Life in Cracow Through an Expat’s Eyes

Life here is very different from life in Tenerife. Back home, the sun sets slowly, conversations last longer, and nobody seems to be in a hurry. Time feels softer somehow, less structured. Cracow surprised me from the very first day. People walk fast, trams arrive exactly when they should (almost every time), and even coffee breaks feel intentional rather than spontaneous. At first, I thought the city was serious. Now I understand it’s simply efficient.

On a small island like Tenerife, you often know someone everywhere you go. In Cracow, I experienced something completely new: anonymity. Nobody knows your story, nobody expects anything from you, and that feels incredibly freeing. You can rebuild routines, change habits, and even rediscover parts of your personality. Being an intern abroad is not only professional experience; it becomes a form of personal experimentation.

After two months, the city stops feeling like a destination. The places you were once curious to visit slowly become part of your everyday life; on the way to work, during a quick grocery run, or while meeting friends after work. Familiarity appears through small moments: recognizing your tram stop without checking Google Maps, having a favorite café without remembering when it became your café, watching locals enjoy parks even on cold days, or realizing that a walk through the Old Town never really gets boring. Cracow doesn’t try to impress you loudly; it grows on you quietly.

Without even noticing, you start building a routine made of things that never existed in your life back home. Grabbing a pączek on the way home after work because every bakery window suddenly looks irresistible, crossing the Wisla River as part of your normal commute, or planning your day around tram connections instead of distances. These small habits slowly stop feeling foreign and begin to feel yours.

Food is another adventure on its own. I didn’t realize how much I would miss Spanish food until I tried to replace fuet with kabanos, it looks familiar but tastes completely different (but really delicious). Trading tapas culture for pierogi dinners definitely takes some adjustment. In Tenerife, food is often an excuse to gather and stay for hours; here, meals sometimes feel quicker, more practical. But discovering new flavors also becomes part of adapting, learning which soup warms you up after a cold day, finding your favorite bakery, or accepting that comfort food can change depending on where you are.

In Tenerife, food is often an excuse to gather and stay for hours; here, meals sometimes feel quicker, more practical. But discovering new flavors also becomes part of adapting, learning which soup warms you up after a cold day, finding your favorite bakery, or accepting that comfort food can change depending on where you are.

People are another difference you start noticing with time. In Tenerife, people are naturally warm, expressive and very touchy; hugs, kisses on the cheek, and physical closeness are part of everyday life. Poles can seem a bit more reserved or distant at first, and during the first weeks it almost feels like everyone lives in their own bubble. But little by little you realize that behind that initial seriousness there is a lot of kindness.

Friendships may take longer to build, but once you get closer, people are incredibly welcoming, loyal and genuinely nice. You just learn that warmth here shows itself differently.

Cracow has also taught me many things, some more practical than others. The most important one: never cross the road if there isn’t a zebra crossing, because you will get a ticket (something my friends in Spain still laugh about). But Cracow also taught me how to enjoy sunny days differently: sitting on the grass under Wawel Castle, watching the city slow down for a moment; discovering that the water at Zakrzówek is much colder than it looks; and learning that the best Polish food is often found in the simplest places, like traditional bar mleczny, where meals are homemade, affordable, and surprisingly comforting.

Of course, I love Tenerife, and maybe it sounds surprising, but being in Cracow I don’t miss it at all. I mean, of course I miss the ocean, the endless sunsets, and my people, but that’s about it. Cracow has something. You appreciate the sun more when it isn’t constant. You notice seasons changing. You experience a city that feels deeply historical while still full of young international energy. It feels like a city that never truly sleeps, always moving, always alive.

Cracow didn’t replace Tenerife. It simply added another version of home. And maybe that is what living abroad really does: it doesn’t take anything away from where you come from; it expands the number of places where you feel you belong.

The author of the article is Judith Falcón Freire, a VARIA intern, volunteer, and student with experience in IT and working in an international environment.