#and actual bagels and a bigger jewish community

[stars-inthe-sky]

...

#so in some fairly big personal news: boyfriend accepted a new job! #we are leaving the goddamn cornfields and okay prairie behind for the hills and rivers of pittsburgh pa! #i am so excited about many many many aspects of this #a little daunted by the cost of living change but i think it'll be well worth it for a real airport. and theatre. and neighborhoods. #and actual bagels and a bigger jewish community #and just to live in a place that i maybe won't walk around wishing i could just go 'home' in some ambiguous way all the time #also being back on east coast time #and did i mention bagels and shows? #is this the real life? #stars + steel city

[annieinpoland]

Top photo: Funny story about this place, actually. In the summer of 2015 I worked as a runner for NBC Sports at the French Open. Since everyone is working hard and doesn’t have time to go out and get food, every network covering the Open brings along a caterer. The guy who was the head of NBC’s catering situation was amazingly friendly and made really great food, so I would chat with him a lot. He’s American but has lived in Europe for something like 25 years, the last 10 or so in Kraków.

Two and a half years ago, he told me that he owns a bagel shop here. When he moved here he found Jewish food, bagels in particular, really lacking, considering this city used to have one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in Europe. He said if I ever came to Kraków I had to visit the bagel shop. It’s called Bagelmama, and it absolutely did not disappoint.

I was too excited about my bagel to grab a photo of it, but this was the wall decor right across from me: a signed photo of John McEnroe, probably fighting with a ref, at the French Open (many years ago, judging by the color and abundance of his hair); and a Casablanca poster. I e-mailed this photo to my parents instantly, knowing how much they would appreciate it.

After my wildly satisfying bagel lunch, I went up to Wawel Castle. I didn’t go inside the main castle or the beautiful cathedral (third photo), but I walked around the whole complex and went up the Sandomierska Tower (middle photo is one view from the top of the tower). The castle complex is incredibly gorgeous, and felt Florentine to me; lots of smooth stone walls in various earthy shades, and red clay roofs, and cobblestones.

I’m working on a theory about how Kraków is the Florence of Eastern Europe.

The weather is absolutely perfect today: low sixties and amazingly sunny. It’s a good day.

(Sorry the photos are so little; click on them to see bigger versions!)

#Krakow #Poland #tourist #tourism #Wawel Castle #Wawel Cathedral #travel #travel blog #bagels #views #cityscape #Casablanca #French Open