We had lunch at a Slovakian Ski Resort called Dona Valy where the food was both delightful and cheap. Always good to note where the truckies go for meals and that is where we went too.
Cute Toilets...and at no cost!
It was mostly a driving day, passing through three countries. We did however stop at this wonderful place admiring the Castle, now turned Museum, from below. People in the past certainly picked their location! I suppose it is no different today.
The day was well gone by the time we arrived in Krakow and were delighted with our accommodation. Despite the lateness of our arrival, some of us took ourselves off for a visit into the old town. Thankfully, Krakow did not suffer the severe war damage that was inflicted on most of Poland's cities. We were told that was partly because of the resistance and partly because the German Occupiers had expected the allies to come from a different direction. Krakow is a wonderful city to visit. The people there are understandably proud of their favourite son, the late Pope Paul John.
The city at night had a lot of atmosphere with many musicians busking and busy restaurants. Just a couple of shots of the old fortifications:
The following day saw us back on the road and our first stop was the old Jewish ghetto in Krakow. The Guide told us that pre-war, there were over 100,000 Jewish residents. Today there are a mere 150 or so!! This ghetto was in fact used for the filming of Schindler's List. Have a look at the wrought iron fence - really Jewish!
Our visit to the Palace and the Fortress was also full of interest. We were so pleased that the weather was outstanding and so we could enjoy the walk through this old city.
The fortress and palace was great. Just have a look at those frescos on the walls!
Walking back to the city centre, we were serenaded by this older couple playing our National Anthem.
The Cathedral in the City Square was something else again. Let me quote from our diary, "We were 'gob-smacked'! A real work of art! An awesome creation! We were fascinated by the altar that depicted many biblical scenes. A feature was the opening of the doors that revealed further art depicting what is referred to as 'Delights of our lady.'" The inside of the cathedral looked like this:
Walking out of the Cathedral, we were entertained by a sole trumpeter high up in the Tower. If you enlarge the picture, you will be able to see the reflection of the trumpet in the top window in the right tower. It is played every hour on the hour by Firemen, 24 hours a day, because in the fifteen hundreds a fireman was looking out of the tower and saw an approaching army. He started to play the tune as a warning and came to a certain point when an enemy arrow hit him in the throat and even today they stop playing the tune at that point.
The afternoon saw us visit the World Heritage Salt Mines.
This was also fascinating and we were impressed with the great sculptures in salt by the miners over many years. We went down about 600 meters. Carol found the going pretty tough in the end and only just made it. She was pretty whacked when we reached the surface again. Herewith just a little sample of some of the salt sculptures:
The final visit was a large cavern deep down in the mine with chandeliers made from salt:
Despite Carol being 'whacked', it did not stop her from enjoying an evening out at a Jewish restaurant back in the Jewish Ghetto. We were entertained by a group of musicians from Ukraine and considered having made the best use of our time in Krakow! THAT IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!
Our next stage of the journey will take us through to Warsaw. See you soon.
1 comment:
i like those salt sculptures!
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