Kraków scenes

Krakow, one of Poland's greatest tourist draws, is a bit disfunctional at present. The entire city's being dug up, which means that getting around it is a nightmare. It took me as long to walk the 2.7 km from the Hotel Qubus back to the railway station as it took by taxi the other way. Here we have ul. Starowiślna, closed to traffic, closed to trams. A local troublemaker is being removed. "I've only had a few ales, officer..." "GET IN THE BACK OF THE VAN!" Krakow's Straz Miejska should remove the aggressively drunk beggars panhandling in the passage between the Galeria Krakowska shopping mall and the railway station.

Above: More digging on ul. Starowiślna. Good to see JCB making the most of Poland's (slow and rather delayed) infrastructure boom. Note also contemporary Polish young men's hairstyles: very short or extremely short.

The strong zloty has had a negative impact on the tourist season in Krakow this year, with hotels reporting a marked drop in visitor numbers; this is also affecting international business tourism. A pint (568 ml) of beer in an average London pub is now cheaper than 500 ml of beer in a Krakow bar on the old town square, which at 12 zł is around three quid.

Almost gone, but from time to time one stumbles upon them; advertising for old communist-era brands painted on walls. Here we have a series of ads for Eldom products. The name 'ELDOM' comes from 'Elektryczny' and 'Dom' (house), ie, electrical household goods. To my surprise, the brand's still alive, and doing quite well, having branched out from vacuum cleaners, sewing machines and tumble-dryers. Eldom has wisely diversified into hair crimpers, curlers and clippers, sweater shavers (yes!) and food dehydrators.

See also Pewex ad painted on wall in Łódź.

I feel guilty for portraying Krakow in a less-than-favourable light, so do have a look my other posts from this city (click on 'Kraków' tag below).