Poland Day 2: Krakow

Time to wrap up the last few days of Poland.  Here we go...

Saturday we drove to Krakow and spent the afternoon walking through the Old Town, mostly along the Royal Road.  This is the path the royalty would have followed as they entered the town and made their way to the castle.  We started on the north end at St. Florian's Gate.  Our timing was great--as soon as we arrived, there were a bunch of people dressed in midieval clothing who had a little sword fight.  

the gate from the inside of the city walls

This is the view as you walk towards the Market Square.  I've read in several places that Krakow is similar to Prague, although not quite as great as Prague.  I'd agree.  It has a lot of the same colorful, charming buildings, but not on the same level.

St Mary's Basilica is the central attraction in the square.  It's a gothic church that was rebuilt in the 14th century, and Hyrum wanted to climb up the tower but it was closed.  While many churches around Europe start to look the same, the ones we saw in Krakow reminded me more of Turkey than mainland Europe. They had bright blue ceilings and color all over the walls.  

Next stop in the square was the Cloth Hall, which--again--was reminiscent of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (except only one of the hundreds of hallways).  It was neat to see, but not that impressive.  (Unless of course you're looking for something to buy.)

 We passed by the church (St. Francis Basilica) and residence that Pope John Paul II used when he was Bishop and Cardinal in Krakow, just prior to becoming pope.  He would speak to the people regularly from the window above the door, where his picture now hangs.  We had a hard time finding the entrance to the church, and realized there was a wedding going on.  We managed to sneak inside and see it in between ceremonies.

 On our way to the palace we passed the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, a Baroque Jesuit church, which had statues of all the apostles along the gate.  As we continued to wind through the streets we saw a lot of interesting architecture and bright colored buildings.

Eventually we made it to Wawel Castle, which was built in the 14th century.  Although Warsaw is now the capitol, this castle is where Polish royalty lived for centuries.

Our good luck for the day ran out, and they'd closed the cathedral randomly just minutes before we got there.  We had to enjoy it from the outside only.  It was the coronation site for the monarchy.  What's standing today was started in the 14th century, after being destroyed twice.  Our guide book (which I've since returned to the library...) was explaining that different pieces of the cathedral were added over several hundred years, which is why it's hodge-podge looking--one domed section crammed right against another.  

We found a great spot to sit and eat dessert--a followup to a delicious lunch we ate earlier but didn't take any pictures of because Tiago was being soo difficult in the restaurant.  The castle grounds are spread out and you can wander around to see the city, as well as the river that flows to the South of it.

Wawel Hill is behind me

We made it back to the hotel in time for some swimming.  Tiago always enjoys that, and it seemed like a good way to let him get out energy from being stuck in the stroller all day.