18th Sept
2015
What a beautiful
city !
Lovely sunny day
so we left the campsite and caught the bus for 5 stops, then jumped on a tram
which took us into the old city. Too
easy, although as usual I need to have it all organized before I set off ! First impression was all the beautiful horse
drawn carriages that take people around the old city – Both the horses and the
carriages are in such beautiful condition, and their drivers are usually
dressed in a period costume. It was a cooler 27 degrees today, and we walked
along to the foot of the enormous Wawel Castle and its cathedral, but went
first to the information booth. We decided first to go on a quick open bus tour
in order to get an idea of where everything was located.
Out of town a
bit, the first thing we saw was Kosciuszko’s Mound – A large earthen mound on top of hill outside Krakow, built to celebrate the life of National Leader Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who lived from 1746 - 1817. He not only fought in and for Poland, but also in the American Revolutionary War. Coincidentally, Mt Kosciuszko, Australia's highest peak, was so named because it resembled this mound in Krakow.
It was then back
in towards the city, passing the newly opened Congress Centre, and then
crossing one of the bridges over the Vistula River, with a big church on the
far bank to the right. They seem to have
a thing about these tethered hot air balloons in this part of the world – The
one here was working hard all day. It
was then on through the city, with some beautiful old buildings
everywhere. It is really hard to get
pics around these cities because they all use trams and trolley buses, and so
there are wires everywhere ! Then add
the electricity wiring to the houses !
It was back past
the Wawel Castle again, and then out on another loop – This is not the biggest
of towns ! This time we went out through
the Jewish quarter. Past the National Theatre, and other buildings until we
crossed the river again on a different bridge, with the full extent of the
Wawel Castle visible now across the river.
Passing one of the oldest Jewish Synagogues in Poland, we then went out
past the factory of Oskar Schindler, who saved many Jews during the war, and
who’s story was made better known through the movie a few years ago.
We then saw part
of the wall that was erected around the Jewish Ghetto during the war, and many
of the buildings that were once in this horribly overcrowded area. There is also a memorial to the ghetto and
those that died – In a square are a large number of oversize chairs, to remind
all those who pass.
It was then on
around town, passing many fascinating buildings which now I can’t for the life
of me remember what all of them were, until we came to the Barbakan. This is a circular tower that was once a key
part of the defence of the old city wall, of which large sections have been
demolished in the 17th and 18th century when Poland was
so poor that they had to sell the bricks from the wall to pay the bills ! As you travel around the city you see
occasional remnants of the wall, and there is a peaceful tree lined park which
has been built along the original route of a large section of the wall.
Then we finished
our bus tour, and it was lunch time ! We
had spied some delicious looking sausages and vegetables in a little kerb side
booth, so we went back and had some – And they tasted as good as they had
looked ! We then walked up the hill to
Wawel Castle, which really is extensive. The enormous cathedral, where
Presidents and other VIP’s are still buried even though Poland’s capital moved
to Warsaw in the 16th Century, towers over the square, while the
remainder of the Royal Castle - the
courtyard in particular, are outstanding examples of Italian architecture and
stonemasonry from the 16th Century.
After exploring
the castle, we went back down from the hill and into the oid city – And it is
breathtaking. The main square is
enormous, and surrounded by buildings that are all quite remarkable, and have a
history all of their own. We saw a
walking tour that was about to leave so we joined them and spent the next 3
hours exploring the old city on foot, with Jakob, our entertaining guide.
First stop was in
the main square at the dominating St Mary’s Basilica. Jakob directed our eyes to a small window
high in one of the towers, and a few moments later a bugler came to the window
and played a short tune. In ancient
times it marked the opening of the city gate in the morning, and its closing in
the evening. Now, it is just something
you see and enjoy !
From the main
square we walked on down to Florian’s Gate in part of the original old city
wall, and through that, out to the Barbakan (Barbican), the circular tower
which we had seen from the bus earlier.
The Barbican used to be joined to Florian’s Gate – But yes, the bricks
were sold when it was demolished ! From
there it was on to the Theatre of Julius Slowacki – Held to be the heart of
culture for the Polish people. Then it
was back to the main square and the central Cloth Hall, and its markets and
surrounding chapels. Just so pleasant on
a warm late summer evening.
We then moved on
to Krakow University, which is the oldest University in Poland, founded in
1400, with the buildings then being extended in the 15th and 16th
century to accommodate the students.
Finally our walking tour took us back to Wawel Castle which we had
visited on our own earlier, and we were then left to our own devices. We
decided that by the time we got our tram / bus back to the camp site it would
be too late to cook, so we headed to one of the squares we had seen on our walk
where there were countless stalls serving all sorts of Polish fare. We ended up with beer and some meat and
veggies all cooked together and spread on a big slice of local bread, and it
was absolutely delicious. A perfect end
to a fascinating day exploring Krakow.
We headed slowly
back through the old city and eventually found our tram stop and headed
home. The change to the bus was not so
troublefree, and we ended up on the wrong bus – Luckily realizing our mistake
before we were taken too far in the wrong direction ! As we waited for the
correct bus, it started to rain a little, so we were relieved when the bus came
and we were able to get back to the camp site without getting too wet. We were soon in bed, exhausted. But the footnote to this is that during the
night we had the most almighty thunder and lightening storm for most of the
night – Thunder that was so close it made us jump, and rain pelting on the
fiberglass roof all night. Fun !! Anyway, we did manage to get some sleep in
the end !
Photos here - To be annotated later
https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0360ADayInKrakow?authkey=Gv1sRgCIvVjbbrqJCjCg
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