piątek, 8 sierpnia 2014

Ride a bike through Krakow

Although, Krakow is a city with well-organised public transport, there are many obstacles to get to work, school, whatever, due to traffic jams. Recently, ZIKIT (Management of municipal infrastructure and transport in Krakow - in polish - Zarząd Infrastruktury Komunalnej i Transportu w Krakowie) has released an alternative way to get to your destination - BY BIKE. KMK Bike is a chance for those who want to travel ecologically and on time.

How to rent a bike? You need to register on www.kmkbike.pl . Click on the link and follow the instruction:

Click "Rejestracja" (Registration) the blue button under "Logowanie" (Log in). Fulfill all required fields in an online form. Then, you will receive an e-mail in which you need to click on the link to confirm information about you. Next, you will receive via SMS a conforming code that you are obligated to fill in "Szczegółowe dane" (Details). After receiving a password, recharge your account a minimum amount of 20 PLN (it is more or less 5€ - depends on current exchange rate). If you want to rent a bike, it has to be at least 10 PLN on your account! 

The instruction of renting a bike:
1. Click the button "Rent"
2. Enter your mobile phone number - the same you filled in the form
3. Enter the password that you received during the registration process
4. Enter the electronic lock number to the bike are renting
5. You have only 5 minutes to taking out the bike

The instruction of returning a bike:
1. Find a place with electronic lock
2. Click the button "Return"
3. Enter your mobile phone number
4. Enter the password you received during the registration process
5. Enter the electronic lock number
6. You have only 5 minutes to plugging the bike into the electronic lock

Costs:
1. Renting a bike from 0 to 30 minutes - 0 PLN
2. Renting from 31 to 60 minutes - 3 PLN
3. Every next hour - 3 PLN

The maximum time of renting is 12 hours. 

poniedziałek, 4 sierpnia 2014

Top 10 Cafes in Krakow

I prepare a ranking of top 10 cafes in Krakow, according to my suggestions. 


I fell in love with Karmello at first sight. Great place with low coffee prices ( comparatively) and delicious chocolate treats.  



One of the largest company in the world that have many satisfied clients. Yummy! I definitety recommend it. 



Cosy and comfortable place near Main Square. If you want to drink coffee or warm chocolate in quiet place - go there. 


Great place to hang out with your friends , not only with your Love. I recommend a dessert with white chocolate and strawberries!


It is a place for hipsters, I guess. They provide various cupcakes, different of each day. You can also order cupcakes earlier. A coffee is not my favour there, but you should taste cupcakes. They look amazing and taste delicious too. 



Grzegorz Turnau - a great polish artist, is an owner of Nowa Prowincja. I like this place due to the atmosphere. I recommend. :)



It is not a casual place to drink coffee. I usually go there to drink something else :>. I prefer drinking wine in Bunkier.




Maybe, there is not a luxury place, but coffee is perfect. People who work in Karma are very positive!


This cafe is situated in Hotel Royal Krakow. A design of place is pretty nice. Near Wawel Castle :)

Colorful place. A little far from the Main Square, but in the neighbourhood of AGH University of Science and Technology. 

What is your opinion of these cafes? Tell me :)

Gluten-free restaurants

Nowadays, more and more people suffer from coeliac disease. It is a big problem, because they cannot eat everything. In most food there is a gluten. What is a gluten? Gluten is a mix of vegetable protein, glutenins and gliadin. Intolerance of gluten causes damage in human body, especially in intestinal villi.

Depends on how long you will stay in Poland, you need to know places with gluten-free food.

1. Sweets shop "Cukiernia RED" (Zarzecze Street 9)
If you like candies, you should visit this sweets shop. They serve very popular desserts without gluten like pana cotta. You are also provided by a special place for your children, where they can draw something etc.

2. La Manzana (Miodowa Street 11)
They serve mexican food. Pretty sure, food is gluten-free.

3. Cafe Culca (Mostowa Street 14)
They prepare meals from fresh vegetables and fruit. In the wide range of meals, you will find pasta gluten-free, many salads, fishes etc.

4. Lunch Bar Ancho (Rakowicka Street 19/1)
Located near the centre of city. They specialize in vegetarian and gluten-free food. Every day, they inform their customers about new prepared meals via Facebook. You have a guarantee of quality there. There is also wifi.

5. Pod Baranem (St Gertruda Street 21) 
Located near the Wawel Castle. Many famous people ate there like ministers, presidents etc.

Enjoy your meal!

piątek, 1 sierpnia 2014

Currency in Krakow

A polish official currency is the zloty (literally "golden"). One złoty is subdivided into one hundred groszy. Most of products have price tags with an abbreviation "zł" which means the same as zloty. You can also meet PLN - a symbol of polish zloty, which is used since 1995.

Krakow as a very attractive city for tourists, has a wide range of various services. You can easily change your currency for another for e.g. USD to EUR or EUR to PLN etc. Around the Main Square you will see many currency exchange offices, in Poland so-called "Kantor". Exchange offices' owners usually show sell rate of exchange of a currency and currency purchase rate in front of an entrance, therefore are able to compare them and choose a favourable exchange rate for you.

What if you want to pay in euros?
Frankly, Poland belongs to the European Union, but not to eurozone. We use only PLN. Recently, many shops have accepted euros, therefore you can try paying in euros.


Good luck!