The same old tour

Trip Start Sep 12, 2006
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Trip End Sep 08, 2008


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

Just three weeks after the winter holiday I found myself with another couple of days off. Steve found himself alone in Glasgow for a few weeks while Stacey flew home for a wedding, and I convinced him to come and join me in Poland for a bit. The plan was to spend a day in Krakow, followed by a couple of days in the Tatra mountains after which I'd join him in Glasgow for a concert. A few days, a couple of cities, some big mountains and a lot of travel sounded like just enough to take my mind off work for a while.

I got an early morning train down to Krakow, and met Steve at the train station about midday. The weather was absolutely stunning, with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. Not bad for early March, but then again Steve always boasted he took nice weather with him wherever he went.

My plan was to take Steve on the same Krakow tour I took my friends Dom and Anna on back in December 2006, and Ania just three weeks earlier. Our first stop was in Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter, where we saw something I never thought I'd see in Poland - a couple of Hasidic Jews. It certainly evoked some imagery in my mind of what the place must have looked like some 60 years earlier, before the hooligans stepped in and started spray painting 'Wisla Krakow' and 'Cracovia' all over the historic buildings.

Following another one of the finest zapiekankas on offer in Poland, in Kazimierz's Nowy Plac, 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 capuccino. The sun was still shining, and it was great to be sitting outside, knowing my classes were being covered.

Deciding 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. I always love showing people around Krakow, as it still rates as one of my favourite cities in Europe. However, the purpose of the trip wasn't to sip on coffees all day long, but to hike to the highest mountain lodge in the country and spend the night there. In order to do that, we had to head back to the train station, grab the packs we'd left in lockers and hop on a bus a few hours south to Zakopane.
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