Only Here for the Kraków (Oh, and a Wedding)

The final trip abroad for me this year saw me spend a fair few days in Kraków, in Poland, for my brother and now-sister-in-law’s wedding. Poland struck me as one of those places I’d go eventually, and seeing my brother tie the knot seemed like more than a good excuse to go.

I’m not going to talk about the wedding. I don’t feel it’s the place to talk about it here. Besides, if you really want to, they may share a video on their YouTube channel. But I will say fact it was wonderful and followed the Polish tradition of weddings going until silly-bugger-o’clock in the morning, but here are some highlights for me.

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Things I did in Krakow

On the first morning, I took a walking tour from The Free Walking Tour Foundation. It was there we found out about the history and culture behind Krakow, as well as the weird quirks. One such quirk is the bugle player playing every hour. We also found out lots the castle’s connection to Australia, as well as lots about John Paul II.

The second day I took in a museum, the rather brilliant Krakow Pinball Museum. We’re fortunate in Manchester in that we’re close to the rather brilliant Arcade Club, but this was good fun. I’ve given full thoughts over on Retro Garden on the Krakow Pinball Museum.

Towards the end of the holiday I took another free walking tour, this time of the Jewish quarter. This tour was recommended to me to get a better understanding of Krakow. This was interesting but I feel I should’ve done this on the first day, though we were fortunate as I did this on a Monday, where many of the museums and Synagogues on the tour were open for free, and the company were licenced to take us around, which was great. I ended the day going into the  Oscar Schindler Museum, which is free on Monday. The museum focuses mainly on Krakow during the Second World War. It only has 2 or 3 rooms dedicated to Oscar Schindler. It is well worth going to, especially on a Monday.

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Where I Ate In Krakow

Food wise, I spent a lot of time in the Alchemia Pub & Restaurant, which had a great range of not-exactly-Polish cuisine, with great beer. I also found a delightful coffee shop called Cytat Cafe which was quirky and gave you quotes with every coffee.

I also loved the food at Pimento Argentine Grill – I loved the Sweet Potato and Chorizo.

But the main event, the wedding, was the highlight of the week. I wouldn’t change that for the world.


Also published on Medium.

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