Krakow, Poland Christmas Market
We saw one of the world’s best Christmas trees! And I only know this because my cousin reached out informed me of this after I had posted some photos. I will agree I have never seen a more beautiful Christmas tree in my life but knowing that it made a list just makes me appreciate it at new levels. Krakow really out did itself. Have you ever tried mulled wine? It’s like Christmas in a cup minus the peppermint. And as much as I hate to say this… I did not love it. Joe and I both love wine and we agreed we could go the rest of our lives without ever drinking mulled wine again. That being said, you should give it a try at least once in your life as it seems to be a European tradition. Joe and I did however LOVE and I mean we got this almost every single day kind of love, Hot Honey Wine. The HHW was the staple in our Christmas market extravaganza. It kept us warm and our spirits high. At the Christmas Market you’ll come across a dozen food vendors. Joe and I tried about every single one and the only ones we cared about and had us coming back for more is 1. The big dog. So amazing. It’s like a gigantic yummy polish sausage covered in your requested toppings… my favorites are sauerkraut and pickles. And 2. I can’t remember the name of them but it’s literally chambert cheese wrapped in ham and it’s divine. You can choose honey or jam to pair it with and mmmph. Chefs kiss. Delicious.
With the lights of the Christmas market, the Christmas Tree, the horse carriage rides, and the trumpeter playing his tune at the top of St.Mary’s Basilica you can’t help but feel the Christmas magic and get into the spirit.
Christmas Day we took a carriage ride around Old Town Krakow and I don’t think Sawyer or myself stopped smiling for a single second of the 20 min ride. Sawyer is now obsessed with horses and every night since our carriage ride she says “sweet dreams, dream of horses” so sweet.
Hotel Saski was our choice of hotel while visiting Krakow’s Christmas market. It made sense to us because it’s right there in Old Town Krakow where the Christmas Market is being held. Hotel Saski is by far one of my favorite hotels I’ve ever stayed at in my entire life. I love their employees. Anyone who comes to work with the “I’m gonna make your dreams come true” attitude has my full respect. Everyone at this hotel has this attitude just making it an over all very pleasant and welcoming experience. Their continental breakfast offered has every option you can think of for breakfast, let’s not forget the champagne they offer you on your way into eat. How generous. I do especially love their collagen fruit smoothies and they have these waffles there that are so amazing, the best way I can describe them is to picture a glazed donut in the shape of a waffle. So good.
Everyone we spoke to said that on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, places are closed. Now while hours may be changed on these days, we found quite the opposite. Old town was popping off!! People everywhere consuming yummy food and full of holiday cheer. Because I’m in a different country and I don’t know EVERYTHING about where I am, I left the Xmas Eve dinner and Xmas dinner planning up to our receptionist. She did an amazing job at getting us reservations. Our reservation for Xmas Eve dinner was at a hotel down the street, a 2 min walk, at the Palace Hotel. It was so quiet in that dining room and with 2 babies with us… let’s just saw we broke the ice on the quiet ambience. Oopsie. Sawyer got this yummy gnocchi dish there and now that I’m thinking about it… I’m craving it. Xmas day dinner we ate at Hotel Saski and it was definitely more our vibe as it wasn’t super quiet and we were spaced away from other families enjoying their dinner. They had a wine pairing with the dishes and Joe and I throughly enjoyed their Xmas dinner wine tasting with the different Polish dishes.
Now to side step off of how amazing and incredible Hotel Saski and the Xmas market is…
The first three weeks we were here in Krakow we all got so sick. Joe and I took the brunt of the sickness and it took us FOREVER to get over. The kids were fully recovered within a week and a half. I kept jumping back and forth between “is it RSV? Is it Covid? The flu???” Regardless whatever the heck it was, it was awful. The hot honey wine we kept going back for was our buoy in that sick storm. Seriously, so soothing. Being sick in a foreign country is extremely daunting, kinda was a nervous wreck there for a second… but alas Hotel Saski, our light in this dark time… offers a doctor to come and check you out at the hotel! That definitely took a lot of my stress away knowing that. We never did reach out for a doctor, we just Lancaster’d our way through it like the tough family we are and now we’re all good. Regardless I’m glad we had options on next course of actions if we needed it.
