When in Krakow

I debated with myself whether I should still post photos from our trip to Krakow since it took place awhile back. But I thought that as it was a great trip it was well worth sharing them.

I didn't know much about Krakow before the trip. What I found was a city extremely rich in culture and a beautifully preserved city center. Fortunately for Krakow, it escaped destruction during WWII and all its historic buildings are in their original state. The citizens are justifiably proud of their city.

For centuries, Krakow was the capital of Poland. Nowadays, it is no longer the administrative capital but it maintains its rich cultural tradition. From our hotel window, we could catch a glimpse of Wawel or the royal hill so that's where I started my visit. From its vantage point, one gets a good glimpse of the peaceful flow of the Vistula river. Of the Castle itself, the public is allowed access only to the State Rooms, the Royal Armory and a part of the Royal Apartments. It was impressive to note the number of beautiful Flemish tapestries that decorated their halls. According to the guide, they have a collection of over 300 tapestries, of which only 25 can be shown at a time. The entire collection is shown only every ten years. It must be quite an impressive sight.

After exploring the castle hill, I realized that the tiny street leading away from the hill leads directly towards the Main Square. It is supposed to be one of the, if not the biggest Main Square in Europe. And it is indeed enormous. It is a lively and bustling place with street performers, a number of flower vendors, and an even greater number of cafes where you can order a coffee and watch the world go by. The two oldest structures in the square are St. Mary's Church with its two spires and the Sukiennice or Cloth Hall.

Legend says that the spires of the St. Mary are unequal because of two brothers feud. The brother who built the taller spire was killed by his younger brother who built the lower spire. That's the story but as my guidebook dryly points out, the real reason probably has more to do with a lack of funds to complete both spires. Whatever the reason, it is now one of Krakow's main landmarks.

The Sukiennice on the other hand was always the site of commerce. As its name implies, it was the center for the cloth trade for a very long time. It now houses a part of the National Museum's collection. Unfortunately this part of the Cloth House is currently closed for renovations so I couldn't see the collection. Fortunately for me, a number of stalls selling all manner of souvenir items and amber jewelry were open and I these stalls I happily perused.

I loved the little church of St. Adalbert. It was the site of important archaelogical discoveries and it has a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, which was a welcome respite to the Main Square's hustle and bustle. It reminded me a little of Paris' St. Julien Le Pauvre.

Of the many museums, I loved the Collegium Maius. It is part of Poland's oldest university and houses a magnificent collection of science and astronomy instruments. Their two most famous students were Copernicus and Pope John Paul II. But lest you think there are only academic and science related instruments here, they also have in their collection, an Oscar Award, an Olympic gold medal and the Pulitzer Prize from Polish winners who've donated their awards to the museum. As I may never win any of these awards, seeing them at the Museum is probably the closest I'll ever get to them!

See here is an ancient reading table from the library. You could borrow a number of them and rotate and read as you wish..
All this history and culture is fine and great but I wanted to experience some local color too. And what better way than the Sunday market? Yep, the Queen of Markets strikes again. Literally on our last day, I dragged everyone out to the Sunday market to check things out. Aside from comestibles, the market also had (Eastern European style antiques, second hand DVDs and books, cheap clothing and cheap make-up (go figure).

I scored a great antique bronze mirror from the man selling all sorts of bits and pieces made of metal. Funny, he knew all about the Philippines!
A porcelain collection...
And some great vintage luggage...

P.S. When they say that John Paul II is revered in his homeland, they're not kidding. He is "immortalized" in this building where he used to stay during his visits...

An afternoon at the Petit Palais

I've been immersed for the longest time in this enormous book that I haven't had much time to look up the city's current cultural offerings. That said, I tore myself away from the book to catch the YSL Retrospective at the Petit Palais. It has unfortunately ended and I am heartily congratulating myself for having gone. It was simply magnificent. It featured over 300 of his gorgeous and emblematic clothes and as such gave both a grand and intimate view of YSL's oeurve. I know the word genius is pretty much bandied about these days but there are times, such as now, when the word is merited. I don't presume to be a fashion expert but seeing the exhibit made me realize just how innovative and wonderful YSL's work is. Put in the context of those times, his clothes were really a breath of fresh air and its amazing to see how they've aged so well. There are a great number that one could, assuming money is no object, still wear today. Some outfits, notably the animal print inspired ones, are still very much the rage.

Aside from the beautiful dresses on parade, I loved the accessories and shoes that went with each piece. There were some exceptional ones that I wouldn't have minded coming back home with! I wondered if they were also YSL but the people I asked at the Petit Palais weren't sure. I'd like to think they are also part of the collection as they too had the signature YSL style.

The only thing I didn't like was the fact that we weren't allowed to take photos. And they seemed to be well aware that phones had cameras as every time I so much as looked at my phone, I had someone going "no photos please". What a bummer! Imagine then my surprise when a quick check online revealed photos taken by people at the exhibition. I guess they were far more audacious than I! These photos are courtesy of one such audacious blogger--Ritournelle, thank you for these photos!

Bonjour tristesse

L'été pemet de se remettre à jour dans la lecture des classiques et Bonjour Tristesse était depuis quelques temps sur ma liste (d'autant plus depuis la sortie du film sur Sagan avec Sylvie Testud que je n'ai pourtant pas vu).

Premier roman de l'auteur, écrit à dix-huit ans, Bonjour Tristesse la propulsa sur le devant de la scène. J'ai été très agréablement surprise. C'est remarquablement bien écrit pour quelqu'un de si jeune (même si la différence de langage entre aujourd'hui et les années 50 accroît cette impression) et intelligent. La chute était assez attendue, mais le roman n'est absolument convenu.

Un classique agréable qui me donne envie de lire ses autres écrits, notamment Toxique.

Les déferlantes

Bénies soient les vacances au milieu de nul part (tant que cela ne dure pas trop longtemps). J'oublie tout (et très grossièrement, cela inclue les gens autour de moi), et m'attaque à ma pile de bouquins.

Mon généreux mécène littéraire estimant que jouer à la marmotte est bien mais qu'il faut savoir aussi sortir, il sait que le seul moyen de me faire de sortir de mon trou est de me promettre un bouquin. Le choix dans les bleds touristiques étant limité (la librairie locale ressemblant à un Relay amélioré), j'avais le choix entre la collection des Musso, Marc Levy, et des policiers à gogo. Dieu merci, Les déferlantes semblait perdu dans les rayons.

Ayant entendu monts et merveilles de ce roman (et ayant l'avantage d'être le seul livre digne d'intérêt à mes yeux dans cette librairie), le choix fut rapide. Bien m'en prit, je n'ai pas décroché ce livre le lendemain (mon mécène préféré a dû se mordre les doigts quant à sa proposition).

Très franchement, il ne se passe pas grand chose. Pas d'histoire d'amour grandiose digne de la chick lit d'été, ni de paysage en fond faisant rêvé (La Hague ne semble pas ressembler aux Seychelles mais si la même semble belle). Claudie Gallay sait en revanche décrire l'atmosphère d'un village perdu au bout de la France, et dévoiler avec finesse les secrets enfouis.

Le roman venant de paraître en livre de poche, ce serait une erreur de passer à côté de ce petit bijou. C'est délicat, bien écrit, et passionnant.

Le Livre des Justes

Lucien Lazare rend hommage dans le Livre des Justes aux non-juifs ayant été à sauver des juifs durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.

Si le livre est intéressant de par le sujet, j'ai trouvé sa structure un peu trop floue pour être vraiment prise par le sujet. L'ensemble semble un peu trop décousu, et j'ai eu l'impression de lire une suite d'articles sur le même sujet mais sans véritable fil conducteur.

Un documentaire non indispensable mais enrichissant.

Rouge-Brun

Je vieillis. C'est la conclusion à laquelle j'arrive quand je constate que j'ai acheté de moi-même un livre politique de 400 pages. Certes il était en soldes, certes il y a écrit "rouge" en gros sur la couverture, et certees on y traite majoritairement de la période de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale mais quand même. Je pensais que la seule personne sur terre qui achetait ce genre de livres était mon grand-père. Comme quoi finalement, il m'a légué quelque chose.

Thierry Wolton retrace donc dans Rouge Brun le mal du siècle, la genèse et surtout les liens entre le communisme et le nazisme, à priori assez peu semblables sauf en terme de résultats (nombre de morts). Si le livre reste quand même relativement complexe (j'ai probablement dû passer à côté de certains concepts), il n'en n'est pas moins fascinant et extrêment intéressant. Si tout le monde a appris dans les grandes lignes, au moins à l'école, les principes (et méthodes) du communisme et du nazisme, l'auteur explore en détail leurs similitudes, leurs frictions, et finalement leurs rejets réciproques. La période centrale reste l'époque noire d'Hitler et Staline mais s'élargit sur d'autres périods et d'autres régimes (Pol-Pot...) afin de donner une visinon un peu plus diversifiée de ces régimes.

Une excellente surprise qui permet d'allier plaisir et culture.