Traveling in Krakow – Poland’s second largest city

Traveling in Krakow… another of those city’s that I found myself in to but didn’t have any original plans to visit. Along my travels, I had met so many people that had told me to visit this city that I just wanted to stop in for a few days to check it out and so far, I’m nowhere near disappointed.

When I first arrived in the city, I was trying to navigate through the streets to find my hostel and when I finally found the street it was on, there was  huge crowd of protesters walking in a circle and conveniently blocking people from getting through with police everywhere.

Protesting in the middle of traffic

Since my Polish isn’t very good, I couldn’t tell you what they were protesting about or what the signs said but I just needed to hang a quick left through the crowd which is what I ended up doing but not without getting a shot of the scene first… It was fun navigating through and toting my bags behind me.

Entryway into the Old Town center

To give a bit of background on the city, Krakow was once the capital of Poland. Warsaw is now the capital but the city of Krakow actually dates back to the 7th century. And it’s the ‘Old Town’ of Krakow that draws all the tourists every year (and where a lot of my photos were taken). The Old Town was also named as an UNESCO World Heritage site not too long ago.

St. Mary’s Basilica which sits in the Main Market Square

Although I did a fair share of walking around getting to know the city, I did manage to do a bike tour throughout the different areas that make up the city.

‘ALKOHOLE’…. Got it….

The ‘Old Town’ is centered in the heart of Krakow and is filled with shops, restaurants and many of the city’s famous sites such as St. Mary’s Basilica, the Town Hall Tower and Cloth Hall which are all located in the Market Square in the center of the Old Town.

Main Market Square in the Old Town

While on the bike tour, we took a ride past the Wawel Royal castle which dates back to the 11th Century. However, a fact that makes this a bit older is the fact that the castle sits on top of Wawel Hill which people have inhabited for more than 50,000 years. It was because of this fact that the rulers of Poland decided to build their castle on top of it.

The Wawel Royal Castle

From there, we then pressed on to Schindler’s factory, located just over the Wisla river past the Jewish Quarter. As some of you may remember if you’ve seen the movie Schindler’s List, the factory allowed many Jews to work in the factory during the war and were kept alive by avoiding being sent to concentration camps.

Located in the Market Square, it’s referred to as ‘The Head’ (very ironic) and is apparently the common meeting place among locals

After leaving that site, we headed back towards the Old Town and passed through the Jewish Quarter but on the way, we crossed over the Footbridge.

Some even got creative and used bike chain locks…

As you can see in the photo below, it’s a bit of tradition here for couples to show their love by bringing a padlock and locking it to the bridge while tossing the key into the river. What was funny was that both Krakow and Budapest have claimed they started this ritual. I don’t know who gets the claim to fame but I saw it going on in both cities.

Looking back on Footbridge

If you decide to come to Krakow, one of the traditional dishes you must try while here is Pierogi, which is a potato based ravioli with various fillings inside of it such as meat, cheeses or a combination of many things.

Pierogi…. (Not steamed dumplings)

I actually had it twice while here and the second time was what was considered ‘Russian Pierogi’. The main difference between the two is really just the filling used. Both good though…

So I spent about 4 days in Krakow and got a pretty good feel for the city but like many places, wish I’d spent more time. It’s definitely a city worth visiting.

One of many street performers in the Market Square. Don’t worry, I have this guy figured out…