Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday – 23, 24, and 25-June-2024
My time in Krakow was, unfortunately, quite brief. I was here for a specific purpose, to see a specific sight, and unfortunately I simply didn’t have enough days in my adventure to spend extra time here.
Fortunately, I did have some time available for adventures – just one afternoon and two evenings, but fortunately that would turn out to be enough for me to at least get a quick glimpse into the beauty of one of the gems of Poland.
After the train dropped me off at the central gallery, and I’d forged my way through the throngs of tourists to settle into my home for the next few days, I forged outward. Grabbed a quick bite to eat, took a moment to look over the map of the city… and plotted a route to circumnavigate the walls of Old Town. You know, I really am appreciating these cities with their old towns and their walls… really does make for a simple and easy way to do a quick literal loop of the touristy area, you know?
I saw parks, walls, a fire-breathing dragon (the legendary Wawel Dragon), a beautiful castle garden (the Baszta Sandomierska and the Royal Courtyard), and some gorgeously preserved city gates (St. Florian’s Gate and the Barbican Gate). I wandered, noticed the pretzel-bagel hybrids for sale everywhere, and decided to get one on my way out of the city. I enjoyed the sun, and endured the heat. It was, simply, lovely.
As is tradition – I ate food in Krakow. Crazy, right? I know. As I was only in town for two evenings and a single full day, though, my gastonomic adventures were perforce a bit limited… but none-the-less included some of the best meals I’ve had in Europe to date:
- Fable Cafe – A quick stop for coffee… and, if I’d stayed in town longer, would definitely have been a brunch stop on my adventures.
- Andrus Maczanka Po Krakowsku – Long name for a simple stop-in restaurant that served pulled pork and nothing else. Simple and efficient enough, though I’ll admit it wasn’t quite up to the standards of American BBQ Pulled Pork.
- The Miner’s Cafe – Located underground in the Wieliczka salt mines, I had an excellent lunch – ribs, Pierogi, dippin dots, coffee… I mean, you don’t have other options if you’re in the mines, but that wasn’t a bad thing in any way.
- Pimiento – This is, as of this post, the best meal I’ve had in Europe. An Argentine steakhouse, I can’t overstate how good their empanadas and desserts are. The steak was good enough, though I still prefer my own, but the empanadas… I still salivate just thinking about the amazing flavor of the filling and the light and crispy shells. And their desserts! Simply staggeringly good “cigar”, which was actually milk chocolate coating over vanilla ice cream and crushed hazelnuts. Great wine and liquor pairings alongside… definitely worth the slightly higher than normal, but still less than the States, bill at the end.
