this first shot is of me on the train to krakow...it was after i have flown to prague and then warsaw....this ride was about three hours long....so of course i kept myself busy with some sudoku....just a warning if you have never played...it can be quite addictive...i thought i would be over it by now....but no....the train was fun although when we first got on we were in the wrong car and got yelled at by some porter guy who was helpping some american folks....i guess we were in their seats....it was too funny....but overall we made it to our cool apt for the four days we were in town....on with the show....
there are many awesome buildings in krakow...this is one of them....the collegium maius...one of the oldest buildings of learning in all of eastern europe...many a famous scientist studied here...including copernicus....they have a lot of amazing metal work, like the drain pipe you see aboe...i love the way the sky is the color of the eyes....made this shot pretty freaky....
krakow is also known for its churches....there are hundreds...we saw about 10 while we were there...and on a sunday no less...poland is VERY catholic....like 99% of its population is catholic...and of course the polish pope (the one who died recently) was considered to be "their" pope...i have a shot of him lower down in this entry....his picture is everywhere....the church above is franciscan...i really loved the stained glass window...very modern and great colors....
the picture above is of st. mary's church....wowowowowowow....it was stunning....the paintings and color and high ceilings were incredible....its a very old and beautiful church still in use today....and it is located in the central square of krakow...where lots of stuff happens both day and night....
i love this shot because it is of a church...of which there are many in the city and the tram....these are a great way to get around the city....very easy and very clean...we took one on the way back from the jewish sector the day we took a walking tour on that side of the river....
in the square where st mary's is there are a lot of artisans and different types of folks earning an interesting living....this guy let me try on his chain mail...it was really cold and quite heavy...i can't imagine how heavy the whole "knight in shining armour" must have been...insane....but he was a cool dude and it was fun trying on his stuff....
this shot is from the jewish quarter....i guess at one time there were thousands of jews living in poland and especially krakow...but after world war 2 there were only a few hundred who returned to this city....and to this day there are only that many that remain....very sad...
as we toured the jewish section of town, our tour guide, who was a film major, would show us shindler's list and point out where we were in the shot he was showing us...this alleyway was in the movie....this section is not where the ghetto was though....which is what it portrays in the film....where the ghetto was, now has nice buildings and a high rise or two....definitely was not useable when speilberg was there shooting his movie....although he did use the current jewish sector to film most places....
the one place that is still standing is schindler's factory....they are planning to turn it into a museum....but that hasn't happened yet....it was amazing to go to the jewish cultural center in krakow and read the stories of the poles who risked their lives and the lives of their families to get jews to safe places during the war....its good to see that people do try to help one another in very difficult times...and the stories were so moving.....
as i said above....krakow has some beautiful architecture...unlike warsaw...it wasn't completely destroyed in the war....although a lot of it was...but some of the older beauty still remains....as you can see from the courtyard shot above....i love this part of eastern europe and have now seen this style of buidling design in four different countries....the courtyards are off the street, usually through dark driveways and garages....but they are so amazing when you see them....i loved this one....
here are some polish musicians....i danced with the guy in the front for a verse or two....too cute....they stand on the street corners in the older parts of town, playing for tourists and earning a living....i loved their traditional dress and they were quite good musicians as well....
here's that picture of the pope....this window is actually refered to as the "pope's window"....this is where he addressed the polish folks of krakow when he came to town....there are candles across the street and under the window at all times, as well as flowers to remember him....the poles loved this pope and felt he was their own man in charge....
the shot above and the shot below are from wawel castle....this place is huge...we made it into the state rooms and the cathedral....which was stunning i might add....it is a huge complex up on a hill, for protection....along the river...it has a marvelous view and as you can see the day we were there it was perfect weather....this is shot of the castle and the cathedral....
this is a shot of jennifer and i in the courtyard of the castle with this super cool tree...it was climbing up the courtyard's walls and just begged us to take a picture....it reminds me of a shot i took in cambodia as well....although i am dressed warmer here :) jennifer and i had a great time visiting krakow, warsaw and prague and saw some amazing sights along the way....including this castle....
if you didn't know, krakow is known for its amber...here is a shot from one of the many stalls selling amber in the cloth hall...this was an indoor market with tons and tons of amber...plus, some jewish wooden dolls, chessboards and polish pottery...which is absolutely beautiful...but of course i didn't buy any....no room in the backpack for pottery that could get broken :)
this is the cloth hall market from the outside...it was a beautiful building in the old town square of krakow....here is a shot of it at dusk our first night in town....
as i said before the town square is where many people earn money...including this great bubble maker...he was just using some bubble fluid and a wand and got these HUGE and wonderful bubbles...both kids and adults had smiles on their faces watching this guy....reminded me a bit of the bubbles i made with science explorers :)
this last krakow shot is of the old barbican...or city wall and gate over what was once a moat...this is the way most traders and merchants entered the city....they keep it closed in the winter months so unfortunately we didn't make it into the building itself...but it was cool to look at from the outside....overall....i really enjoyed krakow and i hope i get to go back...i would love to spend more time in birkenau, the old part of town and go to the salt mine outside of town...i have friends who were just there for april break and said it was outstanding....so i hope i make it back....yet again, another place i would like to return to....frustrating.....hope you are well and had a fun earth day...next time i will update with warsaw and then hopefully prague....i am only two months behind now :) gotta love it!!!!! thanks for stopping by :) have a good one!!!!
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