One antidote to the scourge of over-tourism is to get up early and see the sights before the throng materialises. It's nine in the morning, the pavement cafés are empty, the trams are delivering workers to their jobs. There's a traffic jam of delivery trucks and vans disgorging food and beverages to the bars and restaurants, the sound of aluminium beer kegs rolled over cobblestones, of reversing beeps from garbage trucks. First tourists out onto the streets are student groups leaving their hostels en masse, hungover and disgruntled at being woken up at an unnatural hour to see some 16th century basilica.
Below: crossing the market square, I was in for a treat. A military parade passes through, complete with band (off camera to the left). I was deeply moved as the band struck up the
Warszawianka, but was quite unprepared for the first musical number (played before the column reached the square) –
Consider Yourself from Lionel Bart's West End musical,
Oliver!. Quite apt, really, as Lionel Bart was born Lionel Begleiter to Yetta (née Darumstundler) and Morris Begleiter, who had fled the pogroms visited upon Jews after Russia invaded Austro-Hungarian Galicia in 1914.
Below: ulica Szpitalna, across the road from the Juliusz Słowacki theatre. Europe, through and through. But hello... what's that parked up over there?
Below: not strictly historically accurate (a Polski Fiat 125P would have been more like it), this Milicja-liveried Lada is still parked up before starting its day driving tourists around on a retro trip of Kraków.
Left: one of my favourite prospects of Kraków, looking down ulica Florianska towards the St Mary's Basilica. Tourist numbers are still acceptable. Two hours later – not so.
Below: ul. Lubicz as it passes under the main railway line. I catch an InterCity shunter hauling a rake of empty sleeper-train coaches off to the sidings, while under the viaduct a tram heads eastwards. This is Przekop Talowskiego, built in 1896-98, and it involved lowering the street level so as to allow road traffic to pass under, unhindered by the railway. A masterpiece of engineering and architecture, designed by Teodor Talowski. (It looks great at night too.)
One sad reflection; I was enjoying my coffee in the Scottish diner, behind me was sitting an English family from up north; dad, mam and teenage son. Dad was explaining Poland to them. "Poles earn somewhat less than we do, but everything here is much cheaper... and... so... [sound of penny dropping] ...they have a better standard of living than we do."
Below: Is this Alabama? Are we in Tennessee? No. This is just three hours north of Kraków – Warka, where I change trains for the local service home to Chynów.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment