Krakow
There’ssomethingreallysatisfyingaboutlookingatthe rangeoftexturesonKrakow’swalls.Notthecastlesor historicalRynektownsquare,either.Justtheregularold wallsinsidethecity.Theygivetheplaceacharacterand lifeIhaven’tfeltinthesameway,inPolandorotherwise.
Barelyspeakingthelocallanguage,itfeelsdisingenuousto makeaseriousclaimaboutmyrelationshipwiththecity. Butpre-covid,wevisitedregularly,andI’vealwaysfeltan affectionthateventuallyledtoaconnection.
Maybeit’sbecauseweoncespentthreeweeksrentingan AirBnBinPodgorze,southofthecitycentre,justacross theVistulaRiver,whichfeltlikelivingtherewhilepicking upfreshbreadandshoppingatlocalskleps.Oritmight havebeenthetwoweeksIspentinanintensivebeginner languagecoursearguingwithmyPolishteacherasthe oldest,byfar,amongagroupstudentsplanningtostudy abroadafterPolandjoinedtheEU.Itcouldalsobeeating beeftartarwithfriedbreadandagiantbeersteinonthe terraceatPodWawelem,sometimestwiceinaday.
Whateveritis,IthinkofKrakowoften.
Przemysl, afew-hourtrainsoutheasttojustbefore theUkrainianborder,iswheremuchofKate’sfamilyis from.I’venevervisitedonewithouttheother,sothetwo placesareforeverconnectedforme.
NOTE: thenextphotoisKate’sfamilyhomeonhermother’s side.IshouldnoteherauntDorotaisholdingabottleof mineralwater,notabeer.Thelastimageisaportraitof WujekArtekin2017whenhewasinhislate80sandstill playingtennisregularly.Hepassedawayinsummer‘22.
