Page 207 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Krakow

ENTER T AINMENT  205

taxi rank by the main Railway All kinds of concerts, festivals
Station. If you require a taxi and fairs also take place at
while in the main Railway the Błonia.
Station area, go to the radio- The Jordan Park, situated
taxi rank situated at roof level opposite the Błonia fields,
above the platforms (use is very popular with parents
the platform stairway). with toddlers. Doctor Henryk
Jordan, a Krakow physician,
introduced the idea of playing
Festivals
fields which are now found
The city plays host throughout the country
to a multitude of and are named after this
cultural festivals; the celebrated physician.
only problem is how The Jordan Park
to choose the most in Krakow was the
interesting. The first-ever public
open-air Krakow playground for The cosy interior of the small Pod
Live Festival will small children. Baranami cinema
appeal to rock fans, The Wolski Wood
the Krakow Film (Las Wolski) is not Out of Town Trips
Festival to film lovers, far from Krakow A number of appealing sights
the Sacrum Profanum and offers many are located within close
festival to classical walking routes proximity to Krakow. A trip to
and experimental (see pp174–5). the Ojców National Park (see
music aficionados, For Krakovians it is p160), one of the smallest but
the Dragon Festival one of the favourite most beautiful of Polish national
to children and destinations for a parks, is an unforgettable
admirers of grandiose day out, though experience. White limestone
theatrical displays, A pillar advertising the zoo (see p175) rocks, such as Hercules’s Club,
while enthusiasts cultural events is also popular. have very unusual shapes.
of brass instruments At weekends and The Salt Mines at Wieliczka
may enjoy the International on public holidays there is (see p160) have been included
Music Festival of Military Bands. no access to the zoo by car, by UNESCO on their World
so use bus or taxi services. On Heritage List. The mines and
weekdays a charge is made the underground sanatorium
Walks and Open-Air to enter the zoo by car. housed here are unique.
Events Summer concerts in the Niepołomice (see p159) has a
The tradition of open-air fairs open air are organized in 14th-century castle and the
in Krakow goes back to at least the Wawel Castle courtyard, remnants of an ancient forest
the early part of the 19th in the gardens of the where bison are bred. The
century when folk festivals Archaeological Museum and Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec
were organized on the Błonia in Radio Kraków’s amphitheatre (see p161) is beautifully located
fields, then located out of town. as well as in the courtyard of on the Vistula and worth
One of the attractions was to the Collegium Iuridicum and visiting, as is Schindler’s Factory
try to climb a pole smeared on a temporary stage in (see p158), in the former
in soap; a flask of alcohol Market Square. industrial district of Zabłocie.
and sausages attached to
the top of the pole awaited
the successful climber. The
event has since disappeared
but the Błonia is still a venue
for public events, of either a
traditional or light entertainment
nature. Two great cavalry
parades in the inter-war years,
attended by Marshals Józef
Piłsudski and Edward Rydz
Śmigły respectively, took place
here. The masses celebrated on
these fields by Pope John Paul
II, and attended by millions of
the faithful, are commemorated
by a granite block brought here
from the Tatra Mountains. Krakow Opera House (Opera Krakowska), incorporating the former riding school building