Meandering to Moldova: Krakow, Poland

Today is Saturday, October 5. Here we are, still in Kamyanets-Podilsky, Ukraine. We've spent the whole day hunkered down, Zach sleeping a lot, trying to kick a horrible ear-ache and sinus infection. He's somewhat better now, although still in pain, and we do plan to be on that morning bus into Moldova tomorrow morning, Sunday. We plan to meet Warren in Orhei in mid-afternoon.

Zach managed to get dressed for dinner. We went to the Japanese restaurant that's here in our hotel. I had a Ukrainian beer with my miso soup. Zach had water with Thai soup. And then we split a large sushi board. The decor? Crystal chandeliers, mirrored walls, brocade. We are not in Japan. We came back to our room and nibbled on a Ukrainian chocolate bar, which is quite good.

Zach's sawing wood again. It's 8:20 pm, so I'll try to get in another account of our time in Poland. I skipped over Krakow entirely, and can't let that rest any longer. Already a week and a half have passed!

Krakow, September 26 and 27
Zach and I left Nowy Targ on Saturday morning, September 26. We took a taxi to our favorite coffee shop for one last happy moment there, and then piled into a bus headed for Krakow. Through the window of the bus we caught glimpses of Wawel Castle as we passed through the great city to the bus station. It was raining; we got drenched just hopping out of the bus to the luggage compartment in back and then dashing into the building. Here, we were to meet our cousin, Małgorzata, whom everybody calls Małgosia. Małgosia is a doctor, a cardiologist. She's the granddaughter of my Grandpa Kosinski's sister, Maria Kosinska Gradek. What does she look like now? We last saw her in 1995!

Here is Dr. Małgorzata Konopka, M.D.

When we were here in 1995, Małgosia's mother, Janina, was our host in the residence in which she had raised her two sons and her daughter. Małgosia still lives there, but this week the place is undergoing renovation. She heroically procured an excellent room for us in a hostel in Kazimierz, which used to be a Jewish neighborhood in Krakow before the war. It was a perfect spot.

Kazimierz continues to honor Jewish culture and history.

We three grabbed a bite to eat in the restaurant beneath our room, and then headed for a musical concert at a cozy bar/cafe. The Jascha Lieberman Trio was about to play. We took a table right up in front. Excellent.

The next morning, Zach and I walked to the laundromat about ten minutes away from our hostel. We had left our laundry there the night before. The laundromat was like no other I've ever seen. At night it's a bar, a teeny teeny bar in a hard-to-find basement with just maybe three or four little tables. Washing machines are in a back room. It is not self-service — you leave your clothes there and come by the next day to pick them up. I don't know how to describe this without making it sound weird. It is not weird, it's very pleasant. We got there when the place opened the next morning at 10:30 and enjoyed espresso coffee before picking up our clean laundry, very nicely done.

Rejoining Małgosia, we headed out to explore a bit more of Kazimierz.

An old market building now specializes in serving Zapiekanki. Ask Zach, who had to try one.

This building used to be the city hall for the municipality of Kazimierz, before it became incorporated as part of Krakow.

A few blocks to the west is Wawel Castle! In 1995 we took the tour, which was fabulous. Since we had limited time today, we enjoyed the exterior.

We walked through the streets near Wawel...

Małgosia says Condoleza Rice stayed in the brick building, center.

Małgosia knew a great little bookstore/coffee shop right here.
We sat outside and enjoyed our cappuccinos and the view.

Tourism rules here in the Rynek, the old central market square.

They were selling flowers right in this spot in 1995, too.

Małgosia took us to the perfect spot for lunch — an inexpensive student lunch place at the Academy of Music. It has a million dollar view!

From this terrace, after lunch, we listened to the Trumpeter of Krakow. A trumpeter blows an unfinished tune every hour on the hour, recalling the Tatar invasion of 1241 and the heroic trumpeter who alerted the town.

In the market...

Heather grows everywhere here!

In the evening, we joined a reunion of the Krakow descendants of Edward Kosinski and Maria Walicki. (See Nowy Targ post.) Małgosia had arranged this excellent gathering in a lovely cafe.