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Krakow Info
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Two brand-new hotels
/2012-05-15/ International hotel chain Accor has just opened twin
down-market establishments in Krakow. The two are situated side by
side behind Galleria Krakowska shopping mall and next to railway
tracks on the approach to the city's main train station. The less
cheap one has been branded Ibis Krakow Stare Miasto and its one-star
sibling - Ibis Budget Krakow Stare Miasto. Their rates aren't that
low actually.
Kasia
Wow, long weekend again...
/2012-05-14/ All branches of the National
Museum in Krakow close for Corpus Christi feast on Thursday,
June 7th. Also expect all shops closed except convenience stores
attached to filling stations. Other places keep holiday hours.
Mark
See Leonardo da Vinci's famed picture in
Krakow. Now!
/2012-05-11/ At long last da Vinci's Krakow beauty, Lady with an
Ermine, can be admired again. Tomorrow, Saturday May 12th, 2012 the
show of the Renaissance masterpiece starts in the Krakow Royal
Castle of Wawel. Opening hours are the same as the castle's main
tour of the second-floor Royal chambers called State Rooms - from
9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
while on weekends they are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Brace yourself for long
queuing as only twenty visitors are let at a time. A separate ticket
for the exhibition of da Vinci's painting (and practically nothing
else) costs ten zloty, an equivalent of about two euro at the
current exchange rate. But they say one may also see the portrait by
Leonardo at the end of the tour of the royal tour of State Rooms for
18 zloty.
Muse Goer
Mayday!
/2012-04-24/ Note that both Tuesday, May 1st and Thursday, May 3rd
are public holidays in Poland and
Krakow, Poland is no
exception. Expect all shops and shopping centers closed. Ditto
banks, government and other offices, workshops, etc. Most of the
rest - including restaurants and many tourist spots and cultural
events - should be alive.
Mark
Lady with an Ermine to Reside in the
Royal Castle.
/2012-04-21/ From May the famous Krakow painting by
Leonardo da Vinci, Lady with an Ermine, will
be exhibited on the second floor in the western wing of the
Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow. The exact
dates hasn't been announced. The Renaissance masterpiece is to stay
at the castle till the conclusion of the renovation of the
Czartoryski Museum on the opposite end of
Krakow's Old Town central district, expected sometime in 2013.
Kasia
New Public Transport Fares
/2012-04-16/ There are new, slightly raised rates in place on public
transport in Krakow. Now a one-way ticket for a bus or a tram costs
3.2 zloties (PLN) within the city limits. When you need to change
buses or trams on the way there is a 30-minutes ticket available
also for 3.2 PLN or a 60-minutes one for four zloties.
Kasia
Beauty Spot
/2012-04-11/ Beautiful city, Krakow. Central square liked most.
Marie, Canada
National Museum’s Holiday Hours
/2012-04-05/ This Easter all branches of the
National Museum in Krakow stay closed on Sunday, April 9 but
will be open on Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. except Stanislaw
Wyspianski Museum. They also close for May Day. On the Constitution
Day, May 3rd their opening hours are 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. Stanislaw
Wyspianski Museum is to remain closed for renovation till September
2012.
Muse Goer
Auschwitz Restrictions
/2012-04-03/ From April 1 through October 31 individual tourists may
visit the Auschwitz proper before 10 a.m.
or after 3 p.m. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. only groups with a
licensed guide are allowed in. Yet individual tourists can join
guided tours at stated hours or form a group of twenty of more and
employ one of the guides available on the site. Nearby Birkenau
concentration camp a.k.a. Auschwitz II is accessible to individual
visitors anytime as long as it’s the opening hours.
Mark
Easter Close-up.
/2012-03-30/ Expect all tourist spots closed on Easter Sunday, April
8th. Many close also for the Monday, April 9th. Shops will also stay
closed for those two holiday days. If you will need to purchase
foodstuffs, toiletries, etc. practically your only recourse will be
gas stations and their stores, open nonstop. Selected pharmacies
will sell medicines. Restaurants, cafes, coffee houses etc. will
mostly keep hours as any Sunday or Monday.
Mark
Easter Market.
/2012-03-27/ Easter market takes place on the Rynek Glowny central
square till April 9th.
Kasia
New Flight Schedule
/2012-03-19/ The management of the Krakow
airport has announced at last its timetable of air connections
for summer 2012. Actually, it covers the coming months from
mid-March through October. The new timetable promises more
destinations and more frequent flights. Krakow Info publishes the
schedule on two separate webpages. One of them is devoted to
outbound services, i.e. it shows flights from
Krakow. Another features flights to
Krakow.
Mark
Krakow Michelin Stars, an Update
/2012-03-14/ Michelin guide scouts have updated a bit the list of
restaurants in Krakow referred to in the
latest ‘Main Cities of Europe’ yearly edition for 2012. Three
eateries are out, three new are in. Most regrettably no Krakow place
has been awarded any Michelin star ever to date. Currently only
three restaurants – i.e. Copernicus, Trzy Rybki, and Wentzl –
rejoice in three pairs of cutlery printed next to their names. The
fortunate seven which can boast two spoons and two forks each are
Ancora, Cyrano de Bergerac, Jarema, Pod Baranem, Resto Illuminati,
Szara, and Unicus. The remaining seven Krakow restaurants mentioned
in this year’s Michelin guide are Del Papa, Farina, Kawaleria, La
Campana, Miod i Malina, Trufla, and Wesele.
Yors Tastycles
Beefing
/2012-03-12/ What’s with you ?! I’ve tried to find out about
dining out in Krakow but the city
apparently doesn’t have any steakhouses. Don’t you eat steaks over
there?
Rod, Toronto
Online Shopping for the Royal Castle
/2012-03-06/ Museum of the Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow has launched
its online shop at www.wawel.krakow.pl/sklep It sells the museum’s
publications, a few souvenirs, DVDs and CDs with concerts of
classical music recorded at the castle, and one board game.
Kasia
Easter Classics
/2012-03-01/ This year’s Easter Misteria
Paschalia festival of classical music takes place in Krakow from
the 2nd of April through the 9th of April so it spans the entire
Holy Week including Easter Sunday and Monday. Its program consists
of one evening concert on every single day and features noted
European performers such as Italy’s soprano Roberta Invernizzi with
Europa Galante ensemble, France’s Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble
orchestra, and Spain’s Hesperion XXI ensemble. The music is suitable
for the occasion and includes Baroque masterpieces from Bach to
Handel to Vivaldi as well as some recently uncovered treasures.
Kasia
Fatty Goes Happy
/2012-02-15/ In Poland tomorrow is Fatty Thursday, i.e. the last
Thursday before Lent, which means everybody devours donuts. It’s one
of the strongest traditions in Krakow.
Mark
Italians Too
/2012-02-11/ Italy’s squad for the Euro
2012 football championship
will be based in Wieliczka near Krakow, a town better known for its
ancient salt mine. Italian footballers are to stay in Turowka hotel
and practice on the turf of Krakow’s Cracovia stadium. Also two
other key squads, England and the Netherlands, have decided to be
based in Krakow.
Kicky
Keep Your Plastic Safe
/2012-02-06/ Watch out for bank card skimmers when withdrawing cash
from ATMs in Krakow. Evidently the crime is back in the city and you
may pay dearly for being careless. So at least obstruct view of your
fingers dialing PIN to make sure no spying camera can see it. Also,
possibly avoid cash machines situated in deserted places. Generally
ATMs inside banks are considered safer, ditto those installed in
busy shopping centers and other places permeated with intrusive
security. And look for machines with a semi-spherical slot for the
plastic which hamper attempts to mount a card skimmer.
Mark
Tennis Special
/2012-02-03/ Tennis player? See our new web page about
playing tennis in Krakow at
http://www.krakow-info.com/tennis.htm
Kasia
The ultimate chill-out
/2012-02-02/ A frost wave hits Krakow with day’s highs as low as
fifteen degrees Celsius below freezing and night’s lows going down
beneath minus 20 C this week. Long-term forecasts predict the
weather conditions to continue till February 10.
Mark
Extended Noel
/2012-01-21/ Fresh from Krakow. I think it’s special that
that there is still Christmas on in the city in the third
week of January. Decorations, trees, even concerts of carols
here and there. Maybe little weird but fine with me.
Kid
Fit
for You
/2012-01-19/ Looking for a gym in the city? We’ve launched a
brand-new webpage devoted to fitness in Krakow.
It contains general information about available facilities and
details such as rates, equipment, classes, etc.
Mark
Lost in a Restaurant
/2012-01-14/ I believe I’ve forgotten my camera at one of
restaurants in Krakow. Unfortunately I cannot locate the place.
It was somewhere in the old town, a block or two from the square.
They serve Italian food and the room has a glass ceiling (I mean it
literally so you see the sky). I think I left the camera hanging on
the backrest of my chair. Can you help?
Jose
Contact Amarone restaurant at 14 Florianska street. - Editors.
Less Festive Than Usual
/2012-01-10/ Krakow’s city council had to slash this year’s outlays
and the budget cuts are set to affect also a number of festivals
planned for 2012. Their organizers usually rely on municipal
financing, more or less, so some may be cancelled, some downsized,
some will escape unscathed. Rough-and-tumble is in full swing and
it’s impossible now to predict the outcome.
Kasia
Eye
Teeth
/2012-01-07/ Looking for a good dentist in
Krakow. I’ve heard they are good value for money. Can you
recommend one speaking English or Spanish?
Rosa
New
Year on the Cheap
/2012-01-02/ Visited the city for the New Year’s celebration but
have overstayed a couple of days, swayed in part by cheap January
rates in our hotel in Krakow. I’ve found
you can be pretty frugal here.
Jon
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