Many of my fellow countrymen and -women cite this phrase when the name of the
Polish city is mentioned. The expression is a corruption of the Italian proverb:
Vedi Napoli e poi muori! When he visited Naples in 1787 during his
Italian Journey, our
national poet made it into a German dictum:
Neapel sehen und dann sterben. According to Goethe,
Neapolitans are so impressed by the beauty and flair of their place that even
a couple of Vesuvii nearby will not bring them to leave their city.
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Our group with a model of the Wawel in front and the real Wawel in the
back.
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I admit that the word Krakow does not put a gleam into my eyes. Also, my second
visit did not impress me beyond what I feel for other historical places. Krakow
was not destroyed in the Second World War, but while its building stock remained
intact, I noticed a strong westernization of the city between my first visit in
October 2010 and today. The shop where I once bought the famous Krakow sausage
had given up to make room for one of those many fashion-label boutiques you will
find in any major city around the globe. However, most of the sights did not
change, so I do not hesitate to show some of the photos I took during my first
visit because the weather was dark, cold, and rainy this time.
One person you will meet all over the place is Karol Wojtyla, better known as
Pope Jan Pawel II.
He was educated in Krakow, where he worked as a priest and archbishop before he
was elected pope in 1978. Many, even Catholics, criticize Karol Vojtyla's
conservatism, but they admit that his stubbornness in questions of faith
gave a final blow to the communist bloc. Today I learned that Pope John Paul II
will be canonized this year.
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Wojtyla greets the visitor from a window.
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Young Pawel's pew in the Dominican church.
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The highlight of a trip to Krakow is a visit to the Wawel, the former royal
palace.
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At the entrance of the Wawel, a statue of Jan Pawel II
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View of the Wawel in the rain.
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The inner court |
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A cultural highlight is exhibited at the Wawel.
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Governor Frank's seat, his addition to the Wawel in Nazi-style.
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Since this time, my trip to Krakow was a political one, our group visited
Schindler's factory, known from the movie
Schindler's List.
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Schindler's factory
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The place now is a museum with an exhibition about the German occupation of
Krakow as the capital of the Generalgouvernement. There is some reference to
and a nostalgic touch of the Austrian rule before the First World War. This
period generally referred to in Europe as the Golden Age, was nonetheless a time
of oppression and Germanization for the Polish inhabitants.
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