ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
While he's on assignment in Eastern Europe, NPR's Brian Mann traveled through Krakow, Poland. That's where he visited one of the oldest Christmas markets in the world, dating back to the 1300s. And he took out his microphone.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: It's late afternoon when I come to the central Market Square in Krakow.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Singing in Polish).
MANN: A woman sings on a little stage, her arms held wide as snow falls. It's already dark, but the square, with its red brick basilica and renaissance trading hall, glows with Christmas lights.
I've always been a complete sucker for Christmas. It can be as cheesy as you want it to be, as traditional as you want it to be.
The Christmas market is like a little village in the square - wooden huts selling candy and bright ornaments and hand-carved manger scenes. Krakow's an ancient city on the Vistula River. People have come here to buy and sell and celebrate for a thousand years. I slip inside St. Mary's Basilica. It's packed with worshippers.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Polish).
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP #1: (Singing in Polish).
MANN: If you dreamed of Christmas, it would look like this church - arches of gold in candlelight, people bundled in heavy coats under a vaulted sky filled with painted stars.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS RINGING)
MANN: I step outside in time to hear St. Mary's bells ringing over the square. It's supper time, more crowded than ever.
There are meats roasting everywhere, sausages and whole chickens and booths with traditional soups that are steaming and all of those smells mixed together in the cold air.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yes.
MANN: Could I have one kielbasa?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Thank you so much. Have a nice evening.
MANN: You too. Bye-bye.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Thank you.
MANN: I eat while walking through the bustle. It's crowded, but it's also serene.
I don't know if you can hear the sound, but it's just kind of this quiet, really peaceful murmur of voices as I walk. People are under the Christmas lights and just families walking close together and people just enjoying this winter evening.
It's so lovely, I go back to the square the next morning before leaving Krakow for a coffee and a pastry. This time, I find women on the stage with bright faces and bright red headscarves.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP #2: (Singing in non-English language).
MANN: They're folk singers bringing traditional Christmas songs from neighboring Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MANN: Then something unexpected happens. The women come racing down from the stage into the crowd, and they make us dance. A girl named Sasha grabs my hands and starts spinning me around.
Oh, wrong foot.
I'm the worst dancer in the world. Picture an awkward, white-haired Scrooge skipping and high-stepping and grinning like a kid at Christmastime. Brian Mann, NPR News, Krakow, Poland.
(SOUNDBITE OF HENRY ADOLPH AND PHILHARMONIA SLAVONICA PERFORMANCE OF TCHAIKOVSKY'S "THE NUTCRACKER, OP 71A, ACT II, SCENE XIV: WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
