Kraków (pronounced "Krak-oof" in Polish) is the cultural capital of Poland. It was the actual captial of Poland for about five hundred years, but the city is actually much older.

It's an impressive city filled with medieval architecture: a fabulous market square, churches galore, Wawel (the royal residence), with the Vistula river flowing quietly through it.

I've been to Kraków countless times. When I first arrived in 1996, it was the only place one could find English teaching materials in any quantity to speak of.

Now I go for occasional shopping (I bought my wedding suit there), for visa issues (I have to get a work permit every three years, which results in a lot of waiting in lines in Kraków), and just to get anywhere in Poland (since it's the southern transportation hub in Poland).