Krakow

I left Prague on the overnight train for Krakow. I knew it was going to be a bad night when I saw the seats of the train. The car I was in was broken into small rooms with a bench on each side, seating 8 in total, similar to a sleeper cabin. The difference with the sleeper cabin being that the seats turn into beds but in this case they are slightly padded benches. The wall is also padded as the back of the seat but is straight up and down and not a separate chair. I sat down and hoped I would get some sleep. I was lucky enough to not have anyone sit on my side so I stretched out on the bench but didn't get much sleep. At one point it looked like everyone was getting off the train, I glanced at my watch and it said 7:30! My train was arriving before 7 so I jumped up and in a panic checked my watch again.....it was only 3 am.....I was dreaming it all, except for the jumping up in a panic! Haha pretty much what the whole night was like. I soon realized we were getting closer so I sat up and tried to wake up a bit. As we drove through Krakow the sun began to rise in the distance creating a beautiful pink sky! This definitely made up for my sleepless night.

I arrived and found my way to the hostel. Helping myself to the free breakfast, I did some catch up on the blog before heading out for the free walking tour. Meeting at St. Mary's Church, where a trumpeter works 24 hour shifts to announce the hour, Jack, my Polish guide, showed us around the old town. The architecture and buildings are beautiful. And of course they have a Christmas Market in the main square.....though it doesn't come close to the German markets! I bought myself an obwarzanki, which is a giant bagel. Very yummy. I munched on this while we took a tour down narrow streets and old Roman walls (big surprise that the Romans settled here at some point!). We learned that their city was hard to conquer as it used to be surrounded by a moat. The tower at the end of the bridge had places for archers to stand and the covered bridge had 3 gates on the inside! They were serious about protecting their city! We also walked over and saw Wawel Castle. Up on a hill it's most interesting part is the many different basilicas that have been built by different kings and queens. It makes for an interesting roofline. And in the distance a giant round balloon can be seen. A tourist attraction, you can go up in the balloon and see all of Krakow! At the bottom of the hill is a statue of a dragon, which blows real flames, and represents the story of a knight who killed a dragon. Basically in order to save the princess from being sacrificed the knight fed the dragon a pig which was filled with nails, broken glass, and acidic liquid. The dragon was in so much pain from all the things in his belly that he drank up the river. Because he drank so much he exploded! The knight became a hero! Sounds very familiar! :-)

After some wandering, I went back to the hostel and met a fellow Canadian named Natasha who is living in Berlin for a year. She is a performer who plays the accordian! She was so interesting to talk to and we had so much in common, including our family background, our feelings on Spain, and love for Germany! I made some Polish perogies for dinner and stayed in the rest of the night.

The next day I headed out for the Jewish walking tour. My guide Pawel (Paul in Polish) was very interesting. He loves the Jewish culture so even though he isn't Jewish himself, he participates in many celebrations and even got himself on the front page of the newspaper during a Jewish festival last summer! We saw the Old synagogue and Kazimierz, the old Jewish district before they were expelled from their homes. Scenes from Schindler's List were filmed in this neighborhood. We then crossed over the River Wista on the Love bridge, named this way because of the locks people place there. We explored Podgórze, which was where the Jewish people of Krakow were sent to live. A wall was then built around the area, locking the Jews in. Because there were so many crammed into a small area it soon became a ghetto. In one square there are chairs scattered about, most facing one direction but some facing others. This is a memorial to the Jewish people who were sent to this neighborhood. Because they didn't have enough room for the furniture they brought with them, a lot of furniture was left in the square....now furniture remains as a reminder. Some chairs face Auschwitz, some Schindler's factory, and some the old neighborhood. Most of them face towards Israel. We saw the remaining portion of the wall that had been built around the ghetto. The Jewish architect who was forced to design the wall made it look like Jewish tombstones. He did this to give people a sign that this area was going to be like a Jewish cemetary so get out while you still can. The tour ended at schindler's factory where we learned that he saved 1100 Jews from concentration camps. We also learned that he wasn't the saint people may think, despite his act of heroism. But who is? In the windows are the pictures of some of the people saved by him. One gentleman moved to Beverly Hills and opened a leather store. He told everyone he knew about Oskar Schindler. One day an Australian writer stopped in the store and heard the story, he later wrote a book about it. A producer from Universal studios read the book and this is how it became a movie!

Next I rushed back to my hostel where I caught bus 304 to Wieliczka and the Salt Mine. I had heard it was meant to be amazing and was it ever. The tour began by climbing down 380 stairs into the ground. It wasn't too bad, the stair case wasn't too narrow and it felt very sturdy. But before we got to the bottom someone had to turn back because he was claustorphobic. Next we were taken through winding tunnels and big open rooms. There are about 4 chapels that are carved into rooms. The salt looks like marble until a light is shone on it and it turns translucent. It was breathtaking. The giant chapel is completely made of salt. Stairs, banister, chandeliers, statues, even the floor is carved to look like tiles but is salt. The miners have a strong faith because of the danger of the job and so these chapels were for them. There is a concert hall filled with white beams and a stage. At one point I was 130 meters underground. But it doesn't feel scary, the walls are enforced and most of the areas are big rooms. There weren't many tight spaces, if any. We learned that visitors have been coming to the mine since 1790! They used to give ferry rides on the lakes, which are now covered by walkways. They used to bring horses down to work for a year at a time then they would be switched out. I asked and because they used torches the horses had no sight problems and because salt is clean it doesn't affect your breathing, in fact it's good for your respiratory system. They have a clinic you can go to where you sit in a room in the mine for 4 hours a day for 17 days to help with any lung or breathing problems. So it's therapeutic! It was one of the highlights of my trip so far! I can't even begin to describe how interesting this mine was!

By the time I got back to Krakow it was after 7, and despite it being a Sunday the big mall was open! I bought my train ticket to Vienna where I got a special price for a couchette! Then I headed back for more Polish perogies for dinner. I stayed up late chatting with people before finally heading to bed!