Krakow - Day 1

Although this was over a month ago, I haven't had time to sit down and update this until now, so finally here is some of my half term trip. During our break in February I went to Poland and Germany with my friends Lauren and Katy. The trip had a bit of a rough start where our cab driver called us minutes before he was meant to pick us up and take us to the airport saying there was too much traffic and he wouldn't be able to take us. After some panicking where we thought we would miss our flight thankfully we were able to sort out a last minute ride. We flew with RyanAir to Krakow, Poland from London's Stansted Airport on Valentines Day. If you are looking for a no frills and super cheap airline where the staff is all miserable I would suggest flying with Ryanair. They were rated #1 for the worst airline in the world in Business Insider (http://uk.businessinsider.com/worst-airlines-in-the-world-2010-12#1-ryanair-10) but as horrible as it was, Ryanair did the job and got us to Poland for a really cheap rate. By the time we got to Krakow and found our hostel it was midnight and we were beat so we went right to bed. Katy and I had both never stayed in a hostel before so it was a new experience for us, whereas Lauren was quite seasoned and had lots of tips for us. We stayed at one recommended by my friend Brontie called "Greg and Tom's Party Hostel" which the name should have been a clue as it had the word PARTY in it, that it would be a bit crazy. We stayed in a room with four beds and shared with a man from Germany. The hostel was really modern, extremely clean, the staff was very friendly. The best part was that breakfast and dinner was included, and for someone who is a very picky eater I have to say the food was delicious. I came prepared with an eye mask and ear plugs as I find it very hard to fall asleep, and I am so glad I brought it because all through the night people were coming back to the hostel and were very loud and drunk and woke them up but luckily I slept right through it.  

Our room

Set up for breakfast, they don't refrigerate milk which I find unusual

We decided we should start our first day in Krakow with a free walking tour of the city so we could have someone who knew the city take us around to see the best sights and explain the history of the city. We started in the Old Square which was about ten minutes away from our hostel. 

The Cloth Hall where merchants came to sell their goods. 

Amazing architecture in The Cloth Hall. At the entrance of the building there are knives hanging to warn thieves what would happen if they stole. The first offence would warrant an ear to be cut off and the second would be death. Inside the building today is a market that sells souvenirs and flowers. 

St. Mary's Bascilica. The inside of this building is even more spectacular! This Gothic style church has two towers, one slightly taller than the other. According to our tour guide, the legend is that two brothers were building the church and the older brother deliberately built his tower higher for the greater glory. When his brother realized, he killed his sibling and then committed suicide. The truth is that the higher tower has the best observation in the city and need to see all four parts of the city in case of a coming attack. If he sees an enemy coming they would blow a horn. Today, every hour a man plays a trumpet from all four sides to keep up tradition. 

As I write this I am regretting not taken more notes or writing this earlier as I am having trouble remembering what some of the buildings are.

Roman monestary 

During the tour we stopped at many locations that were associated with the former Pope John Paul II who was from Krakow and realized the love that the people of Krakow have for him. Our last stop of our three hour tour was at Wawel Castle and the Wawel Cathedral. My favourite part was below the castle where we got to see the famous dragon Smok and his cave underneath the castle. Every so often fire will come out of the dragon's mouth and was quite the tourist attraction.

We were given a map after our tour which was quite handy as it provided us with some recommended places to go for certain things such as souvenirs, restaurants, bars and discounts for those places as long as some common phrases. Since Krakow was so easy to get around and we were already close, we were hungry from our long day of walking and went to this restaurant that a teacher I work with told me about called Dvorty Kuchina in the Jewish district. This was actually my first time ever eating pierogies and my goodness they were delicious!

Cheese and potato pierogies with Kompot - warm juice with strawberries, apples and other fruit.

We crossed a bridge to get to the former Jewish ghetto. It was a really overwhelming experience because it was still so run down. There was a wall still up that had a sign which explained that it was part of the remains of the original wall that kept the Jewish people in the Ghetto. It was really hard to believe that I was standing in the spot where such a horrible crime was committed. It was only a taste of what was to come for my experience at Auschwitz the next day. 

There were love locks on the bridge just like the one in Paris

Art installation in the former Ghetto, still couldn't quite figure out but from what I gathered is that the chairs are to represent that anyone could sit in the chairs and be there one minute and gone the next. Wasn't quite clear to me.

We went back to the hostel for our dinner and Lauren and I ventured out for a drink to try some famous Polish vodka. We ended up at a death metal karaoke pub which felt like a cave, even though we didn't fit in and the people that were in there didn't speak English we had a great night catching up. Solid first day in Krakow!