From dead to crazy – partying in Krakow

One of the things we kept hearing about Krakow is that it is a fun town with great bars and clubs. Unfortunately, as it is a university town to some extent, we arrived at the worst time: in the middle of the week during finals week. This let us see both sides of Krakow’s nightlife – the dead and the absolutely insane. On Wednesday night we tried to find a fun party – but hostel pub crawls were empty, the bars in the hip former Jewish district quiet, and street empty. As it turns out, Thursday was the final test that all college students in the city had to take. Whoops.

Chilling in a quiet bar

Thursday night and Friday morning were another story entirely. Thursday the streets were alive and the bars finally filled. Krakow has some of the coolest bars we’ve ever been in, simply because of the number of medieval-age basements in the town. The whole town is filled with basements made out of low brick arches and dark corridors and staircases perfect for a fun atmosphere. And of course the students were everywhere.

Friday morning the craziness continued. Students dressed in costumes and filled the main square by early morning, dancing to musical acts on stage, partying with classmates, and just going all-around nuts before noon. It’s an annual event to celebrate finals being over. We just sat at a bar on the square, enjoying a few beers as we watched the spectacle. We saw the police try to rein a few people in, but without much success. Unfortunately we had tickets to leave Krakow that afternoon, but I’m sure its bars and clubs were fully filled that night.

Concert in the square at noon

Awesome costumes

American football teams were popular group costumes – but nobody seemed to be able to find an actual helmet or football.

Craziness