Krakow - Walk to Jewish Quarter, River Crossing, Hogwarts Quad, A Dragon, and Visiting the Castle

Our walk this morning was to the Jewish Quarter. We arrived at a spot we had marked on the map (called Kazimierz), but it didn’t seem much different from anywhere else. Maybe we need to poke around some of the side streets?

But first, we decided to cross the river since it wasn’t far away. There’s a nice new-looking pedestrian and cycling-only bridge with acrobatic sculptures hanging along its length. It’s called Father Bernatek’s Bridge. We had no idea who Father Bernatek was—an acrobat perhaps? As it turns out, he was not. The bridge, built in 2010, was named after a monk who, among other things, helped found a hospital in Kraków. 

On the other side, we dropped down off the bridge and walked beside the Vistula River until we reached another road bridge. We kept going, spotting another interesting-looking bridge further along. This one also had pedestrian and cycling access, but trains ran across it too. It’s called Most Podgórzanek—glad I only had to copy and paste that name instead of pronounce it!

We used that bridge to cross back to the Old Town side of the river and made our way through the streets of the Jewish Quarter. I’d describe this area as a mix of badly graffitied and poorly maintained buildings, alongside some small, pretty streets lined with trees and ivy. I’m not sure I’d describe it the way the guidebooks do:

“Kazimierz is one of the oldest and most famous historical Jewish settlements in Europe, full of monuments and cultural heritage.”

We must have walked the wrong streets!? We did see the Old Synagogue building, but it wasn’t particularly attractive or architecturally interesting, and we didn’t notice many monuments or cultural highlights. Perhaps we’ll need to give this walk another try after some more research.

We made our way back to the Old Town main square and then across to the Muzeum Collegium Maius, the oldest university building in Kraków. (By the way, Kraków is pronounced Krakov, not Kracow, in case you weren’t aware.) The building houses a museum that supposedly offers free entry today and opens at 10 a.m. While waiting, we snapped a few photos of the courtyard, which is said to resemble the Hogwarts quad from Harry Potter. I’ve neither read the books nor seen the films, so I’ll have to take Sarah’s word for it—but it was certainly a lovely courtyard.

At 10 a.m. we went to the ticket office, only to be told that the free entry isn’t until 2 p.m. Research fail! Never mind—time for coffee.

Make that a free coffee back at the apartment, since we were almost there anyway. We’d already walked over 8 km this morning, so a rest was well-earned until after lunch.

At 2 p.m. we set out again. We don’t usually head out much in the afternoons, but today we decided to. I thought it might be cooler, but in fact it was 30°C and very warm. Summer isn’t over in the north just yet.

We went to the Castle to see a dragon—why wouldn’t you? This one even breathes fire. Reviews suggested it might be underwhelming, but we had to see for ourselves. The dragon statue itself was fairly average, and it only breathes fire every so often. While I was looking out at the river and watching the passing cruise boats, Sarah caught the fire-breathing moment on video—I missed it. Probably more impressive at night.

Since we were already below the Castle, we thought we might as well walk up and take a closer look. We expected it to be packed with tour groups, and while there were some, it wasn’t too crowded. We wandered around, took some photos, and enjoyed the free parts. Not sure we’ll bother paying for an official tour inside—probably not.

By then the heat had caught up with us, so we headed back to the apartment to enjoy a cold beer from the fridge. Another 4 km added to today’s odometer.

Dinner was chicken, potatoes, salad, and eggs. Yes, it’s becoming a bit same-old, so I’ll spare you the photos. 😂