Warm, Sunny Day in Krakow

Friday, Aug. 22, 2014--Krakow

It actually got rather warm today.  The sun was shining for most of the day, although there was a period of clouds in the afternoon.

I limited my explorations today.  I felt tired and unmotivated.  I walked through town and beside the Wawel Castle questioning whether I wanted to deal with the lines for tours.  I decided against it.  I had enough lines and my fill of tours yesterday.  So I continue onward to visit the Jewish quarter of town called Kazimierz.

The Jews were forced to move there into a walled-in conclave from Krakow in the 15th Century.  Today, it is just a neighborhood in Krakow rather than a separate town.  The 65,000 Jews living in Krakow (mostly still in Kazimierz) at the outbreak of WWII represented 30% of the population of the city.  Today, the Jewish Quarter is somewhat quaint, consists of many buildings in need of repair, and seems to be an entertainment/dining destination in the city.  One reason the area isn't nicer looking could be related to a story I was told:  Poles were given the right to remain in the apartments where they were living when communism ended, but the apartments could be claimed by their former owners (before communism) as those residents died.  I was told that those who have claims to ownership do not want to make any repairs until they own the properties again and that those living there do not want to make repairs which will belong to someone else rather than their family when they die. 

Anyway, the quarter was interesting to see.  Their market square was mostly dead.  But the "downtown" square was alive with businesses, many of them catering to Jews again.  Many Jewish tourists were in the area seeing the synagogues, the cemetery, and a Jewish museum.  With all the restaurants and bars, I'm sure the area is very active in the evenings.

I also spent some time in the main square of the Old Town today.  It is a HUGE square, so many activities occur around it.  People sit and watch people.  Tour groups pass through.  Carriages come and go.  And entertainment groups perform.  There are three men playing classical music on accordions which are my favorite performers.  They are very good.  But I especially enjoyed watching a Swedish marching band perform today.  It was a group of young people who were not great in terms of playing, but their enthusiasm, as shown in their movements, made them especially entertaining.  I don't know the name of the group, but they had patches on their uniforms indicated they have either travelled lots of places or have won some competitions. 

The last half of the afternoon, I did travel planning.  I had intended to be in the mountains for 2-3 nights.  But the forecast is not good for there.  I don't want to be in a small mountain village with it raining for 2-3 days.  Therefore, I have decided to go through the mountains and head westward tomorrow for Bardejov if I can get transportation.  I already have a bus ticket to Zakapone on the Polish side of the mountains.  It should allow me to connect with a bus to go over the mountains to Poprad in Slovakia.  If that all works okay, I will try to catch a bus from Poprad to Bardejov.  There is also an option of a train, but buses are faster.  I'm not making a reservation in Bardejov, because I am unsure if I will get that far tomorrow.  But I spent some of the afternoon researching all the hotels and pensions there and marking them on my map.  If I get there, I have 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th choices (since this is the tourism season) and other possibilities if those are full.  If I don't get there, I will just search for a place to stay wherever I have to stop.

Note:  It's possible I may have to stay somewhere without wi-fi or other forms of Internet connections.  I'll be back online with posts as soon as I can.