One of the first places I stumbled upon happened to be a
hotel restaurant, and the menu with pictures they had displayed outside looked
appetizing, so I decided to give it a go. The Polish breakfast included two sausages, a boiled egg with mayo-chive sauce, bread (you're right, Dr. A, it's really good stuff!), vegetables and brewed coffee. It was a good morning for little Whit! Mission number 2: Find the Lost Wawel! Wawel Hill has quite the interesting past, including being home to the royal family of Poland for around 500-550 years. The original stone castle was built in the 10th century, and one of the exhibits (called the Lost Wawel) is dedicated to archaeological discoveries from the earliest parts of the structure. It was incredibly impressive, because they've literally left things generally where they were, rubble and all, and you can walk on a raised path through the ruins inside! There were fragments of bones (behind glass so they're preserved), pottery, shoes, tools, etc., etc., etc., all there for people to see. I wish there'd been more explanations about how and why things were used, but it was sufficient enough to read what it was and around the year it was made. These ruins were quite different from the ones in Turkey, which were out in the open and free for the exploring. Both ways of displaying historical ruins have their advantages. =)
There is also an exhibit all about armor and weaponry. Interestingly enough, I had my own little weaponry incident going into the exhibit. So, my friend Alan let me borrow one of his pocket knives, just in case... you know. So, I had it in my purse. I walked right through the door, put my bag in the conveyor belt to be scanned, and walked right through the metal detector. As soon as the guy scanning my bag got that puzzled look on his face, I knew I was in for it! He looked at me in disbelief and calmly asked, "Knife?" I said yes, I'd forgotten it was in my purse and I was very sorry. He said I couldn't take it in, so I asked if I could leave it there and come back for it. He said sure! So off I went to enjoy the exhibit!
Now, in America, I would have been taken away and questioned on the spot in some places. At the most lenient of places, they would have taken the knife and not given it back--which is really what I was most afraid of because it's not mine, it's borrowed! But thankfully that was not the case here! (And honestly, I don't look like the knife type at ALL!) When I went back later to get it, there was a different guy at the metal detector, but the other girls greeting people as they came in were still there and remembered me. I went and asked if I could get my knife back, and they told the guy where it was and for him to get it for me. Again, there was this look of disbelief when he looked at me and gave me the knife. He LAUGHED! And then the other girls did, too! =) So a good laugh was had by all, deportation and international scandal avoided. =)
Back to the royal weaponry! So I kind of couldn't quite grasp what I was seeing. There were suits of armor, crossbows, lances, maces, tournament weapons, etc., all from medieval days. That's the kind of stuff I've really only seen in movies! There were swords, guns, pistol-swords, cannons (which I have actually seen before, of course!), and other royal items like tournament outfits and the like. One of the hats actually kind of looked like a Mad Hatter hat--oversized and made of what looked like velvet or something like that. Pretty cool looking, but also kind of funny looking! Sorry, pictures were not allowed in the castle exhibits unfortunately. =(
And much to my delight, I got in and out of the castle quick enough to grab a pretzel on the go and make it to the free walking tour at 11:00. And then the fun REALLY started! The company is called Free Walking Tours Krakow, and the guides are licensed, local experts. I feel confident calling them experts because they've all had to take an 8-month, rigorous course all about the historical significance of Poland, the politics of the country, and just all kinds of things about Krakow. They have to pass up to 20 exams, and the very last big exam is very difficult--only 10% of the people who take it pass each time! That fascinated me, since I haven't had to take any tests or rigorous courses yet for my tours! I took notes the whole time and got along well with the guide. He was not what you picture when you think of a professional historian--early 30s, nose ring, tattoos, long hair, baggy clothes... but he was awesome! He was so funny and spoke English better than just about anyone else I've met on this trip! There were people on our tour from Spain, France, Great Britain, Australia, and various other countries I don't remember, but the tour was in English! The first tour was two and a half hours, the second tour was three hours. The longest tour I've given is only one and a half hours! The guy said they will take a maximum of 50 people, and only if there are more will they split into two or more groups. This group probably had around 35 or 40 I'd say. The most we're allowed and advised to take is 30. This guy said he's taken as many as 76 on a day when there were so many and he had no backup! This is quite the feat since we had to cross so many streets--tour guiding can be dangerous!
On to what we learned:
The Spanish are always late. Our tour guide said so, and surely enough, we had some stragglers come along and guess where they were from--Spain! The guide asked them when they walked up, "Spain, right?" They said, "Yes, how did you know? Oh, we're late." Too funny!
Krakow was established even before the 10th century, but the first written reference to Krakow was from 966 A.D.
We began at St. Mary's Cathedral on the main market square. There are many, MANY Catholic churches in Poland because 90% of the people are Catholic; at one point in time, the ratio of churches to people was 1:100--Wow! That's like protestant churches in the Southern US! They say if you throw a stone in Krakow, you'll hit a church. One of the reasons there are so many in Krakow alone is because noblemen would often donate land to build a church. In those days, they thought if you gave generously to the church (and what's more valuable than land for a church?), you could basically buy a better afterlife. So that's what so many nobles did!
Poland changed hands several times through the centuries, and even ceased to exist as an nation around the end of the 18th century. When they regained their country, the officials made all the people say four certain Polish words to find out if they are really Polish. The words all had to do with mill houses, because that's what the Polish people did back then, so they would all know how to pronounce them correctly. If you pronounced the words correctly, you got to live, if you pronounced it wrong you would be either tortured or executed! So, our guide asked each of us to pronounce one of these words and told us whether we'd live or die! Most people did poorly, but he gave me a long word (wish I knew how to spell it!), and he was very impressed with my perfect pronunciation! =) He even asked me if I was Polish! When I said no, he asked if I was of Polish descent, and when I said no to that, I think he didn't believe me! And he really didn't believe it when I said I'm American--apparently, we have a problem pronouncing long Polish words or something. ;) Anyway, I completely owe my ear for pronunciation to Dr. Ablamowicz (my Polish communications professor in college) and Dr. Slotkin (my linguistics professor). It pays to pay attention in class! =)
So, Poland ceased to exist as a country from the 17th century until the end of the 18th century; the land was divided between Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary--Krakow was part of Austria. During this time, there was a woman who wanted to preserve her Polish past. She began collecting historical Polish items, and even went so far as to rob graves! All these things are now in the first Polish history museum, which is in Krakow!
Next stop: the Planta Gardens. There's a path all the way around Krakow, beginning and ending at the Florian Gate and the Barbican (more on those in a moment). The path exists because that is where the city fortification walls used to be. The walls were torn down sometime a couple of centuries ago, but people decided to preserve the path, so now it's a beautiful 4 km walk around the outside of the city. The Florian Gate is the place where future kings used to enter into the city to be coronated. The Barbican, across the way from the Florian Gate, was the main gate into the city--the one that was armored and exceedingly difficult to break into! I plan to go on a tour of that and get more info on it soon. Our guide called it an "architectural marvel." The entire Barbican included 7 different gates that needed to be broken though just to get into the castle. Krakow was never defeated when this system was in use.
Moving along! I asked the guide a burning question: Why is Krakow sometimes spelled with c's and sometimes spelled with k's? (Cracow/Krakow) He said that C is the German way of spelling it, and K is the Polish way. It is used interchangeably for some people, but the Poles prefer the spelling with a K, for obvious reasons. =)
While Krakow and the surrounding parts of Poland were part of Austria-Hungary, you could only actually "be" Polish in the Hungarian part. There's a statue in the middle of the main square of a Polish man who was a famous poet. He never came to Krakow in his life, but there, in Krakow, in the Hungarian portion, was the only place that was allowed to have this statue of this man. Anywhere else, it was illegal!
And then we were in for a special treat: we heard the bugle call! Every hour, on the hour, for centuries, a fireman plays the bugle from the top of St. Mary's church. It's always a fireman, and there are five different buglers (I guess they take shifts). The legend goes that a fireman saw that Krakow was about to be invaded sometime in the 16th century, and he sounded the bugle call to alert everyone. And so they do this in honor of him. =) An American Journalist wrote a book about this called, "The Trumpeter of Krakow."
Our next stop was exceedingly interesting: it was the original level of the main Market Square. It's actually about 3 meters lower than where the current square is today. It's now a small archaeological museum.
Next he pointed out the City Hall Tower. It has been built and renovated at different times, ranging from the 14th century to the 20th century. There is a pub in the basement, and back in medieval days, you could go down, get your drink and look out the window into the other room: the torture chamber! Kinda of a graphic show! Our guide said that as you went clubbing in the middle ages, you could also SEE clubbing. ;) Anyway, the tower is the only part of the old city hall that still exists. The rest of it had been torn down by the various people who ruled over Krakow over the centuries.
On to Cloth Hall! The reason Cloth Hall is so important and is still a market place today is because cloth was a very profitable business in Poland, and especially Krakow. The building is in the Rennaisance style, which looks a bit different from the other buildings around. If you sold cloth, you were sure to make a lot of money, and they still use the place for markets today. There are lots of shops set up in small booth inside that sell everything from mugs to amber to clothes to pottery and cut glass.
And then we got to some more modern stuff. Russia and Germany invaed Poland on September 17, 1939, and one of the first things they said was that there was to be no more higher education. Professors from universities were taken into a room, informed that they would be arrested, and taken away to prisons. But there was a lot going on in the Krakow underground. People took their lives into their own hands when they studied in the underground. The most famous student of the time was a man who wanted to become a priest. He did become one after WWII, then he became a Cardinal and all the other steps as he progressed in his career, and then in 1978 he became... Pope John Paul II. We saw the place where he studied and the window that has his picture on it. He would stay there once a year, and people would always gather to see him because he would open the window and wave to the people at least once on his visit. Mr. Tour Guide said that 88% of Poles are Catholic, and one of the smallest religious groups is the Protestants. There are only around 22000 Protestants in all of Poland.
Anyway, WWII was obviously devastating to many, including Poland. But afterward, things didn't really improve while they were under Communist rule. But since Communism fell, they now have democracy and are part of the EU. This is the first time in 500 years that Poland has been truly "allowed" to be Poland.
Next stop: Back to the Castle Wawel! This is where Polish kings were coronated, as well as where they were burried. Each king had a chapel built for himself, so there are dozens of chapels there today. Sigismund I built the most impressive chapel, with the golden dome. We also saw Kochuszko's statue. He is Poland's very first national hero because he started the first Polish uprising (sorry, I don't remember the year!).
Interesting architecture of the castle: dragon drainpipes. They're cool and medieval looking, sure, but think about it... when there's a lot of rain, water comes rushing out its mouth. They are affectionately called "pukers." =) Haha.
The castle has withstood a couple of fires. The most famous one was in 1595. King Sigismund III, an amateur alchemist and scientist, started a fire in the basement of the castle. Instead of fixing it, he decided to move the capitol up to Warsaw, where there was already another castle he could live in! There is no paperwork officially giving permission for this, only the fact that he moved the whole operation from one city to the other. Krakowians despise Warsaw for this reason--they are always in a competition! But Krakow definitely declares itself still as the ROYAL Capitol of Poland. =)
During the Krakowian occupation by the Prussians (I think he said in the 18th century?), the Wawel Castle was used as a hospital and stable for soldiers and their horses. The Prussians took the Royal treasury (over 4000 items) from the palace, sold some, and used the rest of the treasure to melt down and make things out of. No more crown jewels in Poland! =(
And next up was one of my favorite things we saw: the FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON!!!! =) Yep. There's a fire-breathing dragon back behind the castle. It is the unofficial symbol of the city. Legend has it that the "real" dragon ate young girls. The prince of Krakow sent his noblemen out to conquer the dragon, but it ate them, too! So the prince then offered a reward to the person who could defeat the dragon: he would receive the princess' hand in marriage and half the kingdom. A young shoe cobbler heard about this and tricked the dragon. He took sheep's wool and filled it with all kinds of nasty things like tar that would poison the dragon. He ate the "sheep," then got very thirsty because it tasted bad. So he drank half the river... and exploded! The shoe cobbler got the girl and half the kingdom! =)
There was an hour or so for a break, which I spent just walking around and exploring (and getting lost and meeting a cute American who's studying here to be a doctor--he brought me back to the square, hehe), then it was onward to the Jewish Quarter tour! The guide for this tour was a cute, young girl, probably a year or so younger than me. She also noticed I was taking notes, so we struck up a conversation with her about tour guiding as well!
So, how did the Jews end up coming to Poland? Well, in the 10th and 11th centuries, the crusades were going on. Many of the Jews were prosecuted and had Pograms (acts of cruelty) done to them, so they needed to move. Poland, at the time, was known to be very tolerant of people and their faith. The word "Polin" in Hebrew means "God dwells here," and Polania means "You should dwell here." So they thought they should, and they did. The oldest Jewish Synagogue for Jews in Poland was built in the 1400s, and still exists today. Just behind the synagogue is a Catholic church; the Jews dug down when they built their building so that they could build it as tall as necessary, yet still be short enough to be protected by their walls around the synagogue. Very smart. In front of this building is a monument built in honor of those who were executed by Nazis during WWII.
There were hundreds of prayer houses around the old Jewish district (called Kazimeriz) because they were not allowed to do any work on the Sabbath. They needed so many prayer houses so no one had to walk very far (and do too much work by walking) to get to their prayer houses.
Before WWII, there were around 68,000 Jews in Krakow; after WWII, there were around 100. We saw more monuments dedicated to the executed Jews, and all of them had small stones or rocks sitting on top. I've seen this before at Arlington Cemetery and other gravesites where Jews are burried, and I've wondered why they do this. Our tour guide told us! It's because when the Israelites were wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, some of them died; when they died, the people had to put sand over the bodies and cover them with stones to keep animals from digging them up. So many Jews honor that still with the tradition of putting stones on top of gravestones. The first Jewish cemetery in Poland is also there in the Jewish district. A lot of the gravestones were crushed and used as gravel in the Jewish ghetto, which is a pretty sick and irreverent thing to do for so, so many reasons.
Moving along. The square that has been preserved in this way was not the Jewish Ghetto, but this is where many of the scenes from Schindler's List were filmed. Spielberg thought the actual site of the Jewish Ghetto was too modern, of course because things have been rebuilt by now. There were very few parts of the ghetto wall left, and there was a monument in the middle of the square now. But when he saw this other square, he said that one looked more true-to-life of the time period of the movie.
Looking around, I noticed many of the hotel names. There was Hotel Eden, Hotel David, and a restaurant called the Olive Tree, which is completely kosher. Also close to this place is a street called Cinema Street. (Ironic name since what I'm about to tell you is why the movie was eventually made.) During one of the displacements of the Jews, when they had to move to the ghetto, there was a Jewish man named Leopold Peferberg, also known as Poldek Page. This man was a Jew who was trying to make his way out of the ghetto via the sewage system. He came up too early, though, and he was caught on this street by some Nazis. But he was a very fast-thinking man. There were suitcases (from the Jews who were being moved) sitting haphazardly in this street. He quickly began putting them up against the wall, as if that were his job. When he made eye contact with the Nazis, he gave a Polish salute (two fingers only against the forehead) and greeted them. Well, the Nazis thought he was just a poor Pole who was being helpful, so they let him alone. He is the man who escaped and told Schindler's story.
We stopped for a few minutes at this round building that houses a bunch of fast food stalls. There are windows where you walk up, order your food, and they make it for you right there! So, why is there this odd-shaped building in the middle of the Jewish quarter? Because it used to be the sacrifice slaughter house. Please read the Old Testament of the Bible or the Torah to find out more!
Now we're getting to the old Jewish Ghetto. When the Germans invaded Poland, they made Krakow the primary seat of the general government. This is why Krakow was not completely destroyed like Warsaw was. That was in September of 1939, and one month later, in October, that's when the Nazis told the Jews they had to move to this particular place they called the ghetto. It was made to house 3000 people, but when all the Jews were moved, there were 17,000 people there. You can imagine how crowded things were, and that the sewage system could not handle that. Five or six families would have to live in one flat all together, no Jews were allowed to leave the ghetto. Brick layers built the walls, Poles were not allowed to help the Jews for fear of being executed, and even Jewish police would beat other Jews or punish them in some way because they thought doing those things would bring them freedom of their own. Of course, that was not the case. Now, there is only one section of the ghetto wall left, as a memorial. Our guide pointed out that it looks like a row of gravestones--the implication was purposeful.
At one time, there was a mass execution. All Jews had to come out of their homes and come to the main square. at least 600 Jews were executed at one time, chosen at random. The square was covered in blood for months. Now, there is a monument in the square. It's a bunch of statues of chairs, and they face different directions. There's a lot of symbolism involved, but I couldn't catch everything she said. Even without getting all of it, it was a very moving monument.
Our last stop was Schindler's Factory. Schindler was born in what's now the Czech Republic. He was known as a shrewd and unfair businessman, and he was even sentenced to death at one time, but he was let go before his sentence could be carried out. He arrived in Poland in early October of 1939 to take over a factory that made metal pots and other items from metal. At first he employed mostly Poles, but eventually, he employed mostly Jews because they were cheap labor (only 4-5 zlotys per person to hire a Jew), and they were not to receive any compensation. He said after the War that once you know someone, they become a person, and you begin to care about them. So he helped save all the Jewish workers he could, which numbered around 1200, including Poldek Page (Leopold Peferberg), who told Schindler's story.
Well, that was the afternoon! I met a very sweet Australian girl who has been teaching English in Oslo, Norway. We became fast friends! She's a doctoral student in Melbourne, Australia, getting her Ph. D in ESL Instruction--I didn't even know there was such a thing! She and I walked back to the Krakow city center and got supper together at a fancy-dancy place called Apertif. We got each got a Polish traditional dish and split them--they were so good! She got the pan-fried sheep's cheese on salad, and I got a form of chicken. The picture is the last one in my Krakow 1 pictures, and the first person to guess what it is wins a prize! Pictures are HERE.
GO!
Much love to you folks! More to come. Thanks for coming along with me! =)
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