A fortnight near famous dragon's den

May it not seem so, but it's been a fortnight today since I came to Krakow to get my knee fixed. Another visit to the doctor's today.

Krakow is a splendid place, most likely number one on any visitor's to Poland list. ( However, those who do't go beyond the tourist landmarks, do miss a great deal, mind you; ask me and I'll tell you what!) There is so much history and beauty here spiced with various legends and anecdotes. Everybody in Poland has heard of the Wawel Dragon dwelling in a den in the hill on which the royal castle proudly stands to these days. This link provides a few versions of the legend: http://www.wawel.krakow.pl/en/index.php?op=11 and is a great source of information about the Royal Castle in Krakow.

Every time I go to the doctor's, the taxi drives me past the hill with the castle atop. It's such a nice view. However, it's either obstructed by other cars or the light is not right to take a good snapshot.

Wawel Castle, Krakow

This picture doesn't really show the castle hilltop location with the den entrance facing the winding Wisla (Vistula) River. Prompted by these features, my memory wandered to south-western Wales. I brought a group of students there one summer in the 1990s. We stayed at a hostel near Pembroke Castle. I recall a visit to the fortress residing atop a hill and also a visit to an enormous den - a cave immediately under the castle. An amusing story related to this particular castle comes to my mind.

Wales is full of defensive castles, fortified strongholds, to keep the Gaelic country under control. There are mostly hilltop castles, or moated ones, but we also saw a castle by the beach, not far from Tenby, I think.

Anyway, I'd better go back to the story. We were travelling by coach across England and Wales and when it was feasible, would make small detours to take a closer look at any castle conveniently en route. That's how we found ourselves near a particularly impressive castle surrounded by a moat. It looked amazing against the blue sky turning pink on the horizon as the sun went down. We read about this fortress earlier and were determined to take nice pictures in the low light of a sunny summer day. From the parking place we didn't know whether to go right or left to get the best access. There was a big moat separating us from it. Without much hesitation, I asked a middle-aged woman passing by, as the the area was not at all crowded so it may have been our only chance to get directions. The friendly Welsh woman was delighted to help. She walked back to take us to the right spot and was most keen to find out where we were from and what our destination was. Pembroke! That's where her parents met. They would go on dates near the castle there. It was most romantic, according to what they told her. I trust she wouldn't mind sharing this story here.
Another interesting aspect of this encounter is that the students met a native speaker of English whose language is rather different from the one they are used to and that they actually met a Welsh person. For the woman we were the first Polish people she had ever spoken to. It was well before Poland joined the EU and  Poles 'flooded' the British Isles in search of a better life. Some found it, some didn't, some are still searching...

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Below are a few of today's pictures from the Old Town:

Lazy Monday...

As above...
....
Actually, the day turned out most productive, despite the slow start. I managed to finish a lot of useful work that has been in the pipeline for long. It's a great feeling!

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!