Euro, złoty, hryvnia - 2.

Poland is the only country where people nod and smile at you instantly if you say you're Hungarian and they won't make jokes about Dracula if you mention that you're from Transylvania. Not only because we've had many connections throughout history but also because one of their most respected queen saints (Jadwiga) and one of their great kings, István Báthory (1533-1586) were Hungarian, the latter one Transylvanian. He managed to keep Poland in one piece by fighting Prussia, Russia and the Hanseatic League.

We arrived to Krakow late in the afternoon. Our accommodation was a bit out of the ordinary: a boat anchored on the Vistula, with a beautiful view over the royal castle on one side and a church on the other.

The other rooms were occupied mostly by loud and ill mannered hockey supporters from Hungary. We went out for a walk and a beer in the evening and ended up in a small theatre running a cosy and cheap bar.

Auschwitz. The place can be visited free of charge only in the afternoon and the entrance fee was high, so we first went to take a look at the town of Oswieczim. We were the only travelers, we surprised the owner of the local kebab place by ordering a meal in Turkish language.

I had doubts about taking my son to Auschwitz but after explaining him what the place was "famous" for, he said he would like to come. I am not sure whether he understood everything he saw but he certainly got the essential message. I cannot say anything about Auschwitz which has not been said already. One thing is sure: I am glad we visited it on a warm and bright sunny day.

I was, however, not glad at all about what Auschwitz has become. In my opinion entrance should be free of charge for everyone all day, not only in the afternoon, and audio guides should be available for everyone, not only for organised groups. I was wondering how willing I would be to pay an entrance fee if one of my family members had been killed there.

We returned to Krakow in the evening, bought a few things for dinner and a bit of beer. The following day was sunny and warm and we headed to the Wawel, the royal castle. In the past the capital of Poland was not Warsaw but Krakow, so the city is full of beautiful historical buildings. Most visitors rush to the castle and miss the church of St. Bernard, which has a wonderful, lavish baroque interior and a pretty Rubens painting.

The royal castle is one of the most beautiful renaissance buildings I have ever seen. There were not too many visitors so we had time to see everything in our own rhytm.

The royal chambers and state rooms host a fine collection of paintings but no doubt, the highlight was Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine. For the royal chambers we were assigned a guide who spoke quite bad English, seemed a bit bored with us and made jokes about my son who didn't pay much attention to her because he didn't understand anything. Prussia and Russia were mentioned as "our enemies" by this lady which sounded a bit out of time, to say the least. After the royal chambers we were allowed to walk around the state rooms and the treasury by ourselves. I loved the royal clock collection containing many stunning pieces, some of which were still working and gave us a little concert at 2 o'clock.

The Wawel Cathedral was the coronation site of Polish kings and it is the most important national sanctuary. The interior seemed a bit chaotic to me: there are 18 chapels filled with royal tombs, marble sarcophagi and different relics. As I said, Polish and Hungarians share a good deal of history, so beside the sarcophagus and the 14th century cross of St. Jadwiga, the daughter of Louis I of Hungary the cathedral serves as a final resting place to István Báthory too. Taking pictures is forbidden but I just could not resist to break the rules here. 

Wandering around the chapels and crypts we came across many familiar names: kings, queens, bishops, artists (Adam Mickiewicz) and presidents of Poland (including Kaczynski who died in a plane crash a few years ago).

Museums make me tired so we decided to walk to the old city and have some food. We decided to get some Polish pirogi at a place recommended by friends. Vincent's pirogi place is a wonderful option for a tasty, filling and inexpensive meal. They serve a few dozens of different kinds of dumpling, from salty to sweet. A portion consists of 10 pieces but you can choose two different kinds withing the same portion. We had a few beers, a bit of rest and walked to the old town.

We visited the baroque church of St. Peter and Paul which has been designed as a new national pantheon of Poles (Slawomir Mrozek was the first to be buried in its crypt).

A bit later we reached the big, impressive St. Mary's in the main square, with its marvelous golden winged altar made by the famous German sculptor, Veit Stoss.

We walked a bit in the market square and were seriously tempted by the loads of amber jewelry on sale. 

But Polish beer has an amber shade too, so we bought some stuff for dinner and had a few beers on the terrace of the boat.

Next morning we started to the Ukrainian border. We usually avoid motorways because we don't necessarily want to get quickly to our destination but prefer to enjoy the way instead. The journey itself is sometimes just as important as the final destination. I loved rural Poland: villages are situated far from each other, there is always a generous space between houses, the land is worked, in front of the houses are neat flowerbeds and ornamental plants while in the back they breed chicken or other animals. It was a pleasant combination of traditional and modern. The lanscape around Przemysl became spotted with war cemeteries and even the former eastern frontline was marked by a sign.

We chose a small border crossing with no traffic at all. We didn't know why Polish people were not interested in Ukraine but we were going to find out the reason soon.