POLAND
Poland is the first and only country I have visited to date that formerly lay beyond the Iron curtain. Poland became part of the European Union on May 01 2004. I have only made one visit to Poland too date, but more of that later.
POLAND -
The country of Poland is a Republic in Central Europe. It is bordered to Germany to the West, the Czech & Slovak Republics to the South East (formerly Czechoslovakia) & Ukraine, Lithuania & Belarus to the East. The north of Poland lies on the Baltic Sea & the main city in this region is Gdansk.
The Polish State is mostly said to have been born after ruler Mieszko I adopted Christianity as the State Religion of the country in the 10th Century. Which is surprisingly late for a European country. At this time Poland was a number of disparate regions, and the country didn’t properly become a Kingdom until the 11th Century during the Piast Dynasty. By the 12th century however Poland had fragmented again into several smaller States but it once more became a unified country again during the reign of Wladyslaw I in the 14th Century. Wladyslaw’s son was Kazimierz III who is often described as being amongst the greatest of Polish Kings.
In the later Middle Ages the main adversary of the Polish Nation were the Teutonic Knights. In 1410 along the Grand Duchy of Lithuania they inflicted a great defeat on them at the Battle of Grunwald. A battle which has as much significance to Poles as Bannockburn has to the Scots.
The country was partioned many times between Russia, Prussia & the Austro Hungarian Empires. Though the country would eventually become a country in its own right again in the 19th Century.
Of course as everyone knows the United Kingdom entered the Second World War after the Nazi’s invaded Poland. Until this time Hitler had a free reign in Europe. During World War II many Polish Army personal organised their resistance from the United Kingdom. Some even left a lasting impression on parts of Scotland, especially so Earlsferry in Scotland, which had a huge population of Poles during the war. Many of them remained after the war ended & married local women. That’s a story for another day however.
Many of the Nazi death camps were in Poland such as Auschwitz Birkenau. This remains a poignant and moving place to visit until today.
Poles must have thought that liberation from the Nazi’s in 1945 was a new beginning for them. It was of sorts. The Soviet Union instituted a Communist government in the country. Poland became a country ruled by General’s, and any dissent to the status quo was quickly crushed. Poland remained a communist country within the Warsaw Pact until the Berlin Wall came down at the end of the 1980’s. Poland became a member of NATO in 1999, and of course as previously mentioned joined the European Union in 2004.
KRAKOW
My first point of call was the beautiful former capital city of Poland, and for sure
the jewel in the Malo Polska Region, Kraków. Getting there was an adventure as unbeknown
to us the President of Poland had arranged an energy summit & the road between Katowice
(where we arrived) & Kraków was closed for a time. I've often heard people describe
Edinburgh as amongst the most beautiful cities in Europe, but in my opinion the Medieval
splendour of Kraków beats my home city hands down.
The first site you will see as
you start to enter the old town is the Barbican. The Barbican was built between 1498-
You then enter into the city
through the Florianska. Look out for the portrait of the Black Madonna here, an interesting
aspect of Catholicism in Eastern European cultures, and as some would say is a more
accurate portrait of how the mother of Jesus would have actually looked. This gate
is named after Saint Florian, whose image you can see above it. Florian is the Patron
Saint of Poland, and has been since at least the time of Pope Lucius III, who in
1138 presented relics of the Saint to the Bishop of Kraków, and the Polish King Casimir.
Poland,
as you will be aware, is a deeply religious Catholic country & many of the buildings
have images of the Virgin & Child, and more appropriately the previous Pope, John
Paul II (Jan Pawel II).
The Market Square is the largest still in existence anywhere in Europe & is ringed
by pavement cafés. Here you can take a ride on a horse drawn buggy to see the sites
of the city. I opted for a night tour of the Old Town & Wawel. This cost 120 zloty's
for 4 people & this translates as something like £20 or even less in UK money. In
the middle of the market square stands the impressive Cloth Hall, or Sukiennice as
it is more appropriate named in Polish, and this was once a major centre of international
trade. Travelling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its
golden age in the 15th century, it was the source of a variety of exotic imports
from the East – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported textiles,
lead, and salt from the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Nowadays it hosts many stalls selling
souvenirs & speciality goods from Poland. Also on the Market Square is the Church
of St Adelbert, which dates from the first decade of the 12th Century. It is now
regarded as being one of the oldest buildings displaying Romanesque architecture
in the City. When they began to build the Market Square the Church sank into the
ground somewhere between 2-
On Grodzy Street you will notice several
churches, including the Church of St Peter & St Paul & the Church of St Andrew (incidentally
interesting to me as he is Scotland's Patron Saint) which date from 1596-
The
Wawel, or "Wzgórze Wawelskie" is a limestone outcrop today crowned by the famous
fortress of the same name. Settlement has been described here since at least 3000BC.
According to legend the city was founded in the following way...
Each day an evil dragon would ravage the countryside, killing farmers, robbing their
homes and devouring their livestock. Many versions of the story state that the Dragon
had a taste for young girls, and could only be appeased if the townsfolk would leave
a young girl in front of its cave once a month. King Krak tried in vain to kill the
dragon, but all of his knights fell one by one. In the end, all of the girls were
sacrificed with the exception of the Princess Wanda. Knowing that the dragon would
not be appeased without its meal, the King in desperation promised his daughter's
hand in marriage to anybody who could defeat the dragon. Great warriors from all
over Europe fought the Dragon for the girls hand, but each was quickly finished off
by the enraged beast. One day, a shoemaker's apprentice named Skuba accepted the
challenge. He stuffed a lamb with sulphur and set it outside the dragon's cave. The
dragon ate it and soon became incredibly thirsty. No amount of drinking could quell
his stomach ache, and after swelling up from drinking half of the Vistula river,
he exploded. The apprentice married the King's daughter as promised and they lived
happily ever after. Today you can still visit the Dragon's Cave on Wawel Hill (it
was closed when we went) & see the statue of the dragon outside which breathes fire
periodically. The dragon is a well recognised symbol of Kraków.
On a more historical
note the Wawel had its golden age during the reign of Sigsimund the Old. During the
war with Sweden in the 16th century it was captured & sacked by the Swedes. The King
during this period was Jan Casimir. Further destruction happened when Poland was
partioned. The day we visited we couldn't gain entry to the Wawel as the President
of Poland & dignitaries from other Eastern European countries were having a meeting
there. The only building we could visit on the Wawel was the Cathedral, where once
Polish Kings were married & several also have their tombs here including that of
Casimir The Great. In the tower you can see the largest bell in all of Poland. This
is the Sigsimund Bell & this weighs over 8000 kgs. Special permission is required
from the government to ring it. It has been run illegally a few times, one of those
occasions being the death of Josef Stalin.
A guy stays outside dressed as a knight.
I'd seen him before on TV programmes about the Wawel. You can pay him some money
to have your picture taken with him. I think he took a shine to the ladies as he
went down on his knees for Carla & Wiola.
Eating out was relatively reasonable too.
We highly recommend the "Under The Angels" Restaurant on Grodzy Street which is in
a building dating from the 13th Century previously used by the City Goldsmiths.
We
spent approximately 20 hours in the city & could have done with at least 4-
After Kraków we started our journey to Zakopane
(Poland's Highland region) near the border with Slovakia, however we made a few stops
along the way in some more fascinating places!
KALWARIA ZEBRZYDOWSKA
A major site for pilgrims in Poland since 1600. It was meant to be a substitute for Jerusalem which by this time had fallen to Muslim Turks. Originally consisting of 42 churches spread over the Carpathian foothills & based on the central 527 metre Zar Mountain. Today people still arrive here to see the chapel with Our Lady of Kalwaria's miraculous picture, followed by the chapel of St. Anthony of Padua. The previous Pope made a pilgrimage here after attaining that position in the late 1970's. He went there in 1979. It was a special visit for Jan Pawel II as he was born in nearby Wadowice.
WADOWICE
Wadowice is a town in Poland (Silesia?) with a population of only approximately 19,500.
It was first settled, or at the very least mentioned, during the 10th Century. It
is more famous today as being the birthplace of the previous Pope, Jan Pawel II.
It's hard to come to this place & not see any mention of him there. It's interesting
to note that the young Karol fought with the Polish resistance, whilst the current
incumbent of this position fought with the German army during World War II. Who can
tell if they ever faced one another in battle.
When we visited we were privileged
to see a ceremony called "White Week". This is for kids undergoing their first communion.
For a week afterwards they must attend the Church at least once a day & also wear
white. Some of the ceremony seemed to have much Roman symbolism involved. You can
even see the house were Karol Wocjeca (Jan Pawel II) was born. In all a pretty little
town which reminded me a little of Itu (SP) in Brasil. Afterwards we continued our
journey, with Arek at the wheel, to the mountain resort of Zakopane in the Polish
"High Tatra" Highlands
ZAKOPANE
After Wadowice we arrived in Zakopane, near to the border with Slovakia. Zakopane
lies at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, of which only a fifth are in Poland, the
remainder of the 175 sq km are in Slovakia, including the highest peak in the Tatra
range, Gorlach. It actually constitutes part of the Carpathian Mountain range which
brings to mind Dracula & so forth.
It reminded me a bit of Minas Gerais in Brasil,
as of course this is Brasil's "Green Mountain" state & both places are MAD about
cheeses!
Here, especially so in the restaurant & on the horse drawn tourist buggies,
you can see many people in traditional Polish Highland dress. Several of the restaurants
we visited had traditional music there & it reminded me somewhat at times of Serteneja
or Forro in Brasil, so we can see that Poles had a huge influence in Brasil, indeed
Carlie realised that she hadn't known how much before. Most Poles, Ukrainians, Germans
etc went to the South of Brasil.
You can take a cable car (which wasn't working)
or funicular railway to the top of the mountain behind Zakopane & splendid views
can be had from the market on top with the Tatra's as a background.
A short drive
away is Morskie Oko (a rough translation is "Sea Eye") which is a beautiful lake
high in the mountains. After parking the car you have to walk 9 km's on foot to get
there. The beginning of the walk was very warm, then it began to rain & at the top
snow was all around. Of course I ignored all advices & went only in a t shirt! Thankfully
I am very well, but I could have got hypothermia. Near the top a wonderful bloke
who worked for mountain rescue gave us a little lift to The Hostel/restaurant/bar
on top. Unfortunately our luck was out again a little as the Hostel/Restaurant were
closed for a private wedding function.
Even though it was chilly near the top of the
mountain, the whole place was still a million times warmer than Scotland!
AUSCHWITZ BIRKENAU
What I didn't know was that Auschwitz was split into several camps. Auschwitz I utilised
barracks already created by the Polish Army before WWII. It was meant to be a "show
camp" for the allies & mainly held Polish intellectuals & political dissidents originally.
Of course this is not to say that many executions took place there, as they undoubtedly
did. It was here Mengele & other Nazi doctors carried out their sick experiments
on children. Mengele for instance wanted to find out the genetic reason for twins,
but could only work on dead bodies. The children were injected with poison to kill
them before experimentation took place. Sterilisation experiments also took place
on men & women here. Several of the barracks house museums filled to the rood with
shoes, toys, false limbs, suitcases & even hair from victims of the Nazi genocide.
The hair was used to stuff cushions & make Nazi Officers uniforms stiffer. Carlie
was in tears at this part. If you have children (which we don't) then you would be
too. Amazingly, although their were many deaths at this camp the Nazi's claimed otherwise.
They did this because many of their victims never even made it as far as being registered
as prisoners. It is Auschwitz I which has the famous sign "Arbeit Mach Frei" above
the gate.
Auchwitz II, or Birkenau, was built with one purpose alone...mass extermination.
Many films you see about Auschwitz focus on the Jewish genocide, but many others
died here also, mainly Roma people (gypsies), Russians (Stalin refused to sign the
Geneva convention so the Russians could be easily disposed off), many other nationalities
& basically people the Nazi's didn't like the look off.
The tower at the entrance
will be familiar to you from movies. The cattle trucks would be unloaded halfway
up the track & those who were to live were signalled to go to the left. Those others
who were told to walk straight ahead were headed for their deaths in the giant gas
chambers/crematoria in front. Usually those unfortunate souls would be women & children
under the age of 14, the elderly also, who would not be able to work.
The crematoria
are in ruins today as the Nazi's blew them up when the Red Army were approaching,
but their remains are quite chilling & on their site is the Auschwitz Memorial which
states that such things should never happen again... sadly they have & will no doubt
continue to sadly do so.
We didn't get to see Auschwitz III, or Monowitz (Monowice)
as it was called, but seeing these two more well known, for all the wrong reasons,
places, was enough.
GETTING THERE
When we flew to Poland we flew by Polish budget airline Centralwings, and flew from
Edinburgh to Katowice. Today however Centralwings are no longer in operation, but
flights are operated by Easyjet to Krakow, Gdansk & Warsaw (?) Hiring a car is relatively
hassle free in Poland and is perhaps the best way to see the country. It’s also quite
inexpensive if you split the cost several ways. I didn’t find Poland itself to be
particularly expensive. Eating out was relatively inexpensive. When we went the
exchange rate was approximately 5 Zloty to 1 Sterling. Most younger people can speak
a bit of English, but it would be best to invest in a phrase book, especially so
if you are travelling outside the bigger cities. In my experience I found most Poles
appreciate it if you try to speak their language, even if you fail dismally like
I did! Accommodation is also relatively inexpensive in Poland. I reckon though
that in a few years time the prices here will be comparable with European countries
further west, so the best time to visit is just now.
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