Did some ‘renovations’ this evening/morning at 1 am. Currently sitting on my dorm ‘balcony,’ accessed via the accessible swinging window and inviting due to the lack of a screen to prevent this arrangement. Also took advantage of the second bed — there’s no better replacement for a hard, extremely narrow mattress plank than a second one right beside it. 

Krakow is absolutely gorgeous. Today, the small group of us explored various parts of the city, waiting for the larger group of fellow students to arrive from Canada. Saw several a nun and several monks going about their work in the old town — the Catholic faith is extremely present in the cuture. I even saw a short part of a Catholic worship service and mass in an Old Town cathedral.

The same church’s bells, or so I assume, just rang twice — 2am. A rare time for me to be awake, but I continue to tell myself I need to experience as much as I can take in. 

A hour ago, I was walking along the Vistula River that runs through the heart of the city. I really enjoyed walking across the main walking bridge of the Vistula and seeing the artistry in the design. The suspension cables in the centre of the bridge suspend more than just the bridge itself — obviously, or I would mention swimming with Martin, as well as the hypothermia. The bridge is home to a acrobatic circus display, or at least that’s the conclusion we came to. Every sculpture, being of various people performing different balancing feats, moves and sways with the increased weight load. Any movement presents a fascinating show — a masterpiece of live performance art-citecture — as presented by yours truly.

On our walk, we also paused often to take in the night life of the city. However, there was one moment where we paused, looked at each other, and said, “You know, this city is a graveyard. People were murdered on these streets. Where’s the Jewish culture today…” — besides in museum exhibits or the horrendously racist figurines of Jewish men holding a gold coin. How can so many people walk these streets without ever coming to that moment? Why are the only things left the synagogues and cemeteries?

Shockingly, this is the very ‘toned-down’ version and probably the least offensive one I’ve seen. Dr. Earl explained further that all the ones I did come across in the marketplace were still fairly tame compared to the figures for sale in past years. This was also the cheapest I could find on our Saturday explorations (5PLN) — strangely, and terrifyingly overpriced, if you care to consider the events and attitudes entailed in this depiction. How can this be considered a symbol of luck? How can the city not remember, or even acknowledge the many innocents who were killed because they were Jewish — an ‘accident’ of history — and in no way a crime except in ideological imagination? 

I hear cheers from a short distance away as I write this. Then, I witness an older man walking past responding to the cheers with a softer, but still emphatic ’whoowhaa, yeah!’ I am thankful we came as scholars and students of history, knowing about the basic history of the place, and the defining moments of 20th century Krakow. 

The morning birds are singing from the trees outside my window. I do look forward to the official, guided tour of Krakow later this morning, but had best be signing off. Church bells strike 3.