Krakow - Magia Cafe - A Magical Place To Have A Break

Dearest sweethearts,

The weather outside is frightful - one day is nice and cozy ans you think that spring is around the corner - and the next is as if December would be here again... just waiting for the "Winter is coming!" memes to flood the social media + pictures of snow... the usual... it's hard even to get out of the bed, never mind getting out of the house! Winter in Poland is a time when you layer up until you are like an onion. Great time to have a date as well... rosy checks (and nose) at no cost at all!

But if you do manage to build up a momentum and get out of the house, make sure you have a plan in mind where you need to go and what you need to do. Keep out of the house to a minimum - especially due to the air condition in Kraków, during winter - and try to have some indoor breaks - maybe for a cup of tea, hot chocolate or a fine mulled wine. A dear Romanian expat friend of mine introduced me a year or two ago to this lovely magical place, located in the Old Town area - Main Market Square - right next to the St. Mary Church (or as Polish people call it Mariacki Kosciol). This magical place is located right below a part of the National Museum in Kraków (Muzeum Narodowe) - Hippolitow Museum - and it is called Magia Cafe. 

To get to the Magia Cafe you need to open up a huge wooden gate that would lead you to a hallway. Walk straight and you will see next to the stairs the main entrance. Magia Cafe is usually quite full, especially after 4-5 pm when students finish their courses and "grownups" get out from work. You have to check for a place or you can ask one of the ladies that serve if there is something free. In the summertime and when the weather is fine, they also have a couple of tables outdoors, in front of the wooden gate :) but now, on this weather, it would be madness! Magia Cafe has a room separated, as you enter the hallway, to your right - but it is better to let the waitress know you are there ;) the main Magia Cafe has a couple or rooms/nooks to choose from. There is the main long room, with different seating opportunities for couples or large groups; there is to the left, the uncovered garden, that is used even in wintertime (use your jacket and the blankets provided by the company); there is a cozy nook at the end of the main room, to the right, perfect for snuggling, and there is the cellar room downstairs (no signal for your phone there, though!).

We usually like to get here, during wintertime, mulled wine. Don't worry, it's not in the regular menu, but as soon as the temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius they start preparing it ;) but last time we tried it we were disappointed. They may have changed the recipe or someone new was doing it... who knows... but it was just not the same anymore :( so instead, the next time, we tried the hot chocolate with raspberry jam. That is also not on the menu but it's a winter special and the price did not change since last year - 9 zloty. It comes in layers: the bottom layer is the raspberry jam (it tastes as if it were homemade by my Granny... fingerlicking great!), then you have the smooth hot chocolate (not the "soft like Nesquick" one, but the strong and flavoured one, as if you would melt an entire chocolate and pour it in the glass...) and on top the traditional whipped cream (that was not homemade but at the same time it did not have the "out of the tube" taste). We were very happy and content with our choice. It was indeed a caloric bomb and it was very sweet but it was perfect nonetheless. I did not feel the need to eat anything else after :) and that's always a good thing. 

How about you lovely people? Have you ever been in Kraków at Magia Cafe? Are you planning to visit Kraków soon? Make sure this place is on your list ;) for a short caloric bomb break. Where is your place to escape when "the weather outside is frightful"? Would love to hear it from you :)

** This post was made out of love for good food and great hot chocolate. I was not repayed in any way and all the opinions are my very own, straight from the heart! **

Yours truly,

The Twisted Red LadyBug