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Historic, Traditional, Sometimes Magical Poland Where A Fistful Of Zotys Goes A Long, Long Way US$1 Equals 3.98 Zoty ~ by Steenie Harvey

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Before me are almost as many pigeons as in St. Mark’s Square. However, unlike in Venice, sitting at a sidewalk café on Kraków’s Rynek Glówny square doesn’t require taking out a mortgage. Zubrowka anybody? Although I can’t guarantee bison grass vodka won’t make you grimace, it’s a mistake you can afford to make. Zubrowka usually costs no more than 8 zotys ($2) a glass—and if you want to play safe, a beer is $1.35.  Now is a wonderful time to visit the homeland of Copernicus, Chopin, and Pope John Paul II. When Poland gains EU membership next year, prices may rocket. At this moment they’re laughably low. And cheap doesn’t mean nasty. Food, hotels, and services have improved beyond recognition since eastern bloc days.  Poland sees itself as a mediator between “Old” and “New” Europe. In the recent referendum, a majority of Poles voted to join the EU, but they’re also one of the USA’s biggest fans. Not only are they enthusiastic about NATO, they’re supportive of U.S. foreign policy. Seeing some house prices quoted in dollars rather than zotys, I asked why. “Because we like dollars!” said the agent.  Despite the McDonalds, Internet cafés, and bright new shopping malls, Poland is a deeply traditional land of folk songs, Catholic churches, and old-fashioned courtesies. Plus there’s enough non-English speakers about to make you feel as if you really are in far-flung parts.  Communism was undoubtedly doomed from the start. Even Joseph Stalin doubted that the fervently nationalistic Poles would knuckle down to accepting the grim authoritarianism of the U.S.S.R. He reputedly moaned that “trying to enforce communism on the Poles is like trying to fit a saddle on a cow.”  A Forgotten Sleeping Beauty It’s been over a decade since the former Warsaw Pact countries embraced western ways. Yet Poland - Europe’s new eastern frontier - remains a forgotten Sleeping Beauty. Only 14 million tourists went last year, the majority from other eastern European countries and Germany. Some barely linger. For some Germans, Poland simply represents a day’s bargain hunting.

Wawel Castle in Kraków.

If that’s all people associate with Poland, it’s not surprising it gets ignored. Brute-ugly Warsaw of the crumbling concrete monoliths? Nobody mentioned the gleaming skyscrapers rising all over the capital, the parks, pavement cafés, theaters, and opera house - or that its citizens have painstakingly rebuilt the old quarter’s gabled townhouses and cobbled squares from the rubble of WW II. 

Towns like Torun and Kraków are absolute gems. Steeped in a thousand years of magic and alchemy, these are once-upon-a-time places of castles, cupolas, and watchtowers...of mustached men playing trumpets...of flower-stalls selling posies of violets for 40 cents...of fiery dragons jostling for story space with music-loving frogs. And in a country of 38 million people, stories abound. 

Making Hay While The Sun Shines

A land of 9,000 lakes and vast open spaces, Poland is hemmed by the Baltic Sea to the north and the Carpathian mountains to the south. Although largely pancake-flat, there’s something really soothing about the landscape. Tiny villages cluster around churches, head-scarved women hoe up onions, white storks flap towards untidy nests built atop telegraph poles. Deer often emerge from the mushroomy forests of silver birch and pine trees - the wildwood home of wild boar, brown bears, wolves, and wildcats.
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The high altitude beauty of the Tatra mountains in the south of Poland.

Unless you’re determined to trail around industrial blackspots like the steelwork town of Nova Huta, Poland delivers up far more beauty than blight. Traveling through the countryside, you realize “the New Europe” is a misleading catch-phrase. Rural Poland isn’t Old Europe, it’s Ancient Europe. Testament to how many countryside-dwellers once lived, you’ll see an open picture-book of little haystacks, horse-drawn plows, and meadows scythed by hand. Whether such labor-intensive farming practices can survive when Poland joins the EU seems unlikely. But for the moment, time appears to have stopped in the 19th century. Poland has suffered more anguish than most European countries, yet life remains civilized. It’s simply uncouth to visit a shop and not greet people with a Dzie? dobry (good day). Anybody who speaks English, and many younger people do, is likely to be eager to practice conversational skills. But take it slow - their English often seems curiously old-fashioned and formal.  “Madam, you can safely say I am a woodsman,” said the chatterbox boy from Bia?ystok beside me on the flight from Heathrow. He wanted to talk about his farm, his widowed mother, and his brother working in London. It was an ideal opportunity for me to learn some Polish words too. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized that zoty (the Polish currency) is pronounced “zwoty.” Low prices, great summers - and you’re not forced to eat pigs’ knuckles - Poland is inexpensive. The bus fare from Kraków to mountain resort Zakopane is 9 zotys - $2.28 for a two-hour journey. A room with breakfast in Kraków’s four-star Hotel Demel, cost me $46.50. And unless you’re in a top-notch Warsaw restaurant, you’ll struggle to pay more than $10 for a decent quality meal with beer.  Horrid weather? Not in May. Although some days were overcast, there were also blue skies with temperatures in the mid-seventies Fahrenheit. Sure, winters are bone-chilling, but this is also skiing season in the Tatra Mountains.  With a phrase book, getting around isn’t overly stressful...and many professionals speak English. Admittedly, the language looks scary, and you may have to scribble down ticket requirements at bus and railway stations.

Warsaw - Poland’s Born-Again Capital

Despite links with Chopin and a cute old quarter, Warsaw will never vie for the title of Europe’s glamor queen capital. It’s a modern city, very much in the regeneration process. Stereotype images of clunky apartment buildings take little seeking out, but new high-rise offices are gradually transforming the skyline. And thanks to wide avenues, traffic flows much more freely than in most other capitals. 

A Frankfurt in the making? Maybe so, but it needs stressing that travelers aren’t generally wildly enamored with Warsaw. Here, history is preserved in memory rather stones. The memories are mostly painful - after World War II, only around 15% of the city was left standing.

Inch by Inch

If time is precious, you’re better off heading straight for Kraków’s glories. But that’s not to say Warsaw offers nothing. The city is rightly proud of its Stare Miasto—the old city radiating around a square called Rynek Starego Miasta. It was scrupulously rebuilt brick by brick (and cobble by cobble) from old town plans that survived the war. 

I expected gruesome Disneyfication, but it’s easy to imagine these are genuine medieval streets. Surrounded by faux 17th century merchant’s houses, Rynek Starego Miasta is a colorful jumble of outdoor cafés and restaurants, flower-sellers, souvenir stalls and artists’ daubs. The square’s focal point is a fountain of Syrena, Warsaw’s mermaid symbol. Legend tells she swam up the Vistula river and ordered two fishermen called Wars and Sawa to build her a city. 

Any of the square’s cafes are relaxing places for a tipple, but I’d recommend eating elsewhere. Affordable for westerners, certainly, but over-priced compared to other parts of Warsaw. A 10-minute walk away, on a street called Krakowskie Przedmei?cie, I found Pierogi Swiata: a cozy place of wooden beams and spanking white table cloths. A two-course lunch cost 22 zotys ($5.50). Nothing fancy - soup and stuffed pierogi or chopped pork wrapped in cabbage leaves - but it was full of Poles rather than German tourists.
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If you’re a Chopin enthusiast, summer concerts are performed in Lazienki Park and Palace. Only a step away from Warsaw’s Old Town, Ogrd Saski (the Saxon Gardens) provides another peaceful green space of flowers, fountains, and old ladies armed with knitting needles. You wouldn’t guess this park was also flattened to rubble during the War - it looks like it’s been here for centuries. At the nearby Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Polish soldiers change the guard on the hour.  Carmen at the Opera House...and sleazy strip joints and nightclubs featuring women mud wrestlers near Warszawa Central railway station. Some very low culture is entwined with the capital’s high culture offerings. Don’t be surprised to find “calling cards” offering all manner of intriguing services wedged in your hotel bedroom door - the city has a highly active sex trade. Medieval Aspic Torun was restored rather than rebuilt. Founded by 13th century Teutonic knights, the town’s steeples cast shimmering reflections in the Vistula river - and the spirit of astronomer Nicolas Copernicus still stalks its streets.  You can visit Torun on a day excursion from Warsaw. Girdled by rampart walls, it’s like being in an open-air gothic museum...a museum laden with enticing gingerbread smells. Torun pierniki (gingerbread) is renowned throughout Poland and there’s no shortage of shops. Nor of ruined castles, gatehouses, and curiosities such as a Leaning Tower, where errant women were once incarcerated. .

The beautiful city of Kraków.

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Now overlooking a grassy park and riverbank walkways, Old Torun’s skyscape can’t have changed much since Copernicus’s birth in 1473. As well as touring his house, you can see his baptism font in the colossal gothic cathedral. A popular photo spot for Poles is Rynek Staromiejski, the main square. A statue of the great man holding aloft a globe carries an inscription that he “moved the earth and stopped the sun.” Until Copernicus mooted this radical new theory, scholars believed the sun revolved around the earth.

The square also has a curious fountain encircled by tiny bronze frogs and topped by a statue of a violin-playing boatman. It illustrates a Torun fairytale about a plague of frogs conjured up by a witch to torment the townsfolk. The boatman eventually lured them into the woods with the sweet notes of his fiddle.

Enchanted Kraków

Searching for “the new Prague?” Well, come to Kraków. Imbued with almost as much magic, it gives the Czech capital a decent run for its money. A quirky city of students and saints, its streets are yet another treasure trove of architectural gems and strange medieval stories. For centuries, this was Poland’s royal capital. As well as mighty Wawel castle, there are over 6,000 historic monuments and buildings.

The Royal Way...The University Trail...The St. Stanislaus Trail...The Jewish Heritage Route...the Krakovian Saints Route...In the Footsteps of John Paul II. The big problem is deciding which historical trail to start with. My advice is to take things easy and begin with a beer (or a wodka) in Rynek Glówny, the old town’s main square. 

Enclosed by a narrow park called the Planty, (once the town’s moat), Old Kraków has a number of entranceways. The Royal route was under the Barbican Tower and through Floria?ska Gate - now a haunt of street artists. But, whichever gate you enter by, all lanes converge upon Rynek Glówny. Reputedly Europe’s largest medieval square, its vast expanse is completely car and tram-free. But not free of street musicians, brass-bands, or flower sellers calling out their wares. 

In streets around the square, many of Kraków’s old cellars have gained a new lease of life as bars, galleries, and jazz clubs. And there’s almost as many “ethnic” eateries as traditional Polish. Brazilian...Corsican...Greek...Italian...Japanese...Scottish. Yes, Scottish - but heed the warning of one who knows - haggis is irredeemably ghastly. 

Protected By Magic?

Edging Kraków’s Old Town, Wawel Hill, with its castle and golden-dome cathedral, is extraordinarily atmospheric. Rumor holds a magic stone - some say a Hindu chakra stone - is buried somewhere on the hill. If rumors are true, its protective powers prevented Kraków from suffering any damage during World War II. 

Go early in the morning. Only a limited number of visitors are allowed into parts of the castle complex and most things shut by 3 p.m. Generations of Polish royalty were crowned in the cathedral - and buried here, too. Wandering past the sarcophagi-like tombs of kings, poets, and national heroes, you feel like you’ve stumbled into some twilight realm of knights and troubadours. 

One of the cathedral’s great treasures is the 11-tonne Zygmunt Bell, which requires six sturdy men to ring it. Another is the 14th-century crucifix of saintly queen Hedwig. This 13-foot-tall Gothic sculpture of Jesus allegedly spoke to her on several occasions. Many Catholics believe hearing Mass in the cathedral gains the release of a soul from purgatory. 

The Director’s Cut

Beyond Wawel Castle lies Kazimierz, Kraków’s former Jewish quarter. Although never an entirely Jewish neighborhood (and the actual ghetto erected by the Nazis lay across the river), Steven Spielberg filmed scenes for Schindler’s List here. Roman Polanski also drew on his Kraków experiences for The Pianist, his film about Warsaw’s ghetto. 
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The view from on top of the valley in which the town of Zakopane lies.

Kazimierz’s origins go back to 1335, when King Kazimierz granted it a charter. Prior to World War II, around 65,000 Jews lived here. Seven synagogues survived the war years, but most inhabitants died in the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Walking its streets was such a sad experience I couldn’t bring myself to visit Auschwitz too. Memories of destroyed lives are everywhere: boarded-up shops still carrying Jewish names above their doorways; the overgrown cemetery; Novy Square, whose round market hall once served as an abattoir for the ritual slaughter of beasts. Today’s Kazimierz is mostly a monochrome of gray streets and decaying buildings—the poor part of town. Judging by all the dusty little shops selling bolts of material, perhaps the descendants of merchants who once traded in the Cloth Hall moved here.  It will take time for Kazimierz to fully awaken, but signs of energy are appearing. As well as a summertime Jewish Festival, there are some new Jewish restaurants, where klezmer bands play in the evenings. It’s home to some rather cool cafés, too. Don’t be dissuaded by the derelict floors above Les Couleurs on Estery street. Packed with young Polish professionals, it’s as good as any Paris café. Should you fancy croissants and French wine, this is the place. Zakopane – Not Quite My Idea Of Alpine Charm “Zakopane...a beautiful unspoiled resort with many touches of the past. Folklore lovers seek out the preserved culture...strollers enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the Tatra Mountains, using the many footpaths across the lower regions. Typical are the highlander wooden houses, and the influences from Hungarian and Austrian occupation periods shown in local costumes...”  After such a glowing write-up, I had to see Zakopane. Two hours from Kraków, the town is in the Tatra Mountains (a range of the Carpathians) separating Poland from Slovakia. The country’s main ski resort, it becomes a hiking center during spring and summer.

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But - I was disappointed. Yes, there are wooden churches and chalets. Meadows of golden celandines and pink ragged robin...cozy restaurants serving substantial meals of the schnitzel and sauerkraut variety. There are storefronts packed with skis and hiking boots...cable cars and funiculars...waitresses in frilly white blouses and bodiced dresses. In fact, if you ignore the language, you might think Zakopane had done a moonlight flit from somewhere in Austria, Switzerland, or southern Germany. 

But that’s only if you haven’t visited the Alps. To appreciate the majestic wildness of the Tatras, you’ll need to leave Zakopane and its 30,000 inhabitants behind. With two million annual visitors, it’s not an exclusive alpine resort. The word coming to my mind was “down-market.”

Although too pretty to be described as an eyesore, Zakopane isn’t unspoiled. There are far too many grotty snack bars and souvenir stalls. It’s been a long time since shepherds guided flocks along Krupowki, the pedestrianized main street, towards mountain pastures. 

Nowadays it’s Polish teachers herding flocks of schoolkids past candy-floss and waffle stalls...past bouncy trampolines...past sticks topped with plastic hatchet heads...Italian soccer shirts emblazoned with Juventus stripes...squeaky fur monkeys...squirting water balls. As so many youngsters visit Zakopane on excursions and camping trips, the entrepreneurship is perhaps understandable. However, why did the planning authorities also allow the top of Gubalowka mountain to suffer a similar avalanche of dross?

For $4 return, a funicular and cable cars whisk the lazy up Gubalowka. Expecting nothing other than a refuge-style restaurant, I was appalled by the multitude of burger bars, beer joints, and stalls stocked with fluffy animals and plastic swords. Walking a mile along a track brought no escape.

I don’t know if such rampant commercialism exists on the summit of Giewont, another mountain overlooking Zakopane. This mountain is known as “the Sleeping Knight.” A legend tells that during times of crisis, a slumbering warrior will awake and emerge to save Poland from invaders. Cynics might wonder where the knight was in 1939, but don’t ask that question. 

Sidebar: Weird Vodka

So you know your way around a drinks cabinet? Well, I didn’t realize wodka came in so many colors and flavors. As well as zubrowka - and yes, it’s flavored with the grass that Polish bison graze on - there’s mysliwska (juniper berries), wisniowka (cherry), and jarzebiak (rowanberry). 
Jan Pasek, an envoy of King Kazimierz, once wrote about the drinking habits of the lower class peasantry and apprentices. “This awful rotgut...they drink it with such delight, smacking their lips...such a delicacy that a goat would wail if it were forced down its throat.” After sampling zubrowka, I knew exactly what he meant.

Cherry-flavored, cherry-red wisniowka is more palatable. And despite the Polish custom, it’s better to savor it by sipping rather than aiming it straight down the throat. At Warsaw airport, half-liter bottles cost $4.

Draught beer varies between $1 and $2 for a half-liter glass. 

Sidebar: Kraków’s Dragon

Long, long ago, a Smok (dragon) lurked in a cave below Wawel Castle. Being a predictable dragon, it regularly munched on livestock...and, of course, the occasional maiden. 

How did Kraków get rid of this unwelcome resident? Easy. Prince Krak lobbed a sulfur-laden sheep’s hide into the cave, which Old Smok promptly devoured. No doubt the dragon thought the burning in its stomach was simply a bad case of indigestion, but it shouldn’t have attempted to drink the Vistula river dry. End of dragon problem - it exploded into smithereens.

A dragon sculpture on the riverbank belches fiery breath every 30 seconds. It costs nothing to see it, but for 3 z?otys (75 cents), it’s fun reaching the river via the dragon’s cave. The entrance is in Wawel Castle’s courtyard - down a spiral staircase and then through creepily dark tunnels. 

Sidebar: Into The Salt Mines

Six miles from Kraków, Wieliczka is both an above-ground village and an underground town. Salt has been extracted here for over 700 years and its nine levels of salt mines contain over 2,000 chambers and 125 miles of corridors. Unlike in Siberia, salt-mining wasn’t punishment labor, but a sought-after occupation. 

The two-hour visit is long enough for a memorable experience. Over the centuries, miners produced numerous carvings to adorn their subterranean world. Walls, floors, chapels, sculptures, and chandeliers are all made from rock salt and salt crystals. 

Mass is regularly celebrated in a huge chamber; basket ball matches get staged too. There’s a bar, restaurant - even a spa for patients with bronchial asthma. Arrive for 3 p.m. and you can join an English-language tour for approximately $10. As bus fare to Wieliczka is only 2 zotys (50 cents), it’s cheaper than a $27 excursion from Kraków.

Sidebar: What About The Property Market?

Foreigners can buy an apartment, but special permission is needed for other properties. EU membership may boost the market, which has been static for two years. Much depends on Poland’s sluggish economy, whose largest trading partner is Germany - currently in the doldrums itself. 
Average Warsaw prices are $1,200 to $1,500 per square meter for quality apartments, dropping to $500 square meter for communist era buildings. In Kraków, it’s around $1,000 per square meter. Agent’s fees are around 3%.

Although foreigners of non-Polish background are unlikely to get permission to buy houses in Zakopane - it’s too close to the Slovak border - you can buy apartments for 5,000 to 6,000 zotys ($1,265 to $1,515) a square meter. Going rate for a 3,200 square foot chalet is around $300,000. 

Property Contacts:

Darek Karbowniczak, Ober-Haus, ul. Krolewska 14, 00-950 Warszawa; tel. (48)22- 829-1212; fax (48)22-829-1222; e-mail: darek.karbowniczak@ober-haus.com; website: www.ober-haus.pl. 

Piotr Popieluch, Popieluch Nieruchomosci, ul. Krupowki 27, 34-500 Zakopane; tel. (48)18-200-0160; fax (48)18-201-2702; e-mail: popieluch@nieruchomosci.zakopane.pl; website: www.nieruchomosci.zakopane.pl. 

Sidebar: Recommended Hotels

Warszawa Ibis Centrum, Al. Solidarnoci 165, 00-876 Warsaw; tel. (48)22-520-3000, or book through the Accor website at www.accor-hotels.com. (This is a chain hotel, but don’t expect luxury. Warsaw is expensive for accommodation. Doubles cost from $92.) 

Hotel Demel, ul Glowackiego 22, 30-085 Kraków; tel. (48)12-636-1600; e-mail: hotel@demel.com.pl. (Incredibly good value four-star hotel, a couple of miles tram-ride from Old Kraków. Doubles cost from $46.) 

Hotel Sabaa, ul Krupówki, 34-500 Zakopane; tel. (48)18-201-5092; e-mail: recepcja@sabala.zakopane.pl. (Chalet-style hotel with atmospheric restaurant and traditional music at weekends. Doubles cost from $60.)
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