Wisla versus Lech
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2005
1
6
20
Trip End
Jan 04, 2006
Krakow,
Poland
Monday, September 26, 2005
St Mary's Church
. I have brought my ipod and I am calmly listening to Thelonious Monk hammer away. Today is an unfortunate days because we have been kicked out of our residence building because they are fumigating before the studenci arrive later on this week. I have 12 hours to wander the town with Maia's laptop and my other valuables on my back; this is why I choose the library as a choice destination. I have realized the convenience of having a laptop though and one day in the distant future hope to join the ranks of those who call wander aimlessly while writing in any space wanted.I want to describe Krakow for all those who know little about the cultural capital of Poland. And I can honest say that this statement is true. During the war Krakow remained unscathed from the onslaught of German and Soviet forces and has henceforth been preserved in its natural historical state. This is extremely fortunate when studying art and architecture, as we are this semester. For instance, our teacher who has been known to end class to have a coffee, took us to a Romanesque church but in the baroque era is was renovated and a story was added to the sinking foundation. This culmination of two completely different architectural styles has created a really interesting landscape. The weirdest thing we learnt was that the entire town (that is the man square) was actually 6-15 feet lower then where the street level exists now. Another interesting thing I have found out is that the Krakow semester is fortunate in that the exchange rate makes this a more structured semester than the Paris or London Semester. Another exciting thing is that I have heard that there is a Trinidad semester... I am just putting this idea out there. It's a winter semester, that's all I am saying...
I have done one stupid thing since I have been here
The Bell
. I have registered for an extra course, mainly because I can lessen my load in my last semester, which will be full of fourth year classes (eww). I don't know if I will stick it thru cause I should have fun as well as having to live in a foreign library.This past weekend instead of venturing around Europe most of us decided to stay in Krakow. Saturday we went to a football match and it was insane. On our way home, on the tram we meet some Aussie guys who decided to tag along with us for the evening. 20 of us decided to go to a Wisla (home team and #1 in Poland) versus Lech (from Poznan). I almost was trampled to death in the crowd getting into the stadium. I have never experienced anything like this. First of all there were hardly any women and the rest were drunken men all trying to get thru 3 metal cages all at once. We were so compressed that I think everyone went down 2 sizes. It was the most scary when they began chanting and also when at some points where people would climb on top of people, but the barbed wire fence stopped them from getting too far. At one point I was actually lifted off my feet by the swaying of the crowd and my weight was carried by the crush of the crowd. The worst point came when a metal bar "appeared" in front of me and if it weren't for the Aussie Dave I would have broken my leg from the push of the crowd. He had to pull me and punched some guy to get me free. So the line to get in was intense, that's the message I was trying to get across. The game was amazing too. We won 4 to 1 and the crowd was so patriotic and intense. No one was sitting, they all had scarves and at the end fireworks were passed thru the stands for people to put off at the end. The whole stadium was covered in red lights and full of white smoke. We are going to go to another game but this time go 2 hrs early so we don't die in the line.
Saturday I wandered around town looking for a baroque abbey but I failed to find it but I did find an American bookstore which had real pie and large cups of strong coffee...a.k.a. my new favorite place in Krakow.
