Enjoy Some Polish Spirit

The Indus is in the heart of Krakow just footsteps from the Rynek Glowny, the main market square. From the outside the restaurant isn't very eye-catching in spite of some twinkling lights and bright colours; there are lots of shops on the same street and the restaurant struggles to compete for attention. This is probably why, on a Sunday lunchtime, the restaurant was completely empty when we went in at a time when other places nearby seemed to be filling up. It's also at the end of the street furthest away from the square which might mean that people stop at other places before they get to the Indus.

Inside, the restaurant is quite small, more so than it looks from the photographs we had seen on their website (himself is in charge of research, you see). The walls are papered with striped paper in Dolly Mixture shades and the soft furnishings are similarly brightly coloured and give a slightly exotic (if down at heel) feel to the place.

There are only a few tables, including one raised one that I later wished we had bagged ourselves because it gave a good view of the street. (That table was subsequently taken by a Polish family, the grandmother of which at one point let out a tirade of venomous-sounding Polish that ended with the words "Pizza Hut!!!!" Make of that what you will.) Except for the table on the raised area, all of them are booth-style (my favourite table-style if truth be told).

There were no staff to be seen when we entered so we seated ourselves in a booth and waited. After a minute a young man came along with menus and took our drinks order. He spoke good, if heavily accented, English which I was glad of when I had to check that none of menu choices contained nuts.Our drinks arrived promptly, a beer for himself and a delicious mango lassi for me, that I think was home-made and not from a bottle.

The menu was fairly standard for an Indian restaurant with no real surprises but there was enough choice of dishes from across the "spiciness spectrum" and a good selection of veggie dishes too. Our curry critic chose the "paneer chilly masala" (sic) and I went for the lamb palak. A portion of pilau rice and a naan bread made up our order. We would have liked to sample the starters but we didn't want to be uncomfortable on the plane home. The food came promptly - as you would expect given that the place was so qiuet - and did not disappoint. We were pleased to find that the dishes had a good kick and weren't the insipid dishes one often gets in Indian restaurants in this part of the world. My palak dish was a fantastic green colour (from the spinach) and the pieces of lamb were a good size and beautifully tender. The paneer dish also contained a generous portion of Indian cheese and the sauce was delicious even if it was not quite so (chilli) hot as the palak dish and certainly should have been hotter than it.

Did the Indus pass the naan bread test? Wherever you go - even at different places in the UK - people produce naan bread that is very different; I usually find in central and eastern Europe that the naan bread is limp and flat, sometimes with toasted seeds scattered on the top, very different from the big, airy things we get in the UK. These ones were somewhere in the middle and were pretty tasty and not at all greasy as they can often be. The portion of rice was fine and sufficient for two people to share.

Althought we were left in peace to eat, we did find it no problem to attract the attention of the waiter to get extra drinks and even when the place got busier, we were still served promptly.

The only thing that lets the Indus down is the toilet and even then the drawbacks are limited. You see, to get to the toilet you have to collect a giant key fob and key from the bar, then go outside and across the alley way and into the very chilly (we were there in October so goodness knows what's like on a freezing December evening) toilets. There is only one toilet and while it was clean, it was very basic and cheerless. (I guess some people might find that an odd thing to say but it was very cold and sterile with a stone floor and stark white tiles)

I would recommend the Indus to anyone looking for decent, value for money Indian food in Krakow. It's in an easy to find central location, the staff are friendly and helpful and the food is nicely prepared and presented. The Indus won't win awards for originality in appearance or in its menu but as a basic Indian restaurant, some where to get a curry fix when away from home it does the job pretty well.

The bill came to exactly 100 PLN (approximately £22, including two mango lassi and two beers) abd while you can eat more cheaply in Krakow, it should be remembered that we were in the heart of the tourist area for which you'll always pay a premium.

On my recent trip to Krakow it rained heavily on the evening we arrived there. We were very hungry and wanted to get out of the rain as soon as possible. On Florianska we looked into the windows of one restaurant that appeared very cosy and inviting.

Looking up at the sign (and promptly getting a torrent of raindrops down the collar of my jacket) I recognized a familiar friend. The Georgian snackfood "chaczapuri" (or as I know it 'khachapuri') was a life saver when we were travelling around the Black Sea in 2006 because you can always grab one while waiting at bus stations for buses that never appear, and we soon became connoisseurs of this delicious cheese pastry that varies immensely from place to place. As soon as we realised that this was a Georgian restaurant we hurried in and bagged ourselves a table for two.

The first thing to say is that the restaurant was incredibly dimly lit, something that perhaps loaned more of an impression of cosiness than was strictly the case. Furthermore, our corner table that initially seemed intimate and snug, plunged us into virtual obscurity - perhaps this was why the waitress took so long to come back to us - she just couldn't see us!

The restaurant interior is quite simple; wooden floors, wooden tables, wooden chairs. The smaller tables have chairs, the larger ones have settles. A cushioned seat would have added a daring dash of comfort - perhaps they don't want to encourage you to linger?

The waitress brought us two menus. It was at this point I learned that this was a chain - well, a series of franchises actually. I was disappointed but decided to reserve judgement.

The selection of dishes looked quite extensive at first, but having to read out the menu to himself (he has a visual impairment and could hardly see the menu in the darkness), I realised that it could easily have been reduced and simplified. It wasn't necessary to list every permutation of the core ingredients of each dish. Every dish was available with chicken or pork, and every time it was listed. Wouldn't it have been easier to say - choose from chicken or pork and list only once? Likewise, instead of saying one could have the dish with cheese, if preferred, all the dishes were listed again with the addition of cheese. In fact they need hardly have bothered at all because the truth was that once the food came it was all practically the same anyway.

I opted for the "grilled pork meat with Georgian seasoning, served with rice or fried potatoes and salad" and himself chose the "grilled pork loin picled with wine and Georgian seasoning, served with rice or fried potatoes and salad" (sic). We both asked for fried potatoes which turned out to be pretty good French fries although we had expected little sauteed chunks of potato and not French fries.

The menu featured plenty of vegetarian choices though most of these were various combinations of khachapuri or a vegetable stew. There were also a couple of salads though these were hardly inspiring. The other main course dishes were combination of pork, chicken and khachapuri with things like eggplant or stewed vegetables.

One thing lacking from the menu was a description of what exactly "Georgian spices" are, but almost every dishes was described as containing them. As we have been to Georgia we had an idea of what to expect but most people probably haven't been there and a brief explanation seemed pretty necessary.
After we had ordered a basket containing two tiny bread buns was brought to the table along with two dips, one was quite spicy and had a nice kick, the other was essentially concentrated garlic - but it was good!

Our mains courses arrived quickly - as they should given that all dishes are a combination of a limited list of ingredients and the portions were hefty. Both had a big pile of meat in the centre of the plate, a mountain of fries and three different kinds of pickle salads. The latter was the best part of the meal; one was a beetroot pickle, which was slightly sweet but nicely spiced, the next was a grated carrot pickle and the last was a traditional sauerkraut. Personally I would rather have had a bit less meat and a bit more salad but, then, I do love pickles. We tried each others dishes and agreed that the meat tasted virtually the same; there was no difference between the pork marinated in wine and the one just cooked in the "Georgian spices". The meat was a little tough and it didn't take long to become weary of chewing it. It became a bit of an ordeal. The meat tasted "Ok" nothing more. It was mildly spiced and could have done with a bit more oomph.

The abundance of meat on the plate puzzled me; it's just not the Georgian way. Georgians do have lots of vegetarian dishes and the meat dishes I ate there contained only a modest amount of meat. It seemed to me that this was a liberal interpretation of Georgian cuisine to fit in with Polish tastes. There were several well known Georgian dishes (such as the giant ravioli-like 'khinkhali') that you see on every menu in Georgia that didn't even get a look in on this menu, maybe this is because they are quite similar to Polish pierogi?

Unable to eat anymore we didn't order desserts and waited instead for our plates to be taken and an opportunity to ask for the bill. We waited and waited. In fact the only thing we didn't wait long for all night was the food. We waited an inordinately long time for our drinks to arrive. We waited a long time for a waitress to come and take our order and we waited ages for the bill to come. What made this particularly notable was that there were plenty of staff on duty and the place wasn't especially busy.

When we were attended to the service was friendly enough and all the staff we encountered spoke reasonable English. There was only one moment of confusion when himself held up his glass to indicate he wanted another beer and the waitress came over and told him he couldn't have one. The problem seemed to be that the first beer had been served in a glass bearing the logo of another beer that is no longer served there. The waitress thought he wanted that brand which is why she told him there was none. "There's no beer?" himself asked her, perplexed. "Yes, there is beer but not that one" she said pointing to the logo on the glass. "I wasn't drinking that one, I was drinking Okocim" countered himself. "Oh, we have that one, would you like one of those?" came the reply....it was like pulling teeth!

Over the following days I spotted more branches of "Gruzinskie Chaczapuri" which made me feel quite depressed. Georgian cooking is great and here it has been reduced to little more than fast food that tastes the same whatever you order. Clearly Georgian cuisine has taken off in Poland, it's a shame they aren't experiencing something more authentic.

The price for our disappointing meal came to 57 PLN (£12.70) and you might say that we should hardly complain. However, you can eat well quite cheaply in Poland so I think my complaints are valid.



http://www.chaczapuri.pl/index.php

Crazy Tours offer guided tours is conducted (for the most part) in a Trabant - that iconic fibreglass car of 1960s and 1970s eastern Europe.

I found Crazy Tours when surfing the internet. I saw the name Crazy Guides on a couple of sites but it wasn't until I saw a photograph of a Trabant that I started to take notice. My other half is an ardent Trabantophile.

The background to the company can be found on their website but a potted history goes like this. "Crazy Mike" the founder of the company was, several years ago, working as a receptionist in a Krakow Hotel having just completed his law studies. He was asked to take an American couple on a two hour guided tour of the city but when he met them he learned that they weren't first time visitors so he changed the itinerary and took them to some of Krakow's hidden treasures in his decrepit Fiat and even cooked them dinner in his own apartment. The Americans enjoyed it so much they much they suggested he start his own alternative tour company and, even better, they offered to finance the project to start it up. He bought the company's first Trabant and the rest, as they say, is history.

Crazy Tours now has a fleet of ten vehicles including Russian Ladas and Polish Fiats and a fabulous bus, the JELCZ 272 known as "The Cucumber" which was made under license to the Czechoslovakian company Skoda. And they don't just do tours of Nowa Huta, they have a selection of tours tailored to suit different sized groups and will even meet you at the airport for a good old Communist Welcome to Krakow!

THE TOURS

We took the "Communism Tour" which lasts around two and a half hours. You get to travel in a Trabant, get a guided tour of the district of Nowa Huta and refreshments - a drink - at a Nowa Huta restaurant included in the price. (Per person 119 PLN, 36 Euro, £29)

COMMUNISM DELUXE TOUR - this is an extened version of the Communism tour with the addition of lunch in that Polish institution a milk bar, a visit to what Crazy Tours describe as their "private museum" - a Nowa Huta apartment unchanged since Communist days (look at the photographs on the website - this place is a gem!) and, if requested, a meeting with "the legendary Communist worker, Mr Vieslav (again his picture is on the website) - apparently you get to drink vodka and eat pickles with him. They will even allow you to have a go at driving the Trabant! (Per person 169 PLN, 51 Euro, £41, four hours)

THE REAL KRAKOW TOUR - another four hour tour that takes in not only Nowa Huta but also the pagan burial mounds and a tour of the Jewish quarter which, as well as being a great place to see today, has great historic importance - it was here that Oskar Schindler had the factory that stopped so many Jewish people being sent to the death camps of southern Poland. (159PLN per guest (48EUR, 38GBP)

CRAZY FARM TOUR - this four hour tour takes in a farm on the outskirts of Krakow where you get to learn about rural life in Poland. You can meet the animals, learn how to make bread or be a blacksmith and then you get to sit down for a traditional Polish dinner with beer and home-made (alarm bells!) vodka. (199PLN per guest, 60EUR, 49GBP)

COMMUNIST WELCOME - AIRPORT PICK-UP - a "Communist worker from the 1970s" will pick you up from the airport in a Trabant, greet you with vodka and pickles and take you to your hotel in Krakow. The blurb says that or an extra charge you can even have the folk band "Leopold 'The Sausage" greet you with a full fanfare! (200PLN/car up to 3 passengers, 61Euro , £48)

COMMNIE TOUR AND DISCO - This tour lasts between four and five hours. You start with the standard Nowa Huta tour and then head to the Communist-era Stylowa restaurant where you get a Polish dinner, Polish beer and three different shots of vodka. Then it's onto a 1980s style Polish disco and afterwards - the now infamous - Mr Vieslav will drive you home "in his best evening dress". (199PLN per guest (59 EUR, 49GBP)

COMMUNIST ADVENTURES FOR ORGANIZED GROUPS - these are tailored according to what groups want so the activities, times and prices vary. Travel is by bus or tram and you can enjoy a traditional Polish meal with live entertainment - obviously a more practical option because of the larger number of tourists and so not available to smaller groups.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Booking the tour was easy, I simply sent an e-mail enquiry one evening and received confirmation the following morning that we could take the tour at the time I had suggested. Crazy Tours will pick you up anywhere in the city and drop you afterwards where you want too. I arranged a pick up from our hotel at 10am and at the appointed hour a little black Trabant pulled up in front of the hotel. Himself, who had no idea what was happening, started gibbering about the "really cool car outside" and went racing over to look at it - and met Erik, our guide; it took a moment for him to register that it was there for us! Erik was a charming young man in his twenties, the Crazy Tours website claims he is "the only Communist worker in history with dreadlocks".

Erik explained where we were going and the itinerary we would follow and we climbed in and set off. Himself is six feet two and so sitting in the front seat of that tiny Trabant he did look to be wearing his knees near his ears. I was in the back, climbing in and out was not impossible, but certainly not easy. On the way to Nowa Huta Erik told us a bit about the car - it runs on a two stroke engine, you have to mix the fuel yourself and it's basically a fibreglass shell that runs like a lawnmower. Of course, that didn't stop it being highly sought after in Communist times when the average time to buy one could be ten years or more.
He then started to tell us about Nowa Huta and its history.

When we arrived in Nova Huta we parked up and went to Stylowa which is a restaurant-bar that was recently refurbished in its original Communist-era style. There we drank coffee while Erik told us some more about Nowa Huta and showed us some maps and photographs charting the progress as the building work was underway. We then explored a little on foot before going back to the car and driving to the steelworks where we were able to get out for another photograph opportunity. Next we went to see the Arka Pana, the first church to be built in Nowa Huta (naturally the original plans had excluded places of worship, as was the Communist way) and here we parked up and went inside to find the interior as impressive as the striking exterior. After some more driving to see a couple more landmarks the tour was over and Erik dropped us in town at the end of Florianska.

The time flew by but that is not to say we didn't see enough. With Erik's expert commentary we learned so much; this isn't just a scripted tour, we asked questions and Erik knew the answers, his historical knowledge was excellent - and his English was too. He was very professional but he was also good fun and we had a great time with him. He would punctuate the commentary with things like "Now comrades, let's return to our limousine" and at the end talked of returning to the "bourgeois city".

I would recommend Crazy Tours to anyone wanting to see an alternative Krakow; it would be easy enough to jump on a tram and head for Nowa Huta but the guided tour really educated us about what we were seeing and put the various sights into context. The price is reasonable enough, especially if you consider that the upkeep of Trabants is becoming increasingly difficult as the parts become more and more rare. Erik told us that sometimes people leave notes under the windscreen wipers saying they have spare parts available. If you still think the price per person is expensive remember that this is a private tour with a guide who speaks perfect English and is an expert on the historical background and think about how much you'd have to pay in the UK for such a tour.

http://www.crazyguides.com/

Designated a World Heritage Site, the Old Town of the Polish city of Krakow is undoubtedly very impressive and beautiful but, for a student of twentieth century politics and history like myself, the suburb of Nowa Huta is far more interesting.

Nowa Huta was basically a present from Stalin to the working people, those involved in industry and agriculture, from the area around the city. Krakow had always been associated with the intelligentsia, the bourgeoisie, and the first uprisings against Communism in Poland sprang from Krakow. the new city was not to be for people from Krakow but only the surrounding areas. Much of this part of southern Poland had been devastated during the war so Stalin had the idea of building a new city with the industry to employ its inhabitants. At the centre was to be an enormous steelworks; Nowa Huta translates as "The New Steel Mill".

Of course, Nowa Huta was in reality a mammoth work of propaganda; look how happy these Polish people are living in their new apartments around tree-filled courtyards, look at the men climb on board the trams on their way to work in the steel factory, how wonderful life is under Communism!

Work started in 1949; in 1952 Nowa Huta was joined by tramline with Krakow. The "Lenin Steelworks" opened in 1954. In spite of the fact that the scheme was uneconomic and really only to make a propaganda statement, steel production in Nowa Huta reached an annual 7 million tonnes by the 1970s. However, by the 1980s the growing pressures on the economy were causing production at Nowa Huta to slow dramatically. The steelworks had no easy to access to either coal, brought in from the Silesia area, nor iron ore, which was brought at great expense from the Soviet Union. Even when the city was being built people were employed with dubious necessity; one photograph shows three men laying one brick between them.

Nowa Huta was another great Communist example of job creation for the sake of it. However the building of Nowa Huta also provided plenty of stories of personal sacrifice and achievement well suited to the needs of the Communists; one man, Piotr Ozanski, was reported to have laid a staggering 33,000 bricks in one single day!

Still, Nowa Huta did provide decent homes for its inhabitants in the shape of well designed apartments built around courtyards and situated on wide tree-lined avenues. When we visited in October "golden autumn" as it's called in Poland was well underway and the trees were a glorious symphony of coppery browns, burnt golds and russet reds. The apartments had full heating and indoor bathrooms, features most of the inhabitants tenants had never enjoyed before.

Plac Centralny is the heart of this showpiece of Stalinist or "Social Realist" architecture which borrows heavily from the neo-classical style. Photographs from the 1950s and 1960s show the buildings that form the square as smart stores selling quality goods, another propaganda move of course. The long road from Plac Centralny leads to the absurd crenellated twin buildings of the steelworks, a kind of twentieth century fortress of industry in the Venetian style - local's still refer to it as "the Doge". Opposite the Plac Centralny is an open spot of land that was going to be the site of a cultural family centre but this was never achieved. Plac Centralny was originally named after Stalin himself but in 2004 it was re-named after Ronald Reagan (a post-pub discussion of ever there was one!)

On the left as you make the approach to the steelworks is a vast manmade lake which was badly polluted in the 1980s but has now been greatly (though not entirely) cleaned up thanks to EU grants. Most of the original Nowa Huta buildings are discoloured from the awful smoke that poured out of the steel works and other Nova Huta industrial plants. Some facades have been cleaned but nothing can be done for the many people whose health has been irrevocably affected by living in this heavily polluted region. Sadly the pollution from Nova Huta also did damage to the valuable buildings of Old Krakow too.

One of the most striking sights in Nowa Huta is the Arka Pana church, built to resemble an ark. Nowa Huta was designed, of course, to be a good Communist city without churches but so strong was Catholicism among the people who went to live there that a movement started up to campaign for a church to be built. The citizens of Nowa Huta raised the money themselves with the help of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) who laid the first cornerstone in 1969. The interior is as remarkable as the exterior; inside there's a tabernacle containing a fragment of rutile brought back from the moon by the crew of Apollo 11, and a statue to Our Lady the Armoured made from ten kilograms of shrapnel removed from Polish soldiers wounded at the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Nowa Huta contains all the shops and services its citizens could need. Today there are modern places like pizza restaurants and mobile phone stores in the units beneath the apartments but the real highlight is "Stylowa" a restaurant and bar that was recently refurbished true to its old style. Indeed the name means "stylish" and lovers of retro chic will find this an appealing place for a beer or a coffee (the latter is horrifically strong!)

A branch of the Krakow History museum charts the history of Nowa Huta with some fascinating photographs from the first work on the site, through construction and some of the propaganda shots issued once tenants had moved in. The photographs were so successful that even in the mid-1960s farm people from southern Poland were still turning up hoping to move in, bringing their goats and pigs with them.

Ironically Nowa Huta turned out to be almost the very antithesis of what was hoped for. Nowa Huta proved to be a particular stronghold for the trades union Solidarity which was instrumental in bringing about the end of Communism in Poland. When martial law was imposed on an increasingly volatile Poland in the 1980s the steelworks had to be put under military control so concerned were the authorities about subversive groups working there. Then there is the role of the church; not only were churches built in Nowa Huta but Pope John Paul II played a big part in ensuring the religious freedoms of the people there by making sure he visited regularly. He knew that the authorities would not want to risk the censure of international community by showing that Polish people were denied the freedom to worship.

Originally we planned to take a tram to Nowa Huta and this is an easy option taking about thirty minutes from the centre of Krakow. However I then discovered Crazy Tours who offer "Communism Tours" in original Trabant cars (the little fibreglass cuties from East Germany) and I decided that this would be a better way to learn more about what we'd see. There are other tour companies who will take you around Nowa Huta but not in such a memorable way perhaps. Tours tend to last around two hours and you can usually be picked up and dropped off wherever you like in the city (within reason). If you go independently there are plenty of diversions to occupy you for at least a half day visit, longer if you stop for lunch and explore on foot. The wide pavements and leafy avenues make walking a pleasure and there are enough places to stop for a beer and take the weight off your feet every now and again.

I loved Nowa Huta, but then I do have a particular penchant for Communist history. The Old Town of Krakow is all very well but if you have time, or maybe on a second visit to Krakow, Nowa Huta certainly merits a visit to appreciate the more recent history of the region which is easily ignored on the Rynek Glowny. Surpisingly Nowa Huta is not grim at all; I found it rather charming and it looks like a lovely place to live. It was certainly more appealing than the labyrinth of 1970s and 80s high rises near my hotel. It is easy to criticise the legacy of Nowa Huta; yes, it did create terrible pollution but what industry didn't in the 1960s and 70s? I predict that within the next few years Nowa Huta will be the "in" place to buy and live in Krakow, full of cool bars, media companies and arty young people. It is somewhere I would be happy to live now - but I already live in the Slovenian equivalent!

http://www.crazyguides.com/krakow_tou rs (to be reviewed separately)

Having been to Krakow once before on which occasion we spent a lot of time in the Old Town, we wanted to see some different areas on our second visit. We had previously spent a little time in Kazimierz, the former Jewish district where Oskar Schindler had one of his factories, but we had heard it had changed a lot in five years so we decided to spend the afternoon and evening there.

As we know from history, the Krakow Jewish population suffered a terrible fate during the Second World War; the Kazimierz district had been a prosperous part of the city but after the German invasion it fell into decline and, indeed, until around 2000 much of the area was still derelict. Today the regeneration of Kazimierz is almost finished and the area is teeming with boutique hotels, designer bars and shops selling handmade gifts. In this renaissance the Jewish heritage of Kazimierz has not been forgotten. At the heart of this is ulica Szeroka (actually more of a square than a street) where you will find the Rumah - the only remaining synagogue in Krakow to function on a permanent basis - and a collection of Jewish restaurants and cafes. These restaurants have played a major role in the resurgence of klezmer music in Poland in recent years and several have nightly live music.

We chose Cafe Ariel, mainly because it looked the liveliest from outside. In doing so we were choosing to ignore the reviews we had read in local restaurant guides so we were taking a chance. There are several doorways so we weren't sure where to go in, especially as earlier we had seen some customers go in one door only to be escorted out of the building and to another entrance by a staff member. However, we entered through the left hand door (as you look at the building) and found ourselves in a small reception area with an ornate bar. We were attended to immediately and shown to a table for two. We asked about music but there was none this evening.

I almost couldn't look at the menu because I was so busy looking at the decor. The walls are a deep turquoise colour and covered in ornately framed paintings of Jewish scholars and scenes of old Krakow. It wasn't until later I learned that Cafe Ariel also calls itself a gallery. Elaborate menorah stood on the piano beside our table and on the huge marble mantelpiece. It was like dining in some cosy and slightly formal drawing room. There were very decorative light fittings and big urns of flowers wherever there was space. I was glad I was sitting in one place and not having to negotiate all this stuff with trays of food!

The menu was fairly extensive but well laid out so you could skim through and find what you fancied. Being a Jewish restaurant Ariel offers several "very Jewish" special occasion dishes and some more common dishes as well as few traditional Polish dishes whose heritage is partly tied up with Jewish cuisine. I suppose the most "Jewish" of dishes is the Carp Sephardic style and while I wanted to try something very traditional I usually don't eat carp because I find the high number of bones intensely irritating. After our orders were taken a basket containing two soft bread rolls was brought to us.
To start I chose the green salad with chicken livers which turned out to be an enormous plate of salad dressed in a delicious garlic dressing (very like a Caesar salad as there were also croutons) and perfectly sautéed chicken livers. At 25 Zloty this cost more than my main course but it was certainly worth it. Himself chose the chopped herrings in onions and cream, another good portion and again it was delicious; this dish cost 14 Zloty.

For my main course I chose the stuffed cabbage leaves in creamy tomato sauce. This arrived as two big parcels of cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and seasoned meat which had been cooked to perfection in stock. The rich tomato sauce was slightly spicy with a hint of cinnamon. Having eaten all my starter I struggled with this dish towards the end but himself was more than willing to assist. He chose the cod fish in horseradish sauce with which he chose fried potatoes as an accompaniment. The fish had been battered then the sauce poured over the top which seemed to defeat the point of frying the batter until crisp as it promptly turned soggy under the sauce; it still tasted pretty good though.

Having spent the afternoon drinking Polish beer in various bars I had decided I'd had enough alcohol for the time being so I only drank water while himself had a beer. However there is a good wine list starting at around £11 for Bulgarian and Hungarian wines and the list even includes two wines from the Golan Heights though these were priced around £30.

We didn't have desserts, feeling we had already eaten too much but there is a good selection of sticky, creamy desserts and - the one I would have chosen - the Passover cheese with raisins and orange zest which looked delicious when I saw it being taken to another table.

Our bill came to 104 Zloty - £21 - which I feel is very good value for the surroundings and what we ate, although it is quite expensive by Krakow standards. Had there been music an additional 20 Zloty per person (approximately £4.20) would have been added to the bill; however I had hoped to hear some klezmer music and was disappointed that there was none that evening. A glance at the Cafe Ariel website will tell you about some of the notable performers who have played here.

Dining at Cafe Ariel was an interesting and enjoyable experience, offering some traditional dishes at reasonable prices for Kazimierz which can be quite pricy. The surroundings are lovely and the atmosphere intimate and cosy in spite of the fact it was quite busy. We didn't have much interaction with the staff but service was prompt and efficient.

I do like to try different places but this is somewhere I would consider going back to; there are still things on the menu I would like to try and I would like to go back in summer to dine in the courtyard or at one of the outside tables where you can have a view of life passing by on the square.

I am glad I ignored the poor reviews and gave Cafe Ariel a try. I have enjoyed some great food in Poland but this was one of the most memorable experiences.

Szeroka St. 18, Krakow

http://www.ariel.ceti.pl/?page=sg&lan= en

Like many European cities Krakow has the seemingly obligatory Cuban bar paying homage to Che Guevara in particular but the wonderful country of Cuba in general. In Krakow this is La Habana, a quirky and fun little bar situated in the Kazimierz district of the city. The owner has cleverly made use of the height of the place because, while the footprint is small, a little mezzanine like floor has been inserted giving the impression that there are two floors.

As you enter there are a few tables and beaten up sofas giving a laid back shabby chic look; there is a small aquarium replete with brightl coloured fish and some Cuban posters on the walls. The crazy paving floor gives a very Cuban vibe and lots of potted cacti give a tropical feel. Some of the original artworks on the walls are for sale.

This place sells any drink you can think of but while you're here you really should try one of the two Cuban specialities - a daiquiri or a mojito - both are very good. There's also a good cocktail list with some original ones you'll only find at La Habana.

The staff were friendly and spoke good English. There is only one customer toilet but I noticed staff were checking it occasionally.

Someone mentioned to me that this place does Cuban influenced bar-snacks but I didn't see any evidence of this. They do sell quality hand-rolled Cuban cigars though which reminds me that this was one of the smokiest of all the bars we visited in Krakow.

A good spot for meeting up with friends as it's lively without being too noisy and you're likely to get a table easily. The prices are good for Kazimierz which can be posey and expensive in some bars.

We found this hotel through Easyjet holidays. The cheapest deal meant staying at Hotel Start; it's classed as a two star. The reviews on Tripadvisor were quite scathing but I don't give much value to them personally because I find the people posting them tend to have quite different expectations from my own.

I needed to know how to get from the airport to the hotel by public transport and e-mailed the hotel directly two days beforehand. A swift and friendly reply came within minutes with what turned out to be correct and simple instructions. The journey from the airport took approximately thirty minutes with one change of bus at the Cracovia stop. Buses stop almost outside the hotel and there are two tram stops within two minutes walk. From here you can get the edge of the Old Town in ten minutes, the buses and trams passing directly by the Wawel, then the Old Town and finally the main train station. It's really too far to walk if you are only staying for a short time.

Having seen a photograph of the hotel on line we knew what we were looking for. The hotel looks like an office block and, indeed, this is partly what it is since other companies occupy parts of the building. The hotel does not occupy every floor. A sign over the doorway of the building gives a hint to the former use of the building as a hospital for people with mental health problems. The reception area was clean and tidy with plenty of leaflets and useful notices like local bus timetables. A small selection of soft drinks, snacks and toiletries can be bought from reception. Two rather old sofas make up a comfortable waiting area and there is an internet point though it one of the expensive pay-per-minute ones. Generally the public areas and corridors were clean and well maintained if a bit dated and "institutional".

Check in was easy and quick then we were issued with our room key. We could pay for breakfast in advance or on the spot, either at reception or at the counter in the restaurant. Breakfast costs 15 PLN per person which is quite expensive when you know that the "Chef's Special" for lunch or dinner costs only 9 PLN. However, as taking breakfast at the hotel is simple and convenient they probably reckon they have a captive audience.

Our room was on the first floor. We took the lift and followed the signs. The first thing we noticed when coming out of the lift was the delicious smell drifting from the hotel restaurant. This is open daily from 7.00am until 10.00pm and is where breakfast is served; in spite of our late arrival we decided to eat in town that evening but a glance at the menu did show that the meals in the restaurant are very cheap and are a mixture of traditional Polish stodge and classic European dishes.

The next thing to note was the strange squeaky noise underfoot; it sounded as if, to save time and effort, the carpet had been laid directly over old linoleum. The corridor was dimly lit as public areas tend to be in this part of the world. Oddly, it was much brighter the following evening.

Our room was basic but clean. I was surprised to find that all rooms are en suite. The bathroom seemed new and was pristine. As the floor was tiled a bathmat in front of the shower might have been a good idea but other than that I could not fault the bathroom. Some guests might turn their noses up at the grey one ply toilet paper but at least there were two spare rolls. There were two decent bath towels which could have been changed daily had we wanted.

In the sleeping area there were twin beds; actually these were wooden box frames with a foam mattress on top but I found the bed quite comfortable. There were spare blankets but the bedding on the beds already was sufficiently warm. There was a feather pillow which I am allergic to so I asked at reception whether this could be swapped for a synthetic one. The receptionist said there was only one and only the housekeeper would know where it was and she would not be there till the next day. I had to make do with a blanket folded and put under the base sheet which worked adequately. I should really have contacted the hotel beforehand with my request so can't complain too much. The next evening when we returned after a day's sightseeing, a synthetic pillow had been provided.

There was a decent sized wardrobe, a desk, a good mirror and two chairs in the room. There was good lighting over the bed and the room was warm without being stifling. The only real issue I had was that the thin and shabby floor to ceiling curtains did not cover the whole window and let in a lot of light. As it didn't get light until almost eight o'clock this did not matter so much in the morning but there were bright lights outside the hotel which were lit up at night. A TV was situated on a bracket high up on the wall and had only Polish channels though we weren't interested in watching any television anyway.

I had feared that being so cheap and used predominantly for cheap breaks, this hotel might be noisy with stag groups in particular making a racket in the early hours. However, this was not the case and there was hardly any noise on either Friday or Saturday night.

We took breakfast in the hotel. It's available between 7.00 and 10.00 am. We paid at reception and were given a voucher to present in the restaurant. When we went into the restaurant there were no staff visible so we chose a table and helped ourselves to the buffet.

The "restaurant" was really nothing more than a basic "breakfast room" - perfectly adequate for breakfasts with plenty of tables, light and airy with some nice framed photographs of the old Town on the walls, but not much character for a restaurant. However, in that respect it's fairly typical of eastern European 1970s and 1980s hotels.

There were cereals, different kinds of bread, cheese, cooked meats, pate, scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs , preserves, tomato and cucumber slices and a very sweet waffley-things containing sultanas. The second day there were spicy sausages instead of the waffles which was good as I had thought the waffles were savoury and filled with mushrooms which came as a shock when I had put my scrambled egg on top. There was tea and coffee and water that had been near orange juice at sometime. I thought that overall this was a good breakfast with something for everyone and was pretty good value.

We found all the staff we encountered at the hotel friendly and helpful. All the reception staff spoke excellent English. We were able to get local transport information (before we learned there were timetables on the notice-board) and staff also advised us of the quickest walking route into town.

There's not a great deal in the area but there is a mammoth Tesco 24 hour hypermarket beside the hotel if you need any emergency purchases. There we no bars or restaurants in the immediate locality. There is free parking in the hotel's private car park. This is kept locked in the evenings so you need to get a member of staff to open it by remote control.

If you like luxurious hotels this is obviously not going to be the hotel for you. However, I prefer to save my money for some good meals out and - in Poland - buying lots of amber jewellery! Although we paid for the whole flight/accommodation package a glance at the hotel website tells me that a twin room costs 160 PLN (£34.62) in the low season (beg inning of November to the end of March) and 200 PLN (£43.67) in the high season (beginning April to end of October and all of December).

Prices for single occupancy and other room sizes can be found on the hotel website.

What I liked about this hotel was that it offered basic hostel-like accommodation without having to stay in a dorm or in a place teeming with teenage backpackers or stag groups. Possibly the lack of stag groups is down to the location. If you are happy enough to tackle public transport or don't mind taking a taxi (the fare to the Old Town should be around 15 PLN, £3.24), Hotel Start is not a bad option.

Look past the decor and the hotel exterior and try Hotel Start for a cheap and quiet getaway.

http://www.hotelstart.com.pl/index.php?lang=en&id=home

Enjoy a beer whilst watching the world go by at one (or more) of the cafes on the old market square. It's not the cheapest place to drink in Krakow but you do get a flavour of the city while you watch life around you.

History lovers are spoilt for choice with museums, but head for the Wavel where several are on the same site. If you're interested in Jewish history and culture you should head for Kazimierz where you can take a walking tour to see the area where Oskar Schindler had the factory where he employed many Jes, thus saving them from inevitable death. For more recent history take a tram to Nowa Huta where you can see the imporessive post-war experiment - a huge steelworks and a city purpose-built to house the people who worked there.

Take a trip out of town to Auschwitz, the most moving experience of my life.

Quick Tips:

There is some great private accommodation to be had in the heart of the city. Drop in at the Accommodation Bureau when you arrive, conveniently situated a stones throw from the bus and train stations.

Best Way To Get Around:

The centre of Krakow is easily navigated, and most of the main sights are within comfortable walking distance of each other. If you're short on time there is a little electric, open-topped kind of "golf cart" service which links the major atractions.

There are two branches of this popular eatery in Krakow, and we went to the one on the edge of the old Jewish quarter. Chlopskie Jadlo means "peasant kitchen," and the food served is traditional homestyle cooking.

The interior is like that of an old inn, with wooden tables and benches, which are draped in sheepskins and very comfortable. Old cooking and farming implements have been used to decorate the place, and there is an old-fashioned fireplace of the type used for cooking.

We were brought some crusty slabs of bread with two earthenware mugs; one overflowed with tasty lard containing lovely crispy pork bits, the other a delicious herby cream cheese. We ordered two huge mugs of beer. I started with the pickled herring, my partner with the smoked eel. Both were excellent, and the herring was well complemented by the shot of cherry vodka I ordered to have with the fish.

For the main course, we shared a huge plate of pierogi - a bit like large ravioli filled with tasty fried cabbage, onion, and potato chopped very finely. We also had a selection from the salad bar - in actual fact, a variety of different pickled vegetables stored in earthen pots (which made it hard to see what was on offer). This, too, turned out to be an excellent choice.

Chlopskie Jadlo restaurants are often used on day tours of the city, so it is a good idea to go in the evening, when the tourists are eating at their hotels, or just before the lunch rush, (say around noon) to make sure you get a seat.

There is good food and reasonable prices, and this is a fun place to eat!

This ex-pats/travellers bar is situated just behind the Rynek Glowny in the heart of Krakow. The decor isnide is fake stone, designed to look a bit like a medieval castle with gothic wrought iron fittings, etc. It is comfortable with small tables or little cosy booths with comfy seats, but regulars tend to sit at the bar. English speaking tourists seem to make upo the bulk of the clientele - Brits, Aussies, Americans and Kiwis in particular.

A wide range of bottled and draught beers are available including Guiness and Grolsch for those who prefer something they know. There are several good Polish beers though.

Shakesebeer is open from 2pm until 1am Sunday to Thursday and from 4pm until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Not typically Polish, but it's a good, central place to meet friends. The music isn't too loud but is contemporary pop/rock.

This strikingly funky cafe bar overlooks the market in Kazimierz, the district of Krakow associated with Oskar Schindler - his factory was situated nearby.

The decor is unforgettable - twisted bodies appear to be either being sucked into or emerging from (depending on how you see it) the plaster. The brightly coloured walls have something new to see each time to look. Sit at little tables or on the most amazing metal stools at the bar.

This is surely one of Krakow's coolest bars and it attracts an arty bohemian set. It has weekly Mexican-themed parties (and partly Mexican-themed decor). The staff are friendly (some speak English), and the service is good. There is a good selection of wine and a variety of beers. The pancakes are excelelnt and highly recommended.

Mechanoff opens around 10am--it doesn't have a set closing time; it just closes when the staff think its time.

Tucked away just one street behind the Rynek Glowny (Krakow's main square) is this modest yet great little bar which serves much cheaper drinks than the bars out on the square itself. You walk through a little corridor and into the almost total darkness of the Still Bar - it takes a moment to adjust to the shadows and find yourself a seat. If you are lucky a member of staff will fetch a candle! But they may be too busy serving or be anxious to return to a game of chess. Sounds grim? No! Not at all! The staff here are so friendly as are the ounters who seem to be regulars and know the staff well. We asked for some directions and found the locals to be helpful and a lot of fun. The music isn't that loud but it veers towards rock and the clientele is studenty - quite young and alternative. The surroundings aren't up to much and you wouldn't visit for the groovy design. Everything is a bit down at heel but it doesn't really matter. The beer (local beers and a few international bottles) is cheap and the atmosphere relaxed. Good for backpackers hoping to save a Zloty or two.

The Dragons Den is just one of many icons that can be found on Wawel Hill. There are so many in fact that one can't really see them all in one go, so it is wise to pick just a couple for each visit you make. You can buy a ticket which gives entry to two sights and tell the salesperson which two you want to see. We opted for the Dragons Den as one of them and the price probably worked out around £3 for entrance to the Dragons Den.

First things first - if you have mobility problems or would have problems going into a fairly dark cave then this is not a sight for you. The spiral stairs are narrow and quite steep and some parts of the cave are narrow too. The Dragon's Den is a karst cave - but not just any old cave. Firstly, there is a legend attached to it - it is said to be called the Dragons Den because this is where Prince Krak rid the city of a belligerent dragon that had been eating not only the city's farming stock but also its virgins - imagine! Furthermore, it is the oldest dwelling place in Poland - it was inhabited from the stone age until the sixteenth century. Sadly there's not much else to say of this cave. Inside it's quite impressive - the central hall is 200 feet long and it has some interesting formations - but that's about it. You don't go with a guide; you simply show your ticket - the entrance is inside the Wawel Castle Gardens and you start to descend.

We went on a really hot day and could quickly feel the temperature plummet as we went further underground. Once you make your way through the central cave, you descend a little more before exiting through an opening on the west slope of Wawel Hill. This results in a beautiful view of the sweeping curve of the Vistula and the farm land on the other side of the river. You also see the fire breathing statue of the Dragon next to the exit. It is a rather quirky contemporary metal sculpture with breathes fire at intervals - kids love it!

I guess this attraction would appeal to children though it needs a little something more to make it more appealing. It could easily do this without becoming too commercial and tacky - perhaps a small exhibition? For adults it is a pleasant enough diversion but unlikely to be a highlight of your trip.