Palm Sunday & Mr Dwurnik in Krakow

Today Christians celebrate Palm Sunday and here is a painting titled 'Palm Sunday' taken yesterday at Szolajski House Museum in lovely Krakow. 

Wikipedia provided me with an interesting bit regarding this day:

 'A Spanish rhyming proverb states: Domingo de Ramos, quien no estrena algo, se le caen las manos ("On Palm Sunday, the hands drop off of those who fail to wear something new")'

And later in the day I took a few pictures of the Easter palms in the Krakow Old Town Market:

What a choice of  'palms'

More 'palms' to choose from

Easter baskets - another Easter essential

Tall palms and Sukiennice in the background

These were the tallest palms in Krakow Old Square

There are many more nice Krakow scenes I'd like to share today, though: 

Hot air balloon above The Vistula River (Wisła) in Krakow

Wawel Castle across The Wisla, behind the bus stop

Aleja Mickiewicza

Corner of Pilsudskiego St. and Al. Krasinskiego

National Museum Krakow, Main Building

'Źaczek' student dorm

Stanislaw Wyspianski in front of Muzeum Narodowe

Invitation to Edward Dwurnik 'Madness' exhibition

Direction: Dwurnik's 'Madness'

Non-cooperative lift to The National Museum

The capricious lift was a disappointment and I took the steps on hearing the story of an Englishman in a wheelchair stuck in it for almost two hours waiting for the service people to free him.

National Museum cafe

The girl here managed to produce the coffee just as I like it: strong, hot, with hot milk and no froth! That's not always possible....

View of The National Museum from the tram stop in Al. 3-go Maja

 
 

What and how does Edward Dwurnik paint

Edward Dwurnik's works I saw for the first time at his big individual exhibition in Wroclaw in 1997. I was a student then, always keen to travel and see something new.  They made a great impression on me showing the surrounding world, the ugliness of ordinary people's existence, their struggle to survive and the brutality they have to face in a hostile world. Although his works are predominantly set in the post-war, Soviet-controlled and then the post-1989 Poland, they are universal. Unlike many artists, he exhibited during the difficult times after martial law was imposed on Poland. That made him an outcast in the artistic circles. However, I'm trying to understand his motives. By doing so he could draw attention to Polish issues on the international arena. His paintings are not the kind I would decorate my own abode with, but they are a great reflection upon the nature of mankind, not only a documentation of recent Polish history because they focus on the lives of ordinary people.

Planty from the tram

Corner of Grodzka Street and Plac Dominikanski

Romantic way of sightseeing in Krakow Old Town

View of Grodzka Street towards Wawel 

One of many unusual hats in Grodzka Street shops

Grodzka Street starts at the Old Town Square

Easter shop window reflection: St Wojciech (Adalbert) Church

View of The Old Town Square from Grodzka Street

Tower is the only part of the original Town Hall that survived a  fire

St Mary's Church from the cafe tables still covered in snow

St Wojciech Church 

Sukiennice detail

 Near here we bought two of the famous Krakow bagels (obwarzanki krakowskie) to keep us going. They look like this:

Krakow bagel with poppy seeds, my favourite!

Each capital of Sukiennice is different!

Backs of the Easter Market stalls and the Sukiennice  (Cloth Hall) colonnade 

Easter market

It's got late and I still haven't added the evening scenes and the story of a taxi driver who collects autographs for his daughter. He's met many famous people from both show business and politics. A Krakow rabbi's daughter told him to contact her should he find himself in trouble while visiting Israel. He asked her how he could find her and she said everybody knew her in her country! Earlier, they both agreed that nowhere else, but in Krakow Kazimierz (the historic Jewish District) would you find a place where one street called Corpus Christi Street meets another street called Rabbi Meisels Street!