October, 2023
BRYAN'S JOURNAL: Saturday September 15: a few years ago
It was “mizzling” as we walked to the station. We chose to take the 9:13 am train to Krakow. We always were impressed at how buses, trains and even taxis departed on time and arrived on time. The trip went smoothly; however, we had to transfer to a bus part way because the track was closed for repairs. We arrived in Krakow about 2:00 pm and were able to find a taxi-van to take all of us to our Airbnb accommodations. (We had not been able to find hotel rooms in the old town area as they were all booked for some reason.) Our apartment, located on the 6th floor of a building just off the Rynek Glowny (main square), the largest medieval market square in Europe. Our accommodation had two large bedrooms with a kitchen and a single bathroom using the same unusual gas heating system.
After a light lunch the ladies went to the Historical Museum of Krakow located underground at the Rynek while Nestor and Bryan went for a walk.
We stopped at a small ice-cream shop and bought cones of marron-glassé, which was reputed to be Pope Jean Paul II’s favourite.
Nestor and a reluctant Bryan went to the Museum of the Hangman of Krakow which displayed various instruments of torture. The real surprise was the enthusiastic commentary (in English) by a young woman who sold tickets and provided “tours” of the small space downstairs. They stopped for a drink at a small out-of-the –way vodka bar that served different kinds of herring .
When we were back at our apartment, we heard this commotion in the square. When we looked out of a window we saw a long procession of nuns in their various colours and forms of religious dress marching through the square enthusiastically singing while flags and banners waved at the head of the march. At one point, they performed a “human wave”.
In the evening (ca 7 pm) we walked to Kuchnia U Babci Maliny, a restaurant that served traditional Polish fare located in the basement of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. People ordered their food at the counter and sat at tables with benches. The décor included a lot of photos of boxers and mixed martial arts fighters.
That evening while Nestor and Bryan walked around the Rynek, Nestor was propositioned by a charming young “woman of the night” while Bryan was watching an outstanding guitarist perform who was one of several superb musicians that performed in the square throughout the day.)
NB: There is indeed a “trumpeter of Krakow”. Firefighters volunteer to play the “hejnal” (pronounced hey-now) every hour every day from the east, west, south and north sides of the left tower of St Mary’s Basilica. The trumpeter only plays the first few notes and abruptly stops. Apparently, these were the notes played by a trumpeter before he was killed in 1241 trying to warn the citizens of an attack by the Tartars (or so the unverified tradition goes).
Sunday September 16
We had an early breakfast at Costa Coffee in preparation for our 9:00 am pick-up. Our Airbnb rentor had arranged for a van to take us to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. A miscommunication delayed our pick-up until 9:45 am. While waiting Eleanor arranged for transportation to the Krakow airport on Tuesday. When the van did arrive it also had two British tourists. With five more passengers, we had a very packed van.
The mine, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was opened in the 13th century and produced table salt continuously until 2007. Now it is a very popular tourist venue. The underground tour is about 2 km long. We began with a descent of about 58 flights of stairs. Along the guided walk we passed through large caverns. There are many statues carved by miners as well as contemporary artists. There also are chapels carved out of grey rock salt by miners as well as a concert hall with excellent acoustics which hosts weddings and musical performances.
Our guide was knowledgeable and possessed a dry and slightly irreverent sense of humour.
We returned in the early afternoon and enjoyed a light lunch of perogies (3 kinds), lamb and Polish rosé.
After lunch Nestor and Bryan walked south along the Royal Road past a series of churches until they found themselves at Wawel Castle. On the way back they stopped for an ice-cream cone at one of the many such shops.
Tuesday September 17
We woke up to another sunny day and walked again to the Europejska for breakfast. Then we all walked down to Wawel Castle. Along the way we visited the Franciscan Church of St Francis of Assisi which has an impressive stain glass window by Stanislaw Wyspianski as well as a certified copy of the Shroud of Turin. We also passed by the grand statuary in front of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. We wandered the grounds of the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill and visited the Royal Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus which has the Sigismund Chapel. The cathedral, which was the traditional coronation site of Polish monarchs, is closely associated with the religious life of Karol Wojtyla who became Pope Jean Paul II.
Later Nestor and Bryan walked across the river to see Oscar Schindler’s enamel factory which was not easy to find. It was a good thing that we stopped for a pleasant lunch. When they did locate it (thank heavens it was next to the hard-not-to-notice MOCAK, the gallery of contemporary art). They could not enter because there were no tickets available! On the way back they visited the Galicia Jewish Museum in the Kazimierz. This museum, established in 2004, is a photo exhibition commemorating the 800-year Jewish culture and life in western Galicia (southeastern Poland). Their trek so far had made them a tad peckish, so they stopped for Polish tapas: vodka shot with sardine paté and later, a donut and coffee.
That evening everyone took in an excellent meal at Wesele. While the others waited for dinner to arrive, Bryan and went for a short stroll and was fortunate to get inside St. Mary’s Basilica. And viewed its wooden Gothic altarpiece carved in the late 15th century by Veit Stoss.
Wednesday September 18
At 7:00 am we were picked up and take to the airport. Our talkative driver was knowledgeable and open about the political situation in his country.
A little after 9:00 am we left Krakow for Munich in an Airbus 319 and around 3:00 pm from Munich to Vancouver on an Airbus 350. The trip home was long but smoother than our flight to Poland.
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April, 2024
I have just finished reading Roger Moorhouse's book about how the Poles fought until they ran out of ammunition (and sometimes beyond that), hoping and believing that their allies, England and France, would honour their promises to help in the struggle. Moorhouse says "they did nothing to aid their ally, shamefully leaving Poland to its fate." The result was that "the 200,000 Polish dead of the September campaign were but the first of the estimated 5.5 million Poles -- fully one-fifth of the population -- that would be killed in the Second World War."
The allies hoped that their countries would not suffer in the same way. Well, we know how that went.
Today, Ukraine is reaching out for help. Thank you to those leaders who pay attention to history.
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