Krakow

Spent the full day in Krakow. These horses are in the Krakow's main square Rynek Główny, where there were lots of beautifully turned out horse drawn carriages for hire.

We went up to the Wawel Castle and walked in and around the grounds although we didn't enter the palace itself or the cathedral. We saw the statue of Pope John Paul II, who studied for the priesthood and spent the years of the nazi occupation in Krakow. The 'Dragon's Den', caves underneath Wawel Castle were closed as out of season, which was a disappointment to M & C. Very cold again today.

Then we went back to the main square, had a look at the stands within the central Cloth Hall in the middle of the square, bought a few trinkets, then visited the Podziemia Rynku Rynek Underground permanent exhibition museum. It is underneath the square where earlier medieval layers of occuption have been excavated and are on display. It reminded me very much of a similar exhibition/museum under the main square in Liege, Belgium. Rynek Underground is a large exhibition with various audio visual displays and is well worth a visit.

Atfer lunch we headed off to the Kazimiertz district of Krakow, the old jewish quarter. There are still several synagogues here as well as a jewish centre. We had a look around the bookshop in the old High Synagogue and I had a look around the exbibition of photos of a number of local Jewish families living their lives in the inter-war years. Meanwhile M & C went of to explore the district, which is nowadays an important cultural hub of Krakow. C managed to find a jacket she liked in one of those second hand fashion stores.

In the evening we had a very nice meal again, this time at the Smakolyki restaurant.

Finally back to the apartment for bed an early start, aiming to leave at about 9 a.m. for the drive back to Warsaw.

(Some extras to come later)