Krakow and the 24hr Pierogies

Krakow- old town

After Brussels, Gemma, Josh and I arrived in Krakow. The capital of Poland from the 11th until the 16th century, this beautiful city remains an important cultural, academic, and economic centre in the country. Unlike Warsaw and many other Polish cities, Krakow was not destroyed at the end of WWII. It is therefore possible to explore well-preserved historic buildings including some dating back to the middle ages and remnants of the Krakow Jewish Ghetto. This is all according to our amazing tour guide, Ella. She was fantastic! We did the "Krakow" and the "Kazimierz/Jewish district" free walking tours with her. I highly recommend doing at least one of those to get an overview of the city's history and to check out the main sights. Visit their website here for more info.

While in Krakow, Gemma and I had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz (Josh had been before). It is a must for anyone interested in learning more about the holocaust and WWII. I wouldn't plan on doing anything too crazy afterwards because it is quite overwhelming, as it should be. We left this for our last day. It  is a solemn experience.

In addition to all the historic sights and cultural activities, Krakow is well known for its amazing nightlife. To make the most of it, I would recommend staying at a small party hostel -- especially if you're travelling alone. We stayed at the Pink Panther's party hostel and they offered free vodka tasting, soup, fondue and champagne on the nights we were there. I guess the downside of a party hostel is the noise but just bring some earplugs and suck it up, it's well worth it for a very good time.

Organized fun might not seem like a very intrepid thing to do but we decided to go on our hostel's pub crawl and had lots of fun! The two staff members leading the pub-crawl were young and fun and without them, we probably could not have found the bars they took us to. Touristy? Yes, but unless you speak polish or are staying with a local, a pub-crawl is not a bad idea! It only cost us around 50 zloty (about 12 EUR). Unfortunately, everyone in our group got super wasted so we only got to do 2 out of 5 of the bars and clubs we were supposed to party in. Oops. My happiest memory remains the delicious 24hr pierogi Josh and I got at the end of the night...YUM.

I recommend you...

• Take the Krakow Free Walking tour! Our tourguide Ella was awesome, check out their website here
• Go out in Kazimierz, the old jewish district
• Go to Plaza Nowy in Kazimierz where you can check out the market on weekend mornings or go for a drink at a nearby bar. Definitely don’t forget to eat a Zapiekanka!
• Try polish soup, our favourite was the mushroom soup served in a bread bowl
• Eat some 24hr Pierogis at Zapiecek (only 12 PLN)
• Hang out at Rynek Główny (Main Market Square)
• Go to the Wawel Castle
• Get drunk on Zubrowka Vodka with apple juice
• Visit St. Francis of Assisi's Church; it was Pope John Paul II’s favourite church

Fotos (all by me so please ask if you want to use them on your site)

Main Market Square

Mushroom soup!

Main Square - monument for the 19th century poet Adam Mickiewicz 

Inside the Sukiennice (Draper's Hall)

The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul 

Old Town Krakow

Old town Krakow - note the fake stone, apparently stone was the shit and really hard to find

Wawel Cathedral at Wawel Castle

The Wawel Castle

Where Pope Jean Paul II used to live before being pope 

Outside of Pople Jean Paul II old dwelling

Zapiekanki rotunda

Zapiekanka

Some trendy bar in Kazimierz, old jewish district now hipster gem 

Memorial to Jews from the Krakow Ghetto on their deportation site. There are 12 chairs and each chair represents 1000 victims

Remnant of the Krakow Ghetto 

Memorial to the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto

The old Synagogue in Kazimierz

Auschwitz

March adventures in Belgium, Poland, and Hungary

At the beginning of March, I embarked on a fantastic two-week holiday with my good friend Gemma. The ongoing deterioration of our bodies that ensued was well worth the amount of fun, food, culture, history and alcohol we consumed. We survived but mostly enjoyed Brussels, Krakow, Warsaw with tightly packed suitcases and even tighter budgets. Check out our recommendations below and click on the links for more photos and a juicier account of our adventures!

Brussels - Click here for more!

• Drink plenty of beer everywhere but do stop by Delirium Cafe
• Eat plenty of waffles. We recommend the street… try to find the best one!
• Eat fries "Chez Antoine" – look for a little kiosk in Place Jourdan

Krakow - Click here for more 

• Take the Krakow Free Walking tour! Our tourguide Ella was awesome, check out their website here
• Go out in Kazimierz, the old jewish district
• Go to Plaza Nowy in Kazimierz where you can check out the market on weekend mornings or go for a drink at a nearby bar. Definitely don’t forget to eat a Zapiekanka!
•  Try polish soup, our favourite was the mushroom soup served in a bread bowl
• Eat some 24hr Pierogis at Zapiecek (only 12 PLN)
• Hang out at Rynek Główny (Main Market Square)
• Go to the Wawel Castle
• Get drunk on Zubrowka Vodka with apple juice
• Visit St. Francis of Assisi's Church; it was Pope John Paul II’s favourite church

Warsaw 

• Eat some incredibly cheap and delicious food at "Bar Mleczny Familijny", a polish milk bar. The staff does not speak english but they keep an english menu near the cash register. All you need to do is write down what you want and hand it over. Don't be discouraged by this, it's definitely worth a try! More about this place here.

Budapest 

• Indulge yourself and spend an afternoon (or a few) at one Budapest's Turkish baths; I went to and had a great time
• Try to catch a show at the opera, tickets are mad cheap and the building is gorgeous 
• Grab a bite of delicious hungarian food at Menza 

Packing for March Adventures

If I had to choose one thing right now I love about my job, it would be the holidays. I'm serious, we get so many! I doubt I will ever have as much free time as I do now. Please note I wrote one thing right now and not the one thing. I enjoy teaching but my french kids have been particularly difficult this week... Yo, I would be too if I was 10 years old and had a 9-5 school schedule.

French educators take their holidays very seriously. A few weeks ago, it was proposed to cut down summer holidays. Most teachers at the schools I work at were opposed to these cuts and went on strike  (as did many teachers throughout France). I don't think it's such a bad idea to make the school year longer as long as that means shortening their ridiculously long schooldays, but that's just me.

I have time off until March 18th and I am embarking on my second mini-european tour. This time, I will be exploring Brussels, Krakow, Warsaw and Budapest. I am most excited about Belgian beer, Polish vodka, tram parties in Krakow, and Turkish baths in Budapest. I will definitely update via instagram @rearaniva and twitter @rearaniva as much as I can.

At a few hours away from my departure, I am trying to cram my suitcase with both warm and cool outfits. I've chosen a black, white and gold palette so that hopefully I will look at least half-decent throughout the trip. Since I am in a permanent state of semi-brokenness, the only choice was to fly Ryanair. The plus side? 8 euro flights to Budapest from Krakow. The downside? strict hand luggage regulations i.e. a microscopic suitcase where I might be able to fit a couple of t-shirts.

This is what I'm hoping will fit in my suitcase:

I also got a lot of tiny toiletries; for once in my life I'm going to embrace cleanliness while travelling #Newlife.