Buses, trams, and taxis. Taking me home for Christmas?

There are of course many differences in the ways of life and customs between the UK and Poland, just as there are between any two countries in the world. Perhaps at times such as Christmas, these are magnified and sometimes seem strange, but in my experience so far here in Central Europe, most of these differences seem rather good.

I will return to Christmas later but right now I will tell you about some of these peculiarities or should I say variant 'modus operandi', after all, these different habits should not really be described as 'peculiar'...for the people who live here in Poland they are the norm, not the opposite.

However let us start with the public transport system. Buses first of all. Krakow, as does most of Poland, relies heavily on fossil fuels and as such very often in the colder months of the year there can be a huge problem with smog and very poor air quality. However in more recent years this problem is being addressed and one of the main areas that has been dramatically improved is carbon emissions from public transport. To this end Krakow City Council has a fleet of electric and/or hybrid 'bendy buses' or articulated vehicles and they have the fifth highest quantity of these in any European city. 

They are immaculately clean and there are hundreds of them. Carrying approximately 90 passengers they weave their web across the city from the very early hours to late at night. There is a direct bus to the airport ( stops right outside our apartment ) The coverage around the city and its environs is superb and it is a cheap way of travelling. Here in Krakow it costs £20 a month.  Compared to Plymouth, for example, it would cost about £81 for a months unlimited travel in comparative geographical zones. In real terms given the standard of living and minimum wage etc it is about half the price here. That is, of course if you buy the pass rather than pay for each individual journey. The latter being probably the only real thing that is an absolute nightmare here and that is, trying to pay and validate a ticket on a very crowded bus that is articulated and throwing you around all over the place. Yes, if you don't have a pass you must go to one of the machines on the bus and then get it stamped in a different machine. Believe you me, during busy times the buses are rammed and at least 40 odd people will be standing making it more difficult to get off than get on!! However this in effect contributes to the best point about this transport system. The bus only stops to let people on and off and the driver has no interaction whatsoever with the passengers, takes no money and therefore the operation is a very slick one.

Another great feature of these buses is the destination map and commentary which you will find on most of them. It is virtually impossible to get lost whilst travelling on one of these as they all have excellent on board screen technology with maps highlighting exactly where you are and a straight line VDU announcing each stop well before you get there so you have time to fight your way to the door!!. Incidentally you must press the 'open door' button as well. All in all I would say the bus system here is pretty damn good.

Bus stops are uncannily pristine. Cleaned every Sunday morning and most have shelters with a clean bench, free of chewing gum, fag ends and bins that are not overflowing. I have never waited more than ten minutes anywhere for a bus and it is very unusual to wait that long.

Trams are similar and equally as clean. The same rules apply regarding the tickets and they are plentiful and on time to the second! There is something that still seems magical to me about travelling by tram. It may seem crazy but I love it and often go a bit out of my way to get a tram rather than a bus. The on board information is just as good as on the buses. Oh yes, the £20 a month pass, pictured above covers travel by tram as well.

Some of you who know me well, will be only too familiar with my rants over the years about the public transportation system in the UK(Plymouth). I have argued that we really have missed the boat regarding electrification and the reinstatement of local train lines to ease road congestion and often gridlock. Forget the excruciatingly over budget white elephant that is HS2 for example, benefitting a tiny percentage of commuters. The UK could learn much from the superb bus and tram system here. Here, being a country that came blinking out into the sun of a the post Communist controlled regime only 30 years ago. I am not yet certain of how local politics work here but I am guessing that they seem more concerned about the general well being of the infra structure of the city than personal gratification. A post for the future I am sure.

So, on to taxis!

Have you ever tried to get a cab in the last couple of years on a Friday or Saturday night? Anytime from 7.00pm to about 1.00am you are likely to have been told, if indeed you can get to speak to anyone, that there is a two or three hour wait. Nothing specific just a vague indication that there are no taxis available and the company that runs the taxi firm has not got a clue when one will be available. Sound familiar? The whole availability of taxis in Plymouth, for example, at the weekends is ridiculous and far worse than it was thirty or so years ago. The situation is so bad that I have heard many people , myself included actually say that they would rather stay in than go out for rear of not being able to get home.

Well, yet again and don't ask me why, but here in a city three times the size of the 'Muff' taxis are plentiful, on time, realistically priced and what's more, you can, with some of the companies, order one where the driver speaks English. Overall a very professional, efficient and polite service.

Well, there we are, here are a just few of the differences that I am seeing here in Krakow, Central Europe ( don't forget, Central, not Eastern Europe! )

The transport system delivers us effortlessly and punctually to Christmas,2019. Traditionally celebrated on the 24th December by preparing twelve dishes to represent each month of the year or the twelve Apostles, depending on which book you read. This feast begins when the first star appears in the early evening Winter sky commemorating the Star of Bethlehem, which according to the New Testament guided the Wise Men to the birthplace of Christ.

Christmas in Poland is a pescatarian's dream. In strict keeping with old Catholic tradition, Poles usually abstain from eating meat and drinking hard liquor on Christmas Eve. However wine and fish are acceptable and the latter is featured in many traditional dishes. We queued at the supermarket to buy some Carp which we had as our main course with a spicy tomato, onion and chilli relish with paprika roasted potatoes. Not quite traditional but a bit of a hybrid.

For a starter we had to two freshly baked mini loaves with a delicious mushroom, cream, onion, parsley and cheese topping baked in the oven and served with Russian salad and kapusta z grzybami or braised cabbage and mushrooms. The latter was somewhat suprisingly very good, especially the flavour of the mushroom which was enhanced by using its' own

marinating liquor from the broth that it was simmered in.

Dessert was a delicious home made lemon tart served with cream. We have just returned from a walk in town trying to burn off some of yesterday's excesses before we start again! I will be cooking a traditional English Christmas dinner on New Years Day.

Do I miss anything about being in the UK at this time of year? Well, firstly what I don't miss is the build up to Christmas...the madness of the shopping frenzy, not being able to park anywhere, the part time drinkers usually manifested by groups of 20 or 30 feral,middle aged pricks, all wearing Christmas jumpers, being obnoxious, pissing in the street and fighting. No I don't miss any of that but I do miss the smell of the turkey cooking and most of all of course being around friends and family.

However I made the choice to move here based on common sense and an attempt to secure a different and exciting lifestyle and I feel I have without doubt made the right decision. It is still an adventure and I am sure it will continue to be, for as long as I still have the appetite to discover more of this fascinating and wonderful country. 

Where would I rather be right now?....

Wesolych Swiat, na zdrowie.....

Solidarnosc....onwards we go

Fire in the sky..

Deep Purple...bring back any memories? Obviously you remember the one with arguably the most recognisable opening riff in the history of rock music? Putting that aside for just a moment Deep Purple are without doubt a real phenomenon of the music scene. The group has been operating for over 50 years and has sold over 100 million records. With 20 studio albums and numerous studio albums to their name they are one of the undisputed monsters of rock. Adding to this, is the statistic that 'Smoke on the Water' has been voted one of the top 100 rock compositions of all time.

The group's discography closes with the album 'inFinite', which was released in 2017. After the release of this album, the band began the 'Long Goodbye Tour', which included three very enthusiastically received concerts in Poland. Although named as the band's final tour, sometimes it is difficult to say goodbye and the great musical journey under the sign of Deep Purple has yet to come to an end. On December 3rd, at the wonderful Tauron Arena, Krakow, I was privileged to experience the live magic of the rock legends, Deep Purple.

Hosting such bands as Black Sabbath, Kiss, Elton John, System of a Down, Muse, Rod Stewart, Iron Maiden, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, Andrea Bocelli, Sting, Linkin Park, Green Day et al, the Tauron Arena is a magnificent stadium with wonderful infra-structure making for a hassle free enjoyable experience.

Kicking off the show, the band opened with 'Highway Star'. It was almost like being back in the 70,s listening to 'Made in Japan' as the band rocked the house with an amazing wall of sound. The present Deep Purple features the Mach ll line up of Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice, joined by Steve Morse and Don Airey. Ian Gillan has always been one of the most influential singers in Heavy Metal and he still puts on an amazing performance.

Next up, the crowd was delighted by 'Pictures from Home', off the epic 'Machine Head' album, followed by 'Bloodsucker' and 'Demon's Eye'.

It is of course difficult to include everyone's favourite song but for me Steve Morse on 'Sometimes I feel like Screaming' was the show stopper. From the 'Perpendicular' album he really showed his emotion and brilliant technique. Below is the actual song from the night.

'Uncommon Man', 'Lazy' and 'Time for Bedlam' followed and then the Don Airey solo. Incredible talent and doing justice to the legacy of Jon Lord on every song. He and Steve Morse showed why they are revered in the music world. The skill and showmanship exhibited by Airey during his solo ( tailored to the Polish crowd with some Chopin thrown in was memorable).

Watching Ian Paice perform was pretty damn good as well. His skill, speed and finesse are well documented and he mesmerised the crowd with his enthralling performance. Roger Glover had his five minute solo in the encore and proved again that he is far from a spent force with a superb polished set.

'Perfect Strangers' and 'Space Truckin' preceded the much awaited visit to the Lake Geneva shoreline...it may be 47 years old but who in this crowd cared about that. With the average age of the audience not too different from the age of  their most iconic song, Deep Purple rocked the arena. It may be old school rock, cliched to a degree, overplayed....who cares, this was raw, solid, hard rock at its very best, choreographed by a band whose cumulative age is 355 years! These guys know what they are doing and it was bloody brilliant. Yes, 'We all came out to Montreaux'.

" I don't think we feel that it is 100% over " said Roger Glover a few days before the concert in Krakow....I and thousands of others sincerely hope he is right. What a night! Below, Ian Gillan, 3rd December, 2019, Krakow, Tauron Arena. 

Christmas market in the main square

 A selection of pictures from the Christmas market.

Kazimierz and Podgorze: Heroes and Villains

Kazimierz was founded as a town in its own right, just outside of Krakow, by King Kazimierz Wielki ( Casimir the Great ), who gave the town his own name, in 1335. Although Kazimierz is known as a centre of Jewish life, it was not totally so - the district has several Roman Catholic churches.

Commerce thrived and by the 16th century the towns Jewish community was one of the most prominent in Europe. Kazimierz became a walled town complete with gateways, town hall and market place in the early 17th century. Only at the end of the 18th century when this part of Poland was annexed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire was Kazimierz incorporated into Krakow.

On 3rd March 1941 the Nazis set up a Jewish ghetto in Krakow's Podgorze district and herded into it the 20,000 Jews from Kazimierz who had not been deported to concentration camps. Forced to leave at less than a day's notice, they were allowed one cartload of possessions per family and were crowded into 320 buildings between Plac Bohaterow and Rynek Podgorski. From here, they were sent to Auschwitz or Plaszow. Of the almost 70,000 pre-war Jewish population of Krakow, only about 20,000 survived.

Old shop fronts in Kazimierz

One survivor of the ghetto was film director Roman Polanski, who, as an 11 year old boy, escaped through a hole in the ghetto wall during its liquidation. He survived the rest of the war by hiding in the forests that surround Krakow, with the help of Polish families. In 2002 he won an Oscar for Best Director for The Pianist, set in the Warsaw ghetto.

Another familiar name associated with Kazimierz is of course Oskar Schindler. He was born to a wealthy family in the Sudetenland ( present-day Czech Republic ) in 1908. He was childhood friends with with his Jewish neighbours. He moved to Krakow at the outbreak of the war, allegedly to avoid conscription, and bought a factory, which he staffed with cheap Jewish labour. Producing bomb casings for the Nazis, he grew rich, yet he frittered away much of his money on women and black-market goods, which he used to buy the local SS officers loyalty.

After witnessing the liquidation of the Podorze ghetto in 1943, Schindler vowed to do what he could for ' his ' Jews, and managed to have his factory declared a sub-camp of Plaszow concentration camp. Set up in 1942 as a slave labour camp, Plaszow concentration camp was the fiefdom of Amon Goth, the brutal camp commandant portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in Schindlers List. Though it was not an extermination camp, as such, death from disease and execution were dally occurrences, and more than 10,000 people are thought to have died there.

As the Red Army closed in on Krakow, Schindler's factory was forced to close and 'his' Jews were inline for deportation and extermination at Auschwitz. Schindler persuaded the authorities to let him take 1,200 workers to a new factory at Brunnlitz, close to his home town, drawing up a list of workers who would join him. Brunnlitz was freed by the Red Army in May 1945, though Schindler had fled the night before - a Nazi party member since 1939, he would likely have been shot. He lived in Argentina until 1958, when he returned to Germany. When he died in 1974, he was bankrupt and living off the charity of those he had saved.

Another real hero of the war time era in Poland was Jan Karski, whose statue is situated in a small square in Kazimierz. He was an underground courier for the Polish government-in-exile and was one of the first to deliver to western powers eyewitness accounts of Nazi atrocities in the Warsaw ghetto and deportations of Jews to killing centres.

At the outbreak of World War ll in September 1939, he joined the Polish army but was soon taken prisoner by the Soviets and sent to a detention camp in what now is the Ukraine. Karski escaped and joined the Polish underground movement.

With his knowledge of geography and foreign languages and a remarkable memory, Karski became a resourceful courier. He conveyed secret information between the resistance and the Polish government-in-exile. In late 1940, while on a mission, Karski was captured by the gestapo and brutally tortured. Fearing that under duress he might reveal secrets, Karski slashed his wrists, but was sent to a hospital from which the underground helped him escape.

In late 1942 Karski was smuggled in and out of the Warsaw ghetto and a transit camp at Izbica, where he saw for himself the horrors suffered by Jews under Nazi occupation, including mass starvation and transports of Jews en route to the Belzec killing centre. Karski then travelled to London where he delivered a report to the Polish government-in-exile and to senior British authorities including Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden. He described what he had seen and warned of Nazi Germany's plans to murder European Jews. In July 1943 Karski journeyed to Washington and met with American President Franklin D. Roosevelt to give the same warning and plead for action.

Allied governments were focused on the military defeat of Germany and Karski's message received minor attention but did not result in direct action. Disheartened, Karski remained in the United States where he earned a PhD from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Karski refused to return to Communist Poland. Instead he remained in Washington promoting Polish freedom and serving for many decades as a professor at Georgetown.

Spurred by the memory of the Holocaust, for the rest of his life Karski worked tirelessly for Polish-Jewish understanding and to honour the memory of all the victims of Nazism. In addition to receiving the highest Polish Civic and military decorations, Karski was made an honorary citizen of Israel. He died in Washington DC in July 2000.

From the end of World War ll until Poland's return to democracy in 1989, Kazimierz was one of the most deprived  and dangerous areas of Krakow. Since 1989, however, Polish Jews who had emigrated have been free to return to the area either to reclaim confiscated property or simply to invest, and have driven a remarkable turnaround of fortunes in the area. Cheap property prices at the beginning of the 1990's encouraged young Polish entrepreneurs to set up shop here, as bar and restaurant owners and shopkeepers. Students - attracted by cheap rents - soon followed.

Add to this the lively cultural scene - which grew up around the resurrected Centre for Jewish Culture - and the area was already blooming long before Steven Spielberg really put it on the map. While property prices are now among the highest in Krakow, the area is still popular with students and has retained its bohemian character.

As with so many places in Krakow, the areas of Kazimierz and Podgorze really ooze a sense of history, of importance, of tragedy overcome with determination and bravery. Strolling around here, looking at the restaurants, bars and other quirky buildings, some relatively untouched for many years, I heard a violin playing in the distance. It was hauntingly beautiful and at the same time deeply upsetting because the piece being played was the theme to Schindler's List. I apologise for some self indulgence here but I find this piece of music incredibly moving and have added it here for you to listen to. The look on the faces of the audience says it all.

Itzhak Stern to Oskar Schindler  "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire"  Schindler's List, 1993, Universal Pictures.