As you may know, Christmas is my favourite time of the year. Hands-down. This love for Christmas trees, presents and all things tinsel-related has slowly and inevitably rubbed off on Mike. These past two years I've taken great delight in filling boxes with cards, small gifts and decorations and sending them with love back to NZ. Skype is a wonderful thing, but it's not the same as being home with family. I miss everyone dearly, all the time, but Christmas is an especially hard time of year.
With this in mind, we decided this year to go somewhere different. Cheap, close and with a modest chance of a white Christmas (no such luck), we chose... Krakow, Poland! We had both run completely out of annual leave, so it was to be a flight out on Friday afternoon and back on the bank holiday Tuesday.
On Christmas Eve we set out on a walking tour of the 'Old Town' of Krakow. Walking tours are such a great way of getting your bearings in a new city, and best of all most are 'free', meaning you only tip at the end what you felt it was worth. The down-side of this one was it was -1. Of course you're not walking all the time so it wasn't long before the sensation of having toes was a distant memory.
We passed the gorgeous St Mary's Basilica in the square many time during our stay. Every hour on the hour, a trumpeter plays from one of the towers. The tune rings out strong and true until it ends abruptly each time. The story behind this unusual ending is a fantastic and fascinating one. Legend has it the trumpeter was playing the anthem as he did every day when he spotted in the distance dust rising - enemy invaders! He played again and again, trying to rouse the city and alert them of the imminent attack. He succeeded; but when the attackers realised what he was doing, they shot him through the throat with an arrow mid-note. And that is how the anthem has been played ever since.
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| Interior, St Mary's Basilica |
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| Exterior, St Mary's Basilica |
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| Bone of the Wawel dragon |
Tour over we made our way back into the old town in search of sustenance. I.e. beer. We sampled several Polish beers - some were quite wheaty and delicious, and all were flavoursome for lager. That evening after much exploring, we were heading back to base when it started to snow. A Christmas (eve) miracle :-) Not a lot, but I was happy with a little.
We even came across a live nativity scene complete with manager and live animals.
Christmas day was spent skyping, opening presents, reading, lounging, eating and snoozing. In the evening we went to a swanky restaurant and had a delicious dinner.
Boxing Day this year couldn't have been further from the traditional morning gathering at Magsie and Grampa's with Christmas cake and sausage rolls. We were off to visit Auschwitz. On the journey there, we watched a harrowing video of the liberation of the camps by the Russians.
It's difficult to articulate or even comprehend how horrific 'life' must have been at Auschwitz. The atrocities that took place, and for such a phenomenal length of time... It was harrowing but truly fascinating.
On our last day we set out to sample any local food we hadn't yet partaken of. Polish food is delicious and the Christmas markets had a hearty selection of local street food. Beetroot broth was an interesting one, and the "Ocsypek", fried cheese with cranberry sauce was a real treat. Mike (obviously the braver of the two of us when it comes to new foods) tried some "Pajda ze Smalcem"; bread smothered with lard, gherkins, onions and bacon. Bratwurst, ham hock, chimney cake - everything was tasty.
Krakow, you were a delight :-)
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