Welcome to our 28th European country of Poland!
Today we're going to explore Old Town Krakow.
Then we're going to rent bikes, get outside of the city, go see some green spaces.
And after that we're going to visit the Jewish Quarter, where of course we're going to try
some very traditional Polish food, including pierogi.
So let's get started.
We're Jana and Brett.
Since our honeymoon 9 years ago, we've spent more than 24 months
living and traveling in Europe. So far, we've ventured to 25 countries,
but our goal is to visit every country in Europe and to explore every nook and cranny of the Alps.
One of the things I miss the most from home is riding my bike every single week.
So let's get started!
But we didn't make it very far before we decided it was time to stop for a cup of coffee
and a potty break.
We really enjoy visiting cities because there's so much to do and everything is within walking distance.
But it's only a matter of days before we really crave green spaces.
Krakow is full of parks and this one we're sitting in right now
is probably no more than 400 meters from the city center.
Coffee alone wasn't enough.
We're going to chow down.
Let's go find some more parks.
"I've got to learn how to ride though."
These are not the kind of bikes to ride up a hill.
Didn't know it was on this much of a hill, huh?
No.
But I can't stop, I've gotta keep going!
"City bikes," he said. "It'll be fun," he said.
I think we should have gone with the mountain bikes.
What makes you say that?
Finally, a little bit flatter, not entirely flat, but some flat.
Bye for now bikes, you've been good to us, except not really.
They can't really do these stairs very well. Yeah, they can't do hills well either.
What's their problem. They need to train more.
Okay, I know this just looks like a pile of earth behind me,
but it's actually a monument dedicated to freedom in honor of this famous Polish guy.
I can't say his name, so we will just pop it up on the screen,
but he played a significant role in all these different armies,
from American to French to Russian and Polish. And fun fact he died in Solothurn, Switzerland.
Shameless plug — if you want to learn more about Solothurn,
check out our episode 4!
The cynical and cheap part of me says $5 is a little steep just to climb on top of a green mound.
But to be honest, it was worth $5 just to get up here and get
both a view of Old Town Krakow and all the way to the Tatra Mountains.
Wow, I do not even feel like we're still in the city anymore.
This is amazing. It's so quiet.
I wanted to take a quick break from this video and tell you about something super exciting we
have going on here in Croatia. Hold on for a moment. Oh, really? I had no idea.
Okay, thank you. Apparently, we're not in Croatia right now.
We're still in Krakow!
But no, for real, this looks so much like Croatia. We were there back in 2016 and this looks so similar!
But it's actually a reservoir like one street outside of Krakow.
However, I would not recommend biking here unless you have a mountain bike.
Gotta make sure I don't wreck!
I know this place gives you the Hogwarts vibes, right?
Which is why we came to the Leaky Cauldron.
That's right. Not even one block away from that cool castle is a Harry Potter cafe.
So, I gotta try some Butterbeer.
It was fun being a wizard for a little while, but it's time to go back to Poland.
Well, we haven't entirely left the wonderful world of wizardry.
We're in Kazimierz, which is the Jewish quarter of Krakow,
and we're just going to spend the next few hours totally following our noses and our tastebuds.
We looked around at a couple of food court type things,
but we stumbled upon the perfect spot. This little food truck area literally has everything
that we are looking for tonight, starting with pierogies.
You can't come to Krakow and not try pierogies. And a little self confession...
We've tried a few different kinds this week.
We've had smoked sheep cheese, cottage cheese. We've had strawberry and now pork.
I am so excited. I have not had one of these in four years and I
was talking to the guys up there and they said, "life's too short to eat bad cake."
I totally agree. Let's dig in.
It is so interesting to watch them make this!
So they take the dough and they roll out in this snake like four feet long.
And they wrap it around this wooden dowel and they kind of roll it a little and they dip it in sugar.
And then they put it in this cage and it's slow roasted over...
Well, it wasn't a fire, but some kind of oven, and they take it out
and then they top it with all these toppings, or they fill the inside with frosting,
and then they put all these other toppings, like nuts and sprinkles on there, and they
serve it warm. And it is an amazing soft, sweet cake
that is like one of my favorite desserts in the world. And I don't
need to talk anymore because I just want to eat.
Here we go.
It's just as good as I remember!
Just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar. A little bit sweet on the dough. It's so good!
Seriously, I love that so much. It's already all gone. We ate it in like five minutes.
but I'm going to go ask them if I can go in the kitchen and make one with them
because they're like my favorite.
That was so good. Just as good as I remember.
So I was wondering if I could try and make one with you.
That's okay, I thought I'd ask. Thank you so much. Nice to meet you guys!
Well, I guess we're coming back to Poland. They said they'll ask their boss
if I can come in the kitchen to make one, so I will be seeing them again.
Which honestly, was like the nicest way possible just to get her out of their hair.
On a more serious note, we just just called an important audible
and decided not to get the burger drenched in onion sauce. But that's
because we're in the Jewish quarter of Krakow, so we have to eat something a little more authentic.
This is so cool. I've never had Israeli coffee.
This has obviously coffee grounds, some sorts of different spices,
brown sugar, and then of course, it's boiled over the stove. She said like five times.
Not sure what that means, but then they pick it up and shake it.
Somehow, I guess that mixes everything up and then it's ready.
So I'm about to have my first Israeli coffee.
Wow, okay. I had Saudi coffee one time and it had cardamom in it. This tastes similar,
but a little bit more sugary and a little bit more like Christmas spices, whatever those are.
I really like this. Nothing like the coffee that I normally get:
Dark Italian espresso or a cappuccino. But this is super good!
And to go with our Israeli coffee, we decided to get a pita plate. We have hummus,
red pepper hummus, some kind of cauliflower dip.
Caramelized sweet potatoes and
eggplant baba ganoush with pomegranate seeds on top.
Well, all of these pierogies and chimney cakes and pita plates have just put me in
a really contemplative mood. And I've loved our few days here in Krakow, but they've flown by.
It's already a hair past a freckle,
which means there's going to be a driver at our apartment in literally eight hours
from now to take us to the airport, where we will then fly to our 29th European country.
That means we have to say ciao for now Poland!
But I think we'll be back again one day. Did you hear that, Brett? We need to come back here one day!