiles” are carved from the dark-colored salt; there are chapels, some enormous, with bas relief religious scenes and chandeliers also carved from salt. There are elaborate salt sculptures by mine workers throughout, and of course you can buy anything salt as a souvenir. The guides are dressed in understated but snazzy salt mine uniforms and in his, our tall guide looked like a 19th century cavalry officer instead of tour leader. The magic of uniforms. Back in Kraków Kraków’s monumental buildings are originals. The Nazis planned to make Kraków an eastern capital and installed their man in the castle. Thus the physical city was spared. Along with the architectural monuments, there’s the main market square that’s the largest medieval town square in Europe. It’s hard to see just how big it is because of the expansive Renaissance Cloth Hall right in the center, but walk across and around it to get the feel. When I visited during August, there was a performance of some kind – folk dancers, musicians, singers – every day, even on the rainy day I arrived. The devoted stood around the stage holding umbrellas. The kiosks that appeared daily around the Cloth Hall sold everything Polish that a tourist could want, including lunch, and there was more on offer inside Cloth Hall. Watching a performance on the Market Square There are some beautiful things there but I didn’t buy much. Won’t fit in the suitcase. But color, energy, performers, buskers, lots of tourists and more pigeons – those things I could take away in my memory and photos. Pleasant as it was in the old market, I enjoyed staying a little way apart, not far away, but not in the tourist center. It felt the relaxation every time I walked to my hotel along the busy Karmelicka with its café-au-lait colored buildings. It was like not being a tourist any more. Around the Castle The fine castle on Wawel Hill may be Renaissance, but it has Gothic underpinnings and as a seat of Polish royal power, goes back a millennium. The castle premises was restored after much damage and alteration by the Austrian military when Kraków within the Austrian Empire. But it was undamaged in World War II. You can walk around the large courtyard for free, but you need tickets to get inside any part of the castle or cathedral. Buy castle tickets ahead (there’s an additional reservation fee) or be sure to queue up early to get a time you want if you’re there during tourist season. I stood on line for a while and bought tickets for the next day. Cathedral and castle visits are sold at separate locations, and I only mention this because I was confused at first and saw others who were, too.   The castle architecture is interesting, Gothic remains and Italian Renaissance buildings fitted out with steep slate roofs to shed snow and ice. A transmontane hybrid. Around the castle The castle’s State Rooms tour was self-guided, after which for a modest extra fee you can see Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine. It is phenomenal. Do not skip it! After looking at the picture as long as I could, almost straining my eyes like I could absorb more that way, I went on to my timed, guided tour of the Royal Apartments. That tour was scripted and carefully timed to avoid loitering. Then you’re propelled out, so ask questions when they occur to you, and quickly. But do take the tour. I also took the Architecture and Gardens Tour and found it very interesting, partly because of the engaging woman who led it.  She knew everything about the castle’s history and structure but oddly claimed to know nothing about gardens, at least what’s planted in them. Still, she knew when and how the gardens were laid out, where the historic plants were and she took us through some gardens and areas of the castle that are otherwise closed to visitors. Churches Kraków is a religious center and is full of churches. Of course, there’s the history-laden Wawel Cathedral that you see at the castle. If you’re interested in very big bells, climb the cathedral’s bell tower to see the huge Sigismund Bell, cast in 1520 and nine feet across. I wanted to see most of Kraków’s other churches, too. Each has unique attributes – architecture, artworks, history. St. Mary’s Basilica is the big draw, with its beautiful altarpiece – the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world – its stained glass, hejnał (more later) and location on the market square. It’s