Dragons, A Trabant And A Host Of Cultural Treasures - A Kracking Trip To Krakow

It had been dark for some hours and the snow pounded against the windscreen of my 1974 Trabant as we rattled past the fleeting shadows of the trees lining the road. It had been snowing for days and the road around the back of the old steel works was unused, our wheels ploughed hub deep through the virgin snow. I squinted at the road ahead, trying to make out its course. I reached for the gear stick, a bare metal pole sticking out from the side of the steering wheel where you’d expect indicators. There was a grinding noise as I made a clumsy gear change. Fortunately it is almost impossible to stall a Trabant. I don't know if it was the dark, the snow, the car or the setting on this empty road, but something vaguely stirred the memories of the Bond films of my childhood. Questions spun through my mind. What was that moving in the forest? Will there be a checkpoint around the next corner? Is everyone's first driving lesson like this?

My lesson came courtesy of the fantastic Communism Tour organised by local Polish company, Crazy Guides.

"So, what is it like to drive a Trabant?" I asked innocently, wondering how it would handle compared to a modern car.

"You can see for yourself later" My guide responded

"That would be amazing," I said "but unfortunately I can't drive."

"That's fine" He grinned. "I’ll teach you."

So here I was, in a behind the wheel of a two stroke, fibreglass bodied death trap. No need for a fuel pump as the petrol tank sits on top of the engine. A master-stroke of East German engineering, unless of course you crash, when it becomes a four wheeled Molotov cocktail. Thoughts of mortality, and the snow, kept me driving slowly.

The tour started out at our hotel where we were met by our guide for the drive out to Nowa Huta, translated literally as the New Steelworks. Despite being located just 8km from the centre of Krakow, Nowa Huta started life in the late 1940's as a totally separate town. Thought of as both Stalin's gift to Krakow, or his punishment (depending on your viewpoint) this new working class city was designed as a communist utopia. The name comes, logically enough, from the new steelworks in which the town's inhabitants worked. Initially the communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland wanted to keep the new town entirely separate from nearby Krakow so all services that residents could need were planned for Nowa Huta, the only thing missing was a church.

Despite decades of propagandists trumpeting Nowa Huta as the perfect symbol of Poland's socialist and industrial future and as an example of communist efficiency, in fact the town was twice to become a bastion of anti-communist resistance. The first friction between the communist party and the locals came when the residents were denied permission to build a church. The resulting campaign went on for years supported by the Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, later to become Pope John Paul II. The campaign was mostly peaceful, but in 1960 street fighting broke out between residents and riot police when authorities tried to remove a wooden cross that had been erected without a permit. The locals eventually triumphed and Nowa Huta's first church was consecrated in 1977. The district once again became central to resistance against the communist party during the Solidarity movement of the 1980's.

After driving out to Nova Huta our guide took us to a communist era restaurant, where we received a fascinating insight into the history of the town. As we visited in winter and it was snowing outside it made sense to do as much of the talking as we could inside, before we went out to explore the centre of Nova Huta on foot. The restaurant remains unchanged from the 1970’s, as is the staff; both look tired and dated. A glance around the room shows the clientele are older, I wonder if they were here in the 70s too. We enjoyed a complimentary shot of potent Polish vodka and drank in the atmosphere. A bust of Lenin sat on a corner table; we didn't see him but were told that the table is reserved for the same old boy who comes in for a drink every day. He sits alone drinking and looking at Lenin, who before the fall of the iron curtain also had a larger statue standing on the boulevard outside the restaurant. Even in those times though, many had no love for the statue, and in the 1970's two students attempted to blow it up. Their attempt failed to damage Lenin's statue, but did succeed in smashing all of the windows of the neighbouring apartments!

When exploring Nowa Huta's centre on foot it is hard not be to awed by the sheer boldness of the architecture. The main boulevards run towards Plac Centralny like the spokes of a wheel, lined with magnificent, colonnaded buildings. The earliest buildings are a fantastic example of socialist realism with a uniquely Polish renaissance influence, this convergence of a number of styles continues to draw many students of architecture to Nowa Huta. This stands starkly at odds with many of the truly horrible buildings blighting much of Eastern Europe, but then again, Krakow is a truly beautiful town. Could you expect anything less of a socialist paradise on its doorstep?

The steelworks itself no longer bares the name of Lenin above its gates, but the letters L and N were recycled when renaming the complex after Polish steel industry innovator Tadeusz Sendzimira. Either side of the gate is a pair of buildings, their palatial appearance is surprising considering they house the administrative offices of the steelworks. Under normal circumstances you can't go any further than this, but each September the Sacrum Profanum festival of electronic and classical "new music" takes advantage of the amazing acoustics of the huge plant. You wouldn't perhaps at first thought associate a music festival with either a steelworks or a Soviet planned new town, but it comes as less of a shock in Krakow than it might elsewhere.

You see Krakow is just a city where you would expect to see art, music and culture everywhere you look. For example, Krakow's oldest public gallery reopened to great excitement last September after a four-year renovation. The Gallery of Nineteenth Century Art is located in the Cloth Hall on the Main Square in the Old Town and houses an impressive collection of Polish art from the late eighteenth century onwards. There are many fantastic pieces on display, but the gallery is a much a historical journey as an artistic one and even the less impressive paintings give a fascinating insight into the national psyche during this crucial period of Polish history. Further Polish art treasures can be found in the National Art Collection which is housed at Wawel Castle (a must on any Krakow itinerary.) The art on display in this fantastic city is not just local though, the Czartoryski Museum in the Old Town houses world-renowned works of art including Da Vinci's masterpiece Lady with an Ermine.

There is clearly a strong musical tradition in the city, with musical influences coming from a variety of cultures, including the recitals of local Klezmer bands found in the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz. The haunting tones of this Central European Yiddish music feels particularly evocative if you have had the opportunity to learn more about the city's Jewish history. Slower numbers particularly tear at the heartstrings and are at once both beautiful and incredibly sad. Bands play at the Rubinstein Hotel once or twice a week year round. There is also a thriving modern music scene in Krakow, but the true musical love of the city must be classical music. Concerts can be found regularly or even daily in many of the churches throughout the old town, featuring orchestras such as the Cracow Chamber Orchestra who play four times a week at St Peter and St Paul's church. The statues of the twelve apostles on the front gate of the church are particularly appealing and will help you identify St Peter and St Paul's among the many delightful churches in the old town.

Timing is everything and nothing when visiting Krakow. There are many festivals that you might want to time your visit to coincide with, but then at the same time there are so many different events happening that you are almost certain to arrive at a time that something is going on. My wish list for 2011 definitely includes theatre nights, a weekend in summer when local theatre companies take to the streets and parks to give free open-air performances.

You can get a cheap beer in Krakow, and at times you will run into the occasional group of lads on a night out, but this city is so much more than a place to have your stag do.

Ryanair fly to Krakow from London Stansted, Birmingham, East Midlands, Liverpool, Leeds Bradford and Edinburgh. Easyjet fly from London (Gatwick and Luton), Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Belfast. Jet2 flies from Newcastle.