Park Hotel Krakow

... once was a big moat and now is a loop park around the old walls, called The Planty. There are also remains of ancient city walls in places. <br><br>We spent the first full day walking around the Main Market Square- the biggest medieval square in Europe- seeing and exploring. As soon as we entered the square (literally a block and a half from our hostel, Tutti Frutti, we almost walked into a movie set. There was some movie being filmed in part of the square. There were ...

... was too many kids. They are all over the place, coming for excusions and such. I thought school was over!??!?!<br><br>So, now I think i will just get some info about things, figure out my plan for tomorrow (hoping to go to Oswencim Camp), and rest after this sleepless night on the train and really busy day. <br><br>Bye, everyone!<br><br>P.S. Please forgive my spelling - the computer is kind of slow for me to correct mistakes, and ther is no spell check :(<br>

After our bus travels we were looking forward to our first sleeper train, and we were not left disappointed. We had our own private cabin with triple bunk beds one on top of each other and a sink, power points and free sparkling water (a luxury in these parts). After a few polish beers and some games of cards we settled down in the heat to awake in Krakow at 07:30.

... was often up at 4am for work. As I looked down at the clock I cursed myself for being so casual in not setting the alarm. It wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't already paid for the ticket and the accommodation in Prague. It's these unforeseen events that have me not wanting to plan things in the first place but I bowed to advice on Prague from other travelers. My head was still foggy from a vodka haze but as it slowly started to clear I was hit with the memory that my camera had gone ...

... we just sat there. Oh well. So we get into the "old quarter" of Krakow, which is where our hotel was situated. Luckily our hotel was located strategically right off the rail line and we easily found it and checked into our ultra modern, ultra new hotel. This place, is what you'd imagine a new modern hotel would look like and more. Lots of thought was put into this architecture and design. Felt very Euro again, checking into this very high end, modern hotel. With our ...

... tried again. No answer still. Now I started to get scared. It was close to 11 PM, it was dark out, and here I was standing on a street with all my things in a strange country, where I barely spoke the language and I was alone. I was definately starting to get concerned about my personal safety right now, but I figured I'd wait a little longer. 20 minutes passed and still no sighn of anyone. At least there were quite a ...

... morning, and I met Dom and Anna at their hostel, which was the same one Aga worked at. After a chat over breakfast we spent the day site seeing, taking in the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, Wawel Castle and the old town. It was cold, but the sun was shining which made it the perfect day for walking around the amazing city and taking photos. We even saw some reindeer with Santa on the square and tried some very strong mulled wine. After dinner we joined Aga and ...

So, the first night on a sleeper train, how does that feel you may ask? Not too clever is my reply! Certainly no sleep was had as we were unable (or didn't fully understand the difference) to get a sleeper cabin.. we asked for a coachette which is a 6 man bunk bed type of thing with little room to turn around in let alone sleep in! But hey, we're saving valuable time by travelling through the night (and saving alittle on hostels)! On a ...

... It is entered by a large gate with tracks beneath, so designed that trains could unload their passengers only meters from their final destinations. I took photos from the observation tower on top of the railway gate and stood in awe at Birkenau's scale. It was late in the day, and all of the school aged visitors were already on their buses back to their hostels when I found myself standing by the destroyed gas chambers. The sun was an hour from sunset and I found myself genuinely ...

... at. As luck would have it the Krakow station was under reconstruction so the regular main entrance and exit hall were inoperable. Thus, our point of reference was completely thrown off when we exited the station and were trying to find the hostel which was supposed to be located just opposite of the main exit of the train station. We finally found it only after a 5 minute detour. The hostel was located in a traditional European style apartment complex. You enter ...