We decided to take a day trip to Krakow in order to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. Little did we know that if booking a visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau through a tour group, they are held to very strict time limits, which was never disclosed until we were at the camp. Tour groups are given a time limit of two hours, which is nearly not enough given the sheer size and magnitude of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Given the atrocities that also took place here, this limited amount of time does not allow one to digest and take in the realities of horror that took place here.
One almost has to compartmentalize things, and think about them at a later time since you are rushed through. I can see time limits during the summer months when I can imagine it can get quite crowded, but we went during winter, and it was raining throughout our visit. Given those circumstances along with the smaller crowds, I would hope that time limits are relaxed a little more in the future.
Upon our return to Krakow, it was still raining. Chilled to the bone, we were looking for a nice hot meal before taking the train back to Warsaw.
After doing a little research, we ended up choosing Szalone Widelce. It has great reviews, and is close to the train station. In fact, there is an underground tunnel that lets out very close to the restaurant.
The meal started out with a basket of bread, and a “pork spread” of sorts which does contain fat. Rich and unctuous, this was a big hit.
The Krakow Style Soup was one of the best soups I have ever had. The soup is sour cream based, and tasted like ham hocks and contained sausage, potatoes and hard-boiled eggs.
The “Crazy Dish” was a smorgasbord of seemingly everything on their menu. It contained goulash, schnitzel, pork cutlet, ribs, sour cream pierogis, a potato pancake, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, beets, carrot salad, and French Fries. Most things were cooked well, and tasted good, but this was way too much food for one person. The taste overload also diminished in the taste of the dish. For ~$13 however, this was a great dish to try.
The Grilled Chicken Breast was a large chicken breast stuffed with spinach and garlic, and came with potatoes that were nice and crunchy. The real surprise of the dish was the amount of cheese on top of the chicken, as the menu did not even mention cheese as being one of the ingredients.
Also on the table were little candies that tasted like soft, chewy maple Bit-O-Honey.
Service was fine throughout, and all employees were very friendly and spoke good English. Portions are rather large, and have good value. I would come back for the soup alone.
