First Leg- Krakow Poland

Hello again everyone. Yesterday we got back from our Eastern European Trip. I am hoping to blog three times in total so that I can break up everything we did and not have to write one massive blog.



First, when we arrived in Krakow by bus from an airport about an hour and half away (it was cheaper to do that), I noticed that a giant 747 painted in the same scheme as Air Force One was parked on the official Krakow airport's tarmac. We soon figured out that NATO was having a summit that same weekend that we were there! We were not able to participate or observe anything, but it was neat to have something so important going on in the same city and it certainly shaped some of our discussion with our speakers.

The NATO summit was mainly dealing with the Patriot Missile defense system that the US and Poland want to install (or at least the former US administration did). While it is designed to deter Iran, everyone knows it's there for Russia too, and Russia is not happy. However, this dynamic of more direct US-Poland relations rather than Poland as a part of the EU seemed very common in this former Soviet-bloc country.

The city itself is very beautiful. It's unfortunate that it was so cold, but we had clear weather the last day we were there. Krakow is the royal capitol of Poland while Warsaw is the administrative capitol. With that in mind, many seem to agree that Krakow shows a lot more color and culture than Warsaw. One thing that really struck me was the blend of old and new. Many of the cities that we have been in have had their dilapidated buildings next to newer remodeled ones, but in Krakow it felt somehow more distinct. In the city center surrounded by the old wall, everything was old, but remodeled to be somewhat modern. Outside of the old part, I walked from a street where the buildings were very worn down and in need of repair across the street to a modern brand new mall that has to rival most malls in Europe for size.




Random aside: Some famous people that have spent time in Krakow include Nicolaus Copernicus as well as Pope John Paul II as bishop there. And now, as it is midnight, and I have been uploading pictures and catching up on things on my computer for the last three hours, I bid you adieu.