KRAKOW

Krakow is a gem. Awash with history of conquest and religion it has a vibrancy and life about it fuelled largely by younger people who have probably experienced an education with connections to Western Europe and all that that brings. From our first experiences in our hotel [Atelier Aparthotel], a quaint little enterprise about 20 mins walk from the Main Market of the Old Town – quiet, friendly, 20ZL breakfast – to the tourist bustle of the Old Town, Krakow has an energy and a life that Warsaw doesn’t so obviously flaunt.

St Mary's Basilica, Krakow

A key feature of tourism throughout Europe

The 2 ½ hour Walking Tour of the Old Town starting at St Mary’s Church and finishing at Wawel Castle courtyard was a great introduction and orientation that gave us our bearings for the days to follow. The Pizzas were delicious; the beers long and cheap – but getting to the start of Autumn and a chill in the air so had to look for escapes inside at times. And not much to do but eat when you get there.

  

Wawel Hill/Cathedral and Church on the Rock, Krakow

Also did a Walking Tour of the Jewish Quarter – initially before the group was split up because of its size, it was led by a young guy who had spent time in NZ  - and even had a Lord of the Rings tattoo banding his arm. Again we walked for a couple of hours ending up at the [Oscar] Schindler factory and passing through a square of single chairs – a reminder of the broken furniture that had been thrown here by the Nazis during the ghetto incarceration as they searched for jewellery hidden in the legs of the furniture by the Jews to help prevent the Nazis from finding it. A sombre place!

The Head - Modern Sculpture - and the Cloth Hall from the 1300s

The Salt Mines were an extraordinarily different kind of experience – we only went down three levels [of nine] but even then we were more than 100m deep into the ground. And full lives were led down here – people were able to go to prayer in the chapels carved out of the salt – the horses used by the miners to carry loads spent their whole lives from about the age of two down the mines never being able to see the sun and feel the fresh air again. Some life!

 

St Kinga's Chapel (1896) and relief of the Last Supper, Wieliczka Salt Mine

So what did we see?? The Leonardo da Vinci painting of the Lady with the Ermine; Churches – loads of them and went to Mass in St Marys – felt like a McDonalds Mass: the next one started as soon as the previous one finished – people came into [say] the 11.00am Mass and sat amongst the congregation coming toward the end of the 10.30 Mass – really quickfire stuff.

Polish Folk Dance in Krakow