Very late start today as we had to pursue a printer, scanner, and post office in order to accomplish some business back in the states. Took us a couple of hours to download and print our documents, locate a 24 hour post office but turns out they don’t do express mail, so then back to the internet place to scan the documents and email them. Not bad for a couple of hours since that really meant we had to go back and forth between the internet, the tourist office, and find kind people who spoke English at the post office.
After all that though, we went to one of the electric carts and choose a tour. They do a timed basis so you can get to see the Old City for ½ hour and then start adding bits. You can add the Jewish Quarter, the Ghetto, a drive by the Wawel Castle, and a drive by Schindler’s factory. For even another ½ hours time, they will let you out for one of the stops and you can go inside. We did the drive by everything and will then decide what to go back to visit for longer periods of time.
These tours are not a bad introduction to the city and give you a good idea where everything is and how to get back to some of the places. We enjoyed it but it had promised to be a warm day so we’d left without our jackets. Would have been fine except these little electric cars can go fast enough to create a breeze. By the time we were finished, we were chilly so back to the hotel to get our jackets which we then did not need again the entire day.
A stop for lunch at one of the many kebab places. It is really more of a schwarma, or a gyro, or a donner, depending on which culture you learned it. Got a good helping of vegetables in it as well. It’s one of those sandwiches where you have to eat the first half out of your pita with a fork because there is no way you can open your mouth wide enough. We sat in the smaller square to eat our sandwiches and there was a transportation exhibit there. A bus, a tram, an old bus. Kids were all over the place climbing into the buses to sit in the driver’s seats. There were also a group of people talking photos (isn’t there always in a tourist location?). These people were probably students as they had various lighting devices and seemed to spend their time wandering around the square taking photos of each other by holding up their devices.
Finally we are ready to go into something, anything. Closest thing to visit at this point is St. Mary’s Church. While it is Sunday, the services have been completed so we go to the visitors entrance on the side and pay our admit fee plus a camera fee. It was beautiful inside as are so many churches. Without being allowed to use a tripod or flash though, it is always difficult to get wonderful photos with just a small point and shoot but I do try.
Coming out of St. Mary’s we walk to the Barbican which once was the gateway into the city and had a moat around it, drawbridge, more than one hundred arrow ports, plus the ability to drop boiling water or oil on anyone managing to get across the moat. It sits outside one of the three remaining city gates. Nowadays it is used mostly as a theatre for different events but you can still go inside and walk the walls. For a pretty small place, it did its job and managed to keep the city safe for many years.
Walk back through the city and down the royal street where the kings walked when they were going to Wawel Castle to be crowned and where they were taken when they left the castle after death. Along this street are many small squares and cafes and churches. Interestingly, there is an art exhibit in one square put up by one man who felt Leonardo de Vinci’s painting of A Lady with an ermine was not getting the proper respect and attention that it deserved. So he covered the square with small ermine statues. The kids love it.
Ended up down the road at the Wawel Castle. Our driver had warned us that we need to allow 3 or 4 hours at least to see all of Wawel Castle so we just did a walk around. It overlooks the longest river in Poland which starts in Slovakia and ends up in Gdansk into the Baltic Sea (Sea of Gdansk really). As it was Sunday, there were many locals enjoying a walk around the castle as well.
Lovely day all around. Krakow is a delightful, lovely, friendly city.
After all that though, we went to one of the electric carts and choose a tour. They do a timed basis so you can get to see the Old City for ½ hour and then start adding bits. You can add the Jewish Quarter, the Ghetto, a drive by the Wawel Castle, and a drive by Schindler’s factory. For even another ½ hours time, they will let you out for one of the stops and you can go inside. We did the drive by everything and will then decide what to go back to visit for longer periods of time.
These tours are not a bad introduction to the city and give you a good idea where everything is and how to get back to some of the places. We enjoyed it but it had promised to be a warm day so we’d left without our jackets. Would have been fine except these little electric cars can go fast enough to create a breeze. By the time we were finished, we were chilly so back to the hotel to get our jackets which we then did not need again the entire day.
A stop for lunch at one of the many kebab places. It is really more of a schwarma, or a gyro, or a donner, depending on which culture you learned it. Got a good helping of vegetables in it as well. It’s one of those sandwiches where you have to eat the first half out of your pita with a fork because there is no way you can open your mouth wide enough. We sat in the smaller square to eat our sandwiches and there was a transportation exhibit there. A bus, a tram, an old bus. Kids were all over the place climbing into the buses to sit in the driver’s seats. There were also a group of people talking photos (isn’t there always in a tourist location?). These people were probably students as they had various lighting devices and seemed to spend their time wandering around the square taking photos of each other by holding up their devices.
Finally we are ready to go into something, anything. Closest thing to visit at this point is St. Mary’s Church. While it is Sunday, the services have been completed so we go to the visitors entrance on the side and pay our admit fee plus a camera fee. It was beautiful inside as are so many churches. Without being allowed to use a tripod or flash though, it is always difficult to get wonderful photos with just a small point and shoot but I do try.
Coming out of St. Mary’s we walk to the Barbican which once was the gateway into the city and had a moat around it, drawbridge, more than one hundred arrow ports, plus the ability to drop boiling water or oil on anyone managing to get across the moat. It sits outside one of the three remaining city gates. Nowadays it is used mostly as a theatre for different events but you can still go inside and walk the walls. For a pretty small place, it did its job and managed to keep the city safe for many years.
Walk back through the city and down the royal street where the kings walked when they were going to Wawel Castle to be crowned and where they were taken when they left the castle after death. Along this street are many small squares and cafes and churches. Interestingly, there is an art exhibit in one square put up by one man who felt Leonardo de Vinci’s painting of A Lady with an ermine was not getting the proper respect and attention that it deserved. So he covered the square with small ermine statues. The kids love it.
Ended up down the road at the Wawel Castle. Our driver had warned us that we need to allow 3 or 4 hours at least to see all of Wawel Castle so we just did a walk around. It overlooks the longest river in Poland which starts in Slovakia and ends up in Gdansk into the Baltic Sea (Sea of Gdansk really). As it was Sunday, there were many locals enjoying a walk around the castle as well.
Lovely day all around. Krakow is a delightful, lovely, friendly city.
No comments:
Post a Comment