Krakow

Monday

Having been back at home for quite some time Jim and I started to get itchy feet so decided to take a short trip away to get us started travelling again. Picking up my Lonely Planet “Happy Weekend” book at a random page, we came across Krakow, with neither of us having been to Poland before we looked into it a bit more, and from what we saw the city looked like an interesting place to visit.

After booking our flights with Jet2 from Glasgow, and finding some nice accommodation, off we set. The Glasgow flight, unfortunately, was in the afternoon which meant that we didn’t arrive in the city until the evening and after a long delay at passport control we caught a train into the city centre, from there it was a short taxi ride to our accommodation, the Wawal Boutique Apartments. Once we had checked in and had a look around, we popped into a pizza place next door for some food and a beer. From what we could see the city looked good and we anticipated having a good time.

Tuesday

We had an early start this morning to prepare for our 6:45 tour pick-up. Today we had booked a full day tour, firstly to Auschwitz then after lunch a trip to a salt mine. The tour of Auschwitz was, as expected, quite harrowing and quite emotional. We started off in the first camp, Auschwitz I before heading to Auschwitz-Birkenau, both tours were guided by a local lady, who told the story of the camps in a very moving and empathetic way. Out of respect, I didn’t take too many photographs to post here.

After a nice picnic lunch, provided by the tour company, we then drove to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. At over seven hundred years old, this Salt Mine is hailed as the world’s longest active salt mine, home to one of the world’s oldest active salt-producing companies, and also perhaps the world’s most startling example of industry meets art. The labyrinth of stairs and Chambers (which were quite reminiscent of Waxy O’Connors in Glasgow), took us 135 metres down into the bowels of the mine. On our way down we came across many wonderful, intricate salt carvings depicting the history of the mine. One chamber was created like a cathedral which included a replica of Da Vinci’s Last Supper. We were guided down through the 900 steps by Simon, whose humour made the experience great fun, thankfully there was a lift to get us back to the surface.

On our return to town we were dropped off in the Old Town where we had a quick look around before dropping off in a little bar called the Grill Yard, for a meal and a few well-earned beers before heading back to our accommodation tired but happy after a busy and tiring day with over 39,000 steps under our belt.

Wednesday

Today, as we had the morning to ourselves, we decided to go exploring a bit more in the Old Town despite the wet weather, from our apartment it is a short walk into the centre where we stopped off for breakfast, using one of our methods to explore a city, i.e. Dan’s Challenge, we made our way around seeing all of the many sights. It was interesting that the city was full of groups of primary-age school children, apparently over 10 million of them visit the city each year as an almost obligatory history tour. Since it was near the pickup point for our walking tour, we went back to the Grill Yard for lunch before joining the rest of our group.

Along with Joanna, our guide, 12 of us set off for a tour of the old city starting off on the grounds of Wawel Castle taking in the sights such as the Town Hall, the Cloth Hall, (where surprise, surprise, Jim managed to find an amber figurine of an elephant!) and the many churches and university areas, it was good to hear about the history of the city from a knowledgeable and proud resident of the city, her stories kept us entertained despite us all being soaked to the skin. We finished off our tour by listening to the hourly bugle call from St Mary’s church before stopping off at the Barbican at the edge of the city’s fortified wall. We then went back to our apartment to dry off and get a bit of heat.

Following a recommendation from the tour guide for some traditional Polish food we headed out to a restaurant called Pod Aniołami – Under the Angels, it certainly looked interesting when we went, but unfortunately, it was full, just like the many others we visited, by chance, we stumbled upon the Czana Kaczka – Black Duck which at first glance had a queue of around 12 waiting for a table, we went around the corner and got a table in a place thinking it was a difficult restaurant, only to disc it was the Black Duck. This turned out to be a great choice, the food was spectacular and the staff were extremely attentive and friendly. We returned home again after yet another great day, a little bit worn out (with over 40,000 steps) for a well-earned rest.

Thursday

A stroll into town for breakfast before heading back down to the Wawel Royal Castle for a better look around, despite it being rainy again it was good fun to see around with the knowledge we had gained on our tour yesterday this time, we descended 130 steps down into the Dragon’s Den, the dragon being one of Krakow’s symbols, exiting on the banks of the Vistula River where we came across a flame spouting dragon.

We then went down into the Jewish Quarter of Old Krakow, this area has a totally different vibe compared to the rest of the city, it was a bit more rundown looking, but it was interesting none less, it was the only part of the city where I found some street art. After visiting the Museum of Municipal Engineering to see some great exhibits, we visited the Andrus Food Truck which came highly recommended as a place for some Maczanka po Krakowsku, which is really great street food and a beer before crossing the river to visit Oskar Schindler’s factory, by this time I was feeling a bit played out, so Jim went on the museum tour whilst I stopped for a coffee.

We went back to the apartment to dry off and have a wee rest before going out to the Pod Aniołami restaurant where we managed to get a reservation, this place came highly recommended as a place to find very good traditional Polish food, it was very good indeed, but I think both of us preferred the Black Duck. We then went back home very tired after yet another brilliant day.

Friday

Going home day today so we had a bit of a long lie before packing our bags and tidying up the apartment before checking out. A quick trip up to the railway station to leave our luggage and buy the tickets to the airport, before heading back into town for our last look around. It being a Friday, the main market was open in the main square around the Cloth Hall.

It was fun to sit in the square, in the sunshine, watching the world go by and having lunch from one of the many food stalls (a giant sausage with a pickle and a Pączki, a nice Polish doughnut to follow). A return to another favourite pub, the Dobry Kumpel, for a final beer before our travel home finished off the day. It was a nice way to end our stay in a beautiful city, I would highly recommend it to anyone who has yet to visit it. I must add that we also managed to complete ‘Dan’s Challenge’ whilst in the city.

All too soon it was time to return to the station to collect our luggage and catch a train to the airport for our flight home. Our journey to Clarkston on arrival was made very interesting due to the many road closures and diversions, so we were glad to get back none less.