Day 333: Krakow adventures
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
333 — Krakow adventures
30-Jun-1972
(Fri.)
TRANSCRIPT
POLAND
Left early for Krakow.
Drive through nice
country, farmland but flatter.
Arrived Krakow at 1 P.M.
Said goodbye to uncle John. He was really a big help,
even though I objected at first. Made the trip a lot
easier and more enjoyable, except when he was
driving—he wasn’t the best driver. I also might not
have met Maria.
After not finding rooms in a hotel, I ran into some
real capitalists. For a single, private room they
changed 120 zlotys. More greedy than in America.
Friendly—because of the money. I acted like a
tourist.
Krakow
A bustling town. Still drab, but the medieval part is
nice. Quite a lot of people walking around.
Inner
City
Main square contains most of the sights. Church is
very beautiful.
Main building of square
contains a lot of little souvenir-type stalls. Nice
gifts. Black-market value $1. Fantastic deals. 100
zlotys = $1. For something that costs 300zl is quite
a costly purchase, but for us $3. Great.
Good pastry. Meals at train station are cheap but
fairly good.
Castle. Near the river. Not extremely impressive, but
still interesting. Inside, a couple of museums—very
good and interesting. Art work, nothing fantastic,
but the artifacts of the Polish medieval kingdom were
fascinating. Style seemed to me to be just like in
medieval England.
Train
station
Too many drunks. Must be the great society.
Met a young Polish kid here. He was trying to learn
English. So, over a few vodkas, we had an interesting
conversation. Works in Poland. Relatives in America.
He also does not like communism.
Most people I have met seem somewhat dissatisfied. I
can’t blame them because they work but get nothing in
return. He says communism is such a low level that he
could work in Poland and never (at least at this
point) make enough to buy a car. But capitalism and
communism may, at least economically, head towards a
center point, both with good and services for the
people.
After about four vodkas, I was out of it. We were
comrades.
On the way home, a weird thing happened. Two young
Hollanders wanted to go to this nightclub. While
trying to get in, the door was closed and there was a
struggle to open it, and then it broke. The police
came and I got out of there. I hope they’re all
right. I personally didn’t see why they wanted to get
in so bad.
Said goodbye to Heinrich. Hope he makes it. He wants
to leave. Might drop me a line.
Got back really late and woke everyone up. But I was
really glad. I can’t stand capitalists.
REFLECTIONS
Uncle
John. Aunt
Mary’s husband, John, was a great help. His driving
me to my mother’s birthplace saved me untold trouble.
I hope that I compensated him a little for his time
and gas. I usually do that. I say goodbye.
Finding
rooms. If you
haven’t guessed it by now, when I traveled, I simply
went to a town and then tried to find a room on the
spot. This was my mode of travel this year, except
for my two ski vacations. Imagine, me arriving at the
train station with one or two suitcases in hand, and
my cameras hanging around my neck. Then, going to a
phone booth and looking up numbers of places to stay.
Not very efficient, but I was a kid. What did I know?
Today, I wouldn’t do that. Today, after no hotels
were available, I find a private room that I consider
too expensive (100 zlotys). Even though this price is
fine for the U.S. dollar on the black market, it was
probably more than the hotels charged. I called them
capitalists. Didn’t like it.
Krakow.
Krakow is a well known tourist destination. The “old
section” of Krakow is what people go to see, for it’s
medieval castle, museums, relics, and shopping in the
bazaar. I was a tourist for the day and I enjoyed it.
See pics below.
Krakow Main Square
Train
stations. I want
to talk about train stations today for a couple of
reasons. First, you may not know it, but I didn’t
often eat at real restaurants when traveling. I often
ate in the train station that I arrived in—much
cheaper. No atmosphere and sometimes dingy, but
cheaper. I remember today’s venture well. I was
eating at a standing table. The place was packed and
noisy. Many people seemed to be drinking.
Police or military. Then a
military-type man in uniform (like in the movies)
came in and slowly walked around. SUDDENLY, the whole
place became quiet. He kept on walking around looking
at people. No one said much. It was like a scene out
of the movies and I was a little nervous. I remember
becoming aware that, in real life, this man could
probably arrest someone on the spot and then just
take them away. Another reason to be thankful for
living in a society with great freedoms. Didn’t write
about this. Next story, below.
A
Krakow friend. A little
later, some drunk starts harassing me a bit—he’s
drunk. A young, good-looking student comes to my aid
and gets rid of the drunk. Well, we have a few drinks
as well. We did talk and it showed the same
hopelessness and lack of opportunity that the
communist system provided its people during this
time. After four vodkas, I remember doing the “wrap
your arms around the drink” thing to drink (you have
to see it), and the “kiss three times on the cheek”
goodbye European thing as well. I think we attempt to
go to a nightclub but after an incident, I just go
home and wake up the “capitalists.”
Street in old town Krakow
John
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