Rain, Rain Go Away
Sunday, September 21, 2008
3rd Floor, ul. Bytomska 1, Krakow, Poland
When we got off of the train from Gdansk to Krakow it was raining. It has been raining ever since we got to Poland. For all I know, it may always rain in Poland. It is a light rain and not any great trouble; it is sort of atmospheric but I imagine that this country would be even more beautiful if I could see it in a good light. Which is all the more reason to step into a warm cellar pub for a bowl of mushroom soup under the rough-hewn rafters and stuffed boar heads. If you have to spend a trip in the rain then let it be the rain in Poland when the mushroom crop is coming in. Piles of yellow chanterelles sautéed in butter and onion, minced morels in a thyme and potato soup, fresh and thick porcini tossed with linguine, cream and spinach. I have probably eaten five pounds of mushrooms in the last week, and I have no intention of letting up. I may not be able to finish this note for need of a snack.
As the sun came up yesterday morning, I was standing in the passageway of our sleeper car, looking out at the farmhouse dotted countryside. They are angular and stout little structures, dribbling smoke from orange tile chimneys into the sunrise, dark barked fruit trees bent over with apples close in on their eaves and well-ordered gardens run out behind. Between the farming villages the forest is dense with moss covered rocks and white-paper birch trees, occasionally there is a chilly looking stream or a rusting and idle piece of machinery. I like it very much.
If you think of Poland and drab, post-Soviet block housing and borsht come to mind then please begin adjusting your preconceptions. I am not sure what I expected before landing in Warsaw but Poland is not suffering under any collectivized, dingy view of itself. The architecture is a jumble of Baltic-Renaissance row houses on the quay in Gdansk and Gothic, heavy timbered buildings bleeding into soaring city walls and clock towers in Krakow. There are interior staircases with plush but worn carpets leading to balconied bars and cellars packed with wine casks and carved royal crest above the door lentils. The streets are laid out in fans of cobblestones and the rain pours off of the roofs through gutters carved into the shape of dragon’s heads.
We will be heading to Ukraine on Monday or Tuesday and I hope to get some more writing done before we get on the train. But, finding the time has not been easy thus far. We have kept ourselves well occupied. Read into that what you will. Our first stop from here is Lviv, from what I am reading it looks even more spectacular than Krakow. I never want to come home.
Original post here: http://www.lemonsandbeans.com/?p=248
Tags: 2008, Eastern Europe, Gdansk, Poland, Train Travel, Travel, Travel Writing
