This year, we have had more opportunity as a family to take several short city breaks. Thanks to the low budget airlines, where if you are quick enough to book ahead, you could really cheap (i mean dirt cheap) air tickets within Europe. Sometimes, I just make a quick search what's in the offer and book straightaway.
We also find it important to also expose our three year old daughter at this stage to different cultures and places. Once she told the carers at her nursery how she enjoyed Riga, and they were not sure what she was talking about, until we explained that Riga is a city in Latvia where we just spent a long weekend. We love taking these short city breaks where we would usually leave on a Thursday or Friday and come back by Sunday. Somehow it also compensates for the long working hours during the week and by being away we could really bond as a family.
Last week, we went to Krakow, Poland since it was highly recommended by my Polish colleague. We loved it. While there is the UNESCO Heritage Old Town of Krakow, we stayed at the Kazimierz area, the old Jewish quarters. After most of the Jews who lived in Kazimierz vanished after the holocaust, this area just dilapitated until Schindler's List was filmed here and opened the area again to the outside world. In fact, you can even visit the real Schindler's factory. The area has a very disturbing history and while there are still a lot of traces of the Jewish heritage, the area has lost its real soul.
I have seen Kazimierz pictures 15 years ago when you would not even think that they would even be able to revive the area again. This for me was very interesting as I have always been interested in urban regeneration. Somehow I could not help think about how we in the Philippines could do something about our Old Manila, like the area in Escolta or Chinatown where there are a lot of nice buildings but unfortunately left to just fade away.
We plan to go back to Krakow next year when my family comes for their usual visit. My husband said, it will be very easy to please my mom--just let her join the "In the footsteps of Pope John Paul II" (who before becoming Pope was the Archbishop of Krakow) tour, and she would be perfectly fine.
