Birthday Treat

[bigken]

Well I'm just back from a lovely 4 night stay in the city of Krakow in Poland and what can I say, even with a good coating of snow it didn't hide the beauty of the place, in fact I would say it added to it.
From the Main Square with St Marys on one side, the Town Hall Tower on the other and the Cloth market in the middle. A nice walk around the old town and you will come across many a stunning building, then continue on though Planty park before coming across Wawel Castle.
After killing a few hrs in the castle you have a short walk before you hit the bars and restaurants of Kazmierz ( former Jewish area), anyway before I bore you here's a few snaps.



Krakow

St Marys, cloth market and the tower

Town hall tower

barbakan with st florians gate in the backgound

St Florians gate

street shot

street shot

Walking throught Planty park

outside the castle

St Mary's

inside St Mary's

the ceiling in st marys

bars in Kazmierz

Kazmierz

Kazmierz

passage used in the filming of schindlers list

and again

[LovelyLadyLux]

Gorgeous photos BK. Some cities I have preconceived ideas of what buildings and streets in them would/should look like. I had none rattling about in my brain of Krakow and don't believe I've ever seen any pictures of that city ever so quite appreciated your photos.

Loved all the buildings, definitely loved St. Mary's and their use of blue - very deep and rich.

The shot was quite interesting re: street scene from Schindlers List. Enjoyed that movie.

The street scene with the stylized peacock feathers was more than interesting too and definitely add lots of interest and decor to the street as did the other signs: ThaiBali massage, tattoos, pubs, hostel

Great photos, thanks for sharing

[Grandad]

Nothing boring about your posts and pictures BK.
Love all the pictures particularly as many are taken in low or evening light. I assume you were using a camera? Don't tell me some or all of those were camera phone shots?
Whatever, I really enjoyed looking at them and you have portrayed a real flavour of Krakow. The different architectural styles are interesting and illustrate a lot about the history of the city.
Thanks for putting all that together for the enjoyment of our small group. I know it takes time and it is much appreciated. Many thanks

[Grandad]

PS. My wife has just read your post BK and said how much she liked your pictures and agrees that the snow added to the pictures.

[Kiya]

BK your holiday looked so interesting, enjoyed your photos.....fantastic

You can never bore us with your photos, keep em coming where er you be

[bigken]

Many thanks for your kind words, yes LLL Schindlers List is a quality film and his factory still stands in Krakow today, but these days it is a Museum. These where all taken on my Olympus GD with a 12 - 100 f4 lens on, I do enjoy low light photography.
Amazingly the city of Krakow didn't suffer in the hands of the Germans in WW2, but i'm sorry to say its residents weren't so lucky. From the jewish ghetto to Plaszow Concentration Camp, then further out you have the camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau


Schindlers factory address

outside his office

another from inside his factory

The Empty Chairs Memorial, that sits in a square that was once the Jewish ghetto

Eagle Pharmacy, sits on the corner of the square, Tadeusz Pankiewicz rather than leave, he kept his pharmacy open and help many









A statue of Jan Karski that sits in Kazimierz District

[Grandad]

For some unknown reason I have a soft spot for Poland and its people BK. Without exception, the Polish people I have met have always been very friendly and likeable. Last year one of our student neighbours was Polish and he was the most polite and engaging young man you could meet.
I suppose also, being a young person through WWII I have empathy for the suffering of Polish people and I find that slogan "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" SO offensive for its true meaning.
Many Polish men and servicemen found their way to England at the start of WWII. I worked in a factory at Sandwich in Kent and much of our site had been the reception centre for those refugees. This plaque is on The Barbican wall remembering all those who came through Sandwich, mostly Polish, and many joined the RAF and served with distinction as pilots and aircrew.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Loving those photos BK! I truly love seeing the buildings of other countries particularly old ones and seeing how they were built - the styles, the lines, colours. Always fascinates me and always makes me think and wonder IF we could replicate any of that type of construction today. Those constructions workers of old were all true craftsmen.

Also fascinates me too re: Schindler. That man had some courage and the movie made was really good. Can't even imagine the horror of those days and that particular time in our history.

Also have to say I really like the photo with the snow. That one really appeals to me. Great capture. I really like it.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Grandad - "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" - totally and complete agree.

[Mad Dilys]

Thank you for the wonderful photos Bigken, I got very emotional looking at them.

I read Schindler's List before I had the opportunity to see the film and decided not to see the film as my personal interpretation of the book was so intense I wouldn't risk damaging it.

[Ruby Slippers]

What a great way to celebrate a birthday. It makes one give thanks to the fact that we still CAN have birthdays! It could have been so different if WW2 had gone the other way! Many thanks for the photos, BK.