Destination: Poland

Nowa Huta’s Lord’s Ark Church comes with an interesting story of a man who would later become a saint, courageously standing up to the communist regime.

Back when he was archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła fought for years to build a church in Nowa Huta, the most communist of communist towns. When the regime refused, he insisted on conducting open-air Masses before crowds in fields — until the communists finally capitulated in 1977 and allowed this church to be built. And, of course, that archbishop went on to become St. John Paul II.

The afternoon I dropped by, there were two wedding parties at the church. You’ll see the bride and groom scrambling to pick up coins. It’s Polish tradition for kids to throw coins rather than rice at the newly married couple — and whoever gathers the most will be destined to “wear the pants” in their family.

A fascinating corner of Kraków is Nowa Huta, an enormous planned workers’ town that offers a glimpse into the stark, grand-scale aesthetics of the communists. It’s a company town, purpose-built from scratch to house the 38,000 workers of the Lenin Steelworks. Today the steelworks is mostly closed, and it’s a bedroom community for Kraków. I find wandering its numbered sectors very evocative.

Anywhere in Poland, you can find milk bars. These are leftovers from communist times, when the government would subsidize a cafeteria so workers could have an affordable place to eat out. Despite the misleading name, they don’t sell just milk — they have a long menu of mostly traditional, stick-to-your-ribs Polish dishes.

The idea of a cheap and hearty meal survived communism, and 25 years later, you’ll still find a wide variety of these budget cafeterias — ranging from slick and modern places with excellent food and slightly higher prices, to holdovers from the old days (with a certain Soviet je ne sais quoi) where you can snare a fast and forgettable meal for about $2. If this clip doesn’t get you salivating…anything will.

One of Europe’s best museums about the Nazi occupation fills the factory building where Oskar Schindler and his Jewish employees worked, in the Kazimierz district of Kraków, Poland.

While the museum tells the story of Schindler and his workers, it also broadens its perspective to take in the full experience of all of Kraków during the painful era of Nazi rule. It’s loaded with in-depth information (all in English), and touchscreens throughout invite you to learn more and watch eyewitness interviews. Scattered randomly between the exhibits are replicas of everyday places from the age — a photographer’s shop, a tram car, a hairdresser’s salon — designed to give you a taste of 1940s Kraków.

When Steven Spielberg made his film Schindler’s List, Kraków’s Jewish Quarter of Kazimierz was an overlooked slum — having become ramshackle under communism. Spielberg chose to film his movie right here, in the place where the real events actually happened, and helped revive a vibrant Jewish culture that had gone dormant. While several other synagogues, cemeteries, cultural centers, and other sights reward those coming to Kazimierz, the Schindler’s Factory Museum is the best.

Dropping by the farmers’ market in Kraków with my guide, Marta, was like a cultural scavenger hunt — complete with the lovely image of watching TV snuggled up with a big pod of sunflower seeds. Here’s a two-and-a-half-minute slice of Polish life, and a video reminder not to miss the markets wherever you travel.