Kraków, Wrocław, and hitchhiking across Poland

What a relief to be back in Poland after Ireland and Northern Ireland. To leave behind the feeling of being permanently broke and actually be able to go out and enjoy yourself without haemorrhaging cash.

I started with Kraków — an interesting city with a beautiful old town and a more authentic Jewish quarter, which still manages to carry a high proportion of real Poles despite being extremely touristy.

The stay was great fun — there's a very active Couchsurfing community, so meeting locals is easy. I had countless beers and vodkas in good company, ate plenty of delicious greasy zapiekanki (a kind of rustic baguette pizza with a compulsory base of cheese and mushrooms), got a fire-breathing dragon tattoo at the foot of the castle after a few beers, explored Kraków's nightlife, and ended up at a student party after a group of them shouted down at us from their window while we were drinking outside their building.

Getting out of Kraków by hitchhike was a nightmare. I'd been out all night and hadn't checked which direction I needed to head, which road to take, or where to stand for a lift to Wrocław.

In the end, using the free 3G on my e-reader I checked Hitchwiki and worked out which bus to take to reach the city's outskirts. On the way I made a sign for my destination, while a friendly Polish woman advised me on how to correctly write the particular letters of her language.

Once I reached a decent spot for hitching — dodging construction works and stopping at a passing McDonald's to check emails — I only needed about 10 minutes to get a driver who took me the first 60 kilometres. A very pleasant couple who'd done plenty of hitchhiking themselves.

After that I continued thumbing on the motorway, and in under 5 minutes I had a car. The driver slowed down and reversed back along the hard shoulder to pick me up. He was a Polish tax inspector, but his English was very limited and we could barely exchange a sentence, so I ended up reading while he drove at 160km/h.

Before arriving in Wrocław, the only thing I'd heard about the city was that it was dangerous — don't go, Manolito or Pepito got mugged there, Lola had her car stolen. Honestly, I had no such experience or feeling during my time there. It's a city full of students — almost all Polish, very few Erasmus — which is why food and drink prices are relatively low, even if rents are astronomical. A small studio flat outside the centre can go for €400 a month — a lot, considering average salaries aren't far off that figure.

Wrocław has a small but lovely old town, a charming city with a beautiful main square. Genuinely worth a visit.

Curiously, a few hours after I left Wrocław it was named European Capital of Culture. Clearly my presence there was the deciding factor.

Did you enjoy Kraków? Anyone else carrying good memories from Wrocław?