A fatigue that Bren and I found ourselves suffering by the end of our last trip was old town fatigue. Having seen many beautiful, historic and well preserved old towns, we lost the ability to get excited about, or interested by, a collection of old buildings.
Then we arrived in Kraków.
Kraków's old town, which serves as the epicenter of the tourist part of The city, is simply beautiful. Charming street after charming street radiates out from Rynek Glowny, the central square of the old town. The square itself, although packed with tourists, cafes and restaurants, never feels crowded because it is massive. Even the large numbers of people trying to sell things to/make money off tourists, including those pitching tours of the old town by golf cart or horse and carriage (my favourite being a middle aged gentleman who proudly pointed to a Danish flag and told me they conduct tours in 'that flag's language'), seem less tiresome given the energy of the place and the space.
On a small hill overlooking the old town is the Wawel, where Poland was ruled from for hundreds of years and where numerous monarchs and historical heavyweights are buried. The cathedral, which is one of the few parts of the Wawel accessible without a ticket, is an interesting building. With wealthy citizens having added side chapels to it over the years, it is something of a hodge podge of architectural and decorative styles.
The old town, and Kraków more generally, was spared from the bombing that devastated many a city in Europe in World War Two. A number of guidebooks talk of the city being spared from world war two. A visit to Kazimierz (the pre-war Jewish heart of the city) or the terrible place 70 kilometers west of the city, unforgettably reminds you that if the city was physically spared, its heart and soul was not.
Getting out of the old town, offers a different, and more real, perspective of the place. The consistently beautiful buildings of the old town give way to a widely varied collection of old and new buildings. Crumbling Soviet era apartment blocks stand side by side with gleaming new office buildings and turn of the century hotels. Shabby looking fresh produce markets are shaded by oversized shopping centers.
If you find yourself in Kraków, make sure you take the time to venture beyond the old town. The real Poland, as a curious old bloke told me only existed away from the postcard parts of town, is well worth a visit.
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