2023 Euro Christmas Market Hop (Part 3): Poland
Just crossed into Poland part three of our European Christmas Market road trip tonight we’re heading to sidn there’s a a UNESCO listed church I want to see there that was built to commemorate the end of the 30 Years War and then uh tomorrow we’ll head to the town of aitz
See what Christmas is like in aitz and then we’ll wrap it up with three nights in kov and just as the sun is about to set we’ve entered the city of sidn we’ll see what we can see outside the car window now a very quick walk around n
Before the sun goes down completely that’s the Neptune Fountain and in another corner of the main square rinik square is the Atlas Fountain so this is only my third time in Poland more excitingly it’s Bianca’s first time in Poland imagine she never had a perogi before who imagine never had a
Perogi these Christmas trees for sale here that’s the only evidence of Christmas so far ah and the main tree in the Square no Christmas Market how do you like Poland so far good we’ll be staying in this uh tenement housing tonight moment of truth it’s paroki time perogi time
And uh I got a traditional polish white bch served with white sausage fried potato dumplings for Bianca and me let’s see Bianca enjoy her very first perogi cherry vodka thank you I’m outside of Swit Cathedral they started building this church in 1330 this Cathedral started out as a
Catholic church and then the Protestants owned it and became Jesuit and after a while the Jesuits were kicked out of the area was secularized was used as a barn now thanks to John Paul II it’s a Cathedral Night 10 of Christmas rage Christmas rage so this is what a Polish supermarket looks like don’t rush oh I used to love this when I was young we used to have them in the Russia Market it’s all she likes to do now she likes Poland it’s like fashion fruit
Something so before we leave schw this morning we have a couple stops and the first one is to go back to that Catholic Cathedral I visited last night cuz I think we’ll be able to see the interior a lot better than we could last night for Spe after this polish Bagel we’re going to check out the reason we’re in town we’re visiting one of the peace churches so now we’ll take a little drive to this unesc listed Peace church now in 1648 it was the Treaty of West falia that ended the 30 Years War
One of the longest and most destructive Wars in European history and under pressure from Protestant Sweden the Holy Roman Emperor King Ferdinand the three allowed for three Protestant churches peace churches to be built in the uh hapsburg hereditary principalities of cesia that’s the region we’re in now celesia and in
1656 construction on this Church in S began it’s the largest wooden Baroque Temple and all of Europe it seats some 7,500 people now King Ferdinand II good Catholic that he is placed very difficult conditions on the swedes to build their Protestant churches there are three Protestant churches one was that when you start
Building it it has to be finished within a year and another was oh yeah it needs to be made of wood and straw yeah the idea was he wanted to make sure these structures were just temporary I mean they’re going to burn down for sure now part of that treaty also
Returned Catholic churches to the Catholic church that Protestants had previously taken over this organ was built 1666 to 1669 and this is the church’s Bell Tower now it’s time to leave schnit and see how they’re celebrating Christmas in aitz the drive is a bit over 3
Hours and it’s all highway so not going to show it to you it’s boring we’ve arrived to the town of aitz and it’s pitch black because it’s 5:30 p.m. and we’re heading to our first meal before we explore Christmas spirit in this town hat na zaborski
So as you saw star of tonight’s dinner again parois and that might be a recurring theme so we’re in the center of aitz now and uh no Christmas Market but they do have some decoration set up now you know how to spell aitz in Polish and the waitress was telling me it’s pronounced
Osim osim I really thought aitz would have a Christmas Market a little disappointed but uh tomorrow for sure it’s a winner we’re going to kov good morning from aitz today we’re going to drive to kov it’s only about an hour away uh this church behind me by
The way it’s the main Church in town it’s the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary built in the rebuilt in the 1800s this town of aitz has a famous concentration camp you may know it as aitz um it’s actually a complex of 40 concentration and extermination camps and after
Breakfast before we hit krackov we’re going to check it out I won’t be narrating there just uh presenting video as it is Speech spee for myself for okay now to kcko for some much needed Christmas Market cheer so this is my third third time in kov Bianca’s first and to uh to get it started we’re taking a half hour walk through the center to a synagogue that is now a bar in a
Restaurant polish cheese from a specific Mountain a specific Mountain very good I prefer my cheese wrapped in bacon and that’s that’s how I had it [Applause] delicious and here we are he want a synagogue now a bar and restaurant so mine is uh Jewish caviar which is goose liver
That’s my second cheese wrapped in bacon Cow Cheese from your bonka and uh you know perogi enjoy night 12 of Christmas rage Christmas rage Christmas rage so this is what $25 a night can get you in kov and this building that our hotel is in used to be the SS headquarters in
Kraco and the street out front was named verm s verm marked his power in German and verm was a term that Nazis used for uh well kind of like we must arm Germany beyond the limitations of the Treaty of our side so we’re supposed to pay something like $18 a day we’re parked
Right in the city center we’re not paying just want to see do they clamp do they just ticket me in which case I don’t have to pay and we’re good so far no ticket as you may have noticed Poland has some of the most beautiful churches in the world
And uh we’re going to stop by three or four more of them in crack out today the Church of St Casmir the prince this new church was consecrated in 1672 this art Novo building is the Palace of the Fine Arts completed in 1901 look at this guy carrying someone’s
Head so in the main Square in CCO is St Mary’s Basilica completed 1347 under Kazmir the great you can hear the trumpet right every hour on the hour the trumpet sounds and it is to commemorate a famous 13th century trumpet player who was shot in the throat mid signal as he was
Warning the city of a Mongol Attack so this is one of the most spectacularly decorated Church Interiors in all of Europe the most famous piece here is the altar I think it’s the largest Gothic altar in the world 40 ft wide 34 ft tall carved out of wood and this alar piece was one of the first of Poland’s
Treasures to be looted by the Nazis under micromanagement by Hitler who was personally invested in it because the artist was German he felt that the piece belonged back in nmber which is where the artist was from Pope joh Paul II krao was his hometown that building in the center of
The square is the cloth Hall and it used to be a major Center of international trade spices for salt he there’s a big salt mine in krackow I don’t think we’re going to go to it UNESCO listed someday stand Ukraine stand ukra stand Ukraine stand ukra stand of which I’m certain
This Old Tower is what remains of the Town Hall that once stood here in the Square so now we’re heading to a church where St maximilan kobby was a monk in 1919 why do I care because the school I went to the private Catholic school I went to was called maximilan Kobe
Prep maximilan Kobe by the way died in aitz 10 prisoners were selected at Rand to be punished for an attempted Escape by one prisoner the SS chose the 10 and one of the guys screamed out my wife my children maximilan Kobe heard this and volunteered to take this man’s place and
So the Nazis starved him of food and drink for two weeks and when he still didn’t die they injected him with a lethal dose of carbolic acid Pope John Paul II made him a saint in uh I believe the 70s the Church of St Francis of aissi constructed from the
1200s this Basilica didn’t get all of these colors until the end of the 1800s a contest was held actually to the winner gets to decorate the interior of the church and he did the stained glass windows as well I know I said we were going to visit
Three or four churches today but uh it turns out visiting two churches is a lot of work so I think we’re going to spend the rest of the day eating and drinking Another centuries old church Church of the Holy Trinity and uh you’re getting sick of seeing churches so we just came back from China to get to Poland to buy some Chinese souvenirs Saints Peter and Paul Church concerts every day St Andrew’s Church Old Stone Church built from 179
1079 and a bit of the interior of St Andrews and there’s close to a million people living in kov second largest city in Poland I think we’ll check out this Castle tomorrow with my dear Turkish friend emre he’s very interested in it and I think you know what that means if you’ve
Seen the Czechoslovakia video star Fort aliens a restaurant from 1856 we’ll call this breakfast at 3:30 every meal served for the Cucumber that’s what they’re known for there’s the machanka machanka thank you my breakfast is machanka it’s a Polish Burger is this Pork yeah nice same Ukrainian bars last night if it
Ain’t broke don’t fix it checking out cloth Hall remember cloth Hall next to every set of nativity characters are these Jewish dolls is hidic Jewish dolls Croquettes that’s a Polish thing uh Bianca got one with cottage cheese potatoes and black cumin it’s like a a gourmet perogi Place dumplings with roasted duck and
Apricot dumplings with baked rib and Honey [Applause] The all It’s 2:00 and we just got out of the house quite a party last night so uh not going to see much today we’re going to check out the castle though em is waiting I got I got I got bread with I got bread coated with lard and then topped with
Some sausage and cucumber and onions the UNESCO listed bavel Castle it’s a fortified residency established on orders of King Kazmir 3 the Great another day you know why we’re here though why are we here what to look for evidence of how this star Fort was built
All These Bricks laid on top of each other by who who knows you tell aliens oh no Ed there’s an art museum inside it’s one of the most visited art museums in the world last year something like 2 million people visited it I don’t think we’re going to be one of
Them for centuries this was the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood this Castle has its own Cathedral the construction of this gothic church began in 1320 this is the tomb of St Stanislas so these are all sarcophagi sarcophaga sarcophagy of uh these are
Sarcophaga former Kings of Poland yes this is the sarcophagus of King Kazmir 3 the great Pope John Paul II before he became Pope was the Archbishop of kov and here at this church is the the blood of Pope John Paul II here’s the resting place of St
Yadviga who was a queen of Poland and she was made a saint by John Paul II in 1997 and this is a chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross and the Holy Spirit was founded by King kmir 4 and his sarcophagus is in this Chapel all right so this is exciting the church is
Closed and uh oh look at this Bell look at this Bell it’s too dark to see this Bell above me it’s 9,650 kg can anyone shine light on this thing and of course uh an incredible view from the top of this Bell Tower here’s an important sarcophagus for Bianca and all Romanians tell them Stefan the first yeah B Vo VOD of
Transylvania he came from the oldest family that settled in Transylvania and and here he is resting in Poland he married the queen of Poland It’s been about 2 hours since we last ate I think it’s time for some dinner Pope John Paul II before he was Pope lived in this building 1951 to 1967 only if he ate in a more cooler way you know so we ordered all this food mostly
Parois but and some soups and stuff and then the chef got pissed and he brought us out some he’s Force feeding us duck basically you know we didn’t order duck and we’re in a restaurant called the black duck for those of you who have been wondering it’s jivet
Jivet jivet polish beer is there any with duck here I don’t think they have a duck this one isn’t duck o o very traditional crispy pancakes with apples it’s called K rush it tastes like a a public pool uh a luxury public pool what a surprise per tradition the
Restaurant comes up with a homemade Plum Plum vodka this time not Cherry third night third time at this bar at the eat eat not right now that what is that though what is it all right for dinner number three saabi saabi what’s your name traditional polish pork chop last sights and sounds of
Poland had to good time yes and I got the Christmas gift oh she got a Christmas gift look a traditional polish a tradition polish a little something to remember kov tomorrow toos Slovakia next day Ukraine we’re leaving kco now and this building is where we were
Staying once the SS was kicked out the Red Army moved in so it served as the Red Army office for a long while as well and now for the Moment of Truth we’ve been parked for 3 Days in the azone the most expensive Zone in kco did we get a parking
Ticket no ticket saved uh some 45 and this is the secret we’ve paid by phone have a good day covering the VIN of course so we’re passing by some communist era buildings now um reminds me of my last visit I visited novah huta it’s a an area of kov it’s
One of only two fully planned socialist realist cities ever built uh the others in Russia and the city was designed to withstand a nuclear attack I’ll put up a photo or two hey here’s what a 100 in Polish money lney looks like it’s about a 3 and 1/ half hour
Drive to our next stop it’s kind of a stepping stone City on the way to Ukraine kosit in Slovakia and we’re going back into Slovakia just for a night And Crossing into Slovakia look how the roads change instantly from Poland to Slovakia less maintained here in Slovakia that’s the UNESCO listed spech Castle on the right I visited it a couple summers ago here’s a picture or two and this Castle was built in the 1100s by the kingdom of Hungary until
1465 it was owned by the kings of Hungary it’s one of the larger castles in the world I think it was 1780 there was a fire the theory is uh the last owners burned it down on purpose to reduce their property taxes and we have arrived kosit Christmas anyone is there
Christmas in kosit we’ll find out so we checked into our apartment we got a half an hour before the sun goes down so let’s see whatever little we can see of Eastern Slovak ‘s largest city Kosh last time I was here I came across a monument dedicated to the Soviet Red
Army and um first things first let’s go see if it’s still there I know there were a lot of calls to tear it Down the entire center of the city is UNESCO listed by the way come on great the monument is still here to the Red Army it was January 1945 that the Soviet troops marched in and liberated the town from the Nazis the Germans were sent on foot to Germany
Or they were shipped off to Soviet Union and Koshi became the capital of Czechoslovakia until the Red Army reached Prague this Monument is right in the center of the city and as you can see a lot of vandalism people are trying to break off the hammer and sickle glory to Russian weapons someone
Tried to Chisel It Off this one says glory to the Red Army The Liberator of Czechoslovakia from under the Yoke of the German fascist occupants after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine kosit became a major hub for the administration uh transfer and housing of uh refugees fleeing from
Ukraine and I think that’s reflected in all of the vandalism we see now with this Monument it was not like this when I was here a few years ago the hammer and sickles were whole were no missing pieces okay now for a bit of Christmas
And then uh home for the rest of the day it’s minus three it’s really cold it’s really cold it’s not enjoyable at all the gothic Cathedral of St Elizabeth is the largest church in Slovakia they started building it in 1378 night 15 of Christmas rage Christmas rage Christmas rage SL garlic soup
Quick cheap delicious and homemade buckwheat dumplings zakova platy that’s what it’s called the potato pancakes in Slovakia you remember it as Brak I think in Czech Republic last video very smart Slovakia look the seat doesn’t slide you know how public toilets always have the the seat sliding everywhere not Here so this is the end of part three of our great European Christmas Market Road Trip uh we’re driving out of Slovakia now we’re heading into Ukraine we’ll call that part four see you there bye peace peace that Christmas thing yes
10-16. December 2023. This video is the 3rd out of five of our 2023 European Christmas Market (Christkindlmarkt / Weihnachtsmarkt) Road Trip from Bosnia to Romania, passing through Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine.
Part 3 highlights include:
Świdnica – UNESCO-listed Holy Trinity Church of Peace, one of the world’s largest wooden churches
Oświęcim (Auschwitz) – Auschwitz concentration camp is a major site of the Nazis’ Final Solution to the Jewish question
Kraków – Home to Poland’s best Christmas market IMO, and some of the world’s most ornately decorated churches; and to Nowa Huta, one of the largest planned socialist realist settlements or districts ever built (another being Magnitogorsk in Russia), engineered to be able to withstand a NATO nuclear attack
Košice – A stepping stone in Slovakia on the way to Ukraine, and home to a vandalized city center WWII Monument to the Red Army
The 2023 Christmas Road Trip Series:
Part 1: Bosnia to Hungary – https://youtu.be/g5rKmLXX-6U?si=dmWOznFRt4hzoKFr
Part 2: Hungary to Czechoslovakia – https://youtu.be/Y-IMZEXyJgw?si=cFXEkmyStdgaZmh5
Part 3: Poland – You’re watching it now
Part 4: Ukraine – Coming soon!
Part 5: Romania – Coming soon!