To Lublin from Krakow

breakfast in Krakow at a little alleyway breakfasty place with super creative takes on the classics:

not our train but a bullet train the Krakow station?!

some scenes going from the west to the more rural less travelled eastern side of the country:

the Lublin train station. Nowhere near the extreme chaos of Krakow's point of departure:

some fun grafitti near where we're staying:

for dinner we went to this crazy crazy jewish restaurant called Mandragora that is so hard to explain. anyways we sat in the huge courtyard in the back and ate the most amazing food. A chicken soup with knaydl; an allegedly traditional Jewish cabbage soup with almonds and raisins, potato and cottage cheese dumplings with roasted garlic and thyme; two kinds of herring; compote and a beer and then a pistachio cheese cake with an artemisia absinthium herbal vodka infusion. we will go back there because it was just such an interesting and strange experience and the food was so good. by the way, they have a duck dish with a plum sauce, not to mention a chicken liver dish...i wanted to try the cholent because i've only read about it and would like to taste it but it's only available on friday's and saturdays (their sabbath menu). i will take better pictures next time we're there. it's really that strange and possibly amazing. here's a link to the restaurant's website:

https://mandragora.lublin.pl

walking back to this stinky rental by way of the old town and the promenade. this place so far seems completely unpretentious and minding its own business here in the former Pale of Settlement:

last day in krakow

a brief post for today...mostly we walked around parts of the city we hadn't seen yet and aren't on the well trod tourist circuit. first stop was this fantastic milk bar style restaurant that is popular and had a steady stream of customers because the food is very good and very affordable. we had a schav, a chicken soup, potato and onion pierogies, little spinach pies, french fries, two compotes and a cappuccino for around ten dollars. many groups stopped by and took photos of the building while their tour guides explained the area's significance. I believe this is the neighborhood of Schindler's factory.

 

kitty corner to this restaurant is a place called pan zielonka or mr. herbs or something to that effect. i finally found some dried sea buckthorn so i hope to make my own tea when we are back home.

during a walk to an outdoor market i couldn't help noticing just how incredibly robust and ubiquitous the nettles are here:

also noted on the way was this business with its own atm:

and some severely underutilized beautifully constructed boxen:

a plaque commemorating another polish artist. these are everywhere... it's just really moving and remarkable how the arts (and just about all creativity here) are honored with these plaques that recognize someone's contribution to poland's history and culture: 

after a long day of walking we just stopped for a rest and in the background tou can see the castle krakow (Wawel?)is known for:

waiting in another park for an uber back across the river to have dinner (note cute little trash receptacle with rain repelling umbrella-like cap...and A too!)

on the way in the cab i snapped a quick shot as we sped past that hot air balloon and the ferris wheel from a couple of posts ago:

of course i forgot to take pics of our second meal at mezzellian but here's the menus: 

and here's A in Krakow Park, the favorite childhood park of Eva Hoffman that we read about in this book:

into the forests we go

A is really learning how to navigate the city. we basically accomplished several days' worth of shuttling around in an afternoon and evening. first we stopped at bagel mama for a fast and good breakfast by way of the river promeanade and pedestrian bridge:

 next stop was the train station that was so confusing when we first arrived here in Krakow. it's still confusing and now it's a little more clear why that is so. they've traded in the old beautiful station for a few cashiers boxes in the basement of...the new mall! 

the old station that's unmistakable for what it is:

the old train station tower:

the new train station is way down there on the right under that new mallish structure:

p

so after successfully buying 1st class
tickets to lublin for wednesday (they already had sold out of second class so i'll let you know how different these are from the beautiful train ride we took to get here last week) we had to walk through the mall to get to the street level (which reminds me of that museum ploy: "exit through the gift shop") and then went looking for a tram that would take us to a bus up to where the zoo is and beyond that is the forest. the second thing i did (after looking for a restroom) once we de-bussed was stop at this cafe for a drink and some snacks:

then for a little hike or rather an intense plant walk. there are so many plants just coming up right now: raspberries and bilberries, hawthorns and lindens. there were even at least one species of scullcaps. too many plants to list and every step revealed another amazing discovery. it was so quiet in the woods except for the birds and a handful of people strolling or riding through, no one else was in evidence. 

there was a warning sign about wild boars that A translated and when i aimed my phone at it, his translation was spot on:

we had been following the signs to "the forest hotel" and were expecting to be enchanted but when it finally came into view it was not only disappointing but strangely horrific:

down the path from it was a former castle now a fancy restaurant and inn:

it was almost impossible to find our way out of castle land because all the roads were blocked going down the mountain for pedestrians and the one path we found petered out at the parking lot. so we ignored a sign and crossed the service road and walked along an abandoned sidewalk where even more amazing plants were sprouting out of the cracks between enormous stone slabs:

eventually a bus stop was found along a bike and pedestrian path and here's a bike repair station that's miraculously unvandalized:

we passed this plaque dedicating the street name to these two artists:

and eventually a return to that vietnamese restaurant was made:

followed by a walk through the back streets:

where a plaque commentating a famous linguist was posted:

and of course a quick peek into that hillside park by twilight: