Here are mine:

Krakow is full of history

The city dates back to 7^th century and was the capital of Poland during the country’s greatest era. Even if you come here knowing nothing about Polish history, you can get a pretty good understanding of it after visiting the must-sees, like Wawel Castle, St. Mary’s Basilica and Rynek Underground.

Centuries went by after those glorious times, and nearly 80 years ago Krakow met its worst moments in the face of the five-year Nazi occupation. It was in those dark days when the well-known heroics of Oscar Schindler came to the fore. The German industrialist managed to save thousands of Jews from Krakow by employing them in his enamel factory, which has been turned into museum and is now open to visitors. Schindler’s story inspired the 1982 prize-winning novel Schindler’s Ark, on which the highly successful movie Schindler’s List was later based.

You can literally spend an entire day (and night) jumping from one café to another without getting bored

… because they are all trendy, vibrant and full of everything you could want from a café. A morning apple pie and a cup of tea on an old school desk looking out over a small cobbled street in Nowa Provincja café makes for a nice start to the day.

I have to open brackets here to explain why you should drink tea instead of coffee. It’s because this is how most Poles choose to start their day and, of course, you want your Krakow experience to be as local as possible. Seriously, they drink a lot of tea – in the morning, before meals, after meals, before beer, after beer and pretty much all day round, or at least until it is acceptable to drink the country’s other best-loved drink: wodka.

If you want to get stuck into the wodka, Krakow offers you a lot of options to choose from – Pijalnia Wódki i Piwa, Tram Bar and Forum Przestrzenie, just to name a few. And just because you need to put some food in your body, as well, you might want to stop by Dynia Resto Bar, whose name translates as “Pumpkin”. When you visit this pumpkin-themed restaurant, prepare to be blown away by the number of meals that can be made from the starchy orange vegetable and how delicious they can actually be. As a bonus, you’ll enjoy the cool setting and the chill atmosphere, especially in the summer garden. (No, it is not the garden they grow the pumpkins in, if you are wondering).

Perhaps you’d prefer some street food from Judah Square Food Truck Park. Don’t let the label “street food” fool you – a great variety of food can be found here and you can actually spend about half an hour making the agonizing decision between your love of sushi and your lust for burgers. (Pro tip: Life is short, get them both).

Pijalnia Wódki i Piwa

It is a city of youth with a great night life

… or “The Fountain of Youth” as I overheard one visibly 50-something lady in the aforementioned café name it, because all the 20-something backpackers, as well as local college students, made her remember her younger days and inspired her to bring more energy to her life now. Shout-out to you, unknown German lady, for not complaining about the loud, drunk crowds filling the streets of Krakow after dark, because the city’s nightlife can get pretty wild even for a 20-year-old. Fortunately, those same young people fill the daytime streets as well – this time acceptably sober – and create the energetic, youthful vibe of the city.

You can see a murder weapon hanging from the ceiling of a historic building in the center of the city

In the center of the Cloth Hall you can see an iron knife hanging from the ceiling. To explain what it’s doing there I have to first tell you the legend of how St Mary’s Church was built. In 13^th century, two brothers were hired to build the two towers of the church. The younger one saw that his brother was doing better and his tower was getting taller. (You can notice nowadays that one of the towers is taller than the other). Envy took over him – he killed his brother, and later killed himself, with the same knife that now dangles on a chain over the thousands of tourists who visit the hall every day. 

It can be the starting point for a lot of amazing day trips

• Some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Krakow is the most famous Nazi death camp: Auschwitz. Though “an amazing day trip” is surely the last thing you will want to call the experience of walking through the camp, it is one of those places that everyone should visit once, so that humanity might remember never to make the same mistakes again.
• About 14 kilometers (8 miles) southeast of Krakow you’ll find the salty underground world of Wieliczka Salt Mine, where you’ll be happy to trade the light of the surface world for some time in an amazing realm some 300 meters underground. The mine’s salt has some health-giving properties, while the cavern’s beauty is out of this world, with rock-salt chapels, sculptures and chandeliers that are truly spectacular to behold. You might be surprised to know that, over the years, bungee jumpers, windsurfers and dancers have performed their craft in Wieliczka Salt Mine.

Fun fact: the was one of the first 12 sites to be added to UNESCO’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage Lists in 1978.

• Zakopane – Poland’s winter capital – which also happens to be great during summer – is 84 kilometers (52 miles) away from Krakow in the Tatra Mountains. During the summer months, skiing and snowboarding can be substituted for cycling and quad-bike-riding, hiking and horse-riding. Those with a taste for architecture will appreciate the city’s distinct aesthetic, known as Zakopane or Witkiewicz style.

Pin it for later and remind yourself why you should plan your next trip to Krakow:

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If there is something better than the feeling of being in a foreign place, it could only be the feeling of being in many foreign places at the same time. But how is it possible to get such a feeling, one might wonder. Well, Superkilen Park in Copenhagen, Denmark manages to fulfill that task quite thoroughly.

How so?

Superkilen is not your typical park. It is more like an exhibition filled with objects from all over the world: benches from Brazil, palm trees from China, neon signs from Russia, a boxing ring from Thailand and a fountain from Morocco, just to name a few.

Some of these objects are exact replicas of the original ones, while others were bought and transported from the country they originally belonged to. Next to each of them is a sign displaying where the object comes from, written in both Danish and in the language of the object’s country of origin.

The red sector of Superkilen Park/ Wikipedia

The importance of the locals

The park is part of the Municipality of Copenhagen’s plan to improve urban spaces in the neighborhood of Nørrebro. It was designed by the Danish artists’ collective Superkilen, in collaboration with Bjarke Ingels Group – a team of architects and designers based in Copenhagen and New York – and Topotek 1, a German architecture firm.

This neighborhood is actually one of the most ethnically diverse areas of Copenhagen and is home to people of dozens of different nationalities from all over the world – more than 60, to be exact. Here comes the best part of the project: those people actually took part in choosing the objects to represent their countries.

The green sector, with tables from Armenia – Fred Romero/ Flickr

The colors

The park has three different sectors, coded according to color: black, red and green.

The black sector is where you go to sit on a Turkish bench and play chess from Bulgaria, while enjoying the view of a beautiful Moroccan fountain. Fire up the barbecue and there you have it: the perfect place for chilling in the city.

The green sector is where you keep fit with the help of bike paths, a basketball court and gym facilities from all over the world. It is also the most suitable sector for families and kids, thanks to its many playgrounds.

The opportunity for physical activities continues in the red sector, too. Here you can find a Thai boxing ring, a basketball court and more cycle tracks lined with colorful German bike stands. It’s worth mentioning that this sector also contains a slide from Chernobyl and a Jamaican sound system.

How to get there:

The exact address of the park is: Heimdalsgade, Copenhagen 2200, Denmark.

It is easily accessible by subway – the closest station is Nørrebro St.

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>>> Check here for more free and fun things to do in Copengahen.

P.S. Pinning this post is fun and free, too. Do it here:

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