Typical apartment building where I rented a room. It's actually not bad on the inside.

Every other billboard in Krakow is for English instruction. Here's one of the more obnoxious ones.

Speaking of English, I expected more anti-Americanism than I have experienced. About the most I have experienced is rolling of eyes when I ask clerks if they speak English. I usually get that at home without even being a foreigner. It may be partly because we're visiting places where the locals are rich, and therefore wear western clothing. I'm sure people can guess that we're not Polish, but we don't stand out like we would in the rural areas.

There are thousands of these high-rise apartment buildings all across the former Soviet Union. According to a man I met on the train who grew up in one, they are "hellish little boxes".

Speaking of the Russians, I found out that nearly every Polish person over 30 speaks fluent Russian, but they won't speak to you in Russian. If you try, it's probably going to anger them. Russian was required in all the Soviet schools. The Russian teacher was the second most powerful person in a school next to the principle, because he was also the head of the Russian-Polish friendship society, which was one of those scary things the Soviets did for fun. Everyone hated the Russian teachers because the Russian teachers were ruthless, but also because they were a symbol of what the students hated.

They sell books on the street! This is one of my super-sneaky shots, over-the-shoulder style.

Some buildings in Krakow.

This is a modernized version of the old Polish "milk bar", which means cheap eatery. They were called milk bar because nearly every item on the menu contained a milk product. I'm not sure if the term is one of endearment or disgust, maybe both. The dish below is Perogie, which seems to be the Polish national dish. It's greasy stuffed noodles topped with carmelized onion bits. They're actually pretty good when made right.

Part of Wawel castle in Krakow.

Age of castle: 700 years.
Time before Windows "Professional" crashes kiosk on side of 700 year old castle: 5 minutes.

The crypts of Wawel cathedral in Krakow.

The Wieliczka salt mines have a cathedral inside.

Football hooligans in the old city square. They are probably half the reason that there are police every 50 yards in the old town. I have never seen as much heavy drinking as I have seen in Poland. Sometimes the smell of alcohol is stronger than the smell of cigarettes, and that is quite a feat in eastern Europe.

Some of the policemen stay in little huts located throughout the city center. A local told me that last year, the hooligans wrapped a heavy chain around the entire hut and locked it, creating a little jail for the police inside. The cops were not amused, but even with backup called in it took them an hour or so to cut the chain and get out.