Following the historic tour, we went for a wander in the town. The main square, our guide triumphantly told us, is the second largest in Europe, 2m x 2m smaller than St. Mark’s square in Venice. It really is an amazing place, and I liked the open space of it all. In the main church tower, there is a delightful tradition. Centuries ago, it was a watchtower, with an excellent view in all directions. There was 24-hour guard, and on the hour, the guard would blow a short tune on the trumpet 4 times - once towards each pole of the compass - to let everybody know that all was well. Alas, one day he was not so observant, and legend has it that the unseen Turks sent an arrow through his throat while he was playing. To this day, in memory of this event, a man plays the tune in the four directions, and always stops mid-tune. More on this later!After all of this, we were pretty hungry, and we went to a typical Polish country food restaurant. Considering the rain and a temperature rarely above 10 degrees, the Borscht soup in a bread outer was really welcome, and you could understand how this was the way to get through the harsh winters. Marek told me that the strength of the winter was a reason why many tulips from Holland start in Poland. I didn’t quite believe this,
but he assured me that the genetic strength created by bulbs being planted in such a cold climate meant that the tulips were more durable in bad weather seasons.In the evening, we went for dinner in a restaurant in a cavern-like room downstairs. The waiter was immaculately dressed, the food was presented attractively, and the company was so warm. From the moment I met all of them, I felt comfortable. Marek and I have worked together for a year now, and I found him very straight and easy to work with. Outside of business, he is equally straightforward and very friendly. During the communist period, he left Poland to live in Sweden, to avoid going in the army, at a time when he spoke no English. It must have been tough, but certainly he is a strong person.
His wife, Magda, has been learning English only for a couple of months, but already understood much. I learned that she had played basketball for Poland in the Moscow Olympics – I was in awe! Then Tomek and Monika had arrived earlier. Monika works for a French Sports retailer, Decathlon, and speaks fluent French. Tomek, originally from Krakow, is also working for Canon, and his English is great – all in all, we found ways to communicate and chat about the way of life in Poland, their own lives, and the differences we see in our personal histories.
Especially the issue of independence keeps coming back to me. The Polish are quietly patriotic, and want to have their individual rights. Yet they also have a very collective spirit. My four
companions made me feel very welcome and gave attention to telling me all about the town and what we saw. It was a touching show of friendship, with more warmth than I had ever been led to believe I would find in Poland.The following morning, I went for a run in the city. After a while, I couldn’t find my way back to the hotel, and a passer-by was delighted to direct me in perfect English. After this, we had a tight schedule. First was to meet Tomek’s friend, Saso. He turned out to be very knowledgeable about Krakow, and he whisked us back to the tower. We found that he knew the trumpeter in the famous tower, and via a side entrance, we got privileged entry into one of the most famous places in Poland.
We climbed hundreds of stairs to get up to the place where he was playing, and found a kind of living quarters. It seems there are three trumpeters, taking 12-hour shifts each, and of
course between the 2 minutes of playing every hour, there is not much to do, except wait. So there is a small bunk, a radio, kettle, fridge… all very normal, and yet not what you expect from the outside.I was like a child as the trumpeter started, with pictures of him playing and me in the background. It was really lovely to hear it close up, and to see him wave to a few devoted fans in the square (or maybe they were Japanese tourists…). It felt like a piece of history before my eyes and ears. Meanwhile, Saso filled me in on what I could see in the four directions, including the 8th century mound in memory of the founder of Krakow, King Krak. I asked why he was so interested in the history of the town. He said he had lived in Krakow all his life, and that “I am part of Krakow’s history, Krakow’s history is a part of me”.
One more big stop was planned – Wieliczka, the salt mine nearby.
We drove over to an uncrowded tourist attraction, and I must be honest, I did not expect much. But I was in for another surprise.As we descended the hundreds of steps (we had been climbing up or down the whole trip by now), our guide explained that there were over 300 km of salt mines in the area. Salt had been precious because it was the only preservative known until more recent years, and this was a great source of wealth – even in pre-historic times, they think men mined for salt. As we walked through the caves, it was amazing. They had made all kinds of statues and displays in the caves that we saw, either showing the work of the people, or famous people from history. Copernicus (who believe it or not was Polish) has his own area, and of course, the Pope is also featured! The statues were made from black salt, and I had no idea that one could make salt-statues.
At various points there were some love themes. Saso sat on a bench at one stage, and our guide explained that if you sit on this bench, it means you are in love. Saso declined to comment. Later, we saw some gnomes, and legend had it that if you wanted to get married, you should kiss one on the cheek. However, it seems if you want to get divorced, you should kiss another part of his anatomy (although I think the guide made that up…). And at another cave, where there was a small pool of water, we were told that if you wanted to find the love of your life, you should throw in a few coins, as our guide added “if you’re desperate, throw in your credit card”. Ha, ha. I would have done it, but the PIN number doesn’t work…
Horses were seen in sculpture and we were told that once the horse came down the mine, it would live there for the rest of its life. I thought this not to be a very cheerful existence, but the guide assured me that with food and water guaranteed, it wasn’t so bad.
The most impressive room was a great chamber, with chandeliers, wall sculptures and shiny, hardened salt floor. As we went to an image of the Last Supper carved in salt, Saso (who by then
had achieved “Authority” status for me) told me very seriously that this was the original that the painting had been based on. As my eyes widened, his smile came – of course, this was the dry Polish humour I had been told about.Finally, we ascended by the same lift the miners would have used. It means, tight, crowded, claustrophobic, fast, and a little bit frightening. I was relieved to get out, but impressed by the experience of seeing this amazing mine.
We headed to Krakow airport, for me to fly back to Vienna. Krakow left a lasting impression on me, both for its beauty and history, and especially the companionship of my new Polish friends was something I could never have imagined.
