Salt and Sausage Dogs in Krakόw - Poland

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We left Levoča on an overcast day and headed to the pretty town of Kežmarok, a medieval walled town. Just as it started to rain, we left and headed towards the Tatra Mountains. We had a good view of them from Slovakia but they were shrouded in mist by the time we reached Poland.

We stopped at the touristy town of Zakopane. It reminded me of Queenstown but without the view!! It probably had wonderful mountain views but we were not able to see them because of the cloud. After a good look around, Eileen purchased her sister a present then we were soon on our way. I felt relieved when we departed the crowded and touristy town and glad that we had decided not to stay there.

We arrived at Apart Hostel in Krakόw at 4pm so we rested for a while before heading out for food shopping. The shop across the road that we were told closed at eight, was closed at six! Also, the 24 hour supermarket was closed. Eventually we found an open supermarket so Eileen was able to cook dinner before our hunger pangs were overwhelmed by tiredness.

The next morning we headed into old Krakόw. Apart Hotel is a good 10 minute walk from the city walls. The way is lined with shops and pretty buildings. Once inside the city walls the main square is just a 5 minute walk.

Krakόw’s main square is the largest we have seen, and ringed by bars, restaurants and shops. When we arrived there was a dachshund fun day with many of the dogs, and some of their owners, dressed in amusing costumes.

Towards the centre of the square is a long building with souvenir stalls and shops. The quality of the goods we saw far exceeded those that we saw in South America. Amber products were plentiful with many shops and stalls displaying a wide variety of items for sale.

The Cathedral complex was interesting. You have to pay separately to enter various sections so we just visited the main area in the Cathedral and then we headed for the Jewish sector of the old town. Along the way, we passed through a square with local produce stalls and some children were performing national dances in national costume. We stopped at an ‘upmarket’ bar, in fact so ‘upmarket’ that they did not have Polish beer! Nonetheless, my German beer was very nice and Lady Eileen got in the spirit with a Bison Grass vodka and apple juice – the local tipple. Once revived, we walked through the Jewish sector and headed to our hostel.

For dinner, Eileen made a delicious chicken soup with a Polish twist - it included Polish sausage, potatoes and leeks. During dinner we chatted with a Ukrainian lad who, much to my amusement, had a very strong British accent.

We visited the permanent exhibition “Krakόw Under Nazi Occupation 1939 – 1945” situated in Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory. It presents the history of Krakόw’s Polish and Jewish inhabitants, Schindler’s enamel factory, and the prisoners of Płaszόw Concentration Camp he managed to save. The museum is an experiential exhibition using many elements and media to portray the historical events of that time. It is well worth a visit.

We took a 15 kilometre drive from Krakόw to the salt mines at Wieliczka. The tour commences with a vertical decent of 380 steps, a good warm up for the rest of the walking tour.

The mine was in production from the 13^th century until 1996. There were life sized displays depicting the working mine and many salt sculptures commemorating various events, people and things. I was happy and disappointed to learn that this was not one of the salt mines that the Russians sent dissidents to as a punishment. I thought the tour was overpriced but interesting enough.

In the evening I ventured out to Tango while Eileen retired early with a headache. I probably should have had an early night too. The locals pretty much ignored me except for one lady who danced a tanda with me. When I got back to the car the Garmin GPS would not fire up! Hmmm ... it was then I realised how dependent we had become on the little electronic device. Luckily we had been in Krakόw for a few days so I was able to navigate my way home.

The next morning Eileen managed to revive the GPS unit with the help of some reset software on the Garmin website and so we continued on our journey.

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