Hi! Welcome to this week’s Guide for Globetrotters.

I’m Tim Fowler and this week

we’ll be taking in the sights of beautiful Krakow, one of the oldest cities in Poland.
Well, it’s a beautiful spring day here in Krakow and the sun is shining brightly – but
I’ve got my umbrella with me and I’m not letting go! If you’ve ever been to Krakow
on Easter Monday you’ll know why….
Phew, missed! Getting wet is an Easter tradition here. In the past, young people
used to throw water at each other on Easter Monday – if you got wet you would
have good luck in your marriage! This tradition continues until today, and all over
the city you can see people throwing water and people getting very wet. That’s
why I came prepared with my umbrella…
On a beautiful day like this there’s no better place to be in Krakow than where I am
right now. The Planty are beautiful tree lined gardens which circle the city. This is
the best place in the city to people watch, and from the Planty you can get to the
old town where you’ll come across small galleries, explore book shops and visit
churches. And the best place for a wonderful view of the city? Well, that’s a well-
kept secret - the roof top café of Krakow’s music academy. Mm, amazing!
If you’re in Krakow for any time at all, the Museum of Contemporary Art is an
absolute must -see. It’s a fascinating place. Have you seen Steven Spielberg’s
famous movie Schindler’s List? Well, you might be interested to know that this
museum was built on the site of Oskar Schindler’s factory. There’s some amazing
art works here – with exhibitions which change all the time so you’ll always see
something new. Then there are film rooms, video boxes – something for
everyone…
All this walking around has got me feeling pretty hungry! So it’s lucky for me that
I’m here in Krakow, also known as cake city! There is an amazing choice of cafés
and cake shops in Krakow - I’m at one now, tucking into some absolutely delicious
apple cake! Mmmmmm. This really is just melt in the mouth stuff…
I’ve just put my umbrella back in the hotel. I was feeling a little bit silly carrying it
around on such a sunny day and I don’t think I’ll be needing it any more…haven’t
seen anyone throwing water for a while now. Well, I’m now strolling along the
cobbled streets of Ulica Kanonicza: a gorgeous lane of fourteenth century
townhouses. You can feel the history oozing out of this place - over there was, for a
long time, a popular meeting place for many of the most famous Polish writers
and… Aagh!
Where was my umbrella when I needed it?