Advent

Advent officially started on Sunday, and Kraków has been turned into a Winter Wonderland. Cafes are filled with people sipping holiday drinks such as mead, mulled beer, mulled wine, spiced tea or hot chocolate. Everyone goes to church and they often come up with resolutions in light of the advent season. The market in the square opened and there was a big concert on a stage they set up at the entrance to the market (Kiermasz). Garlands hang above the vendors and at night it glows with lights. There are huge barrels of hot, mulled wine all over the Rynek and 'home cooked' Polish food available as well as grilled mountain cheese with cranberry relish. You can also get freshly bread with smalec (spread made out of lard), roasted, candied nuts and fried potato swirls. They often play Xmas music and there are of course rows of kraft vendors where you can do some holiday shopping. 

The Kiermasz Adwentowy at Night

The weather seemed to get the memo as well. The temperature dropped and the snow has been falling almost daily. You would never know it was winter though. Poles still do everything outside as if it were the height of summer. All the markets are outside and people sit at picnic tables and eat their food. If you're cold you grab a cup of mulled wine to warm up. The cold is different here, though. It is not as bitter as in Chicago. At least it hasn't been, yet. It is not nearly as windy and it is a bit dryer than the midwest. 

FOOD:

I tried Kasza for the first time last week. Marta made me some Ukranian kasza her Dad brought from home. It is made out of corn and is a lot like masa, or what tamales are made out of. They eat it hot with melted cheese and then add fresh white cheese as a garnish, which is similar to a fresh mozzarella, although not quite as wet.

I also had Polish kasza which is quite different. It is simply buckwheat and Poles eat it in a variety of ways. Plain, with cheese, with vegetables, with sauce, with meat, etc. It has a very strong and distinct taste. You either like it, or you don't. 

I went to an Italian Pizzeria in Kazimierz this week with a group of people from school. It was delicious, and it came with a free beer (a common promotion here in Poland). They are all in much higher levels than I am, which was great because everyone only spoke Polish the entire evening. We had a great time and I got to practice lots of speaking, even if it was sometimes a struggle.  

I tried a plum cake which was delightful. Semi-sweet and piled with fresh plums. And, I had some little shortbread cookies that looked like little sandwiches. They were filled with rose-petal filling which is a very common flavor here in Poland. If you order a regular pączek (doughnut), it always comes with rose petal filling. It was funny because I asked the woman in the bakery what kind of pączki there were and she looked at me like I was nuts!