We visit here often, as this lovely city is a treat to explore at any time of the year, but it never looks more fetching than under a blanket of snow.
The country’s former capital, Kraków is Poland’s intellectual and cultural heart, but like many places in this much fought over land, it has a conflicted past. Spared from destruction by the Nazis who made the city one of their four regional headquarters during the occupation, it was subsequently ‘punished’ by the conquering Soviets who built a new city with a massive steelworks plant on its eastern perimeter, as the proletarian corrective to what they perceived to be Kraków’s bourgeois decadence. Then decades later in an ironic twist that same city, Nowa Huta became one of the crucibles of the anti-communist Solidarnośc (Solidarity) Movement.
The most anticipated visit of all is the annual winter trip we make as a family, packing an indulgent Caviar and blinis picnic, (happily this extravagant delicacy is still cheaply available in the hard currency markets), for the journey south from Warszawa Centralna, in the compartment of a stubbornly old-fashioned train.
The occasion of all things is an advertising awards festival, which as you might expect is a bit of a bombastic, back-slapping ritual. It’s hugely enjoyable nonetheless, not least because while alcohol mixed with too much sunshine can be a lethal combination, it’s a matter of warmth on Krakow’s freezing cold winter days which are best spent ducking in and out of the many cozy, dimly lit basement bars and cafes around the Rynek Głowny, the impressive Old Town market square.
When you visit, listen for the mournful trumpeter atop the tower of St Mary’s Basilica, who marks every hour year round with a haunting melody which ends unexpectedly in midstream, at the exact moment when according to the legend, a sentinel trying to warn the citizenry was shot by invading Tatar warriors, back in the 13th Century.
Image: Courtesy Krakow Wiki
Cannes Annual Advertising Awards ceremony may have its extravagant gin palace yachts as party venues, but nothing beats Kraków’s neighbouring salt mines at Wieliczka, which my advertising agency has booked as an unusual Festival party venue this year. No longer commercially active (mining was discontinued in 1996), but still accessed by the same rickety old wooden miner’s lift, this astonishing labyrinth of chambers includes an exquisitely decorated chapel with carved rock salt murals and chandeliers and a salt lake whose water is denser than the Dead Sea. Neither of these, thankfully were the backdrop to our godless and highly inebriated revels and I can report that the atmosphere 1000 feet below the surface is so dry that no amount of water I drank seemed able to quench next morning’s hangover!
While I attend the awards ceremony, its associated junkets and give the occasional interview for obscure local TV stations (none of which I’m convinced are ever aired), Sabrina and our daughter explore the timber huts of the picturesque Christmas market situated every year between the lovely Renaissance Cloth Hall and St Mary’s Basilica, warming up on goulash soup, kielbasa (sausages) or stuffed pierogis (dumplings) while adding to our stock of Christmas tree decorations. I’ve been told that the hunt is on this year for a nativity scene peopled with carved folk art wooden figures, which will no doubt find their way into my suitcase for the train journey home.
As soon as I can get away, we’ll rendezvous for a wander around Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter, which has some of the city’s quirkiest boutiques and bars, then hail a phaeton to make the half hour trip to Wawel Castle huddled under fur rugs. We always finish our stay with Sunday lunch at the city’s most famous restaurant ‘Wierzynek’, which makes a memorable Krakow-style roast duck, the perfect snooze inducing meal, for the slow late afternoon train home to Warsaw.
Roast Duck Krakow-style: Serves Four
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
1 Duck
8 Apples (Granny Smiths)
2 tsp Sugar
2 tbsp Red wine
2 tsp Marjoram leaves, finely chopped
2 tsp Cranberry sauce
1 tsp Salt
Half tsp Pepper
Wash and dry the duck with kitchen paper.
Mix the marjoram, salt and pepper together and rub the duck all over (inside and out), with this mixture and let stand for at leas 1 hour.
Place the duck in a baking pan.
Peel and core four of the apples and cut into quarters. Stuff them into the cavity of the duck; seal the cavity by sewing it up and then brush the outside with melted butter.
Pour a little water in the baking pan and roast the duck in a pre-heated oven for 1 and a half hours, turning it and frequently basting it with the juices (you may need to add more water to the pan).
Wash the remaining 4 apples and core them, but not right through and leave the skins on. Stuff the apples with cranberry sauce; place them in an oven proof dish and pour the wine with a little water over them. Bake for 30 minutes taking care not to overcook.
To serve- transfer the duck and apples onto a serving platter. Pour the duck juices into a sauceboat.
I visited nearly 20 years after you yet had a similar experience in many ways. It’s a pretty city and region, the duck was excellent, but the past is only just under the surface. In Poland generally, I had the impression of being in a land with ghosts everywhere.
Delicious memories, especially at this time of the year. 🤩 Thank you for sharing.