Krakow

My father was born in Krakow, Poland. He and his parents came to Israel when he was six years old. It was only natural that Dick initiated a visit to my ancestors' home town. I didn't expect much, but I was wrong. Krakow is a beautiful town!

The city has many redeeming qualities: a brand-new Sheraton that's both reasonably priced and clean; a charming old town, cobblestones and all; a beautiful center square with the requisite cafes, ice cream shops and more vendors than you can shake a stick at; and a Jewish quarter with old and new synagogues, both of which are at least 350 years old, where my grandfather prayed.

The real surprise of Krakow was the food. I expected greasy, impossibly heavy Polish food. I found countless vegetable dishes, from cucumber salad to both hot and cold beets, well prepared fowl of all kind, and the inevitable pirogies, which we insisted on avoiding. In addition, the town is replete with Jewish bakeries with great cheese cakes and poppy seed cake, so what's not to like? Several restaurants also have musicians who are often violin virtuosos as well as accordion players. The atmosphere is fabulous!

Last, Krakow is an hour away from Auschwitz, where 1.1 million Jews were killed during the Nazi regime. While a visit is a sobering experience, it's not to be missed. It is stunning to realize how efficient, clinical, remorseless and cold that killing machine was.

Krakow is certainly off the beaten path, but absolutely worth a visit.