Krakow is a great city for so many reasons, rich in history, great prices and GREAT food. Most of our list that we set out to tick off involved food, and it was just as good (or better) than we expected. Surprisingly, this is a city of many (many) Italian restaurants, which we weren't expecting at all but suited me down to the ground anyway. The bakery culture was my favourite part, why can't every city run on pastries?

I debated making this blog a full food diary but considering my weird/restricted eating habits that would have made for an extremely dull and repetitive blog that even I wouldn't want to read over again, so why not summarise this into my favourite snacks across the trip!

- Obwarzanek



Arguably the most basic of the bunch, but you can't been extremely cheap (and relatively iconic) street food. This is a Krakow staple, you can find them in stalls literally all over the city - as a rule of thumb, always try something you can find on a magnet.
These are Krakowien bagels/pretzels, and they are one of the best ways to sample the local culture. We tried some from all over, and you can get all kinds of different toppings, poppyseed, salt, cheese etc. Prices vary slightly but they are all cheap (!!!!), for as little as 50p or less even. It's such an easy snack, or breakfast if that's what you're feeling - paired with a coffee from one of Krakow's many bakeries!

- Pączki



I'd love to tell you that I took this picture but I wasn't that smart, and bought two donuts and only decided to take a photo of it once it had been smashed in my bag - so I thought it would be better to find a picture that actually resembles a doughnut.
I'm not sure whether it's just the icing that differs or whether the jam inside changes with the flavours too, but I chose a rose and a cinnamon (and because of how squished they got in my bag I honestly couldn't really tell the difference between them), and they were both BEAUTIFUL. If you don't like rose flavoured things, then obviously this won't be for you, but I'm lead to believe that the rose flavour is the most famous - and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it. It's the perfect blend of both sweet and floral, and it's not overpowering or perfume-y. Definitely would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't stuffed my face on something else before buying them too lol
(p.s. we bought ours from Grodzka 6 which is just off the main square)

- Mixed berry sweet bread



Honestly don't know the real name for this bread but this will do, because it's exactly what it was. The blueberry jam in the middle was a bit much but I'd have it for breakfast ANY day of the year and I'm kind of sad it's so out of reach. (ft. my chubby hands, all the better for holding sweet breads and pastries with)

- Dark chocolate ice cream 



Obviously ice cream isn't exactly culturally unique or distinct to Poland, but no lie, this was the best ice cream I've had in my life. We stopped at Good Lood in Kazimierz after dinner nearby at Kolanko No. 6, and it might be the best decisicion I've made all year. When they said dark chocolate they weren't kidding, it was so intensely rich and creamy and I'm still dreaming about it more than a month later.
This photo is horrendous but I don't care, I'm immortalising it here. Was I high? No. Was I CONTENT? Yes. Best ice cream of my life (maybe). I love ice cream. Thank you and good night. 

- Poppyseed bun



My favourite discover of the whole trip was these poppyseed buns. I picked one up originally thinking it was a weird pain au chocolat but I have never been so happy to be wrong. The first bite is weird if you don't know what to expect, but the only description I can give is that it's subtly sweet, and delicate and soft which a little crunch around the outside and the added sweetness of the light icing on top (which only 1/3 of the buns I picked up had on them, but that didn't matter). These were GLORIOUS. It might be an acquired taste, and they do look a bit like "spider's eggs" (thanks to Erin for pointing this one out) but there's nothing like it. I could have eaten 10. If you're in and around Krakow (and I think a lot of eastern europe generally?) then PLEASE do yourself a favour and go and find one of these. Life changing.


COCKTAILS
I debated making a whole other blog about this and I might regret not doing that but I didn't want to write a half-blog on this when I have too much else to say (that ultimately I don't even think anyone else is going to read but o well this blog is for me anyway).

All I've done for this whole blog is gush over everything and I'm going to keep that going! These cocktails were the best I'd ever had, and some of the cheapest I've ever had too.

- Oriental Chacha / Rebecca's Touch


These were two very similar cocktails we got from Cheder in Kazimierz. They were some of the most original and simple cocktails that I've tried and I fell in love with them, although drinking it on an empty stomach wasn't my wisest move.
Oriental Chacha (pictured) is made with oriental liqueur, apple juice, honey and cinnamon - and it reminded me of how much I LOVE cinnamon. It makes everything taste better, and paired with apple? A holy combination.
Rebecca's Touch wasn't my drink but I tasted it and it was really similar to my drink, but instead of the liqueur it was made with Krupnik vodka, and the cinnamon was swapped for lemon. This one wasn't as suited to my tastes because vodka is disgusting (sorry), but the apple/lemon/honey made it work. It was still a gorgeous cocktail.

- HEVRE



Truthfully I can't remember the name of the pictured cocktail, but we had this round in a bar called Hevre in Kazimierz which I would recommend to anyone going to Krakow. It's an old synagogue that's been converted into a bar/night club and it was one of the most fascinating places I've been to. Plus it's got a whole range of unique and reasonably priced cocktails (although a little more expensive by Krakow standards).

- White Russian



Also pictured is a tequila sunrise which was good and reasonably priced but nothing spectacular compared with how the Polish (or at least in Krakow) does a White Russian. Something as simple as swapping milk for cream makes a HUGE difference. I can never go back. It was almost like a creamy chocolate milk. Simple and amazing and I don't know why other bars haven't conned on to how BEAUTIFUL this is.
We got these drinks from a bar called Baroque which we spent the whole trip looking for and found on the last night! It was great but you can get this standard of White Russian pretty much anywhere in the city that we tried. 

- Raspberry Daquiri



Last but CERTAINLY not least, the best cocktail I've had in my life, this raspberry daquiri. We got them with our dinner at Da Pietro in the main square, and were speechless. These were like JAM. As if they just pureed straight rasberries and added some rum for a kick. I'd fly to Krakow for this cocktail ALONE. As someone who wants alcohol without the distinct alcohol taste, this ticks every box. It could almost pass for a smoothie, or a hard raspberry coulis. I'm still speechless, nothing I can say does this justice. I'm also aware that I've used the word "beautiful" to describe too many things on this list but I can't think of a better word to describe it - and I'm not even going to try to. So GOOD.

BONUSSSS
- Elderflower Fanta



It's not distinctly Polish by any means, or food, or a cocktail, but there was no way I was posting this blog without giving it a mention. This flavour is so common too? It is available pretty much everywhere in all kinds of different sizes and it tastes so fancy, I was so impressed. It was another highlight of the trip. I'm jealous of myself for ever being able to drink this casually without having to smuggle it onto a plane or something, and I'm jealous of anyone else who could just leave their house right now and pick up some like it's nothing. Liquid GOLD.

With that, I'm going to finish this blog with a plea to both the good people of Krakow and Coca Cola as a company to please send all the goods (everything in this list) my way :-)

Before I travel anywhere I look up these "____ in a day" blogs, as a means of highlighting the best, must-see attractions to place at the top of these itineraries, and I'd like to throw my hat into the travel blogging ring with my own take on these!

I'm hopefully going to do one of these kinds of blogs for all the cities (and other places, maybe theme parks etc) that I've been to and remember enough about to write something decent. It only makes sense to start with Krakow, while it's fresh in my head from last week :-)

FIRST THINGS FIRST - YOU CANNOT DO THIS CITY IN A DAY. 
This is purely down to the fact that if you are in Krakow, or anywhere in the vicinity, I would urge you to take a day out to visit Auschwitz - whether you have done it before or not, it is extremely important. I'm going to write a whole other blog about how thought provoking and moving the whole experience was. It's just too significant to miss out, and because of how far it is from the city (about an hour and a half at best), you can't just squeeze it in to an afternoon, and you shouldn't try to either.

However, if time truly is of the essence and you are really keen on one single day in Krakow, then here is my take on everything you should squeeze into a day:



Main Square (Rynek)
To make the most out of your day, start as early as you can. Maybe around 9am.
Head into the square and grab breakfast, it can be from anywhere - if it's warm enough you could sit outside at one of the many restaurants that line the square, or you could sample Krakow's copious amounts of bakeries and grab a fresh juice from down a side street.
Spend some time walking around and familiarizing yourself with the heart of the city, there's plenty to see. Wander in and out of the little churches and shops, or just spend time admiring the architecture. It's a BEAUTIFUL city.

It's here that you can hear the Hejnał (Kraków's Bugle Call), which is played from every side of the left tower of St Mary's Basilica every hour on the hour. This was honestly one of my favourite parts of the whole trip, something so simple and traditional that is a staple part of the culture of the city - and if you look up and spot the trumpet players, give them a wave. We got a little kick out of them waving back!
(I wish we knew the history of this beforehand, you can read up on it here: https://www.inyourpocket.com/krakow/The-Hejnal_3755f)

St Mary's Basilica
At 11.30am, the main church will open up to the public. Grab tickets in the shop just across from it, and head in. The church is breathtaking, lined with beautiful hand painted detailings from floor to the stars on the towering ceilings, long stained glass windows, and one of the largest alterpieces in Europe. It drips in gold, and while due to restoration works we couldn't see the bottom part of the alterpiece, you wouldn't even notice. There is so much to see, and so much detail and storytelling put into the art work that you could spend hours walking around and admiring it all.



Wawel (Krakow's Royal Castle)
Wawel castle is situated on a hill just south of the Old Town and boasts beautiful views, a cobble stone court yard and a number of architectural styles. The castle is also steeped in history, the first cathedral on site was built in 1000AD and was used by Polish royals until the 17th century. During WW2, the castle was used as the headquarters for the Nazi Governor General, Hans Frank.
If you are only in Krakow for a day, you won't have enough time to do all the exhibits, and as they are almost all ticketed, this might save you some money! We only did the main cathedral, which was free to enter.
I wish we could have done a few more exhibits, like armory, but we were pushed for time and money too - and hey, it gives me something to do the next time I'm in Krakow!



Schindler's Factory
This museum is especially important if you can't get to Auschwitz while around Krakow. Not only does this museum tell the story of Oskar Schindler, and how he used his factory to protect as many Jews as he was capable of during the Nazi invasion, it also details how Krakow as a city was affected by the invasion, about the lives of the Polish people during this time, about Jewish ghettos and stories about the concentration camps. We spent 2 and a half hours in the museum and it didn't feel like that at all. So deeply interesting and an important part of history to learn about whenever you get the chance. I can't recommend the museum highly enough.



Kazimierz - Jewish Quarter 
We ended up going to the Jewish quarter for both a bit of lunch and dinner one day - and we had some of the best food and drinks that I'd ever tasted. I'll go into it a bit more in a later blog, but there are so many great cafes and restaurants around this part of the city. Alongside huge amounts of culture, nightlife and 500 years of history. Even just walking around this district, ducking into vintage shops and admiring the many murals, can take hours in itself - let alone the amount of wonderful cafes to pop into.
For lunch we popped into Cheder, which is a gorgeous cafe some adorned with books on Jewish history in a number of languages. They serve mostly middle Eastern/Israeli style food, and the most delicious cocktail that I think I've ever had. (order the Oriental Cha Cha or Rebecca's Touch - both beautiful and so unique, not overly sweet either.) 
For dinner we headed back to the Jewish Quarter and went to Kolanko No.6 - which had been recommended to me from 3 different sources before arriving in the city, and it completely lived up to my expectations. The restaurant is so much bigger than it looks from the outside, and even has a little garden in the centre. It's open all day, and if their breakfasts are as good as their dinners, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it (and cocktails too, I don't think I actually had a bad cocktail the whole time I was in Krakow).


Back to the Main Square


There is so much more to do than what I've included in this list, but from experience I think this is the best way to see the highlights of Krakow, and I know that doing all this in a day is also do-able! We spent a full 3 and a half days in Krakow and it felt like the perfect amount of time, we were able to pack so much in while still feeling relaxed - even if the service at the train station completely messed up our timing.
I hope this helps anyone at all, whether you've booked your trip or just contemplating it! :-)