Lazy Sundays and other thoughts

Sunday in Krakow, I was a waste of space. Waking up at 12 noon, I tried to study my Polish only to fall asleep again. Finally around 6 pm, I wiggled out of my pajamas and decided to head out to civilization to get something to eat. I was actually craving (seriously now) a polish ham sandwich, topped with cheese and a juicy tomato. I considered how I would ask for the ham at the deli. They don't have pounds here so do I order by grams? I wasn't sure, but then I discovered I didn't need to know yet. The market was closed, as was every single shop in my neighborhood.

Walking down the street, the only places open were the liquor stores and smoky bars filled with old men. I had to walk all the way to the main square to find a bite to eat--which ended up being a cardboard-tasting personal pizza and a Spite.

Something to consider when visiting Krakow: Places are closed on Sunday.

Here are some other observations that I have made:

Money:
Polish money is called zloty. The banknotes come in denominations of 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10, and then there are coins for 5, 2, 1. There are a bunch of smaller coins that don't mean anything to me. These little boogers are called groszy and I think there are 100 groszy in 1 zloty but mainly, they just take space in my wallet and confuse me.

According to xe.com, 1 zloty is equivalent to .37 US dollar, so to figure out how much things cost, I divide everything by three and add a few more dollars. Most things are cheap. Today I spent 17,5 zolty (a little over $6) on lunch, which included a big plate with 6 different foods/salads and an apple juice.

What is annoying about Polish money is that they never have change here. Last night, when I tried to purchase my cardboard pizza and soda, which cost 12.5 zolty, the counter girl's eyes nearly popped out of her head when I gave her a 50 bill.

"Do you have change?" is the most common phrase you hear from every vendor in Krakow. They want the zloty coins, not the bills. And usually I don't have change--because every vendor asks for it--and so they sigh and reluctantly hand over the change, acting as if they are giving away the very last coins in their register. That's if they have it. One of my cab drivers took a lower fee because he didn't have change for one of my bigger bills. Even though he was getting paid less than he should have, even HE didn't want the booger groszy.

Does anyone know? Where are all the coins in Krakow?

Polish money.


My lunch today. Not too shabby for $6.

Kebab:
I don't know what I was expecting food-wise in Krakow (maybe a pierogi stand here or there). I would never associate a kebab with Polish people, and yet, they are all over the place, sometimes four restaurants on one street.

Gerda, who is from Denmark but lives in Belgium, told me that the kebab is the fast food of Europe. They're everywhere, not only Krakow. The Germans say that Polish kebabs taste like crap compared to theirs. I had one the other day and thought it quite tasty. I like it. It's filling, fast and cheap--but not very Polish.


One of the many Kebab shops.

Wine:
If I am going to drink alcohol, I like to drink wine. I have come to the wrong place. All wine is imported in Poland, so most people drink beer or vodka drinks or some other kind of hard alcohol because wine can be expensive and it is not always very good.

When ordering wine here, you only get asked if you want red or white. Some places might even ask you if you would like a sweet wine or a dry wine, but that is as much differentiation as you are going to get. If the price is decent, I will usually take the plunge and see what I get.

Streets:
Okay, I have finally figured out one of the reasons why I keep getting lost. The streets change names! Take my street in New York City, 71^st Street, which runs along the entire island of Manhattan. As long as you stay on this street, you know you are on 71^st Street, might it be east or west.

Here in Krakow, you might be walking on ul. Krowoderska and think you are still on ul. Krowoderska the whole time. But then you cross a boulevard and suddenly the street changes its name to ul. Mazowiecka. It's the same street! But two different names! So now I realize the times when I got lost because I was coming from a different direction looking for ul. Krowoderska but walked past ul. Mazowiecka because I didn't realize it was the same thing.

I have even witnessed intersections of two roads which are actually four different roads. At this corner, all the streets change names at once, just like that! For no reason but to confuse people like me! And I still can't pronounce any of them!

Easy.


Hard.


Impossible.

Street performers:
Being from New York, I am used to the average street performer. We have the energetic group of break dancers, the man who plays the electronic flute in the sweltering 42^nd Street station for the 1,2, 3 lines, the Mariachi band on the subway.

In Krakow, "the statue" is quite popular. These people are decked out in one metallic color, standing on a box very still, and will only move when you give them change. In the evening, I have seen jugglers performing with sticks of fire, which always draws a crowd. I enjoy the people who play the accordion because where else but Poland do you know people who can play the accordion? My all time favorites are those who play the accordion in the traditional Polish costume. These are usually older men and they always look kind of bored. I like to imagine them getting ready for work, shaving their faces, brushing their teeth and then dressing in their red, black and white costumes. I wonder if they wear their costumes while they eat or watch tv. Now that is something I would drop change for. Well, at the very least, some groszy.

My favorites: the traditional performers.