So, there i am at last, in Krakow ... and as you know i'm quite talkative so i already have a lot to say and wanted to share my first impressions with you.
Lisez la suite du post

DEPARTURE
Paris told me goodbye and did all it could eventually do to prove it's the most beautiful city in the world : from the plane, an incredibly clear sky let appear a kind of "forbbiden city" of thousands of lights ... that was magic !
I even saw the Eiffel Tower flickering ... and those of you who know how it usually gets me euphoric already "on earth" can imagine that of course i distrurbed my neighboor, a businessman in a very serious conversation , to tell him "Look ! The Eiffel Tower is flickeriiiiiiiing !!!!"
The flight on a low cost company was ok, although i got frightenned when i realised the hotess showed us security instructions without mentionning any lifejacket (oh ... ok... that's how they get "low costs")

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Then my flatmate welcomed me at the airport and we went to the flat, My first impressions of Krakow were thus "Krakow by night", 'cause we had to walk 30 minutes (with backpacks !) to get to the flat since there were no buses anymore.

First footsteps are the most precisous ones ... you look around, read exotic and still unprouncable slogans, street names you think you could never remember, you notice a lot of unsignificant things that will later become trivial, as you become a "krakower".
First steps are linked to every senses : sound of an unknown language, odours that you'll never forget (dedicace to Proust's madeleine), etc ...

HINTS
I haven't been here for a long time yet, but i noticed some hints which induce me to think i'll love this city :

• the city center is totally car-free ! Can you imagine ? "Ils ont tout compris ces polonais !"
• whereas some cities build peripheric highways around the city centre, guess what they made here in the very place the remparts (city walls) used to stand ? A round-the-city-park ! (une promenade plantee !), My flatmate told me "can you imagine : i've heard in Vienna they made a big road ! the Ring ! how terrible"
• there are boublik sellers everywhere (that's the russian name of a kind of very tasty bagel i love, i don't know yet the name in polish ... but already know the taste of course !)
• There are some signalisation panels : " careful : little girls with red balloon crossing" ... ok it's not written, but that's what is drawn on it ! I even saw the "grandpa version" for real !

• a city that loves legends, and whose symbol is a dragon is necessarily great for someone with my crazy imagination Ok, I'll tell you one : every hour, a man plays the trumpett from the top of the church on the market square in the memory of the guard who woke up the city during a night offensive of Tatars. He stops suddenly at the very moment in the melody when the guard got an arrow in his throat

  Can you see the tip of the trumpet ?

• They've got really cute courtyards, something in between Russian ones (but much more classy) and Spanish patios. and they've got underground bars. (i know where i'll spend winter)

ANTHROPOLOGY
The two things people told me the most about, so far, are communism and religion (i promise i'm not the one who started to talk about it).
In the centre, there are dozens of churches, it's incredible ! I even say one with three Christs.
I've been asked already two times (in two days ) if i'm a catholic, and even once i was answered "No ?! Why ???" ... er ... what kind of answer could i give ?
In my flatmate's room, there are not less than three Jesus Christ, but in the bookshelf, "catechism of the catholic church" is just next to "Kama Sutra" .... as you can imagine, my inner anthropologue is waking up, and i'll think there will be a lot of interesting things to investigate on that matter (like "how does religion fit into modernity")

POLISH
My flatmates seem really friendly, and the flat is a 20 minutes walk from the centre.
Polish people (at least in Krakow) are casually stylish, which i like. No obligation to wear mini-mini-skirts here (good for me !). Nothing to do with St Petersburg style for example.
I'm starting learning Polish, but the pronounciation/spelling is really tricky. Thus, as i don't want to speak English to order for example (i like being unnoticed ... my "fly-theory" for those of you who know it ), i can order only things written whithout any "weired letter" .... Hence i ate "zapiekanka" which is baguette-style bread with mushrooms and melted cheese on it.

SUPERSTICION
It has nothing to do with what i was talking about before but ...
do you know that in poland, for good luck, you get a kick in the ass and musn't turn back nor see/look at the person who gave it to you ?

MARKET SQUARE

	The well-known market square is truely magnificent, it's the heart of the city, there's always something going on there. Yesterday, it was a procession of people dressed as Tatars (to comemorate the day they were beaten thanks to the trumpet player).
Today it's the "day of heart", so people line up to get this or that tested, some kind of medecines are given for free, and there are even cute polish guy giving away apples . The concentration of pigeons allows the market squre to compete with the San Marco square of Venice.
	On the other side of the square, young teenagers were making a show with a choregraphy on a cartoon music which ends up being a hip hop demonstration.

WHAT ELSE ...
What else ... oh, yes, i discovered an antidepression square ! It's really cute, and there is a scultpture of a depressed buffon which necessarily make you smile as it is a funny mirror if you're depressed.

SWEETNESS OF LIFE
The weather is beautiful here, and it seems there is a genuine "vie de cafe" ... that's all the best 'cause i love it... i think that although i don't like what we call Turkish coffee (coffee in your mug with water on it) which seems to be the most common here, i'll spend quite a lot of time enjoying in cafes the sweetness of life (douceur de vivre) emanating from this city.