(28 April) Our "Highlights of Central Europe" tour has rolled on now to Krakow, Poland. We travelled here on a fast, smooth train and disembarked at the huge central railway station, which also happens to be the largest shopping mall in the city. The train seemed quite shiny and new. From the train the countryside rolling past looked very similar to much of Europe. As in Czechia there are large areas in canola crops, in wheat, or freshly ploughed, and almost no fences or livestock. Just the occasional surprised deer, and the little shooting lookouts which dot the landscape. The houses and buildings are generally brick or plastered, with a few rare wooden ones. The landscape is gentle and rolling for huge distances, and looks like fertile farmland. We can imagine why Polish farmers might be getting upset at the prospect of cheap Ukrainian grain being allowed into their markets, as it must be an important leg of the economy here.
Our guide Johanna gave us the usual orientation walk around the old city. Like many before it there is the old town with a large central market square, bordered in this case by a park marking the course taken by the old town wall. South of the old town is the castle, on a hill beside the river "Vistula". There are dozens of churches, there are horse-drawn carriages for the tourists, and the old buildings generally came through WWII unscathed. The trams roll right past our hotel, so noise could be a problem for those trying to sleep!
The weather has done a complete about-face, and is now very warm and fine. The locals are out in large numbers strolling in the town and filling the al fresco restaurants around the market square, in their summer clothes. They must be locals because so many have dogs and/or little children in tow.
On Monday (29 April) we had to get up Very Early, reporting for departure at 6:45 am. We boarded our private quite comfortable bus for our day out, first to visit Auschwitz which is about one hour's drive, then on to the salt mine near Krakow. Visiting Auschwitz is a grim experience of course, and we know the story of what was done there fairly well. I didn't take many photos. The weather was clear and warm, so that offset the terrible story a bit.
We are following the footsteps of Lisa and Adam here, so have already seen their comprehensive photo story on the Kopalnia salt mine too, but it looked so interesting that we signed up to visit that too. And it is pretty amazing! Over a million people visit each year, and walk through the maze of stairs and tunnels linking the underground chambers which have been hollowed out over the centuries. The largest spaces are enormous. Today deep underground there is a cafe and souvenir shops!
Lisa's trip report from Krakow has pretty much the same photos as this post, but a lot more of them!
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| Our train was the same as this one. |
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| A typical view from the train |
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| The team crowded into the Hotel Polonia |
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| In the old town |
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| Guide Johanna explaining the layout of the city to us |
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| Beautiful glass (c1900) in the Church of St Francis of Assisi. |
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| Up at the castle, inside the grounds. |
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| Roughing it in Krakow. Great rhubarb crumble! |
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| The city gate tower, from the 1300s. |
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| Lots of people out taking advantage of the summery weather. |
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| More countryside, this time from our bus to Auschwitz. |
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| The infamous gate to Auschwitz-Birkenau. |
Our tour included Auschwitz-Birkenhau, or "Auschwitz 2", which is close to the original "Auschwitz 1" and was a newer "more efficient" camp. Our guide said the name actually described a complex of about 50 camps.
