For The Love of Travel

Early rise again to drive 270 kms from Wroclaw to Krakow…sustenance via sliver thin pancakes, crispy towards the edges…filled with ricotta cheese and drizzled raspberry coulis over the top. YUM!!!!!!!!!          The ancient seat of Kings and intelligentsia, Krakow evokes a magical grandeur immediately on arrival. Untouched by the fiery fate shared by most Polish cities at the end of WW2, Krakow’s centre has been largely preserved in its original form. Steeped in legend and myth from dragons under the catacombs of Wawel Castle, to Tartar hordes repelled at the gates…to pigeon-knights waiting for their King to return. It has Europe’s largest medieval market square (Rynek) and a fairy-tale castle overlooking the river (Wawel Castle). Architecturally apparently, it can match any European city arch for arch, spire, monument and gargoyle! It used to be Poland’s capital until 1596 when King Sigismund the 3rd,  moved his court to Warsaw.

Jan Matejko was a 19thC Polish painter known for painting notable historical political and miltary events, for example, “the Battle of Grunwald”.

This next incredible statue is in memory of those who died in the Battle of Grunwald (Poland and Lithuania united in fighting the Teutonic Knights in 1410).    Random photos of performance artists;  kids enjoying adults being silly;  the vibrancy and scale of the Market Square.

I signed up for a Royal Chamber Orchestra concert in the tiny 11thC St Adalbert’s Church (one the oldest stone churches in Poland. It was a very important “house of god” for the traders from all over Europe that came to the Cloth trading hall, Sukiennice, in the Market Square).

The quartet of 2 violins (lead – Kamil Skicki), viola and cello had a broad program offering – Vivaldi, Pachabel, Gerschwin, Bizet, Morricone – the acoustics were fanastic and performance enjoyed by 70 of us, tightly packed in, audience.

Some night views of the Market Square, on exiting the concert performance. A long but greatly enjoyable day!

Delicious lunch at Fiorentina Restaurant, sea bass with lentils and corn mash..and a Polish white wine ressembling Riesling.

Brekkie this morning is huge and will keep me fuelled for 2 meals…at least.

My first port of call today is Market Square (Rynek), the city’s municipal centre but also the social and cultural centre -a place of happenings, concerts, performance art, lined with terraced cafes and restaurants. Originally built in the 13thC, it was ravaged by fighting in WW2 and had to be rebuilt in the 1950’s. Proudly square-shouldered in the square’s centre stands the Town Hall, a miraculous survivor from the 13thC and the city centre’s defining landmark. The neighbouring Flower Market operates 24 hours a day, with scores of flower sellers available in the event of a matrimonial emergency, and ready to meet the requirements of empty-fisted Romeos – such is the importance of flower-giving in Polish society. Love the fountain in the midst of all the flowers and autumn leaved trees…

The University Church (of the Blessed Name of Jesus) is late Baroque, ranked one of the most beautiful in Central Europe. Jesuits built it as part of the University complex in the 17thC –  frescos on the vaults; painted to imitate marble and gilt – its very well-preserved and most of the furnishings are original. 

The University building is magnificent and still functions as an academic building. Past professors include Alois Alzheimer and Robert Bunsen. Since the start of the 20thC, the Uni has produced a remarkable 9 Nobel Prize winners. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little picturesque alleyway, Jatki, is home to numerous artists studios and souvenir stalls (in past times, the principal industry here was meat – butchered beasts filled wooden stalls). The defining feature of the street is the collection of bronze farm animals, sculpted by Piotr Wieczorek in the 1990’s, this “Memorial to Slaughtered Animals” was funded by local government.

Lastly, view over river Oder towards Cathedral island (Ostrow Tumski);  and some lovely architecture around the National Museum, I didn’t visit inside, museum’d out at present.  

Got up early for the 2 + hours drive into Wroclaw. Crazy shenanigans on the autostrada, with guys ‘channelling’ Mario Andreotti, weaving in and out of laneways, at I reckon 150kms. Scary!

Wroclaw may never have lost its ancient Polish element – 20,000 Poles lived here before World War II – but Poles would never have imagined that the city would become a part of the motherland again.  Wroclaw became Polish again by default. Stalin prodded Churchill and Roosevelt into rolling Poland west in 1945. Poland lost the cities of Lwow and Vilnius and gained the bombed out shells of Breslau (Wroclaw) and Danzig (Gdansk).      As soon as I got into Wroclaw, breathed a sigh of relief….now this is a city I like. Lots of green, old architecture, cafes and restaurants….time to wander aimlessly around the Old Town, keeping my eyes peeled for Wroclaw’s adorable and elusive gnomes; there are over 300 around town.

But first, I’d booked into the Raclawice Panorama, a 140m long canvas depicting Kosciuszko’s legendary (and short-lived) victory over the Russians in 1794 – this is one of the only remaining panoramic paintings in the world – a genre popular in the 19thC.

Then to view the Old City from the top of the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, a Gothic church and landmark in the city. A climb of 50 steps up a narrow stone staircase and mercifully, a lift to the top.  An amazing view over Cathedral Island, and once back in the church, incredible gold door that leads to the top of the pulpit, inside. Loved the leadlight as well.

And a lover’s bridge that’s packing heaps of locks!

When you tire gazing at cherubs, gargoyles and bearded national heroes, you can find your way to the cnr. of Pilsudskiego and Swidnicka to get a new take on public art….Jerzy Kalina’s wonderfully lifelike bronze “Anonymous Pedestrians” descending into the earth – a tribute to those who worked in underground organisations to undermine the Soviet regime? They would have looked even better in rainy conditions!

Love my boutique hotel on the edge of the old city, surrounded by parkland and part of a hipster neighbourhood! THE most delicious salmon meal I have EVER had, I think cooked sous-vide. It was perfect! 

I walked past Nalanda cafe and was instantly drawn inside…its vegan, gluten free, eco cosmetics – with a bookstore. A special place where good literature, fair trade coffee, and energy-giving food is all under one roof.