Krakow Storyteller

28/03/2022

Today I had a great pleasure of guiding Max Sarin - a cartoonist from Finland that was a guest of the Krakow Comic Book Festival. ❤ - thank you for a great morning!

My contribution to the Festival was a guided tour about Krakow in comicbooks and comicbooks in Krakow.

.krakow

03/03/2022

Streets of Krakow are welcoming the refugees from Ukraine.

26/02/2022

Kraków stands with Ukraine!

05/01/2022

Tomorrow at 4:00PM (Polish time), you will be able to watch me chat with Jonathan Ornstein and Rav Avi Baumol from JCC Krakow. Can't wait! :)

*Scroll down for English*

Dołączcie do nas w tym tygodniu na AMA z Alicją Zioło, licencjonowaną przewodniczką po Krakowie! Przed pandemią oprowadzała głównie anglojęzycznych turystów, a teraz zajmuje się głównie zachęcaniem Krakowian do odkrycia własnego miasta pod szyldem Chodźże na wycieczkę. Do zobaczenia w czwartek o 16:00!
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Join us this week for the AMA with Alicja Zioło, a licensed tour guide around Krakow! Before the pandemic she worked mostly with English-speaking tourists, but as the world started to change, she came up with the idea of getting local Krakowians to learn about their own city and she started Chodźże na wycieczkę. See you this Thursday at 10am New York Time or 4pm Krakow time!

21/07/2021

Last Monday I spend an afternoon with Gesundheit family. They came to Krakow from Isreal to look for places important for the history of their family. They want to prepare a movie about an incredible journey that was the life of Beni's mother, Shoshanna. She was born in Krakow in 1927 and managed to leave Poland with her family in September 1939, which saved her life. In fact, Shoshanna (today being 93 years old) is considering coming to Krakow in October, what a trip it will be!

I must say I was a little worried about my task - I was supposed to make it easier for them to get around Krakow, be their translator and try to help them get wherever they needed. What was my concern? It's always weird if you knock on the door of total strangers, trying to get inside - you are an intruder, even if the place is close to your heart. But luckily, I was about to be surprised by how understanding, open and welcoming were the Cracovians that we met on our way. Owner of the building at Krakowska street, letting us in to show us the courtyard were little Shoshana used to play and sharing knowledge about how the place changed since then. Piotr - student that agreed in one second to let us inside his apartment, so we could see the balcony that Shoshanna remembers so well. And finally - Tunisian guy, Sayid, who happens to rent an apartment that was arranged in a space that used to be young Shoshanna's living room, allowing us to go inside and enjoy an amazing view on the old Kazimierz Town Hall building that before the war used to be her school.

It was quite a day! I'm always amazed by what stories and people are introduced to me by

17/07/2021

Today I showed the Old Town of Krakow and the Wawel Hill to a lovely young family from Switzerland. Unfortunately, you can't see their son (5 months old), who fell in love with the city and then took a nap (which is a kind of tourism that personally enjoy the most). ❤

As you can see, during a private tour, we can adjust the schedule and the pace to your needs.

15/07/2021

In early 19th century Cracovians founded a new cemetery, just outside of the city, by the road to Warsaw. During over two centuries of its existence, it became the most prestigious cemetery in Krakow. It's also very beautiful - filled with old trees and extraordinary tombstones, very often designed by top artists.

If you are looking for a place to visit during your stay in Krakow that would be off the beaten tracks - it will be perfect! Today I spent 4 hours there, preparing for the tour that I will guide on Sunday.

14/07/2021

Two days ago I ran into them, they were looking for the pharmacy. I was walking in the same direction, so they joined me and we started talking. And that's how we ended up on a tour around the Jewish district of Krakow!

Thank you, dear group from Germany! ❤

13/07/2021

Sigismund is 500 years old!

In 1521, Polish king Sigismund I decided to spend some money on making his name last forever. That's why he asked Hans Beham, bell-founder from Nuremberg (Germany) to prepare something special for the Wawel cathedral. Beham created a bell that for almost 500 years remained the biggest bell in Poland: 12600 kg, diameter of 2,41m. It's gigantic! It was named after its founder - we call it the Sigismund Bell.

It only rings once in a while, for biggest catholic holidays or when something extraordinary is happening. Cracovians could hear it's sound during the coronation of every king, when there was a fire or when new pope was being elected. It warned them that WWII started, mourned John Paul II after his death, helped to part with the greatest minds of our city.

And today is its birthday! Exactly 500 years ago Cracovians heard its sound for the first time. That's why, this evening, drop everything and run to the Wawel Hill. The Sigismund Bell will sing its song at 21:00, especially for you.

13/07/2021

Today I'm spending the entire day at the Wawel Hill, guiding kids. Now, with way less tourists coming here then before the pandemic, it makes even better impression on the visitors.

05/07/2021

Summer time in Krakow is beautiful!

Before the pandemic, when in the summer I was meeting with 2, sometimes even 3 groups a day, my favourite moment of each day was walking back home from the historical centre. I was tired, but very happy, walking on the sidewalk I could feel the heat burning my feet. With musicians playing on the streets and people eating at the tables outside, Krakow felt like a perfect summer destination.

Today my city is much more quiet and calm. Not that many foreigners are coming to visit us this year. But there is a silver lining - locals slowly find their way back to the centre and there is hope that maybe the gentrification of the Old Town could be reversed. One thing is sure - Krakow is still a perfect city break destination.

04/07/2021

We've finished the tour around the Jewish district in front of the , discussing the contemporary Jewish life in Krakow.

Thank you for exploring Krakow with me!

Stay tuned! This week I will release mamy plans for next tours!

04/07/2021

The Remah cemetery, also known as the Old Jewish Cemetery in Krakow, is the oldest existing Jewish cemetery in Poland. Green, mysterious and filled with beautiful stories of the people that were buried there. I can't imagine guiding in Jewish Kazimierz without entering that place. That's why we will spend some time there during our tour today.

Are you still hesitating about whether you should join us? We'll, don't! We still have some room in our group! Join us at 2:00PM in front of the Ols Synagogue (24 Szeroka street). The cost is only 30PLN (+ 10PLN for the entrance ticket at the Remah Synagogue).

I can't wait! See you!

02/07/2021

When I first started working as a tour guide in Krakow, I didn't know much about Jewish culture. I had a vague idea of what Judaism is and some knowledge about the history of the Jews in Poland, mostly during WWII. I also visited Israel once, as a tourist. I felt insecure guiding in the Jewish district, simply because I was afraid that my tourists would know more about this subject than me. In cases like this, my coping mechanism is reading. :) 10 years and hundreds of tours later, I'm proud of my cooperation with Żydowskie Muzeum Galicja, JCC Krakow, Taube Center for Jewish Life & Learning and Forum for Dialogue, I'm also a licensed tour guide at Fabryka Schindlera / Muzeum Krakowa.

This Sunday I will show you my perspective on the history of the Jews in Krakow and Poland, based on years of guiding, reading, meeting people and travelling.

You can still join us. We will explore Kazimierz - the Jewish district of Krakow together this Sunday, 2:00PM.

29/06/2021

Have you seen these cabinets all over Kazimierz? This project is part of the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow It's known as one of the greatest cultural events in Krakow or even Poland. The most spectacular moment has always been the final concert "Szalom na Szerokiej" ("Shalom on Szeroka street"), with dancing crowd and amazing music.

This year's edition started last Friday and it will last until Sunday. It is quiet and rather small - all because of the pandemic. But it's not lacking good ideas! My favourite is "64000 stones" by R. Stein Wexler. It is referring to an old Jewish tradition of putting stones on top of the graves or memorials, as a sign of memory and respect. Why is there 64000 of them? It stands for the number of Jewish residents of Krakow that were killed during the WWII.

It is a very critical comment about how the history of the Holocaust became commercial, a tourist product offered between boat ride on the Vistula river and Polish vodkw tasting. To be honest, it took my years working as a tour guide to develop a way of talking about Polish-Jewish history that is as truthful as possible and at the same time sensitive and respectful for everyone involved . Have I found a satisfying compromise? Join the tour around the Jewish district this Sunday and find out for yourself. Click on a link in a comment for more information.

19/06/2021

It's czereśnie time! Sweet cherries are my favourite fruit, I have many beautiful childhood memories connected with them. 🍒 Do you recognize the other fruit, also very typical for Poland?

18/06/2021

They say: "Cracovia altera Roma" - Kraków is another Rome. And there is a grain of truth in that. A city filled with historical architecture (especially renaissance buildings make it look like one of Italian towns), with great significance for the Catholics, being a capital of an empire in the past and important cultural centre today. With a heat wave coming up, it's really easy to feel a Mediterranean vibe in Krakow!

Are you ready to explore its nooks and crannies?

16/06/2021

I've met Inga Marczyńska for the first time 4 years ago. I was travelling around Podkarpacie, southeastern region of Poland, with Richard from Boston, looking for his roots. It was him who contacted Inga online before his trip, as she was recommended to him as an expert in Jewish history of Kolaczyce, his father's home town.

Kolaczyce are a small town, so typical for Podkarpacie. My home town, Debica, is only 35km away, so it seemed very familiar to me. Inga took us for a walk down a narrow, quiet street next to the main square, where the Jews used to live before the war. And then, almost crying, she told us the story of two girls, Sala and Rachela, that on 12th August 1942 were waiting with their families on a square outside the town for the deportation. Before they were taken to the woods near Krajowice, where all their relatives and neighbours were murdered and buried, they were spotted by a Polish colaborant, a guard working for the Germans, who decided to use the situation. He took all the precious belonging that they had (they were supposed to be used as a bribe, so their family could escape), r***d them and then killed. Both teenagers were buried in a grave that was digged on the spot, by the river, right next to the main street on Kolaczyce.

Years passed, the residents of Kolaczyce remembered that tragic story, from time to time someone left a candle on small grave of the girls. In some point, in the circumstances that are not clear, the lot of land with the grave was sold by the local authorities to a private owner. He put a fence around it, built a summer house and tried to remove the signs of the past of this place from his garden and from the memory of his neighbours.

Inga couldn't stand it. She kept repeating that the girls where buried "like dogs, by the fence", that it can't stay that way. She kept fighting for years so the girls would get a proper commemoration - a tombstone, so people could visit their grave. She had to face ignorance, ostracism, hostility, but she never gave up. She found help - Adam Bartosz from Tarnów, an expert in Jewish history of Galicia and Dariusz Popiela, an activist and founder of Ludzie, Nie Liczby-People, Not Numbers.

The exhumed remains of the girls from Kolaczyce were buried yesterday in the Jewish cemetery in Tarnow, surrounded by prayer, singing and people.

10/06/2021

Today I guided foreigners in English for the first time in over 6 months. And it felt so great!

And now I can't stop thinking about it. Is there anyone here willing to join a guided tour of Krakow? Maybe we should get organized? Let's bring more English to the streets of the most beautiful city in Poland!

08/06/2021

Today I had an amazing opportunity to be a guide for , Deputy Editor-in-chef of Polish National Geographic Traveler. I can't wait to see the video about Krakow that he filmed today. ❤

06/06/2021

Perfect day for a walk down the Vistula river!

05/06/2021

Happy birthday, Krakow!

Exactly 764 years ago the city of Krakow was founded on the Magdeburg law. ❤

31/05/2021

It's the last day of May. It means that today there will be this year's last "majówka".

In the Catholic Church May is the month dedicated to St. Mary. That's why everyday people gather in the church or a small chapel or cross on the on the side of the road to pray. They sing together - starting with the litany of Loreto, which is followed by some songs about St. Mary.

I grew up in a town in Podkarpacie (south-east of Poland) and when I was a kid, "majówka" was very popular. Most of us, we knew the lyrics by heart, although having a prayer book was very prestigious (it meant you already had your first Communion).

I was very surprised when I saw these pictures. They were taken in Nowa Huta, a district of Krakow this month by Antoni Łapajerski, a local photographer. I thought that tradition was already gone, especially in the big cities. As you can see, most of the people present are seniors.

I would like to thank Antoni Łapajerski for letting me share these pictures with you.

29/05/2021

Planty is a public created in 19th century where the of used to be. It is 4,5km walk if you want to make a full circle around the Old Town. Most of the trees on the main alley are chestnuts, they are all blooming right now. Beautiful!

28/05/2021

We've been waiting for this moment for soooo looooong! Finally, the restaurants, bars and cafes are reopening today - now you can eat your favourite food fresh and served in a beautiful way! In the picture you can see the street of Kazimierz, a districts of Krakow that is famous of it's night life, slowly waking up!

What is your favourite restaurant in Krakow?

26/05/2021

In Poland we always celebrate Mother's Day on May 26. Matka, mama, mamusia, mamunia, mateńka, matula, mami, mateczka - they all mean the same thing. How do you call your mum?

Happy holiday to all the Polish mothers out there!

24/05/2021

Great news! Yesterday I took the second dose of . Finally! I'm ready to go back to work, are you ready to come to Krakow?

✔️

20/05/2021

One thing I like the most about (except for the fact that it is located 15 minutes walking from most of the of ) are the flowers. I live in the old part of Grzegórzki. Most of the buildings were built by the Polish communist authorities in 1940's and 1950's (even before Nowa Huta was built) in the mandatory style - Today it's quiet and very calm. And many resident still take care of the in front of their homes - and it is happening in the center of the second biggest city in . Isn't lovely?

18/05/2021

Exactly 101 years ago, in Wadowice (a small town about 50 km from Krakow), Karol Wojtyła was born - future John Paul II. Watch a film that we've prepared for his birthday last year fot Instytut Dialogu Międzykulturowego im. Jana Pawła II w Krakowie - presenting places in Krakow connected with his life.

We invite you to the special movie "Cracow of Karol Wojtyła", in which you will see our city from a bird's eye view and below the water surface. We will visi...

16/05/2021

The area of former concentration camp KL Plaszow in Krakow - white dandelions mark the exact location of the apelplatz. It was the biggest open space in the camp, used by the staff for the rollcalls. There were times, when the number of prisoners was even as high as 24 000. All of them, standing in rows, were victims of unbelievable cruelty of the Germans, losing their dignity, families, lives.

How is it possible that Mother Nature was so precise in commemorating them with wild flowers? Dandelions, very delicate and fragile and yet so resistant are a very accurate symbol, commemorating those that lost so much in this particular place many years ago.

After the camp was emptied, destroyed and abandoned by the Germans in January 1945, it was taken over by the Red Army that left it after a short time. After some research conducted there couple of months after the war, the area was partly covered by buildings - both residential and used for business. The part of the camp, where the prisoners used to live and work was left without any care or attention. After couple of decades it looked more like a park or natural reservation. Only a few monuments reminded the hikers about it's past. In 2013 the local authorities started to remove the wild plants and marked the apelplatz and the main roads of the camp with broken stone. It was clear and easy to see for one or two years and then it was again consumed by unstoppable nature. Apparently the dandelions grow on the soil with stones faster than other plants - that's how they dominated the area of the apelplatz.

Today the area is being managed by