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So, after watching the visualization of the New Year's mood in our native Odessaon Feldman Boulevard (now Primorsky Boulevard), we decided to save on the production of festive attributes, such as Olivier and other yummy, and go to celebrate the New Year to Poland.
That is, the idea was to get into a country where, judging by the advertisements of tourist touts, it is as bright at night as during the day, since everything, well, everything, especially in the central squares of cities and tourist centers, is decorated with beautiful garlands of light and New Year's mood .
At the same time, our perception of reality was influenced, in part, by Polish fairy tales, which are probably known to the reader, about magic nuts for Cinderella, Polish princes looking for their betrothed on white horses, and, of course, kind sorceresses who give iPhones, that is, what some joyful gifts.
According to our information, Poland is a magical country that is located not far from Ukraine in the heart of Europe. From random tourists from the outside world, it is reliably protected by kind customs officers and broken roads outside its borders. An additional obstacle on the way to the Magic Land is the chain of queues for entry through its borders. However, this does not prevent, but rather attracts the interest of all strangers heading towards the Magic Land. The Enchanted Land itself is quite large, with access to the sea and mountains, peaks touching the vanilla clouds at the edges of the blueberry jelly plains.
At the same time, at the same time, for some reason, it seemed very confident to us that food in the Magic Land can be spicy and fatty - there is a lot of lard and no less garlic.
By the way, we didn’t make a big mistake with the last one, but here’s the story about everything else.
Direct flight Odessa (Ukraine) - Krakow (Poland). It’s not long to fly, but they don’t feed... Oh, these Lowcost with their discounts and early booking, how to buy tickets is not so expensive, but how to check in, so you immediately need to pay 10 dollars extra either for a seat or for an additional baggage. We didn’t start to be stingy - this is already what kind of savings we already have on vinaigrette, and paid extra for the service of choosing seats, especially since we had hopes that during the New Year holidays in Poland there should be drop-dead discounts and sales, so the luggage back could be useful to us.
Krakow, full official name The Royal Capital City of Krakow is a city in southern Poland, located on the Vistula River, 295 km from Warsaw. The population is about 800 thousand inhabitants, and together with the nearest suburbs - over 1 million and 3 more people, that is, us. Krakow is the second largest city in Poland in terms of population and area. The administrative center of Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the center of the archdiocese.
As many people know, Krakow is the ancient capital of Poland, so it seemed to us that we were rushing (without food and with bought luggage) in a low-cost plane into the midst of medieval castles and narrow streets with open taverns, from which the wild neighing of commoners was heard, mixed with a pleasant smell of barley beer and hams.
TIP: From the airport to Krakow, in our opinion, it is easier to get by taxi. The cost of moving to the center of Krakow will cost about 20 euros.
Yes, by the way, such a currency as the euro is not very welcome when paying for goods and services in Poland, while exchangers write only the euro selling rate, not the purchase rate, so in order not to repeat our sad experience, buy Polish zlotys before departure, otherwise losses can be up to 25% when trying to exchange euros directly in Poland!
Another advantage of a taxi to get from the airport to the city is that Krakow is quite far from the airport. Personally, the trip cost us 150 zlotys - this is what the counter showed. Therefore, when returning back, we can offer to use the services of any travel company and order a transfer to the airport - in this situation, we paid only 90 zł and the car was served right under the front door of our hotel!
OVERALL AIRPORT SCORE: 3 (OK).
OVERALL RATING for transfer from city to airport: 5 (EXCELLENT).
The first thing that catches your eye on the streets of Krakow is the very similarity to the facades of the buildings in the center of Odessa, that we even doubted a little whether we were already here or still there, at home.
We were also immediately a little surprised by the paucity of the festive decoration of the central square and the adjacent streets of Krakow, on which all the way we heard only Russian, Ukrainian speech and there were several Englishmen and a couple of Germans, but for some reason passers-by turned to us in Polish, they say , how to get there or something else was asked - it doesn’t matter, but the important thing is that among all the Ukrainian-Russian-English-German tourists we were considered local, that is, Poles!
In general, it turns out that there are only tourists on the streets of Krakow.
TIP: taking into account the fact that we have walked around almost all the streets of the very center of Krakow and the surrounding areas, we believe that it is better to settle during such trips in the very center of the city and near some supermarket, which, in fact, we did. We also recommend that you take a closer look at the Zabka chain of stores (they have cool packages and more or less prices).
Metropolitan Apartments – a hotel not a hotel, smart living type, apartment in general.
Staying in this smart hotel gave us the most unforgettable impressions and it even seemed to us that the smell, or rather the taste of the air in the apartment was exactly the same as in one of the Polish films directed by Juliusz Machulski with Jan Machulski in the role of Henryk Quinto "Va-Bank ”, remember the music “tu-tu-tu-tu-ti-ru-tu-tu”, right?
Everything in the Metropolitan Apartments is imbued with Polish history and you can tell by the wood rings on the parquet floor or by the plaque on the table the approximate number of decades that the hotel has been filled with everything necessary for the stay of the guests who got this hotel.
Although in general, for the money that we paid, you can’t be too picky, but still, we are in Europe, we would like something more European: at least 50-70 years younger and to be at least one heating battery in the apartment, not electric heaters, and a hair dryer that you can take in your hand, not a backdraft vacuum cleaner nailed to the wall...
OVERALL RATE Metropolitan Apartments: 2+ (WORSE WORSE), but not 3 (FAIR) - due to proximity to the city center and the presence of a supermarket around the corner.
So, let's start celebrating: there are only 5 minutes left before the New Year and 2 more days, and there is still so much to do, so let's run!
Krakow Central Square. Modestly. Clean.
Main Market Square Krakow's Rynek Glowny Central Square - the square is the center of the Old Town. It was formed in the 13th century. Occupying an area of about 40 thousand square meters. By the way, this is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe. It has palaces and churches. In the center are the Cloth Rows, rebuilt in 1555 in the style of the Italian Renaissance. On one side of the cloth rows there is an almost thousand-year-old Romanesque church of St. Wojciech and a monument to Adam Mickiewicz of 1898, on the other side is the town hall tower. The Gothic towers of St. Mary's Church rise above the square.
We were promised that Krakow is an interesting and beautiful city, and on the eve of the New Year holidays, it is dressed up, decorated and invited with fairs, sweets, bagels, etc.
Yes, indeed, there was a fair on the square when we were there, where you could buy souvenirs, have a bite to eat or, for example, combine, namely: buy oscypek (oscypek) is sheep's cheese, that is, it can be eaten, and at the same time it is a souvenir, so we took it as a souvenir for our friends and comrades.
This cheese has received an official certificate. Cheese is made only in two regions of Poland. The recipe seems to date back to 1748. Personally, the taste of cheese seemed to us like a smoked pigtail from sulguni cheese. Polish cheese is prepared in the form of dumplings and fried over an open fire on both sides. By the way, we liked the cheese not with smoked meat together, but with cranberry jam - very tasty. Cheese is also prepared in the form of cylinders with various patterns on the sides.
Also, you can have a bite to eat specialties of local cuisine at the fair.
There are also hot dogs, and grilled meat and vegetables. Pour mulled wine. There are many sweet foods - chocolates and gingerbread.
We liked the soups. We recommend cheesyand mushroom.
By the way, when you buy food, you get disposable wooden cutlery. Why not a souvenir? We brought a couple that we did not use with us - they will still come in handy (May holidays are just around the corner).
Also, walking around the square, you can look at the variety of architecture and sit down for a rest in one of the cafes or take a ride in a carriage - very romantic, but a little expensive: the trip will cost 300 zlotys.
OVERALL AREA RATING: 4 (NORMAL).
In the center of the square there is an indoor market - Cloth Rows.
As everyone is well aware, in 1257 King Bolesł aw V the Shameful, assigning Magdeburg rights to the city, built a double row of cloth trading establishments of stone in the middle of the market square. In the middle of the 14th century, King Casimir III the Great built a new building of cloth rows 108 m long and 10 m wide. Trade shops 7.5 m wide were added on both sides, covered with arched vaults, accessible from the inner rows through arches. This building was built in the Gothic style and burned down in 1555. Master Pankraty blocked the large hall of cloth rows with an arched vault. The outer walls received a decorative attic with mascarons. At the same time, loggias with columns appeared (project by Giovanni Maria Padovano). In 1601, a transverse passage was made through the completed risalits. In 1875-1879, the cloth rows were rebuilt according to the design of the architect Tomasz Prylinsky. Lancet neo-Gothic arches were added around the building. The capitals of the arcade columns were designed by Jan Matejko. On March 12.1931, Cloth Rows were entered in the register of monuments of the Mał opolska Voivodeship. Wooden shops were built along the walls in the lower hall. Today, the top floor houses the "Gallery of Polish Art of the 19th Century", which is a branch of the National Museum of Krakow.
What can you say about the market? There is only one like this in Krakow. At the same time, its advantage is that, for example, jewelry made from amber, almost all of which was brought from the Baltic states, can be bought here relatively inexpensively compared to prices in jewelry stores in Krakow itself. You can also see other handmade souvenirs here, such as leather goods or wood crafts, since Polish supermarkets are no different from supermarkets in other countries and there will only be so-called branded items.
Although we can recommend a good supermarket Gallery Kazimierz.
To the supermarket, however, about 15 minutes on foot from the city center, so it’s better to take a tram, but there you can find, if there are sales, not very expensive, but good things - leather shoes for 15 euros and watches for up to 100 euros. Although, we think that the set of fashion brand stores will be similar in other supermarkets.
And in general, who has what interests. We, for example, arrived in the city of kings!
The architecture of Krakow is striking in its beauty. We believe that it was more interesting to walk around the winter Krakow in the afternoon.
Many ancient buildings are made of honey-colored stones, which is especially pleasing to the eye during the day.
Cathedrals and churches of Krakow create a joyful mood with their appearance, both outside and inside.
We went to several temples - in the church Church of St. Bernardino of Siena was an amazing nativity installation with a nativity scene. All elements of the composition are made with care for details, individual characters are also highlighted, who mechanically carry out actions in accordance with the general picture of the represented community: fishermen catch fish from a reservoir, sheep bleat, bells sway on the towers of monasteries and ringing is heard! Just a miracle! The church itself is joyfully decorated on the eve of the holidays. There were few visitors. We admired the beauty of the interior decoration and, with words of gratitude, moved on our way.
OVERALL Rating: AMAZING!
Nearby is Wawel Castle.
Wawel Castle or Wawel (Wawel in Polish) is a hill and architectural complex in Krakow, on the left bank of the Vistula. Height 228 meters above sea level. It is located on the territory of the administrative district Dzielnica I Stare Miasto. On the Wawel Hill there is a complex of architectural monuments, of which the most important are the Royal Castle and the Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and Wenceslas. Wawel is a symbol of Poland and a place of special significance for the Polish people. The architectural complex is managed by the cultural institution Wawel Royal Castle - State Art Collection.
We can talk a lot about the history of the fortress, its significance, about farewell to honorary citizens of the country, but we want to show respect for its creators first of all, or rather pay attention to Vladislav Loketek ( Wladyslaw I Lokietek), Prince of Krakow, heir of Krakow, Duke of the Kingdom of Poland, Prince of Poland and King of Poland, crowned in Krakow!
The next day we decided to pamper ourselves on a frosty morning and see the snow - it's still winter, but there is no snow either in Odessa, where we flew from, or in Krakow, where, in fact, we arrived.
Therefore, the choice of things to do today (except for the New Year at 12 at night) was obvious - Zakopane!
Zakopane is a city in the extreme south of Poland. The population is in the thousands. Zakopane is the largest winter sports center in the country and is often referred to as Poland's winter capital.
Well, since we are in Poland and now in the ancient capital of Poland, Krakow, but now it's winter! Therefore, let's go to the winter capital - Zakopane!
Let's say right away that expectations were justified - there was snow!
There are three main ways to get from Krakow to Zakopane, not counting the walking tour, namely: bus, train and taxi (or rented taxi).
What is most interesting is that the bus is faster than the train.
TIP: if you live in the center of Krakow on the opposite side of the Old Town, where the bus station is located, it is better to take a taxi. And on the other hand, you can walk up the hill, like we did, and then run to the bus station, because you were late for the flight, but you can admire the beautiful buildings in the rays of the rising winter sun along the way. Decide for yourself).
Station as station:
OVERALL RATING of the bus station: 3 (SATISFACTORY). If we had gone by taxi, then, probably, it would have been higher (as they say: “Darling took me by the waist and called me to Anatlia - if it was about Paris, it could have been lower”).
So, Zakopane: snow, Tatras…
Tatras are mountains. More precisely, part of the Carpathian mountain range in Eastern Europe, the natural border between Slovakia and Poland. Both states have created national parks on the territory of the mountain range, where you can practice winter and summer sports. The parks are home to a variety of wild animals, such as Tatra chamois, marmots, lynxes and bears. The highest point of the Tatras, the peak Gerlach with a height of 2655 meters, is located in Slovakia.
What to see and where to go is a standard set. Much has been written and documented about this. It's simple:
1) one central street - Krupó wki- with trendy brand stores and many eateries for every pocket and taste;
2) an endless fairto the end of the main street with local souvenirs, mostly made in China;
3) lifts and funiculars to the mountain for skiing (if you know how) and admiring (in this case, not only yourself, but also nature).
TIPS: go to branded expensive stores (discounts can be up to 50%), in eateries you can find such as for all 4.5 zloty per 100 grams (if you are on a budget - you don’t have to eat up the cost of your wife’s fur coat, right? ) or savor local dishes, such as trout, and try to find local craftsmen among the merchants who themselves produced at least something in the abundance of souvenirs from China, such as knives, bags with fur or something forged, such as a copper bell or knitted warm woolen socks.
Note: when planning your departure back from Zakopane, please note that the bus station is currently undergoing renovations and they have combined the toilet and ticket office. Therefore, look for signs to the toilet and you will find a cash register. There are 2 cash desks in the toilet and cash department. All tourists and locals, of course, stand in a terrible line at the cashier, the view of which opens immediately from the door of the cashier-toilet, but at the second cashier, which is located immediately to the left of the entrance, there is no one at all except the cashier. And with all this, half of the passengers come to the bus without tickets and buy seats directly from the driver.
In general, Zakopane has an atmosphere of constant celebration.
The people of Zakopane themselves are very sociable and friendly, for example, look at how they designed the help center for tourists - they didn’t just write with paint, but carefully carved figures out of wood:
Here, the explanation of the holiday can also be different - we saw a UFO, or rather a drawing, as the locals saw it...
Everything is wonderful, good - we advise everyone to visit the winter capital of Zakopane and better for a few days.
Back in Krakow, we began to prepare for the celebration of the New Year, and what is most interesting is that Soviet Sparkling Wine is a huge success in Polish stores, probably because of the lowest price - 6 zł .
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Having bought more Krakow kobasa and armed with "shampoo", we moved to the central square to count down the time until the New Year.
It was a lot of fun and warm: there were so many people that the minus temperature was not a hindrance!
A stage was set up in the center of the square, which can only be accessed through the "alcohol search frame" - everyone was checked for the presence of alcoholic drinks and if they found anything, they were not allowed in, although there were a lot of policemen on the streets, whose stern appearance was instantly sobering.
But suddenly the atmosphere of jubilation ended immediately after the chiming clock on the square - the organizers, congratulating everyone on the Happy New Year, turned off the lights on the stage and around it, and the people, as if everyone had agreed, moved home from the main stage.
That is, the celebration, as such, in the middle of the festive concert ended at 00 hours 00 minutes and 30 seconds and everyone began to go home, exploding firecrackers and crackers, as well as scattering unfinished bottles of drinks around them and polluting the street with other garbage .
We were shocked…
One hope is that the hard-working Poles will clean up after the guests in the morning and the central square and the surrounding area will shine clean again!
Returning home, the landscape with its appearance told us that we were returning from a winter fairy tale back home to warm lands: the fields are still green with emerald grass and the coastal waters of the Black Sea breathe not with winter coolness, but with warmth!
That's it!
Thank you all!
IMPORTANT: the rating of the Holiday depends on the rating of the Review!
