More features:

• The Maluch

  Like the Czech Škoda and the East German Trabant, the Polish Maluch has served several purposes during its lifetime; a Godsend for families behind the Iron Curtain, source of amusement for smirking foreigners and now, as a cult icon for nostalgists....

• Sonderaktion Krakau

  After the invasion of Poland, the Nazis set about culturally crippling the country by eliminating it’s intellectual elite....

• What's in a Name?

  The word Kraków originates from Krak (or Krakus), the fabled ruler of the Vistulan tribes, who according to legend founded the city sometime around 700AD and who, among a great many other possible things, valiantly led an army against the Gaulles in Carinthia....

• Szopki Krakowska

  One of Kraków’s most unique and singular Christmas  traditions is the popular creation of ‘szopki....

• Błędowska Desert

  Here’s sand in your eye: 40 kilometres away, smack between Kraków and Katowice, lies Pustynia Błędowska - a bonafide, genuine, centuries-old desert....

• Czesław Miłosz

  Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004) has come to be regarded as the finest Polish writer of the 20th century, his work influencing generations of natives and foreigners alike....

• Eating history

  Undamaged by the Nazi cyclone Kraków’s old town is one of the few town centres in Poland which remains in its original form, and as such represents a breathing history lesson....

• The Vistula/Wisła

  The legendsThe villagers had limited options. The dragon beneath a nearby hill was waiting to consume their sheep and the last of their daughters....

• Lenin in Kraków

  While Kraków’s regal associations are common knowledge, it’s easy to remain ignorant of its connections with communism, and specifically Comrade Lenin who for two years called the city home....

• Stained Glass in Kraków

  Stained glass enthusiasts will have an absolute field day in Kraków, which has many fine examples of the craft – arguably some of the best in Europe – thanks to a proliferation of ancient churches and being the home city of resident geniuses Stanisław Wyspiański and Józef Mehoffer....

• Dogs

  Kraków has something of a fixation with dogs; where else in the world will you find an annual fancy dress sausage dog parade....

• The Hejnał

  
  One of the most fascinating traditions for tourists and Cracovians is the hejnał (pronounced "haynow") – a short, melodious bugle call played every hour from the east, west, north and south sides of St....

• Valentine's Day in Krakow

  
  Valentine’s Day is a relatively modern concept in Poland and, like Halloween, seems to have come from the west over the past 20 years....

• Flower Power

  Lads, listen up. In concert with the societal consensus that Polish women are beautiful, the country's daughters have been dutifully trained to wield their sex in the form of elaborate and flirtatious gender games, and you will be expected, if not helpless, to play along....