Walking Around Krakow

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Today was a long, hot day. I got up early, got ready and left with what I thought would be enough time to get my train pass (East Europe railpass) stamped and authorized and catch the 9:35am train to Krakow. Apparently not. I had to go to three different agents to find out which one had the stamp for my pass, and then had to wait in a line to speak to him, while other agents sat by idly. Nice. Anyway, I was finished at about 9:34 and ran to the train, where it was pulling out of the station. 😞 Fortunately the next train was an hour later.

It seems that air conditioning in Poland is a complete luxury. There isn't any on the Polish trains, little in the buildings, and none in the hostels. And it's HOT here. I haven't sweated so much since I was in China or Korea. The train was exhaustingly long, and I slept part of the time, much to the amusement of the nun I was sharing a compartment with. I don't know exactly what she said to the others in the compartment, but I know she was talking about me, gesturing, and almost laughing. I didn't realize that napping was so funny.

Anyway, I took the tram to the hostel, and then found out that I was staying at a different location. I had booked a private room, so I went to the private rooms location. Apparently that was not the case. I finally ended up in the right spot, dumped my stuff, and went off in search of the sights of the city.

Sadly, I was a little disappointed after Wroclaw. Yes, there are a million churches and a million restaurants all over the place, but the main building of the Main Square of the Old Town is under renovation, and it takes a lot away from the overall look of the square. The buildings weren't nearly as impressive, and I thought Wroclaw was prettier. Anyway, there are still some spots to see tomorrow, like the Jewish quarter, and the inside court of the castle, but I've booked a daytrip to Auschwitz as well. That should be interesting. I just don't relish getting up and out for 8am....

Now, off to pick up my laundry. Should be clean by now..... 😉

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Comments

[anonymous]

Pack some Kleenex when you visit the concentration camps...I've never been to those but I was at the Holocaust museum in Israel. It's very upsetting and disturbing but something everyone should see. Hope you take a lot of photos. Im interested in seeing photos of Poland. Thats where my family is from.

[Sue70]

Who wrote this?
I was able to bite back the tears when I visited Auschwitz, but I agree that it was very upsetting and disturbing, and that everyone should see it. As for photos, there will be lots posted to my flickr account when I return home, but I don't think I'll be posting any on here.

[Shelley-Ann]

Pity you were disappointed
I thought it was cool, but then, I've never been to Wroclaw. The main building in the square wasn't under renovation when I went, so maybe that helped.

[Sue70]

Still not bad...
Shelley, Krakow wasn´t terrible or anything, but the closing of the synagogue and cemetary early was certainly disappointing. Prague is gorgeous, though today with the constant rain, it´s been a little depressing.