The snow has been cleared from the Market Square, the sound tests are coming to an end on the stage set up to entertain the visitors with local music acts, and the police are out in force. Yes! Krakow New Year is here! London may have its Trafalgar Square and New York its Time Square, but Cracow's own Rynek (Market Suare) is surely one of the cooler places to be tonight - sufficiently off the beaten track to be funky for foreigners, and yet reassuringly part of mainstream Europe since Poland's accession to the EU in May 2004.
In may ways New Year's Eve in Krakow symbolises this exciting point in Eastern Europe's history. Krakow and other cities in Poland and regionally can now compete extremely favourably with the "old favourites" such as Venice and Paris. Better value, less crowded, and now served by the budget airlines, a weekend in Krakow can cost less than a similar trip to Milan, for example, and possibly even cheaper than staying at home in London! The big brand shops are already in Poland, offering cheaper prices than in Western Europe for exactly the same goods, the Poles themselves are welcoming to foreigners, not yet made cynical by waves of stag weekend groups, and of course, the people are famously good-looking! Yes, I'll take a Krakow New Year any, and every year! |