A Ryanair fanfare signalled a flight without any major disaster, and welcomed us to Kraków on Wednesday. We had crossed the border into Poland a couple of times when we visited Slovakia a couple of years ago, but this was our first proper visit.
The 14th-century town hall tower. © Haydn Williams 2011
After depositing our bags at the hotel, we wandered around the old town to see what it had to offer. You may be aware of my habit of visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the old town was one of the original twelve first designated in 1978. There's plenty of history and – typically for eastern Europe – plenty of churches. The Church of St. Peter the Apostle in particular was full of bling…
Inside the Church of St. Peter the Apostle. It's rather plain on the outside, believe it or not. © Haydn Williams 2011
For more up-to-date bling and other non-specific gangsta accoutrements, I was delighted to spot this shop…
"We need a name for the shop. What exactly is it that we sell?" © Haydn Williams 2011
A traditional meal of goulash and potato cake that evening proved the guide book correct in its assertion that Poles like meat and hearty (i.e. stodgy) food, and aren't too keen on veg. This was fine by me!
On Thursday it was time for UNESCO location number two – the Wielizcka Salt Mines. It's been worked since the thirteenth century and the miners there have decorated the entire place with statues of prominent figures both real and mythical.
Bust of King Kazimierz, carved from the salt which the Wieliczka mines are made of. © Haydn Williams 2011
The salt is 95% pure, rock solid and forms the entirety of the mine (I was expecting it to be soft and crumbly veins running through other tougher rock). The tour guides even encourage you to lick the walls, but with more than a million visitors passing through each year we declined!
Blocks of solid salt forming the tunnel floors. © Haydn Williams 2011
The original twelve UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Only ten more to go. © Haydn Williams 2011
After returning to the city, we took a stroll to Wawel, the hill on which the Royal Castle and Cathedral sit. Climbing the cathedral tower gave a great view over the city, next to Zygmunt's Bell which has rung over 12 million times since being cast nearly 500 years ago, and weighs 1.8 tonnes. Impressive.
The impressive courtyard of the Royal Castle at Wawel. © Haydn Williams 2011
Friday was another UNESCO site, but not necessarily subject to the usual excitement since it was Auschwitz Birkenau, the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp. Suffice to say that it's quite a sobering experience to walk the grounds and read the details of the horrors which took place there.
Auschwitz-I. © Haydn Williams 2011
Auschwitz-I. © Haydn Williams 2011
Auschwitz-I. © Haydn Williams 2011
Anyway, that evening we ventured into the Christmas market in the main square of Kraków. It followed the standard recipe for such things – plenty of tasty-looking chocolate and sweets on offer – along with more esoteric produce including 2ft long wooden spoons and christmas tree baubles the size of melons!
St. Mary's Basilica in the main market square. © Haydn Williams 2011
Unfortunately the following morning entailed a train journey to the airport and a flight home, but I just had chance to nip out after breakfast and finish the trip with a picture on the only day on which it didn't rain…
The towers and spires of the historic cathedral and castle of Wawel at dawn. © Haydn Williams 2011
