European country number 32.
Originally we planned a 5 night break in Krakow, then after looking at Zakopane we split an 8 night holiday between the two.
We booked into the glorious Stradonia ApartHotel in Krakow - It was less than 5 minutes to the castle and less than 10 minutes to the Market Square, Jewish Quarter and the river.
Krakow was busy, even the hotel receptionist said that Krakow was busy. It was also hot, nearly 40C on a couple of days. We had wanted to go to Auschwitz but due to circumstances, we hadn't booked a tour in advance, and the only option was to go before 6 and queue.
Wawel Castle dominates much of the skyline.
And it is lit up at night
View from the castle gardens
And not from the castle gardens, just a flowerbed by the castle walls.
Wawel Cathedral - This is in the same complex as the castle. I particularly liked this view of the cathedral from the castle.
And the view from the castle entrance
The Cathedral was glorious (but officially no photos) which I found out after I took this one
With a great bell tower,
With panoramic views.
The tower was well lit at night
With dragon gargoyles
Old town - similar to many other old towns. It was pleasant that it closed to vehicles for much of the day.
This church had some amazing statues on the wall. Om a night there were some high class buskers - an opera singer one night, and on others two accordian players, who did an amazing version of Toccata
The focus is the market square
Staying close by it was easy to have a walk over early morning.
Krakow has one of the largest market squares in Europe.
Dominated by the central market hall, and the bell tower in one corner and the scaffolding clad St Matrys in the opposite corner.
The inside of the market hall
A city gate and the last of the fortifications
And a random building I liked
Jewish Quarter - incredibly vibrant, with lots of food and drink options. Along with several museums, Of course, there were many poignant reminders of what had happened during the holocaust, including the stark 65 chairs monument - A chair for each 1,000 lost from the city.
The Riverside - A glorious place to walk, and very popular for picnics.
A Balloon at a fun fair
This bridge had statues mounted in the rigging.
And there were great views of the castle from the other side of the river
Churches all seemed to have a shrine, chapel or statue (or all 3) of St John Paul - It's not suprising when he was a hometown saint who died during the lifetime of so many.
St Francis church, very unassuming outside, but a gloriously decorated church inside.
The decoration was mainly patterns, rather than Christian imagery, and incorporated many flowers and animals.
The cloister had a more traditional church look.
As the church is only two minutes from the Market Square and next to Planty Park - the very cool wood that surrounds the old town, it was suprising there were not more visitors.
St Mary`s dominated the market square, and was beautiful inside, but shrouded in scaffolding.
Other churches caught my eye when I was walking round - we didn't go into either.
Overall, I enjoyed the Wieliczka Salt mines, but the tour felt crowded and rushed. But the temperature was 18 Degrees inside and 40 out side.
One of the lakes in the mines
As always, there were curios and statues.
This just reminded me of Father Jack
Not a lot you can say about this one
Always prepared to listen.
You can't have too many dragon statues
Fountains are always good to see.
Arguing statues
A pig on a raft!
Apparently, the only 24 hour sundial in the world. It uses a laser fitted with a motor for night and cloudy days.
Our server at the airport.
I really enjoyed Krakow, but visiting in July was probably not the cleverest idea.
Only complaint was in Zakopane I was introduced to all these really good Polish beers, but in Krakow there were a lot more generic Euro brews.
