Kino Mikro:  plays international, independent and forgotten films

Galleria Plakatu (Poster Gallery):  the poster is the quintessential Polish art form.  My favorite artist is Gorowski; my brother’s is Stasys.  Unfortunately, he can’t collect any more because they are scaring the children.

Golebia 3 (Pigeon 3 Café):  This place has been magic for my writing.  Four years ago, I was sitting there, trying to start a new novel set in Chicago, when all of a sudden the story of the Pigeon came to me.  I banged out what became the first three chapters in an afternoon.

Nowa Prowincja: Another great cafe; in the summer, you can recognize it by the Polish school desks outside.

Bunkier:  A modern art gallery inside, a cafe outside with the intimacy of a living room under a roof that, I guess, would be bunker-like if it weren’t made of glass.

Chimera:  If you’re in Poland, wondering where all the vegetables went, they’re here.  There is a Chimera restaurant next door, but I prefer the salad bar under the arch.  After struggling with Polish for a few days, you can go here and be rewarded for all your pointing with great food and a beautiful, ivy-lidded courtyard.

And of course, you can’t go to Poland without eating in a ”bar mleczny” (milk bar).  These are the formerly subsidized lunch places where you can get your fill of pierogi and kotlet schabowy.   I used to go to Bar Zak a lot (pronounced “Bar Jaques”) on Ulica Krolewska in Krakow, but there is a good one right in the center on Grodzka.  No link because, of course, if they have a web site, it’s not a real bar mleczny.