Wrocław

Rounding out our trip to Poland last summer was a visit to the city of Wrocław. Hard to remember it's not pronounced rock-law, but something like vrotz-wav. Anyways, since we were flying out of the airport there, we decided to stay 24 hours to check the place out. It actually ended up being more than enough time to see the city. Unlike in Krakow and Warsaw, it didn't feel like we had a bunch of things to see before our time was up. We honestly spent about a quarter of our time eating and drinking. Had to cram in as many pierogis as possible before heading back to Galicia!

Wrocław's old Town Hall

Like our other stops, Wrocław's Old Town was full of different pastel hues. I'm seeing a theme here in Polish architecture. Surprisingly, the center of attention in the main square is not a Cathedral as per usual, but the old City Hall. The Gothic structure is now an art museum. As we did the rounds, we noted the main plaza and a conjoined plaza were brimming with eateries and terraces. Feeling we had the luxury of time to spare, we plopped down on a patio to have a beer while taking in the colors.

Sufragette gnome

A curious part of Wrocław is the gnome population. Over two dozen bronze statues of gnomes can be found scattered throughout the city. Each is frozen doing something different: drinking, sleeping, reading, riding a balloon animal, etc. There are even special needs gnomes! My personal favorite was a gnome seeking ¨Votes for Women.¨ Spotting the tiny statues made sightseeing more entertaining.

Outside the Old Town by the riverside is a nice green area to walk. Nearby we checked out some churches (one with an elaborate painted ceiling), a bridge loaded with locks (placed by couples in love), and the market. And that's how we spent our last hours in Poland. Of course, there is still more to be seen. Between it being the ¨Old Country¨ with homey foods, and everything being so inexpensive, a trip back to Poland is certainly a possibility. 

Historic Krakow: A (Friend's) Storybook Wedding

Back to our trip to Poland for a friend's wedding last summer...

Inside the church

While Warsaw was pretty and colorful, Krakow's Old Town was like a fairy tale. An idyllic place for a wedding. When we arrived from the train station, we had to cross the enormous main plaza-- the biggest market square in Europe-- with its long Renaissance market building (Cloth Hall) in the middle. Eleven streets converge to make this square! In one corner is a brick clock tower, and in the opposite a brick church. As we traversed the plaza, we had to be careful to avoid horse-drawn carriages trotting with happy couples in tow. A few hours later, in another Krakovian church, another happy couple was tying the knot. The inside of the church was decked in gold, and during the ceremony tourists popped in to take pictures. Like paparazzi at a royal wedding! And no fairy tale wedding would be complete without the couple being whisked away in their very own horse-drawn carriage. The rest of us walked a few minutes by the riverside to get to the reception. It was held on a roof with amazing views of the Vistula River and Wawel Castle. 

View of Wawel from the reception

What's the difference between a Polish wedding and an American one anyways? Based on my extensive research--that is, attending one Polish/American wedding in Poland hehe-- there are only a few striking differences. Once gathered for the reception, there was a toast in honor of the bride and groom. The usual. Except, afterwards the couple broke their glasses on the the floor and then cleaned it up. Sounds like wedding traditions in other countries, representing working together in the years ahead. The other main difference was that after dinner they put a bottle of vodka on each table. I wasn't surprised per se. After all, it's Poland! However the extra vodka bottles seemed extravagant on top of the open bar. Nothing wrong with that! Na Zdrowie! Booze wasn't the only thing available all night long. Nowadays it seems somewhat common at weddings to have a snack bar to replace any calories lost dancing in the hours after dinner. At this wedding, in addition to that, they had two different sit-down meals after dinner, before and after midnight. One of those was my new favorite soup, zurek.

A corner of Krakow's Market Square

Observing the university
 courtyard

Despite having plenty of vodka at our disposal all night, we were able to do some sightseeing the next day. (Perhaps there's a difference between Galician and Polish weddings. We the stragglers left at 3:30. In Galicia the stragglers last past dawn. Or so I've heard.) Everywhere you look, Krakow feels historic. No wonder the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vestiges of the past are spread out further than just the expansive Old Town. Even when we ventured out, seemingly far from the historic attractions, we came across a centuries-old church. In a corner of it there is a small metal grid. Unnoticeable, if not for the little sign. According to legend, it's protecting what is supposed to be the footprint of Queen Jadwiga. In the 14th century, the young queen took pity on a poor construction worker and stuck her foot in the wet cement so that he could sell the gold clasp from her shoe. Her footprint remained. This was only one of many historic sites we came across. We also stopped by a small college courtyard from one of Eastern Europe's oldest universities. Another curious visit was underneath the Cloth Hall in the main plaza. The underground museum is all about the history of Krakow and definitely worth the visit (especially since it just happened to be free the day we went). It was very interesting and interactive. Among other things, we got to compare our statures to people in the Middle Ages, as well as weigh ourselves using their units of measurement.

Inside the market building and above the Rynek Underground 

Inside Wawel

But the clear gem of Krakow is perched atop a hill, behind fortress gates. That's the Royal Complex of Wawel. A castle, tower, palace, gardens, cathedral, artifacts, fire-breathing dragon: Wawel's got it all! It made for a lovely afternoon going on a tour and wandering around the gardens and courtyards.

Krakow also has a lot of Jewish history. Kazimierz is the Jewish quarter right outside the Old Town, housing synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, and a lot of cool restaurants and bars. One such restaurant was called GALICIJA. We didn't go in, but appreciated the connection. Instead we opted for decked-out pizza baguettes from a stand in Kazimierz's lively flea market. Just on the other side of the river from Kazimierz are two more sites related to the wrong side of Jewish history. Unfortunately Schindler's Factory was sold out for the day, but we did get to check out The Eagle Pharmacy. This now-museum was right in the middle of the ghetto that the Nazis created. The pharmacy remains as it did in the 1940s, except now the drawers all have artifacts or information related to the ghetto and Nazi invasion.

Overall, I really enjoyed Krakow and could see myself living there, if only for a short time. There were so many things left to explore! And it has plenty of greenery, including a park that surrounds the Old Town. Plus I finally found my ideal paczek shop. Donuts everyday! 

Vamos Para Noia!

Let's go to Noia! Sounds funnier in Galician because it's like ¨let's go, paranoia!¨

Even though plane rides for me are out of the question these days, living in Galicia (aka Galifornia) means there are still plenty of awesome getaway options close to home. This weekend we visited Noia and its surroundings, smack dab in the middle of Galicia's west coast.

San Martiño and its cursed,
unfinished tower

Noia's Old Town is true to its name, full of beautiful sandstone buildings (including pazos!) dating back to the Middle Ages and beyond. A place to remind me, I'm in Europe! Everything is historic here! We spent our first evening there walking around the pedestrian-only center. There are two noteworthy churches. San Martiño is lopsided, and legend has it that whoever tries to build the second tower is met with a grim demise. Apparently the original builder died before it could be finished, and then a movie director who had had a fake tower constructed for the sake of his film died on the last day of shooting. The other church, Santa Mariña A Nova, has a tremendous collection of stone tomb covers. They are carved with symbols either associated with the person's trade or the family crest. Very cool! The adjoined cemetery is also for some reason one of the most important in Spain.

Old hydroelectric plant by Palacios

A few miles inland from Noia are more natural and man-made landmarks. First, an early morning (by Spanish standards) visit to the still-active hydroelectric plant. Well, we got a bit lost and actually walked around the current plant when what we really wanted to see was the original building from the 1920s. It was designed by Antonio Palacios, the same Galician who went on to design-- among other things-- O Carballiño's unexpectedly large cathedral ; the Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid's current city hall; and the hotel at the Spa in Mondariz. When we finally located the building and surrounding park, it was so peaceful. The river was completely still. The only other people there were a handful of fishermen. There are three possible hikes starting from the park, but we stuck to crossing the small suspension bridge and walking along the river for a few minutes before going back. Just in time, because although it was sunny it had started to drizzle.

Long before the Tambre River's power was harnessed to create electricty, it was a place to fish. (It still is, as a matter of fact.) Especially lamprey. In the Middle Ages this specific section of the river supplied a local monastery with fish. And that was our next stop: San Xusto de Toxosoutos. This time there was a marked trail which I assumed led to the waterfall I had read about while researching the area. We trekked mostly downhill for about an hour, and still no waterfall in sight. We decided to turn around as we weren't exactly prepared for a hike, and certainly weren't convinced that it actually led to the waterfall. Lo and behold, once we made it back up the hill to the monastery, we discovered the waterfall was actually right behind the monastery, in the opposite direction of our little trek. Oops. But hey, at least we got some exercise in before lunch. Right in front of the beach we ate cockles --Noia's specialty-- and squid croquetas. Black like tar, but a thousand times tastier!

Tranquilidade: Mosteiro de Toxosoutos

After lunch we were set to carry out my favorite coastal ritual: the beach nap. But once we put our towels down on the beach in front of the restaurant, the wind picked up and grey clouds covered the sky. We packed up, and although I was so sleepy and grumpy I just wanted to go back to the hotel, we drove in search of those clear, blue skies that could be seen beyond the rain clouds. Amazingly, after about 30 minutes, we did indeed find a beach under the sun! And what a beach to come across-- A Praia das Furnas. This ¨beach of caverns or grottoes¨ has massive, dark rock formations which create a small watering hole protected from the wild sea. Handy because the constant white-capped waves sure made the scenery picture-perfect, but after going in only up to my ankles, I could feel the tide wanted to drag me away. And technically it's not even part of the Costa da Morte (the Death Coast)! In addition to the beach's beauty, it is well-known as the place where Ramón Sampedro (who the movie Mar Adentro is based on) became quadriplegic after an accident.

On top of the crag/cavern, the ocean below in the background,
small pool in the foreground

On Sunday we wrapped up our getaway at Noia's outdoor market. Suddenly the Old Town and riverside were full of dozens of stands selling everything from apparel to kitchenware to food. It wasn't too crowded, so everyone could practice social distancing while perusing the wares. A burger at yet another beach bar-- empty because of the gusty wind-- was our last hoorah in Noia before heading home.

Warsaw: Rewired

One of the downsides of living abroad is missing out on important events back home. For example, weddings. Since I've moved to Galicia, a lot of my peers seem to be getting married. But unfortunately it's not plausible to just hop on a plane home for the weekend. So last year when a friend from home was set to get married in Poland, I was thrilled. Finally, my side of the pond! Not to mention Poland had been on my list for a while. The old country! Home to some of my favorite comfort foods which I couldn't find in Galicia-- pierogis and paçzek. I vowed to eat them everyday on our trip.

View from above:
Old Town Market Square

The first stop on our whirlwind tour was Warsaw. Only 11% of the city's housing dates back to before 1944. The rest was destroyed during World War II. Some of it was rebuilt respecting the older architectural styles. That is the case in the Old Town Market Square, one of the Old Town's main plazas. To my untrained eye, the pastel-hued buildings tightly squeezed together could have been centuries old. They sure fooled me! One such house of the Old Town Market Square is home to the Warsaw Museum. Here we learned all about the city's history, as well as enjoyed a rooftop view of the plaza. On top of that, it was free because it was a Thursday. 

Other top historic sites of Warsaw include a Castle (more like a palace) and the Barbican. We didn't go in either, but observed them from outside. The Barbican is a 16th-century wall fortress. With origins in the early 14th century, the Royal Castle was home to Polish rulers for centuries. Later it was pillaged by Russians and most recently by Nazi Germans. On the side of the Royal Castle facing the river are some gardens we wandered through. The other side of the palace is part of an open, spacious plaza in the Old Town. Again, like the vast majority of Warsaw's historic sites, both the Royal Castle and Barbican were mostly rebuilt after WWII. The Castle along with the Old Town are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

Plaza with the Royal Palace on the right

Barbican in the background, to the left

  Wooden Synagogue in POLIN   

While we spent most of our sightseeing time within the Old Town, another highlight of Warsaw in the ¨new town¨ was the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The place was enormous. And rather than just focus on the tragedies of the Holocaust (which were also included, of course), it went through Jewish history in Poland throughout the ages. Interactive with lots of maps and information, it also includes a beautifully-painted reconstruction of a wooden synagogue.  

Mmm! Pierogies everyday!

Our hostel in Warsaw was a 30-minute walk (or speedy subway ride) from the city center, in a very industrial part of town. Perfect location for two evenings out, feeling like real Poles. The bars/restaurants in the area felt very hip, and not at all touristy. One such bar had an open lot, sheltered from the wind by big brick buildings on all sides. It actually reminded me a lot of my ¨industrial¨ hometown. Except it was full of groups of people lounging on beach chairs. Here we were treated to a concert by a fun band with a ukulele. Another cool, candlelit bar used antique sewing machines as tables. And for dinner, a small, casual restaurant for locals and foreigners alike: Pyzy Flaki Gorace, a Polish diner with delicious, delicious food for cheap! I knew this trip would be a treat for my tastebuds! Don't get me wrong, Galician cuisine is great, but variety is the spice of life. And using spices other than paprika and oregano also helps. I'm not even sure what I had at this diner exactly-- it was potatoes, bacon, sauce, and dough inside a Mason jar. Now that's comfort food! Plus my new favorite soup: zurek (sour rye). Seriously, so good! I had it several times throughout the trip and even bought a packet to make it at home. Obviously it won't be the same though-- no kielbasa here. :( 

The mermaid of Old Town Market Square

The morning of the wedding, we had a train to Krakow, where the ceremony was held. Risky? Nah! Except, while riding the subway to get to the train station, we had a typical travel incident.¨Where's the suitcase? I have the backpack, and you're supposed to have the suitcase.¨ I imagined our poor, lonely suitcase forgotten on the platform as our subway car sped further and further away. Luckily, though, we had left it while checking out of the hostel. At least it wasn't lost. We had to go back three subway stops and then someone had to run to the hostel and back to the subway stop. That somebody was not me. Despite the hiccup, we made it to the train station in time to board with dozens of other travelers. This is why I always leave early! Next stop, KRAKOW! 

Going to Market

A bouquet of garlic

How I adore the market! I really have to start going regularly. Two mornings a week, people come from the nearby countryside with their produce, cheese, and eggs. While the Plaza de Abastos contains numerous shops (butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, etc) open Monday through Saturday, the biweekly farmer's market takes place in the hall below the permanent market. The vast majority of sellers are women over 70 years old. But every rule has an exception; in this case, a guy my age. 

I realize farmer's markets exist in the USA, but I never had the habit of going. Also when I think 'organic,' I associate it with a bigger price tag. Here that is definitely not the case. Although in general the insanely cheap prices in Galicia-- specifically in Lugo-- are normal to me, every once in a while I remember how inexpensive everything here really is. Case in point: at the market today I got seven garlic heads for 3€. Garlic is usually the most expensive food per kilo that you can buy at a produce store. I was thrilled to find some homegrown at the farmer's market. Next on the list: onions. As the lady was tossing them in, filling my bag, I thought to myself that was way too many onions for just me. But she wanted to get it to a full kilo (about two pounds) to charge me the euro. One euro for a month's --or two's-- supply of onions! Lastly for seven peppers (light green, smaller than our green peppers, these are from Ourense) because it was half a kilo (one pound) it was only 60 cents. SIXTY CENTS! Can you buy anything in the USA for 60 cents?!

I honestly wonder if the money they make even pays for gas or the bus fare into town. How can it be worth it? They must break even, at least, or I doubt they'd go back week after week. The only people that I imagine go home with more money in hand are those who sell eggs. A dozen free-range eggs goes for about 3.50€. But as I've been learning from personal experience, gathering a dozen eggs is no easy task. The ¨extra money¨ for fresh eggs is well earned. 

The farmer's market: what's not to love?!

• Supporting local families, who in turn spend their money around here. Economics, my dear Watson
• Hardly any emissions from the transportation, unlike when you just have to have bananas imported from the Canary islands, or quinoa imported from South America
• Very few pesticides, if any. Most likely some compost or similar natural products
• The price tag! 

World Heritage Sites Visited in Spain

As I've been trying to be ¨productive¨ this summer for once, I've been tidying up old blog entries. Not the content so much as correcting spelling mistakes (apparently I wasn't a fan of spellcheck), fixing confusing (or just plain bad) grammar, and the like. I've also been improving and increasing the tags for posts. One of the things I've noticed reading through old entries-- aside from the fact that I use the word ¨STROLL¨ entirely too much...maybe because it's the Spanish way-- is that throughout my travels I've seen a lot of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So I've decided to compile those I've seen in person. Not all received an entry the first time around. That's due to my own laziness, not their lack of ¨blogworthiness.¨ So now's the time to briefly summarize those places that didn't make the cut. And if I wrote about it before, the title is a link to the original post about each place.

Since there are a ton of World Heritage Sites throughout Europe, I thought I'd start off with those visited closest to home, in Spain. It's no surprise that Spain is high on the Eurocentric (four of the top five are in Europe) list of countries with the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites. As of 2019, Spain is ranked number 2 or 3, since first place is a tie between China and Italy. Again, this is only a collection of places I've personally visited. The full list of sites is available here. And because I'm not one to make a countdown list (one might say that I've picked up the Galician traits of diplomacy and indecisiveness in my years living here), they are in no particular order.

 Get ready, this is gonna get long!