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.All Trips / Europe / Food / Poland
Jama Michalika cafe, Krakow
It was a cool damp fall day when my brother and I explored the King’s Road area of Krakow. We’d wandered around for a few hours and were looking for a cozy place serving something warm and good to eat.
We came across the Jama Michalika cafe, established in 1895. It was warm and pleasant, if a little dim inside, but the decor was unusual and interesting and the café definitely had historic appeal. The café had been a gathering place in the early 20th centuries for artists, actors and “modern thinkers”.
The food was terrific! My brother enjoyed a bowl of borscht and I had some tasty dumplings (perogie). After lunch we headed to Krakow’s fabulous Market Square.
(Click on thumbnails to …
Tagged Cafe, Jama Michalika, Krakow
“Pic of the Week”, February 5, 2021: Gargoyles of Wawel Hill, Krakow
Gargoyles are designed to move water away from the side of a building. Often they are carved of stone and can be found on old cathedrals. I found these metal gargoyles in Krakow to be quite interesting.
When we visited Wawel Hill, we were impressed by the large variety of gargoyles around the complex. All were made of crafted metal. Several of them seemed shaped like dragons, some even having crowns on their head; others looked like monstrous birds. Quite interesting decorations, even when viewed by silhouette.
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Feb 4, 2021
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“Pic of the Week”, October 16, 2020: Statue of Jan Matejko, Krakow
Jan Matejko is a famous 19th century artist who was born in Krakow. He is best know for his oil canvases documenting famous 19th century Polish battles and persons of interest, like kings and politicians.
I thought this a rather clever piece. Situated in Krakow’s Planty Park — a circular 4 km long park that used to be the city’s moat — it shows the artist sitting in front of a large picture frame. There is no canvas and what you see framed is pleasing scene of the old wall and vegetation of the park itself. It was fall when we visited, so the colors stood out beautifully.
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Oct 15, 2020
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.All Trips / Europe / Food / Poland
A lively market is held in Little Market Square on weekends, which fills the square with a variety of vendors, as well as a stage for …
Little Market Square, Krakow
Historically Krakow’s large and impressive Main Market Square — the largest medieval square in Europe — was where local residents conducted their shopping, but today that space belongs to the tourists.
Locals have moved their activities elsewhere, including to Little Market Square (in Polish, Maly Rynek). This square lies a block behind St. Mary’s Basilica, so it is easy to access when you’re in the heart of old Krakow. The square itself is lined by colorful buildings dating from the late 17th century and in the past was where the meat market was located.
Amber jewelry, Little Market Square, Krakow
A lively market is held in Little Market Square on weekends, which fills the square with a variety of vendors, as well as a stage for …
Tagged food, Krakow, Little Market Square, Market
.All Trips / Europe / Poland
St. Mary’s Basilica, Krakow
There are a lot of old and interesting sites in Krakow, which was spared bomb damage in the World Wars, but St. Mary’s Basilica is a special place. Second only to the Wawel Cathedral — which is considered Poland’s National Cathedral — St Mary’s is one of the city’s most important churches. It’s situated on the city’s large central Market Square which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The exterior of the building is impressive, both by day and at night.
A church has been on this site of St. Mary’s for over 800 years, but the current building was constructed in Gothic style on the burned ruins of the prior Romanesque church, that church having been destroyed in 1241. This …
.All Trips / Europe / Food / Food Tour / Poland
A Wonderful Food Tour in Krakow!
I encourage participating in food tours as an excellent way to learn about the traditions and cultures of a destination, meeting new people, and having a delicious experience. I don’t just preach this, I often sign up for food tours as well.
One of the best food tours I’ve been on was in Krakow, Poland. The tour was thoughtful in its choice of restaurants and food vendors, the assortment of food we ate, and in making us walk through so much of this amazing historic city as part of the experience.
The food tour was run by Eat Polska Food and Vodka tours, which also operates similar tours in Warsaw and Gdansk. They have tours that focus on vodka tasting (the …
.All Trips / Car Culture / Europe / Poland
Great Cars Along the Highway: Nysa Passenger Vans, Krakow
When we visited Poland I noticed a style of passenger van being used in the tourist trade with which I was not familiar.
A little research revealed that it’s a Polish made van, the ‘Nysa 522’, a symbol of the Communist era. It was manufactured in Nysa, Poland from 1958 – 1994. Nysa built it to be a multifunctional van and it was used for carrying cargo and passengers, less commonly as ambulances. Nysa vans were also commonly used by the Communist Militia.
The company did little to improve the van over the years, powering them with relatively gutless 2.2 or 2.5 l engines. When the Soviet Union collapsed and Democracy re-emerged in Poland, sales of better quality and more popular imported vehicles …
.All Trips / Car Culture / Europe / Poland
Great Cars along the Highway: Polish Beer Truck
Parked near Wawel Hill in Krakow is a rather fancy old truck, all done up as a beer delivery truck — down to large wooden kegs sitting in its bed. PIWO is Polish for “beer”. I thought this was extremely effective advertising.
The flat bed truck is a Barkas V901/2, an East Germany brand which was made in the 1950s. There were many other chassis put on this frame, but this style was the most useful and popular. These trucks were used in the Eastern European communist block until after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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