Ummm ... Beetroot soup, perogies, and potato pancakes

It was our last night in Krakow. Of course we had a full day of touring planned, which began with a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter (which was really interesting), followed by a bus trip to the local Salt Mines (which was less interesting ...) 15 kilometers out of town. On the way back, we managed to hop on a – literally – moving mini bus to get back to town in time for a last meal before boarding our night train to Budapest. The Salt Mine tour was longer than we had expected and we had a train to catch – so when a mini bus stopped, with beeping cars behind him, he started moving before we were all on board! Doug jumped on last just making it, before the bus gained full speed.

Safely back in familiar territory, Devora had picked out a restaurant close to our hotel (where we had left our bags), and close to the train station (for a quick get away), called Kuchnia U Doroty. We had limited time, so we reviewed the menu for vegetarian options and ordered a magnificent assortment of perogies, potato pancakes (latkes yay!), sides of beets, cabbage and kasha with mushroom sauce, and of course beetroot soup. This has been our staple since arriving in Poland, and we were not at all unhappy to eat this combo over and over again. Wash it down with Polish beer and you are in heaven.

The gals serving us were adorable. They served us quickly, and we managed to lick our plates clean of every last fried onion, morsel of kasha, and spoon of beet root soup. Off we went back to the Hotel Eden where we ordered a cab large enough to take all of us and our luggage to the train station. Our driver was amazingly kind and helpful, and dropped us off at the train station with instructions in broken English on how to figure out which track our train would be on.



With his help, we sent Devora as our scout, to find out the platform information and we made it down to our track in plenty of time to find our train, and our specific car. We had not left ourselves enough time to find a grocery store to use up our remaining Polish currency, so we were left with the bottle of Cherry Vodka we had bought earlier in the day, and the – oh so delectable – packaged chocolate croissant that were complimentary with our train ticket! Good thing we had a big dinner!

We divided the small bottle of Vodka between us in plastic glasses as the train left the station, with all of us squeezed into one berth for a nightcap. We can't keep up with the proper toast in the proper language in all of the countries we have been in, so we have kept to the one we know. "L'chaim", we all chimed in as we clicked our wobbly plastic glasses. After a few sips, Devora and I were giggling and appropriately sedated to hopefully fall into a deep sleep with the help of the lullaby of clicking tracks all the way to Budapest ... The adventure continues!

I wonder if we can swim laps in the Mikveh?

We took the overnight train from Prague to Krakow. Finding our train, was a bit like the madness of New York's Penn station, except that everything was in Czech. Hence the added fun of trying to figure it all out once the actual track showed up on the revolving train schedule board. Just to add to the excitement, Krakow was not listed on the schedule for the time of our train, so a quick run to the ticket booth was required to be sure we were going to infact wake up in Krakow!

 


We did manage to find the track and board the train, just to find that in fact we were on the right train, but the wrong car. Off we went again with all of our luggage to the end of the train (about 100 cars away, or so it seemed). We were all in a communal shvitz, by the time we climbed aboard, and situated ourselves in our overnight cabins side by each. A few minutes later the train departed.

The night train cabins were exactly like the one Marc, Aaron and I took in Egypt from Luxor to Cairo, so we knew the ins and outs of converting the beds into seating and visa-versa. The train left the station at 9:17 pm so we got ourselves ready for the night. We had used up all of our last Czech Kroner on "provisions" for the journey, so we were set!

The train arrived in Krakow an hour late (8:00 am). We had all slept like babies – which of course is a misnomer as babies notoriously don't sleep – and that was our fate, at least for some of us. Devora and I, after some cosmetic help, managed to look human. The guys had snored through the night and were in perfect shape.

Ah, Krakow in the rain ... A bit gloomy at 8:00 am, but for Devora and I, it seemed somehow like home. For her – because she comes from good Polish stock and for me – because it looked so much like Israel. Not the gloominess or the rain, but the people and the shops and the sesame bagel stands.

New day, a new country, new currency and a new language. Certainly keeps you sharp!

Devora and I were tasked with getting tickets for the tram. A bit of experience with this in Prague made it much easier, and Devora figured it out in no time. We had converted some currency in Prague so we were good there. The only problem was that no matter what country I am in, the ticket machines don't seem to like my coins! After several tries, we managed to get it done and we were on our way to the Eden hotel in the heart of the preserved Jewish Quarter of Krakow called Kazimierz. There are no Jews living in the Jewish Quarter, but there are many buildings that survived the war and a Jewish Cemetery. The buildings have been converted into restaurants and hotels.

The Eden Hotel is a jewel down a narrow lane in the Quarter. There have been complaints about the mattresses from three of the four of us, but other than that, I am in love with the place! There is beautiful art on all of the walls, including posters of Jewish events that have taken place in the area. Winding stairways take you deeper into the subterranean rooms – spa – salt grotto – and of course the mikveh! Some of you reading will not know what this is. Here is a nice description I found on the internet: Ritual immersion in a mikveh - a gathering of living water (mayyim hayyim) - marks a change in status. People immerse at Mayyim Hayyim to celebrate moments of joy, to heal after times of sorrow or illness, or to commemorate transitions and changes.

So we are in a real Jewish hotel (mezuza on each door), with it's own mikvah, in a sadly, once thriving, now non-existant, Jewish community. After a very emotional day at Auschwitz/Berkanou, the mikveh, if we use it, will (all joking aside) not be for laps, but for healing from the sorrow that is embedded in this place.

It is important to be here, but extremely difficult. A large number of Marc's family took the incredibly long and inhuman train journey from Salonika Greece to Auschwitz, where their lives came to an unthinkable end. It is somehow comforting being in the Jewish Quarter, where we hear Klezmer music coming from the restaurants in the square. A reminder of the joyful sounds of the community that was once a large part of the tapestry of Polish life.

It has been raining (a lot) and gloomy. All my packing decisions were sadly wrong and I have been living in one outfit for days ... Devora and I have let the boys go out on their own for a few hours and we are sitting comfortably in a cafe/laundramat. Devora on her ipad, me on my mac, listening to great music and thinking about how great it is to be together. And how incredibly lucky we are to be able to share this experience.

Tomorrow, the night train to Budapest!

BTW we are in perogie and blinz heaven!!!!

(post title credit goes to Doug!)