I was itching for travel last month, and followed up my weekend in Portugal with yet another outing — this time to the not-quite-as-beachy destination of Kraków. Together with my classmate & co-conspirator Talia, I braved the overnight bus from Berlin for two days of adventure in Poland.

Pros: turns out I can (mostly) sleep on overnight buses
Cons: discovered around 2am that Polish highways are apparently paved with cobblestones

After a bumpy ride, we arrived in the early morning. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Kraków…more of the eastern German cabbage and rainclouds, but with a side sprinkling of pierogis? I didn’t have much time to look up Kraków before this trip, since I was caught up with rushing home from Lisbon and completing a flurry of schoolwork for the past week. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Kraków is a vibrant city full of fun energy, delicious pastries, and an excellent selection of craft beers.

We spent the weekend walking through the Old Town and Kazimierz district, soaking up the sights and eating many, many baked goods. The only thing that didn’t pan out was the “macabre tour,” which began with promising ghost stories and tales of serial killers…but ended early with rain and a complete lack of tropical birds.

Our other adventures did include this bridge from the Kazimierz district, complete with whimsical acrobat statues.

Kraków is full of gorgeous old buildings and monuments, although we are terrible tourists. Despite Kraków being the “City of Churches” (one of its official nicknames), we failed to look up any of the major attractions. Instead, we just let our feet lead us wherever there seemed to be interesting sights.

“Which church is this, and who are all these statues supposed to be?”
“Ummm…well, how many statues are there? Twelve? Maybe they’re the disciples?”

Turns out it was the Saints Peter and Paul Church, built in the 16th Century and the largest of Kraków’s historic churches. Clearly we are well-prepared and excellent students of heritage. Although really, this was one of the many beautiful buildings we accidentally ended up visiting.

And what trip would be complete without a stop by the local market. The best findings were molded (although not moldy) smoked gouda. Based on appearances, I originally was very sure that they were crackers and/or loaves of bread. The cheese lady cut one open for us to sample…a wise choice on her part, because they were DELICIOUS and we ended up buying several for later snacking.

In summary — Kraków! Fun, vibrant, and relatively easy to reach (plus the trip comes with a scenic tour of Poland’s best cobblestones). I’m already hoping for a return trip. 🙂