Days 2 and 3 - The Wawel Palace

Me touching the bell in the Wawel

CK Browar sign at the entrance

The excellent Italian restaurant!

The Planty

The Wawel Palace courtyard

The Wawel Palace

Hello all!

I'm still in the process of trying to catch up on my posts...but, as of right now I'm just going to give you some detail about the Wawel Palace that I visited a couple days ago.

The Wawel is a beautiful castle on one of the hills in Krakow nearby the Planty (a very pleasant garden to walk through). In order to get to the Wawel, you have to go up a hill that provides a relatively decent view of the city. There are cobblestones and other old bricks along the walk up the hill. The combination of brick, metal doors, gold domes (yes, actual gold!), and the enormous size of the Wawel itself is absolutely magnificent. I've never seen anything like it in my entire life! While there, I had the opportunity to see a couple caskets (one of the former president, Kaczynski, who just died last month) and several beautiful ones belonging to old Polish kings and queens. Unfortunately, I was not able to take pictures inside the Wawel itself...so you're stuck with the outside pics and basically my own descriptions! The inside had a silver casket, tiled floors (which I think had marble), and several royal coronation materials and other possessions. Truly, the place is absolutely indescribable. It's so European!!!

We also had the chance to climb up an extremely high tower (with the narrowest stairs and entryways that I've encountered in my entire life) in order to see one of the bells. It wasn't anything particularly special, but I did manage to get a great view of the city!

One of the things that you'll witness nearby the Wawel and in the tourist shops in Krakow is the dragon. Typically you find it as a stuffed animal or a keychain. According to tradition, there was a dragon where the Wawel is located that ate young women if it did not have animals to eat (naturally, we women are always the victims!). A clever craftsman created a sheep filled with sulfur that caused the dragon to continously drink water since its stomach caught on fire. The dragon drank so much that he exploded. I haven't actually bought anything with the dragon on it...but if you ever have the chance to see the city in person, you'll notice that you can find him everywhere!

After going to the Wawel on Day 2 we went to an Italian restaurant in the downtown area that had excellent pizza! I don't think we could get anything quite as good as that in the United States. However, I don't think anyone at home would appreciate the ridiculously small portions for drinks (and refills on Coke products are never free). On Day 3 we went to a bar-type restaurant called CK Browar (the Royal and Imperial Brewery). The food was pretty good...but the smoking tended to get a bit overwhelming. Not to mention that I'm not really the bar type of person, but I did survive!

All I can say about the trip so far is that I have been on my feet A LOT! It's no wonder that Europeans manage to stay quite thin. We've walked everywhere and the concept of the vehicle has almost completely slipped my mind. I don't even have the impulse to step into a car anymore...I just walk, walk, walk! I anticipate on losing some weight during this trip! Hopefully all this walking won't go to waste.

The new hotel (Atrium Hotel) is an upgrade from the Kosmopolita, but it is definitely not a Mariott! In Europe (or Poland at least) you're only getting EXACTLY what you need: a bed, a bathroom, and a desk. But, it isn't so bad. I can't complain about having a place to stay with no cost to me!