Polish Shopping

Writing today's post.

Today was the first day in my whole entire trip that I felt a little lonely. And dare I say it, a little bored. I had thought that spending a quiet weekend in Krakow was just what I needed after a week of being sick. And while yesterday was nice to read books and relax, today I woke up and thought, "What am I going to do with myself?"

The best thing to do, I decided, was to go to the mall. (I am, after all, an original Jersey girl).

Galeria Krakowska is a giant monster of a shopping center with three levels and 270 stores. For easy access, the mall was built near the center of town, right next to the train station. However, this new development wasn't planned very well because there is only one road that leads to both the mall and the train station and so there are always massive traffic jams.

The mall is walking distance for me and it was a beautiful day so I didn't have to deal with the cars. Even though I don't have much money to spend or space in my luggage, I wanted see how the Polish mall looked (Bolek would be proud).

The mall was nice. They have everything there: Nike, Puma, Timberland, Sephoria, H&M, plus many other European clothing shops I have never heard of but sold nice stuff. My favorite being a teenage shop called "Troll" (for the namesake only). There was a drug store, a pet store, a shop that sold fruit. McDonald's, KFC and a deli with Polish Ham. I considered buying some clothes but I realized that I didn't need to. I could buy everything--or something like it--in America.

I ventured into Empik, which is their version of Barnes & Noble, and flipped through American Vanity Fair and Glamour, two magazines I never read, just to get some flavor of home. I opened the Polish version of Harry Potter and tried to read the first paragraph. I kind of knew what was going on, but it's probably because I read it before. Maybe one day I will be able to read it in Polish. The rest of the books in the kids section were Polish renditions of The Little Mermaid, My Little Pony, Bob the Builder. In a way I was happy that Polish people have the opportunity to enjoy American products and creations, but at the same time, I found it somewhat amiss. What about the Polish cartoons?

Walking through the mall, each store playing club music louder than the next, it all felt a little empty. I left the Polish mall wishing it were a little more Polish.

Galeria Krakowska.