Krakow - Day 3

Sher:

Yeah I know... our titles of entries are really boring... but can't be helped. grinZ brain cells are meant for greater things than conjuring amusing titles. Besides... I'm not being cryptic for once... (yeah... friends you know what I'm talking about...) so appreciate that.

Underpass @ Krakow Główny - entire stretches of book-stalls, punctuated by pushcarts of - plain bread twisted into a ring with sesame seeds on it. It tastes quite normal.. but believe me, we saw so many people holding it... It must be a staple here or something...

I'm supposed to be covering the Jewish trail actually... but I decided to finish what I didn't finish for the Auschwitz-day entry; the happier stuffs =)

In Poland, you absolutely have to eat Lody (Ice Cream) cuz... it's much much cheaper! Flavour variety is almost like that of Gelato or Venetia's in Singapore... but while you pay almost $3 for a one-scoop ice cream, you pay just 1.4 - 2zl here! Then you get flavours like Whisky Cream (Twin tried that @ Stare Miasto in Warsaw), Pistachio, Praline, Orzech, Caramel, etc etc... There's even this blue one called Smerfy - yeps.. the shade of blue comparable to the blue skin of Smurf's! =) 2 happy girls with ice-creams. Calories? What's that? =P

Oh yeah... please do not disturb twin when the last wk of our adventure in Poland commences... cuz twin fully intends to lounge at home with big big tubs of cheaper but equally sinfully sedap ice-cream. =P

"Yum! Okie.. get that camera away!!! I am trying to enjoy my ice here!"

This is the fountain piece that I liked pretty much at the basement of the mall.

Found out that there's a Salsa Workshop going on at U Louisa at 9pm on the 2nd night. Decided to go check things out! Oh man... those girls are really hot.. and they can really work their bodies. Impressed... Salsa in Poland leans towards Cuban style as well... Body waves are like second nature to the Polish people... The confidence they ooze just cannot be missed.

Now for a little of our hostel... double bunk beds =) We're both taking lower bunks cuz nobody else is using the room just yet... 8-bunk room & 1st night? We had 3 of us girls. 2nd night, there was just me & twin in the big room with 8 beds... We were perfectly happy with how things were - and were prepared to praise the hostel to the skies cuz of its generous breakfast supplies, nice sheets/etc, good facilities, free internet etc... until the 3rd night happened...

The view from the top bunk. =) So on the 3rd / last night in Krakow... I happily climbed up to the top bunk... There're supposed to be new room mates.. but we're both hoping that those are party animals and will stay out till we're asleep. All I can say is... peace is never long-lasting... We were soon facing 3 very friendly people who wanted very much for us to join their drinking session... to which we politely declined... Sigh... I shall summarize the story into the following:

1. Being the centre of someone else's phone conversation w/o knowing what is exchanged

2. Building false security within a makeshift fortress and wishing there's a huge, wide and deep moat outside the fortress

3. Smiling and reducing speech

4. Photos and being squashed

5. 3 Men strutting around in underwear in a room with closed door

The view that greets me in my bed in the hostel every morning for 3 mornings. =) Yeps... we survived the night - quite uneventfully.

With that, I resume the entry I'm supposed to be doing...

Statue of Maria =) It's prob the wrong focus.. but I do very much like the halo of stars and the flowers that's part of the sculpture..

Kazimierz District - home to the Jews of sorts. This is where the trail begins. This part of Krakow felt quite different from the Rynek/Florianska/Tomaska area where our hostel was.

Tempel Synagoga. One of the 2 Synagogues in Krakow that's still being used for worship. THe others have by and large been transformed into museums housing Jewish history/ customs etc by now. I guess the Jewish population is greatly diminished... and there's a need for awareness for this rather prosecuted minority group.

It's a pity we didn't get to go in to take a look. I did very much want to.. but the place was locked up. Tourists like us lingered around with a touch of longing. Couldn't do very much about things.. so we moved on.

One of the Synagogues that's been transformed into a museum. I think this is the Izaaka Synagogue. I might sound rather unaffected... but I guess I'm really just coping with the fact that there were 3.3 million Jews in Poland before and over 3 million were killed in the Holocaust during WWII.

Btw, this museum's closed to the public on Saturday and Jewish holidays... it's be good to take note.

2 Jewish posters around. Both seem to suggest liberty to me.. In truth, though, I have no idea what they are about. =P

Pl. Bawoł. The thing about synagogues, is that they aren't very showy. Mostly, you can just walk past them without even realizing you're going past a synagogue... cept for little hints like in the iron grilles above. The star of David.

We did go into this synagogue which is also a museum for Jewish customs and holidays. I refrain from commenting on religion cuz it's really subjective. But, I'd just say that twin likes the Jewish holidays a lot cuz there's just so many... and some involves abstinence from work - like Sabbath. hehs and of cuz she especially likes those involving preparing and eating food. =P

There was a room dedicated to the Jews who had special accomplishments in their lifetimes... be it in teaching, medicine, arts, or religion. Then you stop to wonder... what were the Nazis thinking when they felt that Jews were inferior as a race and have to be exterminated to make way for their Aryan race...

Jewish Memorial outside Pl. Bawoł.

A flea market of sorts. The stalls are being set up as we walked around... It was on Sunday (next day) when we returned to it, that we saw the market in full glory. Heh pity we were too busy being enchanted by kids' clothing to take photos. =P

Which reminds me... there's a eating place here.. and the food did look quite good. Unfortunately, we weren't hungry at all... so we had to give it a miss. Next time maybe? hehs

Spring is coming!!!

Sign of the Warsaw Rising (Aug 1944) - PW. As usual, I leave all things abstract open to your imagination.

Sights in Rynek Główny - town square.

Top Left: Bazylika Trójcy Swietej
Top Right: Twin beaming after chasing after balloons for kids =P

Bottom Left: Bazylika Mariacka
Bottom Right: Cloth Hall or Sukiennice (elaborated in another entry)

Bazylika Mariacka had a sign at the entrance that said "For prayers only" - so no pictures of the interior... but it was quite an experience... The interior of the church was a vision of splendor; Jesus on the cross against a blue painted sky of stars, biblical portraits, carvings, dim lights exemplifying the gold paint works, colorful stained glass panes...

Head of a fallen warrior - he's blindfolded. You'd wonder if there's significance to that... or is it simply part of the ritual with being killed at war. Today, amused teenagers scamper in and out of the hollow head to pose for photos.

I might get a little depressed if I were him.

Walls run all round Old town - the area around Rynek Główny. This little town is actually fortified - as you can see... The wall circling the town is supposed to be punctuated with 47 towers.

Today, I don't know how many are left... but this is the St Florian's Gate... with 2 towers at the sides. The eastern tower belonged to the haberdashers, whilst the western one was manned by the carpenters. I don't think anyone really mans the place now... but the legacy remains...

Food will most certainly not be left out of the entry that closes the Krakow chapter for 2 of us.

Dinner was the above! Yep we challenged the ultimate creamy cake. Surprise surprise! The cream actually tastes like strawberry ice-cream that is not cold. All the same, I'm glad we shared this slice... it's a little too sweet to be consumed whole. Then again, most creamy cakes in Poland are rather sweet...

Grin I know... this picture is totally irrelevant. I just wanted to highlight that they actually have LAKSA in Poland. Er... I havent tried it.. but neither of us felt quite compelled to give it a chance, given the disappointment that would set in if it's not quite the same...

Heh Another non-sequitor kind of picture... I just thought the cow reminded me of a certain card... haha jas, do you think it's the same cow? =P

Street performance @ the St Florian's Gate.

And then, I was just snapping pictures like nobody's business - of places we didn't visit. =P

Top Left: The Tourist Information Booth - I think we grew tired of these booths... got our maps from the hostel =)

Top Right: The memorial + maze that I didn't take a closer look of.

Bottom Left: Unknown and Uncharted Territory

Bottom Right: The train station. This we did visit - for peron/platform information etc etc... =)

The final picture in the entry shall be about Regrets.

STEVE REICH AND PHILIP GLASS IN CONCERT!!! Sobs.. it's on the 27th... when we have left. It's just not meant to be...