Krakow: Travels to the Motherland

That's right folks, I've can finally say that I've made it to the land of my people, the country of the Lesniak clan and I can now unequivocally say that Polish is the most unintelligible language I've ever heard. Sure, I knew a few words of Polish before going but they were comprised of phrases taught to me by my Polish grandfather. Knowing how to say "Give me a kiss, little girl", "I love you" or "sour pickle" were probably not going to serve me well and might just end up with Poles wondering who this insane American girl is expressing affection toward strangers. Anyway, the long and short of it is that to this English-German ear Polish just sounds like a really long string of "sch-cheech-shush-psh" sounds. I essentially spent the whole trip with a befuddled look on my face.
Despite my language obstacle, I absolutely fell in love with Krakow. It is an adorable little cobblestoned town, filled with charm. Considering that it was my first trip to the former Eastern Block, I was expecting a more dingy, post-Communist city but Krakow is clean, modern in many ways and yet still has an endearing old world appeal. It was not badly bombed during the war and thus the city and it's buildings have luckily been preserved. Here are a few snapshots from our tour around the city:

St. Mary's Cathedral

Me inside the famous Krakow head statue in the town square.

Part of our little group in front of the Old Town Hall Tower.

Krakow's old Jewish cemetery

Krakow University where Copernicus studied and did his work.

The window where Pope John Paul would address the very Catholic Poles.

Wawel Castle

The most adorable Teddy Bear store!

Finally, I need to say something about the Polish bagel. On every (and I do mean every single) street corner in Krakow is a small stand. These stands all sell exactly the same thing, the bread ring pictured below:

This, the people of Krakow claim, is the REAL bagel. I know my friends from New England are getting indignant right now since everyone in the Northeast thinks that their town has the world's best bagels, but Krakow claims to be the place of origin. For a little more than 33 cents (did I mention that Poland is cheap!?) you can buy a Polish bagel from one of the thousands of vendors across the city. They are like Starbucks in Seattle, you are never more than a block away!

In summary: Krakow is amazing! Go if you have the chance. Over and out.