Cafe Szal - Frenzy of Exultations - take 2
My dearest sweethearts,
Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug That Loves Beautiful Views Provided By Coffee Shops
How are you handling the freezing cold outside? In December we did not have any snow and now... in January, it's as if Winter finally decided to come and stay for a while. Probably the weather will be very much like last year, when we had snow for Easter... fun time making snow - Easter bunnies! It is as if the weather migrated... the season have switched between them. I can hardly recognize the winters of my childhood with the Winters now... but enough now about Winter and snow. Let us think of cozy and pleasant things...
I was having a look in our 2015 folder of pictures/memories and I realized that there were many things, many lovely places that we have been to, yet I did not manage to share with you. Need to sort up this mess a bit... We also revisited places we liked and we tried there new things - one of this places, that I will share with you today, is the lovely Cafe Szal on the 1st floor of the Sukienicce. You may have heard the story of the name of the place from me before - Cafe Szal gets its name after a painting located on the 2nd floor of the Sukienicce (the 19th century Polish Art Museum).
The thing that always attracted me the most, to this particular cafe place, was the location (main market square) and the amazing view that it offers (unlike any other location in Kraków, it gets you the best view of half of the main square, comprising 3 of its most important landmarks: the St. Mary Church - Kosciol Mariacki, the Adam Mickiewicz statue and the oldest church in Kraków - St. Adalbert + view of the Florianska street and Grodzka, part of the Royal Road reaching toward the Wawel Castle). The thing that always turns Marek off, in regards to the coffee shop, is the fact that Cafe Szal is a non - smoking place. I belive that is a rule due to that fact that it is a historical building and the vicinity to the Museum of 19th century Polish Art (where precious paintings are stored). Nonetheless is you are a smoker, take a deep breath and handle the fact that you will have some non - smoking time. But fret not! The view is totally worth it!
Getting to the Cafe Szal is easy. Just make sure you reach Sukienicce on the side with St. Mary Church / Adam Mickiewicz statue and somewhere at the middle you will find the entrance to the National Museum - the Gallery of 19th century Polish Art. You will use the same entrance only instead of reaching for the 2nd floor for the museum, you will stop at the first floor. The entrance is enabled also for people with handicap. You can choose from using the stairs or the elevator. As soon as you will get to the 1st floor you will see that there is seating inside and outside, on the terrace. We always choose the terrace, especially if it's lovely weather outside. The view is priceless!
The pictures you see here are from the end of August 2015 but nothing has changed since then, I can quarantee ;) the place is as lovely as always, same view, same prices (even with the zloty dropping recently!) and same lovely atmosphere. We had lemon tart and apple pie - I was there with my dear sweet mum and we shared both as we both wanted a bit of each. Trust me, the portion is perfect for 2 to share. The lemon pie is the best one I have ate in Kraków - soft lemon cream, smooth and easy to take it; lower layer of raspberry jam and small crumbly bottom. Not to mention the merengue on top - heavenly taste! We both agreed that it was the best we had ;) ever! The apple pie was served with a soon of vanilla icecream (regular taste, nothing fancy) and whipped cream (not home made). The apple pie itself was not bad at all - it had quite a lot of cinnamon, just as I like it, and the upper and lower layer was crumbly in a nice, not raw and dry, way. The apple filling was nice but I would have liked a bit more apples in it :) I know, I am picky, but the best apple pie that I had was in Grycan - I will tell you soon about it ;)
Tips and tricks:
- you can pay both cash or by card but it is customary, if you liked the place and the service - not to mention food and drinks, to pay at least 10% tip from the amount on the bill (tips are never included in the bill)
- downstairs the ladies from the museum might ask where you are going and ask you to pay a fee for even getting to the 1st floor. If you go there just to take pictures pay the fee, if you go there - like we do - to have something sweet, drink something and enjoy the view, then tell then so. You should not pay it in that case ;)
The pictures you see here are from the end of August 2015 but nothing has changed since then, I can quarantee ;) the place is as lovely as always, same view, same prices (even with the zloty dropping recently!) and same lovely atmosphere. We had lemon tart and apple pie - I was there with my dear sweet mum and we shared both as we both wanted a bit of each. Trust me, the portion is perfect for 2 to share. The lemon pie is the best one I have ate in Kraków - soft lemon cream, smooth and easy to take it; lower layer of raspberry jam and small crumbly bottom. Not to mention the merengue on top - heavenly taste! We both agreed that it was the best we had ;) ever! The apple pie was served with a soon of vanilla icecream (regular taste, nothing fancy) and whipped cream (not home made). The apple pie itself was not bad at all - it had quite a lot of cinnamon, just as I like it, and the upper and lower layer was crumbly in a nice, not raw and dry, way. The apple filling was nice but I would have liked a bit more apples in it :) I know, I am picky, but the best apple pie that I had was in Grycan - I will tell you soon about it ;)
Tips and tricks:
- you can pay both cash or by card but it is customary, if you liked the place and the service - not to mention food and drinks, to pay at least 10% tip from the amount on the bill (tips are never included in the bill)
- downstairs the ladies from the museum might ask where you are going and ask you to pay a fee for even getting to the 1st floor. If you go there just to take pictures pay the fee, if you go there - like we do - to have something sweet, drink something and enjoy the view, then tell then so. You should not pay it in that case ;)
**I didn't receive anything for this review, just wanted to share the love! **
Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug That Loves Beautiful Views Provided By Coffee Shops