The last Poland post! If I'm being honest, my least favorite posts are writing "We did this. Then we went here. Here's a picture of this." They bore me (not the vacations!) and I put them off. Hence why it's taken like 3 weeks to even finish this up! Sorry people.
On our last day, we got up early to explore Kazimierz (the Jewish Quarter) in the daylight and see the real sights. The Kazimierz pub crawl we did was in a...grungier/hipstery area than the part we toured on Sunday, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Brief background: Kazimierz, the king in the 14th century, encouraged Jews to come to Poland and settle there - cause rumor has it, one of his favorite lady friends was Jewish. Nice. Anyway, the Jewish population grew and grew, and the area officially became a part of Krakow by the 1800s with over 65,000 Jewish people at the start of World War II. You know the rest of the disturbing story. The good news is that the area has seen a renaissance of Jewish culture after the end of communism and it's now a popular area for locals and tourists alike.
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| The Old Cemetary (Stary Cmentarz). It used to bury members of the Jewish community from the 1550s to 1800 - and then gradually fell into disrepair. But then it was renovated after World War II and turned into this beautiful, quiet sanctuary! |
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| Small stones stacked on the gravestones are evidently Jewish tradition. (Here? Or everywhere? I'm not sure.) |
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| This is the tallest tombstone in the cemetery, home of Moses Isserles - a 16th century miracle-working rabbi. People cram prayers into the cracks of the tombstone. |
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| Lots o' prayers. |
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| Cutie with a yarmulke. |
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| The Nazi sons-of-bitches destroyed and shattered a lot of the tombstones when they were here, either selling the stones or leaving them there to dirty up the place. These broken gravestones now form a pretty mosaic wall all around the perimeter! |
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| Jarden Bookshop - the original Jewish bookstore, where we picked up a little souvenir for Drew's grandfather Papa. |
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| ulica Szeroka, a cute square surrounded by Jewish cafes, hotels, and synagogues. It kinda looks like a Jewish Highland Park Village! Which may be a contradiction in terms. |
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| Cute cute cute. |
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| The Old Synagogue: the oldest surviving Jewish building in Poland, and now a museum all about Jewish culture. I actually learned a lot about the Jewish traditions - really interesting cool stuff. |
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| We'd heard great things about this burger joint, LoveKrove, so we went to the breezy patio for a greasy delight. |
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| Spring! |
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| Clownin' with my camera. |
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| Clownin' with my clown. |
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| Oh hey! |
We flew back that afternoon happy from our lovely vacation, sad and moved by the history, slightly hungover from our pub crawl and the free flowing vodka, and ready to recommend this historic city to anyone and everyone! The old world charm, the history, and the EXTREMELY low prices can't be beat. Na zdrowie!
Sounds like a fascinating city! Let me say, and probably for many of your blog followers as well, that I love reading about all of the great places you are seeing, and seeing them through your perspective.
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ReplyDeleteMy fav quote from this post was "It kinda looks like a Jewish Highland Park Village! Which may be a contradiction in terms." Thats funny. you're funny. write a book! bye!
ReplyDelete(i just had to delete my comment and repost it because is spelled "you're" "your" and i couldnt handle it. #issues
The stones on the grave markers is a jewish tradition everywhere. It lets people know that you were there. When we visit Mimi's grave we will put a stone there each time that we go. Sounds like a great trip and I love seeing all of the pictures!
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