Return to Poland

Trip Start May 01, 2007

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Poland Krakow, Poland
Friday, March 7, 2008

Stace was back home in Tas for Hayley's wedding, and I had a few weeks alone in Glasgow. Will convinced me to book a trip to Poland in this time. I said yes on the condition that we do some good hiking in the Tatras. So I flew in to Krakow on Friday March 07 and met him at the train station. Our plan was to have a good look around Krakow (no relaxing in the square), and then a bus trip down to Zakopane, the alpine town at the foot of the Polish Tatras. From here we planned to hike to the highest hut in the country at the Valley of the Five Polish Ponds.

Anyway, I found Will at the station, and then he took me on his tour of Krakow they he has shown so many before me. I didn't really care that he had done it before. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. My presence bringing the nice weather as usual! Our first stop was in Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter, where we saw something unusual - a couple of Hasidic Jews

01 - Old Jewish building, Krakow

. I always managed to see rare shit like that! Will was astounded after all he had never seen any in all his months living in Poland. It made us think a little about what the place was like pre WWII.

After a short while our bellies needed filling, so we found a busy hole in the wall for some zapiekanka at Kazimierz's Nowy Plac. Some of the finest in Poland Will reckoned. They were pretty damn good actually. I love holes in wall. We continued along the river bank to Wawel Castle, followed by a stroll down Kanonicza, past Pope John Paul II's old house before settling in the market square for a coffee. I was quite impressed by the castle, especially the view over the river. The grassy banks of the river are something I haven't seen similar in any other city in Europe, and it looked especially pleasant on such a nice sunny day.

After people watching over coffee in one of the largest market squares in Europe, we decided to make a move sooner rather than later. We had a quick look at the old university, Collegium Maus, followed by a look at the late afternoon sun shining it's light on Wawel Castle from the river.

Sightseeing around Krakow was fantastic, but we had a bus to catch and some hiking to do. We headed for the bus station, retrieved our bags, and hopped on a bus for Zakopane - a three hour journey south. It was a good opportunity to catch up, and more importantly, talk about cricket.

Will's pod entry for this same day is 'The same old tour'. It may have been for him but I think it was a fantastic new adventure in a new and fabulous city that I had not been to before!

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02 - Me and Will and Zapikanke	03 - Krakow Church	04 - Krakow Street	05 - View from Wawel Castle
06 - Inside Wawel Castle	07 - Wawel Cathedral	08 - Sacred Hindu spot	09 - John Paul II's House (on the left)
10 - Krakow Rynek	11 - St Mary's Basilica	12 - St Mary's Basilica, Krakow	13 Krakow's Main Market Squae
14 - Wawel Castle