Recently, in a lovely New York Times essay on Paris during the pandemic, Roger Cohen called the French capital the "most northern of southern cities.”
I’ve never thought of Paris as a southern city yet I guess I know what he means: it’s a city of outdoor cafes and a few well-used parks. But I wonder if he’s ever been to Krakow. In Poland’s southern city (which is still north of Paris), architectural influences range from the Moors to the Italian Renaissance. Instead of monotonous gray, facades are a mix of earth tones and pastels. People outnumber cars on the narrow streets, and nuns scurry about as if in Vatican City. In summer, Market Square becomes a showcase for la dolce vita, its café terraces filled with tourists and locals who, it almost surprises you to hear, speak fluent Polish.
