We've had an awesome day in Krakow. The first stop was the newly opened Home Army Museum. (Muzeum Armii Krajowa - www.muzeum-ak.krakow.pl ). It has only been open a week, and there's a lot left to be done. But what is up and running is really something to see. We were two of just a handful of people in a museum that covers two floors of a former railroad building. But once word gets out about this museum, it is going to be a must-see place on any trip to Krakow.
The Home Army Museum is only located about a mile from the Cloth Hall, although the route is complicated by a major tramway stop and large stretch of a major road, so requires walking underneath both of these. Then you walk around a large monastery complex - are there any straight roads in Krakow? - before finally arriving at the museum. There's a large parking lot right next to the museum for busses, and I'm sure it is just a matter of weeks before the tour companies add it to their routes.
When you enter and pay the 12 zloty admission (which is a bargain for this museum), you are given a plastic card that is used to activate computer and video screens that are throughout the museum. Our cards were "in Polish" so a tour guide advised us that we should return to the cashier and ask her to change it so that when we used the card, we would hear the information in English. Unfortunately, the cashier informed us (and the tour guide) that the computer was not yet ready to program the cards in English. As I said, it has only been open a week and this is one of the things not yet completed. It turned out to be lucky for us, because the tour guide personally then led us through the museum! Tadek spoke English well and really knew his stuff.
Don't be put off by the little that you see on the first floor. The small displays of clothes, old documents and soundless videos were not too impressive. I'm not sure what more, if anything, they are planning for this floor. But what the first floor lacked was more than made up on the incredible number and complexity of displays in the lower level. When we went through the first floor, I thought we'd be done with the whole museum in less than an hour. When I saw the lower level, I thought it would be easy to spend the better part of the day in the museum.
The lower level has countless displays of just about every aspect of the Polish resistance during World War II. It is not just about the organized military, but also about the many ways civilians took part in uprisings and sabotage. There are full size replicas of a tank and a V2 rocket. There's a stunning glass timeline wall that shows the activities of the Home Army, the German military, the Russian military, and the Allies, while videos of these actions are displayed above. There are countless video screens that are activated with the plastic card. There are traditional displays with the narratives in Polish and English (although sometimes the English, which is in a lighter color, was hard to read).
The last exhibit was about civilian women's' involvement in the Home Army. Of course, this peaked my interest because Adela Pilarczyk, who I wrote about in my last post, was a courier in the underground when she was captured, tortured in Auschwitz, and then died in Ravensbruck concentration camp. I told the tour guide what I had found, and where I found the information, which was of interest to him because the museum is on a world-wide search for documents for the museum and its archive. He also promised to check to see if he could find any documents related to Adela in their archive. He said that they are working on digitizing and indexing their archive, but it is a slow process.
I look forward to returning to the Armii Krajowa Muzeum again when it is up and running at full speed. Although I'm sure I won't be able to get a private tour guide! The museum has received donations of materials from people around the world. I was surprised to hear that most material came from Canada. If you know of anyone with materials related to World War II and Poland, please ask them to consider donating these to the museum. It only seems right that these are now returned to Poland to teach future generations.
We headed back to the Rynek and Cloth Hall. We snacked on oberzynek, which is often referred to as a Polish bagel, but given the oberzynki has been around for 600 years, it is more correct - but not as easy - to say that a bagel is a Jewish oberzynki. Then we headed to the art museum located on the second floor of the Cloth Hall. Tickets are purchased on the ground floor in a store across from St. Mary's, coats and large bags are deposited in a free cloakroom on the first floor, and the museum is on the second floor. While you're there, have a snack or lunch on the first floor cafe which offers a lovely and peaceful view of the Rynek and St. Mary's.
We tried to get in to the Museum of Underground Cloth Hall. Tickets are purchased in a well-disguised tourist office on the side of Cloth Hall away from St. Mary's. Unfortunately, even though it was a cool and cloudy Thursday afternoon in October, there was a two-hour wait for the next available tour. I'm sure in peak season tickets need to be reserved at least a day - if not more - in advance. We'll be back again someday, so we just moved on.
Since we were sooooo close, I couldn't resist a stop at the Wawel chocolate store :-). So many lovely favors to choose from, but I'm a traditionalist so I got the dark chocolate. I plan to stop at Wedel chocolate shop in Warsaw at the end of our trip and have a chocolate taste test when we get home to determine which we think is best!
Next stop, St. Francis Basilica with the beautiful stained glass windows by Wyspianski. Then a prayer under the window of the Archdiocesan home of John Paul II, just across the street from St. Francis in which a small plaque marks the pew JP2 prayed in. Then a quick look at three more Wyspianski stained glass windows located in - believe it or not - a small tourist office just a block away on Grodzka Street.
We tried to get into Miod Maliny on Grodzka street for dinner, and even though there were mostly empty tables, we were told they were fully booked. The hostess directed us to one of their two other restaurants, also located on Grodzka Street but closer to the Rynek. We stopped at one to check the menu, then the second. The menu at Wesele had everything that Marmalade had, plus a few more dishes that sounded appealing, but in Wesele we were again told they were fully booked. That was more understandable because the place was full. So we decided to go back to our favorite restaurant in Krakow, Cechowa located on the corner of Sw. Anny and Jagielonska. The other three restaurants were charging 19 zloty for 6 pierogi, or about $6, which doesn't sound too bad to an American on vacation. But at Cechowa you can get a pork cutlet, mashed potatoes, and a large serving of homemade sauerkraut for 17 zloty. And a half liter glass of Zywiec for 6 zloty, or about $2. The food is delicious, the restaurant is lovely, the service is good, the desserts are wonderful, so I have no idea why this restaurant isn't mentioned in any of the tour guides - not one. So it's going to be our secret!
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