Musings on Poland

In a way, it feels like I should not be writing a “musings” here. Our travels in Poland were brief and we did not get a chance to see much of what we wanted to. Unlike most of our European adventures up til now, attractions were very strict on the amount of people permitted in on any given day. This set back our Polish dreams more than we expected.

Spots like the Wieliczka Salt Mines and Castle Wawel pretty much required that you make a reservation days ahead of time. We only barely made it to Auschwitz by waking up at 5am to hit the rainy lines. Our timing in general was poor. Staying at the old capitol of Krakow on Sunday & Monday doomed us to no grocery stores on the former day and closed attractions on the latter. Thus, when taken from a bird’s eye view, our Poland odyssey was a bit of a mess!

And yet, strangely, we never felt all that put out by the experience. Katowice impressed us as a modernized Polish city with delicious eats galore. It served as a perfect launch point from which to head out to historical sites nearby. Every moment in Krakow made us crave a return trip. Venerable and winding streets revealed cafes and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that felt like they had been there for ages. The city felt akin to an east European version of Paris, with all the quirkiness & cultural potpourri that entails.

Thus, as we walked quietly through a immaculately maintained cathedral courtyard hidden off the beaten path, within mere steps of our airbnb, we began talking of all the things we’d love to do when we came back. Instead of racing frantically around to try and get a shallow sense that we had “done” Krakow, we took our time and enjoyed everything cheap and delicious. We walked up the ramp to the castle exterior, watched as the darkness descended, and snuggled each other close as nightlights turned on, making the statues of religious figures & kings almost as bright as the stars hidden from our cloudy view.

We may not have seen much of what these Polish cities had to offer, but we loved it all anyways. It informed us on how to be ready for a future trip (reserve so many things ahead of time!) and had us cultivate dreams on how to return to these cities and a country so proud of its long and fascinating heritage. With an economy that, it has to be said, also makes it a very affordable travel destination too. ;)

Now we prepare to get on a plane tomorrow and fly north. Off to the Baltic states and the allure of medieval Tallinn in Estonia!