Transportation

Wowel Castle.


Wowel Castle and the river.

After weeks of anticipation, my semester of studies in Krakow officially started this morning with my 10am Urban Theory class. I must admit that I am quiet happy about the start of the semester as winter break has lasted a little too long and I'm ready from some stimulation of the synapses (that was just for you Daddy). Now, I know a 10am class doesn't sound too bad and during any regular semester I really wouldn't mind. However, here a 10am class means getting up at 8am to get dressed and eat a quick breakfast in order to catch the bus in time to make the 40ish min commute to class.

It's actually quite the adventure to get to class- first we have to hop on bus 139 and take it 13 stops to Plac Inwalidow. From there we hop off and get on either trams 4, 8, or 13 and take it 3 stops to the university stop and then its a short walk to the building. Fellow peers have already begun commenting on how they are going to appreciate having a car to go places whenever they want. Frankly, I think they are jumping the gun some. In the few days I have been here I have already grown quite fond of the transportation system. I agree it takes a little longer to get places, but there is definitely a sense of community and a certain buzz, that to me, brings the city alive. We were told a few days ago at orientation the 'Krakow is a city that sustains its people' and the bus/tram system is a great example. Today for instance, I was able to take the tram and bus to school then we took the tram on the way to our site (we began our site analysis today in studio class) then walked the rest of the way to the site. Once we finished we simply headed over to the bus stop, looked up which bus we needed in order to get back to the dorm, and after a short wait the bus we needed came and took us home. There was no need to worry about parking or traffic or really anything except paying attention to where we needed to get off. Otherwise we could sit back and watch as Krakow passed by our window.

The buses also offer the chance to take in some of Krakow's culture as the bus is full of people. Just listening in to conversations of the locals is interesting even though I don't understand a word of it. Although, it is pretty exciting when I do recognize a word or two - words usually limited to yes, no, excuse me, hello, goodbye, and thank you. Anyway you look at it the bus and tram systems within Krakow are a huge part of the city. Without them, the very pedestrian oriented streets and city center would not function. The city would no longer be able to sustain itself, just like NYC would be crippled if the subway system was removed. Its part of the cities identity and without the fun of taking the buses everywhere we go our experience in Krakow would not be complete.

That went on a little longer than expected, as I had intended on telling more about my day... Honestly the day wasn't exceptionally interesting. We had the Urban Theory class which we got a brief history of Krakow. Then we had 2 and a half hours to kill so a group of us went to this small place called Makaron (I think I spelled it right... I'll double check Wedns.) but it was this really good place that served pasta, pizza and salad. I got a very delicious chicken and broccoli pasta dish and a hot tea to help warm up! It was freezing cold here today, I don't think it got above 25 degrees- I might invest in some long underwear! After a long lunch we headed to studio where we were introduced to our site analysis project, which we will be working on for the next week in preparation for our studio project. The site is located on the other side of the river, opposite of Wawel (pronounced Vavel) Castle. We toured around for a short time before the cold got to us and we headed home. Tomorrow is Architecture History... hopefully it warms up because I am under the impression that the class is conducted by touring around Krakow.


Neat looking hotel next to Wowel Castle.... wink wink nudge nudge


Interesting painting on the side of a building near our site.