March in Krakow, Poland

Mamie's Cozy Livingroom: Where Each Day Ends

Street Musician

Leading to St. Mary's Cathedral

On My Way There

The Planta that Surrounds the Market Square

                                                          March in Krakow 

Shards of sunlight

paint geometric angles on

ancient buildings

 Maintenance crews wash streets and sidewalks

as shop owners tidy up the flower boxes and prepare for the day.

Loaves of new bread fill cafe windows

and coffee is the fragrance of dawn

Cheeses ripen, bouquets bloom

Open doors beckon with amber jewelry,

ceramics, trinkets, and ice cream.

Unintelligible conversations attract my curiosity

as locals hurry along with their morning bundles

Bare trees and a hint of coal smoke

hold winter

But booths filled with flowers and brightly colored eggs

are the harbingers of spring

in the annual Easter Market Square

There’s a feeling of celebration and joy

As this 97% Catholic country

Prepares for its biggest celebration.

Children Singing

New Friend from Maine

Candy Everywhere!

Handmade Lace

I've now been gone eighteen days and am beginning to get a handle on this beautiful city. I've been lost a lot, and therefore I've found wonderful bakeries, parks, cathedrals, and I've struggled to make new Polish friends who could help me find my ways home. Yesterday a sweet college student, wanting to practice her English, walked me all the way to my door. After seven hours of walking the cobblestone streets, I needed that!

My friend Mamie from Costa Rica days is the director of Krakow International School, so I am in very good hands. She and I went to Prague during her spring break, but now I'm on my own. For the past two days I've visited Jewish cemeteries, the ghetto, Auschwitz Concentration Camp and The Schlinder Factory Museum. I will do a separate blog entry for this very different side of Poland. Easter Week was wonderful and happy and beautiful in all ways.

Cheese

Hand Carved Wooden Spoons and Things

And Eggs!

Taking Easter Basket to Church

And, of course, Polish Sausages!