Kazimierz | Postcards From Here and There

Eating and Drinking in Kraków

The good news is that you can eat and drink in Kraków relatively cheaply which is excellent news if you are on a budget. It is perfectly possible to eat a simple two course meal for less than £5 and be more than satisfied with what you had. Eat Polish food if you want the best value and bargains, eating local dishes is one of the reasons I like to travel and I am sure that’s the case for many. If you like some variety there are restaurants offering a range of different cuisines from around the world as wells more fine dining options. The choice is yours. Here are some favourites from a recent visit to the city.

OLD TOWN

Pod Wawelem (Gertrudy 26-29). Close to Wawel Castle this is traditional Polish food served in a beer hall style setting. There is seating in a conservatory if you prefer something a little quieter. Portions here are very generous and you are unlikely to leave hungry. Beer served in steins is a speciality here and very good it is too, cold and refreshing after a day seeing the sights.

Milkbar Tomasza (Tomasza 24). Milkbars were popular and a common sight throughout Poland in the communist era as they offered cheap and filling food for workers. Since the fall of communism they have declined in number but Tomasza is still going strong. Order at the counter and your meal will be delivered to your table quite quickly. Expect good quality Polish food with the modern addition of paninis on offer. Milkbars do not traditionally serve alcohol and Tomasza is no exception.

U Babci Maliny (Stawkowska 17). Not the easiest place to find but well worth the effort. You must go through the building into the courtyard in the middle and then down the stairs to the basement where you will find the restaurant. It is well signposted along the way. The decor is fantastic and the food excellent. Seating is on benches at communal tables but don’t let that put you off. Order at the counter and they give you a ticket with a number. Wait until your number appears on the digital display and collect from the counter.

Gospoda Koko (Golebia 8). Close to the main square this charming restaurant offers quality local food at very affordable prices. Its much bigger than it appears, although there are relatively few tables as you enter from the street there is masses of additional seating downstairs. Once again order at the counter and food will be brought to your table. If you want alcoholic drinks you have to go to the downstairs bar for them and you can then take them to your table upstairs.

Stoccaggio Wine Bar (Krupnicza 9). Wine bar just east of the Old Town serving mainly European Wines and small plates. The wine by the glass list here is by grape variety so you are not really sure what you are going to get but the choices were fine on our visit. You can also buy wine to take away here as well.

House of Beer (Swietego Tomasza 35). If craft beer is your thing this is the place for you. With twelve taps and a huge choice of bottles there is something for everyone here. It certainly gets busy here but if its full at street level they open the downstairs area which is huge with very comfortable seating. Food here is also very good with burgers, hot wings and nachos on the menu.

Café Philo ( Tomasza 30). A small but atmospheric bar just round the corner from the House of Beer. Lots of posters and books to be found here and it is a bar with many locals drinking on their way home from work. Some nice jazz plays in the background.

KAZIMIERZ

The Jewish Quarter is home to many restaurants, cafés and bars. It is a bustling and busy place and well worth spending some time in after sight seeing is done for the day.

Kuchnia u Doroty (Augustiańska 4). Light and airy restaurant with some excellent local food, I particularly enjoyed the potato pancakes with goulash and there were many other interesting dishes on offer. It is full table service here and diners are served a complementary fruit juice on arrival which I thought was a very nice touch.

Alchemia (Estery 5). A cafe by day and a bar come evening time. Don’t expect to do some quiet reading of your guide book here as its dimly lit and has a shabby chic vibe which works really well. A great place to stop off for a beer before heading off to dinner.

Artefact Café (Dajwór 3). Came across this cafe/bar when walking back to the Old Town from Oskar Schindlers Factory in Podgórze. Consists of two rooms, one with shelves lined with books and the other with an interesting selection of photographs on the wall.

Domowka Café (Miodowa 28). Just loved this place. Called in early evening and the place was really busy, always a good sign, and there were no available tables. The helpful guy behind the bar suggested additional seating downstairs and we were lucky to bag the last table. Nearly everyone was playing board games and the atmosphere was lovely. On top of this they have a great range of craft beers. We stayed much longer than intended!

PODGÓRZE

Krako Slow Wines (Lipowa 6). Called after a visit to Oskar Schindlers Factory as its next door and was not disappointed. Serving natural wines, beers and a nice selection of dishes for both lunch and dinner. Staff are knowledgeable and very helpful when choosing wines. Wish I could have spent more time here.

Kraków Street Art

In Kraków street art is to be found in Kazimierz (The Jewish Quarter) and across the Vistula River in Podgórze. You will not find any in the Old Town where the walls are kept art and graffiti free. It is quite possible to visit all major pieces in a couple of hours and there are even a number of Street Art tours that you can join.

These two pieces can be found close to the junction of Bozego Ciala and Józefa Street in Kazimierz. The paste up of Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump is in the style of Grant Wood’s painting from the 1930s entitled American Gothic. In this version a spaceship sits above the White House in reference to the film Independence Day. This piece appeared around the time of the 2016 Presidential elections.

Closeby is this unattributed stencil of Gene Kelly from Singing in the Rain entitled I’m Happy Again.

Further up Józefa Street is a series of murals created in 2015 as part of Kazimierz Historical Murals Project by Piotr Janowczyk. It is a series of five murals of significant people in Polish history. Each mural is accompanied by a plaque giving biographical details in both Polish and English.

Emperor Józef
Helena Rubenstein
Karol Knaus
Esterka
King Kazimierz

At 3 Bawol Square is a mural created by Israeli street art crew Broken Fingaz for the Jewish Cultural Festival in 2014. The mural was created to honour the Bosak Family who lived in the area for 400 years until they were removed from this house and forced to move into the Jewish ghetto by the Nazis in 1941. The mural has been created in black and white to represent the sadness here. Access for photographs is difficult due to a private car park.

The Galicia Jewish Museum on Dajwór Street has three interesting pieces. The large mural on the outside wall of the museum is by Marcin Wierzchowski and is made up of Jewish symbols.

The other two are on the wall of the courtyard which can only be accessed through the museum. These are of two important figures in the Jewish community from the Second World War. Irena Sendler was a nurse who is credited with saving the lives of 2500 children during the Holocaust. In 1965 she was named as one of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations. The inscription alongside the work reads, “people should be divided into good and bad. Race, origin, religion, education, possessions have no meaning. Just what kind of man he is.”

The other is of Marek Edelman who was an activist and took part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943. Following the end of the war he became a cardiologist and went on to oppose Poland’s communist government. there is an inscription alongside the work which reads “Hate is easy. Love requires effort and sacrifice.”

Close to the museum is this stencil of Clark Gable and the famous quote from the film Gone With the Wind.

Judah depicts a child’s face surrounded by the head of a lion. Painted by Israeli street artist Pie Peled for the 2013 Jewish Cultural Festival. The child is said to depict vulnerability whereas the lion represents strength, together they represent the struggles of the Jewish community to survive. The work is partially obscured by food trucks as the area adjacent to the work has become a popular location for street food and is now known as Food Truck Square.

When street artist Pikaso was asked to produce a mural in 2012 for the Grolsch Artboom festival his original proposal was rejected. In response he painted this self portrait obscured by a thick black line. The piece is entitled “For God’s Sake Censorship is Everywhere.”

Across the river in the Podgórze district Italian street artist Blu created a huge mural entitled “Ding Dong Dumb” in 2012. Located at 3a Piwna it is a challenging and thought provoking work. Painted in the colours of the papal flag it is a comment on the relationship between Polish culture and the Catholic Church.

Closeby at Jozefinska 24 are two murals on either end of a rather unassuming building. Len’s Robot by Filip Kuzniarz which celebrates science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem.

At the other end of the building is the Mayamural. According to Mayan prophecy the world was to end on 21st December 2012. This work appeared just before the actual date.

Heading towards the Schindler factory you pass this work just after the underpass.

Between the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków and Oskar Schindlers Factory is a pathway that leads to an area used as a car park but has also been used as a free walls space for street artist. It is here that you will find a varied, diverse collection of colourful art. As is the nature of these sorts of places the art can be ephemeral with new works appearing fairly frequently. Local street artist Pieksa has a number of works here.

For others I have not been able to determine the artist.

15 Things to do in Kraków

The city of Kraków in southern Poland is an absolute gem and is well worth visiting for a short break or long weekend. I have just returned from a five day trip and could easily have spent more time there as there is so much to see and do. Kraków is Poland’s second largest city and attracts some 12 million visitors a year. Here are just some of the things yo can do in the city.

Walk the Old Town. I always like to take a guided tour when first arriving in a new city as it helps with orientation and shows you some of the places that you might want to explore/investigate further. The old town of Kraków is compact and so a walking tour is the best option. I chose Walkative which offer a number of different tours in the city, many of which are free, and are available in a number of languages.

Wawel Castle. Sat atop Wawel Hill it was home to the Polish monarchy for centuries. You can walk up the hill and enter the grounds for free but if you want to visit the royal and state apartments, cathedral and other important buildings you will have to purchase tickets all of which are purchased separately. If you are on a budget or simply short on time a visit to the grounds will give you an idea of the importance of the monument.

Cloth Hall. The Cloth Hall sits proudly in the middle of Rynek Glowny which is itself the largest medieval town square in Europe. The main building dates back to the late sixteenth century but the arcades were added on much later. The hall was once the centre of the clothing trade but today is full of souvenir shops.

Rynek Underground. This underground museum is below the main square and was opened in 2010. Telling the history of the city it is an interactive and engaging experience. Some of the artefacts found during excavation of the site are fascinating and were for me the highlight. Entry to the museum is by ticket which needs to be purchased from the shop on the opposite side of the Cloth Hall to the actual entry point to the museum. Tickets are 21 Zloty and for specific times. I went in the afternoon and my ticket was for entry half an hour later but this could be longer at weekends when it is much busier. Admission is free on Tuesdays but tickets do go very quickly.

St. Mary’s Basilica. Dating back to the thirteenth century the Basilica is unusual in that it has towers of differing heights. A small charge is payable to enter and an additional charge is made if you want to climb to the top of the high tower from where the views are splendid. It is worth being around the basilica on the hour to hear the trumpeter play a five note tune the last note of which finishes abruptly. The reasons behind this are a thing of legend. The tune is played four times, one from each side of the tower, every hour of the day.

Eat traditional Polish Food. There are many traditional restaurants in the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter. They offer wholesome traditional foods such as Pierogi dumplings, vegetable soups and various cuts of pork. I particularly enjoyed U Babci Maliny located in a courtyard at 17 Stawkowska. You must go through the building into the courtyard and then down to the basement. It is well worth the effort to find it.

Collegium Maius Courtyard. The oldest university building in Poland has the most perfect courtyard and you can enter for free. A popular spot on all tours of the Old Town but if you are lucky enough to be there between tours it is a remarkably calm and peaceful place to sit and reflect for a few minutes. You can also purchase tickets for a guided tour of the museum but for me the courtyard is the star attraction.

Visit Kazimierz and take a tour. Also known as the Jewish Quarter it was once a city in its own right before incorporation into Kraków. It is easily reached from the Old Town with a walk of about 15 minutes. The area is steeped in history and the best way to see it is with a local guide. I choose a tour with Walkative who run three tours a day starting from The Old Synagogue at 24 Szeroka Street. The tour lasts 2 hours and is free but you can make a donation to your guide if you feel the tour has been worth it.

Galicia Jewish Museum. A museum with a difference in that the main exhibition is based around photographs with written commentary that examine Jewish life in southern Poland. It uses space well and has a calmness about it which is most welcome. There is also an excellent bookshop.

Oskar Schindler’s Factory Tour. The story of Oskar Schindler is well known as a result of Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List. The factory manufacturing enamel pots and pans no longer exists so the tour is actually based in the factory’s administration building. It covers much more than the role Oskar Schindler played in the survival of 1100 Jews during the Holocaust and it should be a must on any visit to the city. It is located in Podgórze which is across the Vistula River from the Old Town and Kazimierz. I walked there from the Old Town in about 25 minutes. Get there early as it gets very busy.

Pharmacy Under the Eagle. A small museum located on Heroes of the Ghetto Square which tells the story of the role played by the pharmacy and its owner Tadeusz Pankiewicz in supporting Jews in the Ghetto between 1941 and 1943. The interior of the pharmacy has been recreated as it would have been when workers risked their lives to help those more unfortunate than themselves. There is a small charge, entry is free on Mondays but it does close at 2pm.

Heroes of the Ghetto Square (Plac Bohaterów Getta). This was part of the Jewish ghetto that was created in 1941 and housed 17000 people in exceptionally crowded conditions. The square was the place of executions and the point from which Jews were sent to concentration camps. The 33 empty chairs are a memorial to all those that were held here. When Jews were forced into the ghetto in 1941 they brought furniture and possessions with them. As living condition were overcrowded many pieces of furniture were left on the square hence why chairs were chosen as the memorial. Most chairs face the same direction but one faces in the direction of Auschwitz and one in the direction of Schindlers factory.

Ghetto Wall. Just a short walk from the square is a small section of all that remains of the wall which surrounded the ghetto, it was made in the shape of tombstones. It is located on Lwowska and there is a small plaque which explains its significance.

The final two suggestions are outside the city but can easily be reached by public transport or by taking an organised tour.

Wieliczka Salt Mine. The town of Wieliczka is about a 30 minute drive from the Old Town. Salt was mined here for centuries before operations ceased in 1996. It is now a tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage site. Guided tours of the mine take two hours and are conducted in several languages. Expect the unexpected as you see remarkable salt carvings, chapels of worship and huge caverns where weddings and private functions can be held.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. The death camps of Auschwitz – Birkenau are about a 90 minute drive from Kraków. It is also possible to get a train with a very similar journey time. However you choose to get there you must start at Auschwitz I where guided tours of the site begin. For most of the year it is compulsory to join a tour and I would recommend this anyway as the guides are excellent and ensure you get the most out of your visit. Following the tour of Auschwitz I it is only a short walk/drive of a few kilometres to Auschwitz II Birkenau which is much bigger but few buildings there now remain. I joined a tour from Kraków to the camps and it was a seven hour round trip so be prepared to allow a full day for your visit.