Fifth Day in Krakow and First Day in Stockholm

Today Sara and I got up, had breakfast and took a taxi out to the Krakow airport. We are now on a Norwegian Air plane to Stockholm, a two hour flight.

Impressions of Poland and Krakow

Poland has had a difficult time in the last 225 years. Before 1795 Poland was a proud and independent state in Eastern Europe. The largest salt deposit in Europe was just outside Krakow and salt was as valuable as silver. One of the Polish kings was called Wadyslaw the Short. I assume you only called him that once and then it was off with your head.

In 1795 Poland was partitioned between Austria, Prussia and Russia.

After 1785 Poland ceased to be a country until it was recreated in 1918 in a provision of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1939 Germany invaded Poland from the west and Russia invaded Poland from the east. At that time Poland ceased to exist and became a province of Germany. The Germans treated Poland and the Polish people very poorly. In 1944 the Russians invaded Poland to secure a path to invade Germany. Both invasions devastated the Polish cities and countryside and killed many of the Polish people. The Warsaw Uprising almost completely destroyed this bustling prosperous city.

After WW II the Soviet government claimed Poland and other Eastern European countries as their conquered territories. From 1945 until approximately 1989 Poland was a much abused vassal state of the Communist Soviet Union. Lech Walesa and the Solidarity Movement courageously fought for a free and independent Poland. In approximately 1988 Poland gained its independence.

Poland appears to be working hard to repair the neglect of the Soviet years. However, we still saw abandoned store fronts in Krakow and neglected farm buildings yesterday when we drove through the countryside on the way to Auschwitz. In spite of this, Sara and I really enjoyed our visit to Krakow and would recommend that you put Krakow on you list of places to visit when you plan your next European vacation. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, the medieval town center is beautiful and architecturally interesting, and it is very reasonable, when compared to Copenhagen.

Comparing Krakow to Copenhagen

It is not fair to compare Krakow to Copenhagen, but as my mother, Saint Rita, always used to tell us kids: “Fair is where you go to see the Butter Cow.”

People

Our tour guide in Copenhagen told us that obesity is rare in Denmark. I did notice a lot of lean Nordic types hustling around the streets of Copenhagen on foot or riding bicycles. In Krakow it seemed like there were more overweight people. I know what some of you are thinking. “Mark, you are not exactly a lean, mean traveling machine.” This is true even though I am trying to suck in my gut for the blog pictures.

The Danes appeared to be happy, outgoing and on top of the world. The Poles were very outgoing and friendly but appeared to be a little careworn.

Bicycles

Bike rack in Krakow

Bike rack in Copenhagen.

Everyone rides a bike in Copenhagen. All the streets have bike lanes that are jammed with Danes doing their best to Viking Biking. There were very few people in Krakow riding bikes and no bike lanes. Walking was even a challenge at times because people park their cars on the sidewalks. I would hazard to guess that the average Dane gets more daily exercise than the average Pole.

Food

The Danes seem to eat a lot of fish – fresh, pickled and smoked. The portions were also on the lite side to medium side, enough to satisfy the diner but not the gargantuan portions you encounter when you eat out in America.

In Poland the fare was on the hearty side with pasta dishes such as pierogis and dumplings and Italian food. The portions were always generous and you come away from a meal in Poland feeling a little stuffed.

Children

One of the few baby carriages in Krakow.

The streets in Copenhagen are overrun with young mothers and fathers pushing baby carriages. Everywhere we went in Copenhagen we could hear the peals of laughter from young children playing on school playgrounds. Of course, this might be explained by the fact that Danish mothers get a twelve month paid maternity leave and Danish fathers get at least a thirty day paid paternity leave.

We did not see any schools as we walked around Krakow and only saw groups of school children on the weekend when they were touring Wawel Castle and Cathedral.

Bee festival in Krakow.

A great way to tour the old city.

Some sort of Polish girls youth group. Notice the flowers in their hair.

I sincerely hope that I have not offended anyone of Polish descent who is reading this blog post. That was not my intent. If I have offended you I sincerely apologize.

Good night from Stockholm.

Castle near central train station in Stockholm.