Posted on 03/07/2006 10:57:55 AM PST by lizol
Cracow tops Prague in popularity
07.03.2006
Cracow has topped Prague in popularity. For the first time ever, more tourists visited Cracow than Prague in 2005. Some 8 million tourists came to Cracow and 3.5m of them stayed at least one night in hotels.
According to Andrzej Kozlowski, the former head of the Polish Tourist Organisation, this increase in popularity is the result of promotional and marketing efforts, as well as the plethora of budget airlines flying to Poland.
"Prague was trendy - so everyone went to Prague. Now the trend has moved over to Cracow," says Mr Kozlowski.
Certainly looks a lot nicer than Warsaw. But then again, Warsaw was just about flattened in the war. I'm sorry in my visit to Poland I didn't get to Crackow. Next trip!
What a beautiful city.
Kraków hejnal gra
Tak wita mnie
Patrzy na mnie jakby wiedzial ze
Wracam po to by
Choc na kilka chwil
Zamknac oczy i
Móc uwierzyc ze
(one of my favorite Polish tunes)
Oh, big mistake.
Personally I think, that Cracow is the most beautiful city in Poland.
And the spirit. Just great.
Krakow doesn't have any buildings that were a "gift" from Uncle Joe.
Myslowitz and Grechuta, isn't it?
Yes, that version is much better than the original Myslovitz version IMHO.
Very cool pics. :-)
Alzbeta Pavkova
I went to Krakow once about five years ago. It was fantastic! The square was massive and seemed entirely original; not at all marred by modern architecture. Wawel Castle there was very nice and interesting. The cathedral there contains St. Stanislaus' coffin, in silver, hanging from the ceiling. Amazing. It was also remerkable to me that when I saw little schoolchildren touring the Cathedral they acted like they were in a church and even prayed! (One can hang around churches in Prague or Salzberg a long time waiting to see someone under the age of 60 kneel in prayer.) One can also visit the "Oriental art room" and see some of the Turkish schwag Jan III Sobieski brought back from the Battle of Vienna (1648). (Take THAT Osama!) Finally, at night, just off the main square I went to a jazz club down in the cellars below some massive old building. All of the players and other patrons were Polish; Polish was the only language I heard spoken there. And, man, those cats could blow! I'm originally from South Louisiana and I know from jazz, and these fellas was playin' jazz, y'all! All in all a fantastic time. And best of all, every person I dealt with there was straightforward, friendly, and fair. No B.S. I recommend Krakow very highly.
Here are some more photos:
http://stats.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/wawel&page=all
The number of tourists was quite low then, which was bad for the city economy, I admit, but it allowed a visitor to stroll through the streets alone, to get lost, to walk in to some very local watering joint, ask for directions, get drunk with the cordial local folks... to find himself in an accident bed next morning... But I'll better cut this off before my wife got a glance on the screen over my shoulder.
Krakow rocks!
Boze kochany, czlowieku przypomniales mi dobre strony ze studiow w Krakowie. Dzieki. Bog zaplac
I hope my Krakow property appreciates as a result of this trend!
I have been in both Prague and Cracow as a foreinger. Although I do not want to compare them I have to say that Cracow was the place where I saw the most men running around with flowers and the most (beautiful) girls smiling the way only happy women can do. Very sympathetic.
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