Poland's picture-book city of Krakow

DW (English)

With its preserved medieval center and Jewish quarter, Krakow is Poland's most popular tourist destination.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to Kraków.

00:01This is Poland's second-largest city

00:03and a really popular tourist destination.

00:05I think it's one of my favorites,

00:07so I'm really excited to take this tour with you today

00:10and show you around some of the most gorgeous, historic places

00:14with my lovely assistant,

00:16Gilg.

00:19Kraków is cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe

00:22for good reason,

00:23and its Old Town and the Wawel Castle

00:25have been included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites

00:28since 1978.

00:31It's really popular among tourists,

00:33and even dogs love it.

00:36The earliest historic records speak of Kraków in the 10th century

00:39as a city of trade and culture,

00:42a crossroads for merchants and travelers.

00:45For over 500 years,

00:47it was also Poland's capital city,

00:49home to kings and coronations,

00:51and of course, the famous Wawel Castle.

00:56From the Wawel Castle,

00:58you can take a nice and relaxed stroll

01:00along the same river, the Vistula.

01:02After 15 minutes and a couple of swims later,

01:05we turn off inland again to the neighborhood of Kazimierz.

01:09Kazimierz is probably my favorite neighborhood

01:12in all of Poland.

01:14So it's actually the old historic Jewish neighborhood.

01:16It was the heart of the local Jewish community for 500 years

01:20and one of the most important centers for Jewish culture

01:23in all of Europe.

01:25This ended with the deportation and extermination

01:28of Kraków's Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War.

01:32The story of Kraków's Jews and their tragic fate

01:35is shown in the movie Schindler's List,

01:37some of which was filmed on these very streets.

01:46So one of the things that I've noticed about Kraków so far

01:48is that pretty much every single place we've been to

01:50has been really dog-friendly,

01:52which just makes it so much easier to travel with a dog.

01:57Oh, look at that!

01:59Dziękujemy!

02:00Before we go to dinner,

02:02let me show you where people from Kraków

02:03buy fresh ingredients every day.

02:06The old Klepasz Market has been around since the 14th century.

02:10It's been destroyed and rebuilt twice,

02:13closed during the Nazi occupation

02:15and modernized again after the war.

02:18The really wonderful thing is that you can find

02:20so much organic, local goodness.

02:24Like Stary Klepasz, I know, prides itself on

02:28sourcing ingredients and food

02:30from some of the best suppliers around.

02:33And it's just, you can see it

02:34in just the beauty of everything that's here.

02:37It smells so good, it looks so fresh.

02:40It kind of makes me wish that I could live in Kraków

02:43just so I could come do my grocery shopping here.

02:48Now that we've seen where the people of Kraków

02:50get their fresh produce,

02:51it's time to enjoy some of it as well.

02:54Back to Kazimierz for some amazing Middle Eastern food.

03:01So what I love about eating out in Kazimierz especially

03:04is that it's this strange mix of two things.

03:07So on the one hand, you've got this like

03:09contemporary, organic, healthy cuisine.

03:12And on the other,

03:14you've got this really amazing sense of history.

03:17You know, we're sitting here between these

03:19ancient brick walls,

03:21and there's really a sense that this place

03:23has been around for a very, very long time.

03:30Oh my God, check this out.

03:32This is the most amazing summer platter.

03:36Oh my God, this bread is so warm and fresh.

03:40All right.

03:47If someone were to ask me,

03:48Hey Eva, can you recommend me one place to visit in Poland?

03:51Only one.

03:53I would probably tell them to come and visit Kraków.

03:58I love it here.

04:00It's really worth checking out, you guys.

Category

Transcript

Recommended