DAY 11 - MON 9/29 - SCHINDLER FACTORY & JEWISH QUARTER

We're about a third of the way through our journey and it's going by so quickly, but we're savoring every moment and experience.

It's Monday morning and we're having breakfast at Copernicus.  Suddenly, the attractive Polish woman from the restaurant last night approaches us and asks in perfect English, "Are you American?" We are surprised as we heard her speaking Polish last night.  She is Anna Nowinowska, a Pediatric ER physician from Red Bank, NJ, here on a surprise visit to Krakow for her Mom's 70th birthday and she has a few days to kill to relax and see friends before the event.  We are delighted to meet her and learned that she left Poland after completing medical school and is now married to an American, with two young children.  Anna is about Deana's age and a lovely, attractive American woman... sophisticated and professional in every way.

So, why did Anna approach us?  Turns out she is lonely and hungry for conversation and spotted us at dinner last night and just knew she had to talk to us.  She even noticed the 'Happy Socks' Marty was wearing...Very observant.  She wanted to meet us during dinner last night but held back because she didn't want to interrupt our intimate dinner.  Lucky us, she approached us this morning.  We spoke for nearly an hour and became enthralled with each other.  We invited Anna to join us for dinner that night if she was free, and she was so pleased that we asked her.  We were meeting Jolanta (Jola), Norma's friend from Krakow, for dinner, but Anna didn't mind, nor did Jola.  More on dinner below.

Today we decided to visit Oskar Schindler's Enameled Goods Factory Museum.  In November 1939 Schindler took over a failing enamel factory outside of Krakow, which has been turned into one of the most fascinating museums in the entire country.  The museum takes up the sprawling administration building of the defunct plant at 4 Lipowa Street, in the city’s grim industrial district of Zablocie on the right bank of Wisla (Vistula) River.

See Oskar Schindler on the left below, and his pffice with his desk, erotic art, and huge map he used to demonstrate Nazi conquests in Europe.

Individual histories of Kraków’s wartime inhabitants guide you through the exhibit which covers the five-year Nazi occupation during World War II, everyday life under occupation, the fate of the Jews, the city’s underground resistance and more, using many archival documents, photos, radio and film recordings, period artifacts and multimedia installations, in an attempt to create a full-immersion experience.  Schindler gave many Jewish Poles work, keeping them off the streets where the Gestapo picked people up.  He also used them as cheap labor for his factory making enamel pots, etc., as well as armaments for the German Army.

People lived in very small cramped spaces, with guns hidden behind kitchen cabinets in case of need.

We spent a good two hours there, latching on to an English-speaking tour, which really enhanced our understanding of the history and artifacts that were there.  It's a must-see.

Then we decided to walk back to town via Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter.  This was the center of Jewish life in Kraków for over 500 years, before it was systematically destroyed during World War II. In the communist era it became one of Kraków’s dodgiest districts while gradually falling into disrepair. Rediscovered in the 1990s, thanks to the fall of the regime and worldwide exposure through the lens of Steven Spielberg, Kazimierz has since been on the rebound and is today Kraków’s most exciting district – a bustling, bohemian neighbourhood packed with historical sites, atmospheric cafes and art galleries. Well-known for its associations with Schindler and Spielberg, traces of Kazimierz’s Jewish history have not only survived, but literally abound in the form of the district’s numerous synagogues and Jewish cemeteries. In fact, no other place in Europe conveys a sense of pre-war Jewish culture on the continent better than Kazimierz.

This is the oldest Synagogue in Krakow, which has a modern addition in front.

This is the main square, alive with cafes and restaurants.

Then we take a tourist buggy back to the old town center before getting ready for dinner.

Some sights along the way...

Liquor store...love the name.

Chocolate Tools.

Anna is waiting for us in the lobby, and is very emotional about our invitation and accepting our hospitality.  We are delighted to have her join us.  Then Jola arrives, and we all introduce ourselves.  We LOVE these kinds of occasions and serendipitous opportunities to meet new, interesting and diverse people...this is travel for us!  We walk to the restaurant, Pod Baranem, a classy but typical Polish restaurant.  Anna particularly loves it because it has all the foods that she remembers from so many years ago that she hasn't had and can't make like this herself.  Jola says it is one of the best authentic local restaurants, where in fact politicos meet and dine.  We let the ladies suggest what to order and we all get something different so that we can taste it all...another traveling delight for us.  Just a few things we ordered were Tripe Soup, Braised Tongue (I had that and it was delicious!), Roasted Venison with Sour Cherry Sauce, and I can't remember what else.

Here is Anna giving Marty a taste of her soup, with Jola looking on...

We're all family now!