First night in Krakow, Poland - enjoying an unexpected market in Rynek Głowny

We touched down in Krakow, Poland at about 7:30 on a Friday night after a long trip from Mexico City via Frankfurt. The ride into the city was smooth and pretty pleasant. Our Bolt driver took a route through what appeared to be nice suburban streets maybe just north of this park.

In my experience the areas around major airports are generically light-industrial at best and kind of unkempt and fringe-y feeling at worst. By comparison the ride from KRK to our lodging in Stare Miasto was rather lovely.

We settled into our Airbnb quickly and rallied to head out and make what we could of our short first night in Krakow.

We aimed straight for Rynek Głowny, of course, and to our happy surprise we found a temporary market set up with a few dozen cabin-like stalls selling traditional food and handicrafts/souvenirs. It was time to eat a little something anyway, so this was perfect.
We started with the pumpkin soup. Tasty, with some spice to it. Good way to kick things off on a cool evening.

Could not pass up the opportunity for some pierogies. We got a variety plate of 5 flavors. Did not keep notes of which they were. I loved them. But I was also hungry and feeling the high of being in a new place and happy with our luck that this market was happening. Judy was a bit more critical, insisting that pierogies must be finished with a bit of a pan saute action.

Then what we did not need but got anyway (again, adrenaline was kicking in) was a plate of sausage and potatoes from this stand with some nice mustard. Great, of course, but really unnecessary.

What we should have gotten, but did not, was this grilled cheese item.

We later learned that these things are delicious with a bit of the blueberry jam they offer. Would have been much more reasonable than the heaping plate of sausage and potatoes.

Regardless, all in all it was a great first night in Krakow. Below is a short video to show the vibe.