Eatern Europe: Final Thoughts

This was one of my favorite trips; I wasn't sure what to expect, which is what made it exciting. While not delving deep into the cultures and sticking to the major cities due to their accessibility, I felt welcomed as a visitor to each country.

Here are my thoughts on each of the cities.

Vienna - clean, efficient, and full of history. The Viennese were very kind and cheerful, from their "Grüß Gott" ("may God greet you") hellos to their helpful natures. For the less adventurous traveler, I think Vienna has a smaller language barrier than almost any country I have been to, save the Netherlands or maybe parts of Belgium. It wasn't stuffy at all, just very orderly. In fact, one of the first things I noticed was that pedestrians absolutely obey crossing signals. Even at tiny little intersections over one-land alleys and no traffic coming, the Viennese line up and wait for the light. Recommended? Yes, especially as a gateway city to any surrounding country.

Bratislava - for the very short visit I made here, Bratislava was neat, even though I didn't venture much outside the Old Town. If nothing else, a 30-cent ice cream cone and some Soviet-inspired architecture make this a worthwhile side trip from Vienna, or more exploration if you have time.

Prague - no wonder it's so popular. I'm not an architecture fiend, but the city is stunningly beautiful. It's also friendly and, swarmed with tourists of all types, has little language barrier, although its alphabet and difficult-to-pronounce words make it seem a bit more exotic. I would definitely recommend black-light theater and just wandering the small side streets aimlessly. The idea that service is sour and snobby just did not surface for me, not even once. A must-see place.

Kraków - Go now! It's tourist-friendly, but as it's part of a poorer country, it's a bit rough around the edges. But the sense that it is ramping up to be a huge destination is palpable throughout the city. Services are getting added, small hotels are springing up, and overall there's just a sense of excitement. On all but the shortest visits, Auschwitz is a must. The language barrier (if any) is not at all intimidating. In fact, of all the different day-to-day transactions that I had to carry out in another language, I had the easiest time in Poland. It's a young country -- I believe the median age is over ten years less than surrounding countries -- and the country feels young and full of energy.

More to come in the fuure.

Day 8: April 19-Kraków to Home

I slept in a bit this morning, but did one final walk-through of the city and the Market Square before heading to the airport. The train leaves right from platform #1 of the train station (the closest one to the mall entrance), and there's a ticket vending machine right next to it.

The biggest issue to face today was the transfer in London. Not the airplane transfer, mind you, but the airport transfer. I land in Gatwick and take off from Heathrow. Many AA and BA flights (they are alliance partners) connect in this fashion and they have the wise idea to call them connecting flights. It is up to you to pay for transportation between the two. I knew there was a bus which is the cheapest option -- at almost $40 thanks to our exchange rate.

From my earlier reading, most people recommend a five-hour connecting time in order to comfortably make it, while the airlines' site says a minimum of three. I had just under 3 1/2. Every second would count, and things would have to work perfectly.

The BA flight from Kraków (737) took off a bit late, in fact almost a half hour late. All the flights up until now "made up the time" in the air, but on this one, they announced that the flight time would be exactly what was stated, i.e. we'd land late. Rather than worry about making the next flight, I resigned myself to staying in London until the next day; things could be worse!

We landed, and as I was near the front of the plane, I got off first and began running to the terminal to catch the bus. It wasn't so much a run the entire way, but a fast walk using the people movers whenever possible. Customs was pretty quick, as most people were in the UK passport holders' line. I went through the "nothing to declare" and right out into the main airport. If you ever have to make this transfer, there are signs at Gatwick saying "Heathrow" and pointing you in the general direction of the exit. Not all directional signs include the Heathrow arrow, but enough do that I think it would be hard to go the wrong way.

The National City bus desk was open and there wasn't a line. I bought the ticket, and they had us wait in a small area for about five or ten minutes. Then the guy came in, took our tickets, and we boarded. There were only about ten people. It started out well; if I had needed to pick up luggage, I would have missed this bus.

The ride was uneventful; good, as it is just over an hour, with no traffic. Had this been an hour or two later, the rush hour traffic would have slowed us. Also, there was a major bottlneck in the motorway in the other direction, but ours was smooth sailing for the most part. It was nice seeing the English countryside (relatively); I will have to visit here again soon.

The bus pulls into Heathrow, and first drops off at terminal 4. Most of the people got off their; I was going to terminal 3. The bus actually goes to the "central bus depot" which is where you get off for terminals 1,2, and 3 and then walk underground. The ride between 4 and the bus depot was incredibly long, going through many roundabouts and generally crawling along. Heathrow is giant.

Departing the bus depot, I ran again to T3. Because BA couldn't print my onward boarding pass from Kraków (maybe because it was an AA flight overseas?) I had to go to the AA desk and check in, again. The line was very short; no problem. Things were going well....

Then I hit security. It was probably the longest of the security lines so far, but not terrible -- maybe 15 minutes. Here, they made me consolidate bags -- even though I considered the day pack a personal item, they limited you to only one carry-on of anything. No problem, as that's what I packed for.

After security, there was another separate line where you took off your shoes for X-ray.

Then it was passport control -- another quick stop.

Then you get to the concourse and gates where flights bound for the U.S. are. Now this is ridiculous: they have signs saying that behind this security, there are NO services and NO restroom! So I hit the restroom and went through the third security line at the airport and had my passport looked over again.

I had made it ... with about ten minutes to spare. The plane (777) loaded on time. And great news -- it was less than half full. In fact, I think it was maybe 35-40% full if i had to guess. My assigned seat was next to another guy's assigned seat...so after the flow of passengers seemed to end, I got up and moved to the back cabin. Lots of people were already spreading around, but I finally got a seat on the aisle in the center section. The only other person in that row and section was on the other aisle. The flight attendants then announced that everyone was on board. Yes!

The flight home was enjoyable as I watched a movie on my screen and had another screen next to me to flip through. The flight attendants were obviously in a good mood and served us a round of free drinks.

We landed on time in Chicago, and as usual the flight to St. Louis (the last one of the day) was completely full in an old 757. I got to Lambert and took the Metrolink home, transferring at Forest Park.

I threw my laundry in the basket, took a shower, and then...played around on the internet for a while. It was late and I was tired, but glad to make it home in one piece and on time.

Day 7: April 18-Kraków

Yesterday evening it got a bit chilly; the polar fleece jacket worked just fine. This morning started out raining pretty heavily. I heard it out in the courtyard so I turned off my alarm and slept in another hour.

It was still coming down pretty hard when I finally got up (which was still before 8), so I went to the "Metropolitan" which is a restaurant attached to a nicer but still small hotel just a block over. They are one of the few in the Old Town to serve breakfast before 9:00 from what I can tell, and they came recommended by the Globtroter. It was a buffet breakfast with eggs, sausages, rolls, cold cuts (of course!), cereal, fruit, and these great chocolate-filled croissants. I must have gotten spoiled by Polish prices because I felt the bill was a bit steep, at $8. But it is very filling and high quality...even with not much competition that early.

The rain lightened up to a drizzle, enough that it was OK to walk without an umbrella. The first stop of the day was Wawel (VAH-vel), the castle and historic heart of Poland's royalty. By the time I got there, it had stopped raining, but the crowds had not yet invaded this sight, the most visited in all of Poland.

The cathedral houses a number of remains of kings as well as being one of the holiest sites in the country and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Kraków. It was completely empty when I entered, save for a couple nuns mopping the floors.

By the time I left, tour groups had started to overrun the courtyards and entrances of the Wawel sights. I ducked into the courtyard behind the Cathedral to see if anybody was pressed up against the walls. Apparently Wawel is one of seven sites radiating "chakra" energy, important to the Hindu religion. But nobody had braved the rain this early to get a piece of the action.

Leaving Wawel, I headed into the Jewish district of Kazimierz, just south and east of Wawel. This is one of those things that Rick Steves in particular really talked up -- especially a self-guided walking tour -- but I eventually found no real interest in. The neighborhood was home to many Jews prior to World War II. Only a couple hundred remain today, although the neighborhood otself has undergone some revitalization, partly due to interest sparked by the film Schindler's List, part of which was filmed in Kazimierz.

I ducked into the only synagogue that seemed to be open today, Remu'h, which is also the last active one in the city.

I also went to a small Polish folk museum in the area. Both guidbooks said it was pretty interesting, and it was. There were a number of rooms made up to represent how various homes looked in rural poland over the last couple centuries. The large signs were in Polish and English, and the rest were in Polish only, but it was easy to understand the basic plot of each room.

There were plenty of old ladies working here, but they didn't enforce a particular path; They did, however, turn on and off the lights as you entered and left each room. Why not?

Breakfast still hadn't quite worn off, but I was eager to try some more milk bar food. I went back to Polskie Smaki. Having the ordering process down to a science, I ordered pierogi with meat, potatoes, and peas/carrots.

WOW! The tray weighed several pounds when my number showed up. The pierogi were sprinkled with what tasted like fried pork rinds...I later learned that's pretty much what it was: fatty bacon. The plate had a nice greasy sheen to it as well. They were very, very good. The potatoes and carrots I forced myself to finish, but it was way too much food. Realizing that I hadn't tried any soup, I decided to walk a lot for the rest of the day, and come back later in the evening.


The next stop for the day was Nowa Huta. This was one of several Soviet towns (a suburb, really) built ground-up to showcase socialist ideals. It got only one star in Rick Steve's book and a passing mention in Lonely Planet, but I decided that it would be a good chance to see everyday Kraków away from the tourist stuff.

Tram #4 leaves from in front of the train station and travels eastward toward Nowa Huta, about a half-hour ride (or a little more) away. Along the way you see lots of construction, Soviet-style apartment buildings, factories...but mostly just everyday Poles going about their business. I had grim images in my head, but being about twenty years after liberation from communism....a lot has obviously changed.

The tram makes a stop in Plac Centralny in Nowa Huta (incidentally, if you see the generic-sounding "Plac Centralny" as one of the stops on any tram in Kraków, this is the one it's talking about, so hop on). The square was renamed Plac Centraly Ronalda Reagana for his contributions to bringing about the fall of the Soviet Union.

Things in Nowa Huta are designed big, and were clearly, probably, at one time, quite grim and unexciting. Blocks are very long, streets are very wide, buildings appear monotonous and pretty gray. But I found myself thinking....is this any worse than acres of suburbia? Each block was designed to be self-sufficient, with a courtyard and playground, a store (now lots more stores and shops), and so on. You can walk into any of the courtyards as they are public places. While the idea of being able to plan a giant city to such precision seems kind of silly, it really isn't all that bad...and the major streets radiating from Plac Centralny are well-serviced by trams, and while the blocks feel gigantic, you can still walk to meet your daily needs.

So Nowa Huta was different than I expected, but definitely not a letdown. In fact, what would superficially remind many people of housing projects in the U.S., can actually be livable when occupied by a normal cross-section of society rather than just the poorest of the poor.

After walking around a bit more, I rode the tram back to the city.

There were a few more stops on the shrinking list, including the Collegium Maius (from which Copernicus and Pope John Paul II graduated).

After more watching and listening in the Old Town Square (which, incidentally is dotted by tobacco kiosks: 100% of Poles smoke, seemingly), and a trip to Galeria Krakowska, I went back to Polskie Smacki, this time ordering a soup, Zurek, and pierogi filled with fruit. I was a little apprehensive at first about fruit-filled ravioli, but this was my favorite milk bar meal of them all. The soup was hands down the best soup I've ever had. It is made with 'sour' dough, spices, maybe some onions, and a hard-boiled egg plopped into the middle. The pierogo with fruit was jsut as delicious, filled with small berries, and covered in a sauce that was a bit sweeter.

I spend one more night on the market square, listening to the performers and watching people go by. It started to get a bit chilly again, so I went back to the hotel, satisfied that I had sampled and enjoyed this fascinating city for eat least a few days, and hoping to return.