June 30, 2015: European Rail Trip: Day 6: Krakow

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: KRAKOW

Travelin' on Travelin' Tuesday!

Hi there! Welcome back to Krakow!

First I would like to apologize to our subscribers for yesterday... 
We did not make it out of the Weiliszka Salt Mine in time to make our deadline for the Daily email. 
So in case you didn't get to read the updated version that we posted later on in the day (USA time zones) here is the link - CLICK HERE

But the one thing that you've got to remember is that in order to have a blog like ours - we actually need the time to experience all of these wonderful and occasionally not so wonderful things. 
So please bear with us on those rare occasions that we miss our deadline.

Upon our return from the Mine, we had quickly settled in, started charging up "dead" electronic devices, and then took a few short steps until we were in Old Town Square looking for dinner.

After we were done eating, we made out way back up to the room and started adding editing our blog and adding the photos - which for some reason was taking me forever...
Elisa who was in the bedroom was getting a better signal and had finished and went to bed waaaay earlier than I did (I was working on the couch in the living room). I finally added the last photo at after 3:30am and climbed into bed shortly there after. 

Waking up this morning after perhaps less than 4hrs sleep. Ugh.
And then poor Elisa who had started to feel under the weather last night was still not feeling better and had opted not to do the walking tour that we had planned on doing. 
So off I went... 

It was so much fun and so colorful to check out the sights of the square, I briefly went into St Mary's - but decided that I would tour this cathedral more completely tomorrow - btw it is beeeeautiful inside of this cathedral! 
Look for pictures tomorrow - I'll be there for the unveiling daily public view of the Veit Stoss's masterful High Altar.  

Before the 3+hour walking tour, I had strolled and shopped in and around the main square, and since it was still early enough - the mass crowds hadn't invaded and it was just lovely!

The tour started at 10:30am and we had a very knowledgeable local leading us throughout Old Town and to the Wawel Castle. 
With several stops along the way we were given much information and anecdotes about the history here in Krakow!

I'm not a tour guide and without being here it is simply not the same. So instead of going into all of the facts and details; 
I will show you Krakow Old Town through my eyes:

After the tour had completed, I was rather warm and headed back to the hotel. 
I had snacked, chillaxed, and chatted with Elisa  for about an hour before we headed out for our next tour (I'm sure glad that Elisa was feeling well enough to come along!) - read more about this tour on Elisa's side.

At this point after I've been waiting forever and a year for my pictures to upload, neither of us have had dinner yet.

So I'll will wish you a wonderful day and hope to see you back here tomorrow for another day here in Krakow!


Do Widzenia (Good Bye in Polish),

-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: KRAKOW

DZIEŃ DOBRY!! (Good day in Polish)

View from our table at dinner last night in Krakow Town Square

I awoke this morning to the sunshine coming through the window of our lovely hotel room here in Krakow.  That's the good news. 

The bad news is, I started getting a scratchy throat yesterday and unfortunately, it was much worse this morning.  I really did not feel well this morning.  Stuffy nose, scratchy throat, itchy eyes - you get the idea.  Cold symptoms.  

Much to my disappointment, I decided to pass on the morning plans -- a walk to St. Mary's right in the square, to pick up a free walking tour which we were told about by our new found friend, Marta, who we met on our Auschwitz-Birkenau tour yesterday.

My first night in the Old Town of Krakow

I know that Tanya is extremely independent and doesn't mind doing the touristy thing by herself, but I have to tell you, I felt awful that I was breaking our sight-seeing streak together (insert sad face).  Ok, maybe a felt really bad for me, to have to miss the morning FREE walking tour.

I thought if I rested a bit in bed, I would be up for the tour we had planned for the Oscar Schindler Factory, later this afternoon. 

So, with that in mind, I bid my farewell to Tanya as she headed off into the Town Square for a morning of exploring Krakow.  
I was soooo sad, but I really felt that a little extra rest for my body would go a long way towards feeling better and not messing up the rest of my trip. 

I loaded up on anti-oxidants, probiotics and kept a cup of hot tea full at all times, thanks to a handy hot pot in our room.

Last night, after we settled into our room after our day tour, we headed into the Town Square, outside our hotel for a bit to eat. 

We had a great view of the lovely buildings lit up and the horse drawn carriages clippity clopping around the Square.  There was even some light entertainment with a bunch of "break dancers" going at it to James Brown music!

I had a Pizza Verde, with all kinds of veggies and Tanya had grilled vegetables, which had such a wonderful aroma!
(insert food pictures)

My DEElish Pizza Verde last night in the Old Town

Tanya returned to the room at 2pm and was full of excitement about her morning. She was also extremely warm from the hot weather ourside and walking around in the sun.
PLEASE read her side to hear all about the Town Square and everything she saw and experienced today while her under-the-weather cousin rested.

In front of Oscar Schindler Enamel Factory Museum

Photographs of the many Jewish employees that Oscar Schindler saved

Let me tell you about our tour this afternoon... The good news is, I managed to make it out for our scheduled driving tour to the Jewish Quarter and The Oscar Schindler Museum.

We had a knowledgeable and fun tour guide named Martin, who imparted us with a great deal of knowledge about Krakow's history dating back to Prince Krak more than 20 Centuries ago, to the King Kazimierz up through the World War II and NAZI era and the persecution of the Jews.

One (of four) remaining gate to the Jewish Ghetto during the German occupation beginning in 1941

King Casimir III of Poland (Kazimierz Wielki), declared the two western suburbs of Kraków to be a new town named after him, Kazimierz, on March 27, 1335. 

Kazimierz was an independent town, a royal city of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, located south of Kraków Old Town and separated by a branch of the Vistula river. 

For centuries, Kazimierz was a place of coexistence and interpenetration of Christian and Jewish cultures.  Then came the NAZI's and the German occupation, and in 1941, Jews were forcibly relocated into the Krakow ghetto in Podgorze.

We toured through the former ghetto, and saw one of the remaining walls that enclosed Jewish citizens in a prison-like fashion. From 65,000 Jews before the German occupation, today, Krakow is home to only about 2000 Jews, as a result of the mass extermination.  Another very sad part of Poland's history.

Remnants of the wall of the ghetto

Another important location is the Tadeusz Pankiewicz's Pharmacy in the Krakow Ghetto.

Tadeusz Pankiewicz was a Polish Roman Catholic pharmacist, operating in the Kraków Ghetto during the Nazi German occupation of Poland. He is credited with saving countless Jews from the Holocaust.

Why?? When Podgórze district was closed off in March 1941 as a Jewish ghetto, there existed 4 pre-war pharmacies owned by non-Jews. Pankiewicz was the only proprietor to decline the German offer of relocating to the aryan side of the city and was granted permission to continue operating his business as the only pharmacy in the Ghetto, and reside on the premises. (NAZIs were afraid of a possible outbreak of typhus).

In any case, the pharmacy became a meeting place for the ghetto's intelligentsia, and a hub of underground activity. 

Pankiewicz and his staff, Irena Drozdzikowska, Helena Krywaniuk, and Aurelia Danek, risked their lives to undertake numerous clandestine operations: smuggling food and information, and offering shelter on the premises for Jews facing deportation to the camps.

I love that we got to see some of the heroic efforts during the war, with the visit to the Oscar Schindler factory and then here at the Pharmacy - in light of the remnants of cruelty we witnessed yesterday at Auschwitz.
 

Last on our list of touring with Martin was a visit to "The Mound of Prince Crac." This "Mound" was built in honor of the legendary founder of Cracow and according the medieval chroniclers, which Cracovians still believe today. 

It is estimated by archaeologists that the "Krak Mound" was built in the eighth century. We climbed up old steps to get to the top of the hill and then traversed up and around the "Mound" to the very top, where we had some awesome views of the city.

The steps leading up to The Mound

Martin was so helpful and used my camera for "close ups" of the many buildings encircling the city, pointing them all out to me and Tanya.  It was a tad bit hot at the top and Tanya and I were wilting a bit!

Views from "The Mound"

At the top of "The Mound"

I was still feeling very under the weather, but pushed myself for our tour with Martin.  

Tomorrow, I will take the morning to go on the free walking tour, while Tanya heads over to the Rynek Undergound.  Then we'll both meet up at Wawel Castle to tour the inside.

I'm hoping to relax and baby myself tonight, so I feel better tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

-E
xoxo