Blogs from Lesser Poland, Poland, Europe
May 21st 2012
We had a wonderful little breakfast on the square this morning and then proceeded to Wawel castle. I intended to visit the tombs and the tower but those tickets were not on sale until 12:30PM perhaps I can visit the attraction on my way back in a couple of weeks. Dad and Uncle Frank toured the armory at Wawel castle (ancient swords, armor, etc) and Karen, mom and myself took a trip down the cave to the lair of the dragon. This is the legendary Dragon of Krakow defeated by a shoemaker. We then took a boat ride down to the river on the Wisla. It was very warm today at least 80 degrees. We attended the Chopin piano concert in the Bonerowski Palace. About 70 in attendance for an intimate performance by a very talented ... read more
May 19th 2012
We toured the Salt mines in Bochnia. It was very interesting and basically the key reason Poland became so powerful back in the middle ages. One large "snowman" of salt could buy and entire village! 2KG of salt was worth 1KG of Gold. I won't bore you with the history. We had an engineering student who spoke English pretty well, as our guide. Just the three of us and the one guide Piotr (Peter); he was a second year engineering student in Krakow. He was nervous - but did a great job. Mom was a trooper with all the stairs. I took a long slide down into one of the caverns, where people can acutally spend the night, host parties and play indoor soccer. The air is very good for healing alergies and other ailments. They ... read more
May 19th 2012
I need to start by saying, Polish people have the most interesting cusine. So far I have had Zalewajka which is Sausage, boiled eggs and Potato soup. Cold Beetroot soup with boiled eggs. Nalesniki which is pancakes filled with white cheese which has blended strawberries on top. Dumpling filled with cabbage and mushrooms, with and white cheese and with Strawberries, also an omelette with Strawberry Jam on top. Really crazy flavours but actually it does taste good!! Something I love about this country is that their currency is Zloty and for 1 Euro I get 4 Zloty. So it quite cheap which suits me and my budget. Matt and I were in Gdansk for 1 night and 1 day! It was a cute little village that is still used as a port, so it had really ... read more
May 18th 2012
This afternoon, we had a very well informed walking tour with a knowledgeable guide named Doroto (Dorothy). We started at the Florian Gate- named for ST. Florian the patron Saint Krakow. This is one of the last remnants of the wall that is still remaining. We went through the Old Town and ended at Wawel Castle where all the original Kings were buried. I'll have to go back for a separate tour and explore the Crypt and the upper rooms of the tower. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. After the tour I ran back to the flat to pay the owner the rental fee. Mom and Dad took a wrong turn and ended up lost, but called the apartment owner who ordered them a cab ride back. Mom did quite well ... read more
May 17th 2012
That is the actual origin of the name of Kraków founded by Prince Krakus. Three days was just barely enough for the highlights but I've got a schedule to keep. Arrived today in Slovakia in the High Tatra Town of Horný Smokovec (easy for them to say with a straight face). Will climb Mt. Rysy (8114') tomorrow and Gerlachovský štít (8711') Saturday followed by sort of a rest day Sunday then 2 train rides Monday to Vienna via (and skipping) Bratislava. $1 ≈ 3.3 Polish złoty (zł) Accommodation and Food Reserved 3 nights at Soul Hostel on hostelbookers.com for the bargain price of 40 zł per night in a 6 person dorm that was never full. The place was newly opened at the end of 2010 and looks great. A basic breakfast is included (with tea ... read more
Poland: Land of the cheap... and I love it!
Published: April 11th 2012Europe » Poland » Lesser Poland » Kraków
April 10th 2012
Ok so…. Poland! I arrived here in Krakow on April 4, so you can tell I really like this place because of how long I’ve stayed here (I leave on the 11). I spent my first day getting acquainted with the city, taking two different walking tours. The first tour was of “Royal Krakow,” which is the old walled city and castle. The guide took us around from place to place explaining the numerous legends (everything in Poland has a story behind it which I love). We started in the old town square, learning about St. Mary’s church, the buglers, the Cloth hall market, and more. The bugler’s are actually firemen, and they take eight hour shifts 24 hours a day, blowing their tune every hour, on the hour. A little legend about the buglers is ... read more
February 27th 2012
We have just finished a visit to Krakow and were totally impressed with what this small city in southern Poland has to offer. Central Krakow is marked by a typical market square which is the centre of activity in Krakow. The town centre is dotted with cosy Polish restaurants, nice underground bars, beautiful catholic churches and a hilltop castle just outside of the city centre. We found some great little restaurants and loved the ‘Beef Goulash’ which was amazing. There are almost no cars in the city centre making it very pleasant to stroll round the city. There are many things to do and sights to see in Krakow, largely based on historical events, the Jewish occupation and WWII Popular tourist walks include the Old Town, The Jewish Quarter and the factory of Oscar Schindler, were ... read more
January 1st 2012
Joe and I managed to surface from our slumber for 1 hour last night to watch the fireworks in the main square which actually turned out to be probably the best display we've ever seen. We then narrowly escaped the multiple pools of vomit, the drunken party goers, the icey roads and suicidal pigeons and made it back to our room for a well deserved 12 hour nap. We therefore missed the first morning of 2012, but spent the afternoon enjoying the sunshine, exploring Krakow and playing around with our camera's. 'Do widzenia' for now....... read more
December 31st 2011
Me and Emma arrived flamboyantly into a snowy, cold, crisp Krakow in the early hours of NYE. We gorged out on 'Asia 2 Go', Zywiec beer and local Polish cheese before retiring to our accommodation for a well deserved, 4 hour siesta. We've just woken up and had to fight an untimely battle between Emma's rucksack padlock and my immense new multi-tool after Emma's short term memory let us down again as she forgot the combination to the lock. We are now recovering from this incident. Shortly we are going to see in the New Year in the main market square, Happy New Year Everyone! 'Do widzenia' for now...! ... read more
October 13th 2011
Well, let's see, I'm fairly certain I meant to actually update this blog last week, and the site seems equally determined to tell me I never got around to that. Well bugger. I'm sure it wasn't going to be anything special, I think the best I could've mustered was the Ulysses of blog posts, but who'd want to read that? Regardless, I'm back in my little abode in Kleimachnow after a brief vacation to Krakow, Poland. First off, let me say that it was awesome, but I think the best way to do this is to break down the experience into some learning exercises. See, Krakow was something of a dry run for the winter month I've got in front of me, so I'll post these and hope that's enough. Mistakes were made, and some ... read more
