Forget me not: 5 reasons to remember krakow
This pretty, picturesque Polish city has a dark past with the association of the Nazi concentration camps. But now with the influx of tourists and a growing reputation as an area rich in history and culture, Krakow is fast becoming one of the most talked about places in Europe.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau/photo by Fred Jala
1. Chocolate
Chocoholics will love Krakow as it's a recognized kingdom of cocoa activity, offering a wide variety of chocolate establishments.
The modern Art Deco-style Camera Cafe claims to be Krakow's first ever chocolate bar. Sociable serving-staff, supply frothy coffees and chocolate surprises to diners who can watch black-and-white Hollywood films - that are projected onto the walls - while scoffing their chocolate treats.
Locals swear that the Wawel candy shop on the Main Market Square is home to Krakow's best chocolate. These chocolates feature sparkly coloured wrappers with names like Advocat - a liqueur filling; Tiki Taki - a peanut and marshmallow middle; and Korylki - a creamy filling. Sweet-toothed addicts can purchase these sweets by the pound or the piece. A pound of Wawel chocolates (about 26 sweets) costs roughly $5.
And apparently chocolate really is good for you! That's the mantra at the Dermed Cosmetic and Dermatological Centre in Krakow's beautiful Old Town. For a reasonable price you can enjoy a fantastic two-hour chocolate-scented pampering. It starts with a cocoa body scrub, followed by a chocolate-mousse wrap, and finishes with a soothing massage with chocolate and orange cream. It's great for your skin and stress levels, smells delicious and if you get hungry... where better to gorge yourself on chocolate?
2. Pubs
The Main Market Square in Krakow is said to have the highest number of pubs per square kilometre in the world. In some pubs, people can dance till dawn; others resemble galleries with paintings, drawings and photos on the walls. There are also plenty of small, dim cellar pubs if you want to hide away from the outside world.
A good example of Krakow's extraordinary cellar pubs is the Tower Pub, which is particularly popular with students and musicians. There's a slight Gothic feel to it when the Polish rock bands descend and the pub also hosts a dance floor with lasers, a pinball machine, darts and satellite TV for the sports fan, all in a 14th century basement displaying medieval frescos on the wall.
3. Jazz
Many of the establishments in Krakow are devoted to live jazz music and the city annually hosts a summer jazz festival. This much-loved annual jazz jamboree culminates in a major concert in the courtyard of the Pod Baranami palace, right on the Main Market Square.
Popular Jazz clubs include Boogie - which has a cream and black colour décor, lacquered surfaces and pictures of jazz legends adorning the walls - and the Piec'Art, an attractive lair for jazz connoisseurs to hang out. The vaulted interiors make for great acoustics and frequently attract established jazz artists.
4. Oswiecim /Auschwitz
Oswiecim - better known by its German name, Auschwitz - is the site of the notorious Nazi concentration camp, located an hour's drive from Krakow.
What remains of the camp has been preserved in a 472-acre museum split into different blocks. Some contain Piles of human hair, children's shoes, survivors' drawings, and photos of those who were killed by the Nazis during World War II. Birkenau is linked to Auschwitz by train tracks that lead to the doors of its gas chambers.
Every year some 500,000 visitors visit this industrial town of 45,000, to see the memories of Auschwitz. Half of them are Poles, and the rest mostly from the USA, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Israel.
To visit Auschwitz is to be reminded of the unthinkable atrocities that the Nazi's inflicted on about one million Jewish men, women and children, between 1941 and 1945 in the three Auschwitz concentration camps-Auschwitz, Burkina and Monolith-and the forty or more sub-camps.
This is a journey to witness the worst kind of human behaviour; Auschwitz is disturbing, moving, chilling and totally unforgettable.
5. Museums
Krakow has 28 museums and public art galleries. Among them are the main branch of Poland's National Museum and the Czartoryski Museum, with the latter featuring works by Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt. The National Museum is the chief venue for temporary exhibitions, housing nearly 500 outstanding works by Poland's modern artists, with a tilt towards those most significant for Krakow. The Archdiocese Museum has mainly Pope John Paul II memorabilia, plus some historic church art - from medieval to the baroque.
Conclusion
This fairytale looking city, which was once the nation's capital and the seat for Polish kings, remains the country's spiritual heart.
With cobbled streets, renaissance courtyards, elaborate churches, and the largest medieval square in Europe, Krakow is rapidly challenging Warsaw as the Polish city that tourists most want to visit.
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