nibot | krakow diary (day 1)

It's not yet eight in the evening but it's dark outside. I've gone quite a bit to the East but not crossed a timezone, that's the major reason. But winter is coming too, and the days are getting shorter and shorter, faster and faster due to the sinusoidal nature of things. Colder and colder, too, but thankfully there's been a burst of warm and sunny t-shirt weather here in Krakow, for that I'm thankful. It's snowing in the Tatras. It's snowing already on Kebnekaise, Fjällstationen is closing, adn my Swedish mountain climbing expedition will have to wait for another year. Then we can do it properly, on midsommar like you're supposed to.

Krakow Diary - Pawel's been showed me around the place on Friday evening and Saturday. He's a quite sincere and bright university student here in Krakow and we met both working at the testbeam at CERN. He points out the buildings to me, explains which are neoclassical, which are gothic, which are romanesque, opines on the hours of the day when the cathedral appears most magnificent.

13:30 We meet outside "Empik Megastore," a multifloor book shop wedged in on the perimeter of the central square, I meet his friend Peter and we head out to the `suburbs' to the Multikino, a cinema multiplex that equals any recently constructed megaplex in America. We're going out to see some movie starring Jim Carrey; it's called "Bruce Wszechmogący" in Polish. I don't think that bodes so well (Jim Carrey and all) but of course I accept the invitation because interesting things don't happen by refusing invitations.

On the way there Pawel asks, "What do you think of miracles? What if something incredible happens but it can still be explained by science, even if with a very small probability?" He asks me if I believe in God and I shake my head, "You already asked me that, Pawel, a long time ago." Pawel and Peter smile and say something to each other in Polish.. I'm the cynical unbeliever here. Pawel says, we were saying that explains what you said about miracles. When I first met Pawel he explained his efforts to reconcile faith and science. He is a very thoughtful, sincere, dedicated, and deliberate person, idealistic and with good classical knowledge and by comparison I sometimes feel fairly ignorant, or maybe just overly cynical.

When we get to the cinema the motivation for this most recent conversation becomes clear. It's "God Almighty" in English (films are not dubbed in Poland), which is kind of a modern rip-off of that old classic "Oh, God!". During the film some girls sitting down the row throw popcorn at me and giggle when I look at them.

17:00 We're back at the central square where there's an exhibit on 75 Cubans who have been imprisoned there with rather substantial sentences.. Their crime? They circulated a petition within Cuba to institute freedom of speech and of the press in Cuba. Now in Poland they are collecting signatures for a petition to Casto to get these Cubans out of Prison. The thrust of the effort is, "We remember how it was like under Communism, and we don't want the same to happen to you." All day a dedicated group sits at a table under an umbrella and explains these things to passers by, then earnestly collects signatures for the petition. For a couple hours Pawel volunteers in this effort.

19:ish It's twilight and I wander to the Jewish quarter of town. I figure, shabbat is ending and if the Jewish quarter is anything like small town Israel, it's going to be a happening place. I get there and a group of kippa-covered yeshiva boys passes by, but then there's nothing. Old, dark buildings, some with Hebrew lettering or a star of david if you look closely, but all very quiet, apparently abandoned. That, I guess, is the sad fact of the matter. Maybe there's more going on at other times, but on saturday night it has every impression of total desolation.

What is happening, though, in the central square, is a strange phenomenon with climbing walls set up, boisterous music, and a video of some guys bouldering in Yosemite with full 'friday friday friday at the forum' boosterism. There's a big group gathered but I have no idea what this strange rock climbing event is really about. I sit down and enjoy a polish sausage for dinner (5 zloty) and then wander back to central Krakow.

This walk is the only time I feel mildly anxious about my well-being: dark streets with a handful of drunks feel a lot less safe than the lit and populated central square and streets of old town. But I know my way and I guard my 'radius' carefully, with some degree of paranoia.

20:ish Spend forty five minutes in an internet cafe there, then I go out to the square and find a public phone. I call Kuba, who I am staying with, to check for a plan (there's only one key to his flat). "I am in the Jewish Quarter," he says. "It's the Polish National Bouldering Championship," he continues. Ah. "I was just there." "Yes,' he says, "My friends are organising it." He puts me on the guestlist for the afterparty.

21:40 I arrive back in the Jewish quarter, meet Kuba and he brings me in, I get the requisite hand-stamp for access to the afterparty. The party's in one of those basements the guidebooks allude to, the basements that were medieval buildings but became basements as the road surfaces rose, rooms that were sealed off for decades but recently opened and renovated; it's brickwork on all sides, including brick arches on the ceiling. Kuba's friends with the DJ's ("That guy there, he's a gypsy, a really great guy. He can't see out of one eye, but he has the most amazing sense of rythmn"), it's a Drum n' Bass event and soon the dance floor is hopping. It reminds me a bit of Sweden, the small underground dance club, coming out into the cold air outside for a brief refreshment. Drinks are on the house. They have this odd habit here of mixing rasperry juice concentrate (you know, the sugary stuff they call saft in Sweden) with the beer to make it sweeter. I think it is actually an improvement. Maybe. It's a good party and I come to the conclusion that if I were to stay here in Poland I would definitely love this country and its people.

Get back to Kuba's place around 2, hike up the six flights of stairs, and sleep a long time.

krakow diary (day 1)

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