Plenty of Periogies
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I’ve just been to Krakow for the christmas markets with my mum. I can best describe it as christmas without the commercialism. Poland is a really lovely country, lovely in its reluctance to embrace advertising and consumerism. Perhaps what shows this best is the presence of fur coats and scarfs. In a country where the temperature drops to -30º, fur is a luxurious commodity. Anti-fur ideas are not necessary. A bit like vegetarianism in Africa. My mum said that before the anti-fur ideas inflitrated New York, streets were lined with wholesales fur stores, and a fur coat would be passed down the family, from parent to child, an heirloom.
The city was not always polish and Krakow itself is filled with marks of the very fluxtuating polish history. It was part of the Austrian empire in the 1600’s, and previous to that was taken over by the Russian Tartars, whose influence remains in the traditional polish peroigies (dumplings) with a cheesy variety called rushka (russia). It is a crime to remove anything from Kracow that is from before the 1940’s. They keep everything preserved. And this is the remarkable thing about the typography in the city. Art-nouvea type sits next to tradition polish wooden signs and french flourishes.
I wasn’t expecting to hear so many french and italian’s in Kracow. There were a few english but the ping pong pong of polish language, like jingle bells, still dominated the city. I do think they have the best sound of any language to mean thankyou - “chinqueee-ay”.
Even though the theme was christmas cheer, I heard many people asking directions to Auschwitz. I’m not to sure about the tourist thing in a place such as this.
Highlights of the trip include:
The homemade vodka shop
St Mary’s church in Rynek Glowny
Mulled wine, sausage and the Pig on a spit at the christmas market
The underground Indigo jazz bar that, unfortunately, didn’t play any jazz
The Staircase in our hotel - the Hotel Rezydent
View the flickr set
