map of Cracow (not done)
Polish phrase guide
Free instant Krakow city guide from In Your Pocket. When you are in Cracow, find one of their inexpensive printed guides at kiosks and bookstores.
I got off the train at 6AM and walked away from the train station into the dawn of people setting up their kiosks, arranging vegetables or used books on boxes.
I stepped over broken concrete and really felt like I was in a distant, eastern Europe where I was the only visitor to a world of open-air markets, coal-heated buildings with the ornamental stucco chipping off.
All of the hostels were still locked and I had made no reservations. I picked the nearest hotel, and paid about 50% more than I had planned on.
I felt like I could have been in Bosnia or Romania as I walked around the train station early in the morning. I went to sleep. At 11 I got dressed and went out again. At 11, it was already a different city, and as I moved deeper into the old town I realized that I had arrived where I wanted to be. By the end of the day, I absolutely loved the city.
Cracow is just the right size. It isn't too big like Budapest or Prague and reminds me a little of Plzeń. The old town surrounds a huge plaza and is full of shops, restaurants, underground bars (lots of underground bars in old stone cellars!), internet cafes and much more. I bought the Kraków in your pocket
at a bookstore called Ksiegarnia Hetmańska
at Rynek Glowny (main square) 17, almost on Grodzka street. The bookstore also had the best selection of maps and guide books that I saw. The Polish books were priced very reasonably, but the foreign books, like the lonely planet's and others, were really priced stupid expensive. Almost next door are Sport Styl outdoor stuff and Los Amigos Mexican restaurant. (Does Burrito mean something else in Polish? Mine was just a pile of beans and rice on a plate next to a salad. No tortillas in sight. Maybe they wanted to see if I would complain, and I failed to.)
Two blocks beyond, at Grodzka 43 (but the address doesn't help much: buildings rarely have their addresses on them), at the corner with Senacka, is a Mleczny Bar called Pod Temida. You can get traditional perogies with cottage cheese and other local specialties. It may not be the best food in the world, but it's good, and you won't feel more like your in Poland anywhere else. Get the beet soup (Barscz with Krokiet) and a pancake for desert (Nales'niki, 2 polewa, truskawkowa,)
If you want to learn some Polish, check out my Polish phrase guides.
I stayed at the Hotel Europejski. The room was a bit small and had hall bathrooms. The staff was niether friendly, not unfriendly, but the restaurant/bar waitresses were very friendly. Although not expensive for western standards, it is quite expensive for Polish standards, and more than what I had wanted to pay, but still OK. I paid 300 something Zloty for two nights.
Pink Elephant is a uniquely Polish fast-food joint. The food isn't great (it's fast food), but I would still check it out, just to see how different things are. There were some good outdoor equipment stores: Alpinus and Maks on Zyblikiewicza
Campus and Alpinus on Sienna across from each other
I was told that there is a desert above Cracow. I'll have to check that out the next time, I'm a bit skeptical. I asked about mountian biking and was told that Zakopane, famous for hiking, is good, but that Z.ywiec is the best of the nearby stuff. I saw a lot more people than I would have expected on sweet mountain bikes.
I just read about the Stranger Hostel. It sounds great! I'll have to check it out next time i'm there.
Quicktime movie of the fire breathing dragon (560Kb) at the base of Wawel hill, facing the river. The video still looks like shit. I'm learning final cut pro right now and hope to have a better looking version soon enough.
| 
Cracow
