May 22, 2009 - Krakow - Lots of Variety

Hi - Krakow was difficult since I was feeling under the weather most of the time I was here. But I did get out to see a variety of the churches, castles, palaces, squares that make this a very interesting city. People compare it to Prague, which is one of my favorite cities ever. I can see why, but I still prefer the old town of Prague to that of Krakow. There's something magic about Prague I've found nowhere else. I must say that the Wawel, the castle area, is as impressive as Prague's. I really enjoyed the open square on top of the...

May 22, 2009 - Wieliczka - Underneath the Earth

Hi - Some journeys involve a slightly different approach. This one involves walking down 54 stories into the ground. The Wieliczka Salt Mine has been in operation since the Middle Ages. So for some 700 years Poles have been extracting salt from this mine. At one point the revenue accounted for about a third of the Polish National Product and the salt was thought of as "white gold." The numbers are large - 9 floors of excavated workings; over 300 kilometers of galleries and 3000 chambers; excavated area = 7.5 million cubic meters. If this...

Mar 29, 2009 - And so it ends...

...or at least the foreign part of this journal does as I fly back home tomorrow. The past two days have seemed to be the living embodiment of the Crowded House song "Weather with you" as yesterday when I was chipper and lively the weather was fine, today when I've been tired and acutely aware of being on my own the weather hasn't been so fine (in fact it's been particularly wet, but by Wednesdays standards 8c is positively tropical).
Last night was absolutely great, although I am not used to getting to bed at 5am anymore! The fact that...

Mar 28, 2009 - Krakow

Hi,
Seeing as I've been on my two allotted day trips, the remainder of this trip will be spent in or around Krakow and so I should try to set the scene and let you know a bit of what this city is like. The change since the snow on Wednesday has to be seen to be believed. The weather today has been glorious and I really do think that spring has finally arrived here, as do the crocuses which have started to poke their heads up out of the ground to add some natural colour. On most street corners you have little old ladies with little...

Mar 26, 2009 - Wieliczka Salt Mine

Hope that you are all well. Thanks to everyone who has reminded me to wrap up warm, but you need have no fear as I've no desire to do a Hall or Oates (and I can never remember which – Capt. Oates I think) and have to say "I'm just popping out for a while...". Today has been the first of my day trips out from Krakow to the astounding salt mines at Wieliczka (pronounced Vi-el-ish-ka), which have been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1978. The guided tour shows you a mere 1% of the mines tunnels and chambers, but what a selection. In total,...

Mar 25, 2009 - First impressions...

Now first impressions of a city can always be misleading - and dependent on so many external factors like weather, mood and route taken amongst others. So it was quite a surprise to find my opinions initially so favourable (although the city is lovely and quite deserving of any praise going its way) but having spent a rather uncomfortable night at the airport - which only improved when Costa's opened (and as I’ve discussed in more important and stimulating places than on the internet), the outlet coffee wasn't up to the standard of the...

Nov 25, 2008 - Auschwitz and Birkenau

(To see these photos up close, run your mouse over the bottom left corner of the slideshow and click on Poland. This will take you...

Oct 16, 2008 - Krakovians Don't Pee in the Streets

We traveled by train through northern Hungary, Slovakia and into Poland. The scenery became mountainous as we crossed into Slovakia and the fall colours made it very beautiful. The journey took most of the day and we ate from a bagged lunch we had prepared in Eger. By the time we arrived in Krakow it was late afternoon and the sun was setting. The train station now empties into a brand new super mall and we were a little disoriented leaving the station. This wasn’t the Krakow we were expecting. Krakow is Poland’s biggest tourist draw. The...

Sep 26, 2008 - Friday September 26

Hi everyone all is going well. Toured more of Warsaw yesterday. No pizerria's in this town but we did eat at a "Pierrogeria". Many, many different tyoes of pierrogi and we attempted to try them all. Some were better than others but never found a bad one. Had dinner at another Polish restaurant. Me and Uncle Bob had roasted pigs knuckles and saukruate (don't have spell check) and it was out of this world. Made another attempt to empty Karolina's father booze bin but failed again. Arrived at Krakow and will tour Auschwitz and Pope John Pauls...

Sep 21, 2008 - Krakow, Poland

I arrived in Krakow early yesterday morning to a balmy 5 C and rain. Me, wearing shorts and a tank, as soon as I got through customs ran to the ladies room and changed into my jeans and bunnyhug. Crystal B. if you are reading this, yes I did bring my PTI bunny hug to Europe with me lol...IT'S WARM! Anyways, after making my way to my hostel (I am proud to say that I did not get lost!) and checking in, I unfortunetly fell asleep and slept the rest of the day. I must have needed it as I am still sick with a head cold and I haven't slept in...

Sep 14, 2008 - Krakow, Poland

Krakow is a cheerful change after visiting Auschwitz. Its a beautiful city filled with baroque and romanesque architecture, but the weather has changed and its downright COLD here. We arrived at dusk, and went for a walk through the historic old town on our way to dinner. The central market square is known as "Krakows living room" because it's where everyone hangs out - college students, tourists and locals. Its a large, people freindly square dominated by St. Mary's Cathedral on one side, and the Town Hall tower on the other, surrounded by...

Aug 25, 2008 - Stage 19 – Ogrodzieniec to Kraków (75 Kms)

What a great ride it was today! After the noisy night (although it seems many were like Bruce and managed to sleep through it), we had a late, slow start for breakfast, so I walked back up to the castle again while waiting for the breakfast place to open. A crew had been working up there already and the place was almost totally cleaned up following the crowds that had been there. It was very tranquil and I enjoyed seeing the castle while it was so quiet and peaceful. NO wrong moves today although it was extremely hilly for the first half of...