My Life: Magda Sroka

Krakow Post: If you could live anywhere in Krakow, where would it be, and why?

Magda Sroka: It’s really hard to say: Salwator, Podgórze, Kazimierz… All parts of the city are beautiful. Especially those: so rural, so bucolic, and cosy. Just like Krakow.

KP: If you were crowned queen of Krakow, what would be your first move?

MS: [Laughs] Increase the budget for culture by 300%! Find a powerful host for the Internet WIFI connection for the whole city, make it available for free, and ensure access to all public data.

KP: What’s one place tourists can’t miss when in Krakow?

MS: Kanonicza Street and Mariacki (St. Mary’s) Square, simply because there are no more beautiful places in this world.

KP: Is there anything that’s overrated about Krakow?

MS: Well… we must grumble, mustn’t we? We don’t advertise anything enough to have it over-hyped or overrated. Cracovians tend to find everything poor and shoddy. We don’t become enthusiastic about anything, so the answer is no.

KP: If you had to erect a statue to any Cracovian, dead or alive, who would it be?

MS: The Estreichers [a colourful professorial dynasty]. For personal reasons. I was once a visitor to their home and left with a love and lust for literature.

KP: What eating and drinking haunts would you recommend in the city?

MS: Everywhere! It is best to eat every day in a different place, and drink every weekend in a different place too. Yet definitely in the area of Kazimierz and Rynek Główny.

KP: What’s your biggest annoyance about living in Krakow?

MS: You won’t guess. Nothing! (laughs) I am generally a happy person but I’m especially happy to live here. I lived a few years in other cities [a little bird told us they were Gdańsk and Warsaw] and since I returned to Krakow, nothing can annoy me here. Cross my heart! When there’s something little that is trying – there always may be some little trifles – I quickly remember the difference.

KP: Where do you go to escape for the weekend?

MS: To Podhale. Always.

KP: What’s a secret tip for staving off the winter blues?

MS: Classic and invariable: I drown myself in a sea of literature (the whole Stig Larson trilogy was barely enough for last weekend).

KP: Finally: pierogi or nalesniki?

MS: Only pierogi and always pierogi. Especially when I am about to make 400 of them for Christmas. Then I know I come from Poland. And it is only one such time in the year, and that costs sweat and blood.