Krakow Milestones
Approx. 4th century AD - The Wawel Dragon
is killed. Prince Krak establishes the city on the
Wawel Hill.
966 - First mention of Krakow in writing
(by Ibrahim-ben-Jacob, a merchant from Cordoba).
1038 - Krakow becomes the capital of Poland
and Polish monarchs take up their residence in
its Wawel Royal Castle.
1257 - The location of the city according to the
Magdeburg law, which gave it a new layout
with a centrally situated marketplace.
1978 - UNESCO places Krakow on the first
World Heritage Site, while the city's archibishop
is elevated to the papacy.
2000 - Krakow becomes European Capital of Culture.
Krakow (['krakuf]; variant English spelling
Cracow; in full Royal Capital City of Krakow)
is one of the oldest and largest cities of Poland,
with a 2006 population of 760,000 (1.4 million,
counting adjacent communities). This historic city
is situated on the Vistula River (Wisla) at the foot
of Wawel Hill in Little Poland region (Malopolska).
Krakow has traditionally been one of the leading
scientific, cultural and artistic centres of the
country, the former residence of the Polish kings
and a national capital, considered by many to
remain the spiritual heart of Poland due to its
history of more than a thousand years. Krakow is
also a major centre of local and international
tourism, attracting seven million visitors per year.
The earliest known settlement on the present site of
Krakow was established on Wawel Hill, and dates
back to the 4th century. Legend attributes the
town's establishment to the mythical ruler Krak, who
built it above a cave occupied by a ravenous dragon.
A visit to Krakow is a meeting with the most
glorious era in our history. Krakow's Old Town with Wawel and the Kazimierz district were placed on
the first World Heritage List, created by the
UNESCO in 1978. It should be remembered that
this prestigious recognition had then been awarded
to only 12 of the most famous wolrd heritage sites,
including the Egyptian pyramids and the Great Wall
of China. Today the list contains almost 700 sites.
Customs
The Polish people are very hospitable, warmhearted
and they have a very high opinion
of foreigners who know at least one word in Polish.
Roman Catholicism plays an important role in
daily life and criticism or jokes about religion are
not appreciated, despite the general good humour
of the people. Music and art are also important
aspects of Polish culture. Shaking hands is the
normal form of greeting. Women have to be
prepared for the old Polish custom of being kissed
on the hand. Smoking is restricted in public
buildings.
The Polish people are used to eating early in the
morning. Breakfasts are served between 7 and
8 a.m., lunches between 12 and 2 p.m. and
dinners usually between 6 and 8 p.m.
Money
Poland's national currency is zloty (PLN).
One zloty equals 100 groszy.
Banknotes come in denominations of 10, 20, 50,
100, 200 zloty
and there are 1, 2 and 5 zloty,
and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 groszy coins in circulation.
Average exchange rates in Poland in the second
half of 2006 were as follows:
1 PLN = 3.9 EUR,
1 PLN = 2.9 USD, 1 PLN = 5.6 GBP.
Holidays
The following days all institutions, offices and shops are closed.
1st January - New Year's Day
9th April - Easter Monday
1st May - Labour Day
3rd May - the 3rd May Constitution Day
7th June - Corpus Christi
15th August - Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady
1st November - All Saints' Day
11th November - Independence Day
25th and 26th December - Christmas
Time zones
Poland is among countries using Central European Time (GMT + 01:00). This time zone applies for Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, or Hungary and many other countries.
Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles time: -9h
Chicago time: -7h
New York, Toronto time: -6h
Buenos Aires time: -5h
Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo time: -4h
London, Dublin, Lagos, Lisbon time: -1h
Helsinki, Moscow, Athens, Tel Aviv, Cairo,
Johannesburg: +1h
Abu Dhabi, Yerevan: +2h
Beijing, Manila: +7h
Tokyo, Adelaide: +8h
Sydney, Canberra: +9h
Auckland time: +10h
Food
Nowadays, the standard of the network of fastfoods,
restaurants, and cafes is similar to the
European one except for cheap street bars.
In the most expensive restaurants you can expect
to pay over 100 PLN for a meal for one. If you
want something cheaper, go to a small restaurant
or bar, or have a pizza (from 20 PLN). "Bar
mleczny" (milk bar) offers the cheapest food (5 to
9 PLN). A cake in a Krakow café will cost you 3-10
PLN, a cup of coffee 4-10 PLN. The price of a beer
in a pub varies from 6 to 12 PLN. The majority of
larger restaurants accept credit cards.
Do not forget to try the Polish specialities: bigos,
made with sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, onions and
any variety of leftover meat. Polish meals start
with przekaski (starters), such as pike in aspic,
marinated fish in sour cream, salted and rolled herring fillets with pickles and onions, kulebiak
(a large mushroom and cabbage pastry) or Polish
sausages such as the long, thin and highly spiced
kabanos or the hunters' sausage (mysliwska)
made with pork and game.
Soups play an important part at mealtimes and are
usually rich and very thick. Soups such as barszcz
(beetroot soup, excellent with sour cream) or rosol
(beef or chicken boullion) are often served in cups
with small hot pasties stuffed with meat
or cabbage.
Popular dishes include pierogi (ravioli), zrazy
zawijane (mushroom-stuffed beefsteak rolls in
sour cream) served with boiled kasza (buckwheat)
and pig's knuckles. Poland is also a good country
for fish (ryba) such as carp served in sweet-andsour
jellied sauce, and poached pike with
horseradish in cream. Herring (sledz) is particularly
popular and is served up in countless different
ways.
Pastries (ciastka) are also very good. Table service
is the norm in restaurants.
There are a few kinds of good Polish vodkas worth
recommending, e.g., zubrowka (bison grass),
tarniowka (sloe plum), sliwowica (prune) and
pieprzowka (vodka with ground white pepper).
Western drinks, such as whisky, gin or brandy, can
be obtained in most bars but are expensive. Wine
is available but, again, is imported and expensive.
The best bottled beer is Zywiec, a fairly strong
lager-type beer.
Tipping
In restaurants, service is normally included in the
price so you just pay what is on the bill. Tipping is
up to you and there don't seem to be any hard and
fast rules about it. In low-priced eateries
customers rarely leave a tip; they might, at most,
round up the total up to the nearest whole figure.
In up-markest establishments it's customary to tip
10% of the bill.
