Krakow

Posted at 8:18 pm on Thursday, June 4, 2009, in Travels, and tagged poland.

We spent four days and five nights in Krakow. (Yes, that combination is possible. We arrived very late on a Friday, following more than twenty-four hours of consecutive travel, and left in the morning four days later.) Krakow is very beautiful, easily up there with what Paris and Barcelona have to offer. Speaking of Paris. When smoking was banned there recently (not soon enough for when my wife and I honeymooned there), there was discussion that the city would never be the same, that the activity of sitting in a smoke-filled cafe is what made Paris, well, Paris. The city has recovered from the initial shock, of course, or so I assume. For those interested in the cigarettes and cafe lifestyle, however, Krakow is for you. Smoking has not yet been banned, even from on-board trains, and everyone smokes, young and old.

It may be well known, I am not sure, but I can attest to the fact that Krakow has a lot of churches. A lot. At any corner, you can count three or more to choose from, and all of them are several hundred years old (or older). Religion is easily identifiable as a very important trait in the lives of Cracovians. Typically when you see a nun (somewhere in the U.S.), you see one, or maybe a small group of two or three, and as a group, they would always be seen together, never apart, as if to say, as a group, together we can not be broken in this world full of infidels. Well, not in Krakow. Nuns and priests walk freely throughout the city streets, and free of ridicule. It was weird. In a more usual circumstance, when I see a nun, I point and laugh. Not in Krakow; only reverence.

Most people speak English in Krakow (or are able to). Maybe not American English, but English enough to understand what you are looking for. Although it sounds unpleasant, making a puzzled look, and saying, “toaleta,” will get you to the restroom.

Life is good in Krakow, at least from the perspective of a traveler to the city. Everything is cheap. The polish dollar — the zwoty — is not like spending Monopoly money. It is like spending Life money in a world where Monopoly money is the benchmark. Does that make sense? It should. The U.S. dollar (USD) is equal to roughly 3.3 zwoty (PLN), or 1 USD = 3.3 PLN. That is the rate as of today at least. Just in that relationship, you can see how a $20 bill in the U.S. is similar to a $50 PLN note. But that is not really the case. The fact is everything is deflated in Poland (at least Krakow). A breakfast meal — eggs and ham — runs you 8 or 10 PLN. That is 3 or 4 USD. That is a good value. A tall glass of beer — maybe a pint in the U.S.; uniformly 0.5L in Poland — runs you 4 or 6 PLN. That is anywhere from $1.50 to $2 in USD. In any bar in any good-sized city in the U.S., a pint of good beer (anything outside of a Budweiser or Coors or Miller) runs you at least $5. Then there is dinner. The finest of establishments — those that require reservations (we went to one) — exhibit incredible value as well. Even if you order some of the finest plates on the menu, it is difficult to spend more than $20 per person including drinks (not including buying an imported bottle of wine).

As a result of such deflation, it is hard not to be a good tipper. In the SF bay area, a tip of 20% is required for standard or better service, and at no point, should a tip of less than 15% be left unless the service was exceptionally poor. The standard rate of tipping in Poland — from our research — is ten percent. Okay. But throw in the deflation, and for a couple of beers (a cost of 10 PLN) and a measly 1 PLN is the appropriate tip. That is 30 cents. It is hard to give anyone 30 cents as a tip for two large beers, often with friendly service.* So we would leave a few zwoty, maybe the equivalent of a dollar or two. It is the least we could do. The food was good. The service was good. Is it the wait-staff’s fault everything is cheap?

What is my point? Travel to Krakow. And watch your dollar magically be multiplied by two or three or four. This phenomenon may be short lived. The euro will be adopted and introduced in this nation very shortly, and the conventional wisdom is that there will be severe inflation, especially in the first few years. Although I’m not sure if that is true.

Krakow is one of the most stunningly beautiful cities in the world. Simply said.

* That is not to say we always had friendly service. In fact, it was not uncommon for service to start relatively poor, and then to become better later on during the meal, especially after we left our “sizable” tip.

Note: I wrote this while off-line (using WriteRoom) sitting at a cafe drinking beer in the Polish countryside.

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