Krakow Poland 9-5-2010

Krakow Poland



Sunday September 5, 2010
The group crawled into the bus early in the morning with coats on and umbrellas in hand for a walking tour of Krakow, Poland.

We walked up a pretty steep incline on the Royal Wawel Hill to view the beauty of the outside of the buildings. The cathedral was having mass so no visitors unless you intended to stay for all of the mass. We did go quietly through a chambers in the lower area that had the sarcophagus of the recently deceased President and his wife who were killed in a plane crash earlier this year.

We walked down the incline overlooking a view of the city and turned back to see the magnificence of the spires and roofs of the many buildings that had been added on over the years. Of interest on the drizzly day were the rain spouts made of copper in the shape of gargoyles, dragons heads complete with crowns and ducks which were flush with water that slashed gently from two stories above.

At the bottom of the hill we walked several blocks back to the main square of the city. St. Mary's church had the trumpeter playing out of the top windows to mark the hour. Mass was going on there also. We were on our own to explore the area for a few hours.

I hurried to buy a few things I saw along the way and then we stopped for a quick bowl of soup in a very reasonably priced cafe about two blocks from the main square. John Gora had spotted it on our walking journey. A bowl of mushroom and noodle soup with bread was about 3.6 zloty or about $1.80. Try to buy that in Colorado and you will be sadly out of luck.

One thing of great importance on walking / shopping tours is the finding and using a water closet (WC- Bathroom). The cafe had none of course at those prices. We walked through the updated cloth hall (mall) of shops with upscale Polish crafts and jewelery. No WC.

Finally we went through an archway across from the main square to one of the coffee / beer bars toward the back. It was a cozy, trendy place filled with young people enjoying the day called Figa-2 Kachwa I Wspolnicy Spotka Jawna 31-042 Krakow, Rynek Glowny 7/11. For 14 zloty (less then $5) we had the most relaxing cups of tea, yes with facilities in a very contemporary shop. The beer was served extra cold and the ice formed on the pipes attested to that.




SUN, SEPTEMBER 05 – KRAKOW Half-day tour of Krakow, including: The Royal Wawel Hill , the Royal Route and the Old Town area with the Old Town Market Square, the Cloth Hall, the Barbican, St Mary's Church with 15th c Witt Stwosz Altar inside, Florianska Gate. Afternoon to Wieliczka Salt Mine and afterwards Farewell Dinner . Overnight in Krakow. ( B , D )