Day 29: Kraków

Rather busy day today. Got on the bus with another local guide to do a bit of sightseeing around Kraków. Our first stop was at the location of some ruins of the old medieval city wall, although we only found this out after directly asking our guide. All she wanted to show us was the old synagogue that was built against the wall.

Ok, I understand the Jews went through absolute hell during the war, but there are hundreds of years worth of history, not just 6.

Anyway, we walked down the road away from the wall (and the old synagogue) to look at another bloody old synagogue.

Back on the bus again to head off to Wawel Hill and to the castle. Our guide took us around the castle grounds, and into a beautiful cathedral where Poland's Kings and Queens have been crowned.

For a reason I am still unaware of, to get into the Royal Courtyard, you have to relinquish all knives, guns and explosives and then are allowed to go through metal detector like at the airport. Now, there are no crown jewels in Poland anymore, there is no royal family, so why the security? And why would anyone be carrying explosives??

We had a bit of free time to see the views of Kraków and the river from the top of the hill before walking down the oldest street in Kraków into the Market Square. There are some really lovely buildings along the street and as you go around a corner, the market comes into view. The market was laid out during the 10th century and has not been modified in all that time.

The old town hall tower (dating from the 12th century) in still standing, along with the medieval church. The church itself plays a role in an ongoing medieval tradition. During the early days of the city, a guard was located in the top of the spire, with views of the surrounding country-side. If an enemy was seen, the guard would warn the city by playing a warning on a trumpet. A legend states that during an attack on the city, the guard started playing the trumpet, but was shot in the neck with an arrow before he could complete the tune. So every hour, a trumpet is now played in the church spire, but the tune is abruptly stopped at the precise moment the guard got up to.

During lunch, we had a sad event occur. One of the ladies on our tour had her purse stolen from her handbag whilst looking at some jewellery. She lost a little bit of money, but was able to cancel her cards within 10 minutes.

From the city, we headed to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. The mine dates back to early medieval times and was finally stopped during in 1992 due to economic reasons and that fact that is was becoming unsafe to continue mining there. A little under 3 km out of over 300 km have been opened to the public. The public part of the mine covers 3 levels and takes you past some amazing craftsmanship. There are many sculptures carved into the rock salt, from mining scenes showing the working life of the miner, historical events showing the giving of gifts to the queen and to the fun little scene involving gnomes mining.

From the baking 34 degree outside temperatures, the mine was absolutely bliss. - the temperature is a constant 14 degrees. Even in shorts and a shirt, it was heaven.

The tour took about 1.5 hours to complete and as we made our way towards the exit, you could feel the temperature rising. Oh well, the respite from the heat had to end sooner or later.

Headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. Headed down stairs and Christina said she had to go to the dentist on Monday in Budapest, so had organised a visit for me as well. Called the travel insurance and was told that as long as the dentist only fixes the problem and does not complete the root canal, it will be covered.

Headed off to our Polish dinner night, which was great. A small band played whilst performers in traditional Polish dress danced for us. All was going very well until one of the lady performers asked me to get up and join her. Its not that I was afraid of dancing, it was simply I thought my boots would stick to the floor and I'd go arse over tit in front of 20 cameras!

The dance was a lot of fun and I picked it up fairly quickly. Needless to say, I did not fall flat on my bum and managed to keep my pride.

The dinner itself was also lovely. We started off with pierogi, which is a Polish dumpling similar to gyoza and was absolutely lovely. We then were served with a mushroom soup served in a deep trencher and lamb to finish.

The night finished with half the audience (including Elisha) being led around the restaurant conga style. When enough people were collected, they all formed a circle with one person holding a white handkerchief. This person would select another from the circle and both would kneel on the handkerchief and kiss cheeks. It was a real laugh.