Krakow, Poland 21.06

On our drive to Krakow, Gniewko took us to see the 'Kopiec Kosciuszki', (Kosciuszko's Heap). It is actually an artificial hill, that was built to commemorate the Polish Warrior Kosciuszko. It was quite incredible to see such a huge hill, perfectly shaped and tall. The sides of the hill were so steep, that we wondered how on earth anyone managed to mow the grass, which appeared to be perfectly manicured.

A path wound around the hill, leading to the top, where you could view the surrounding countryside and the city. It was the perfect first stop for us, as Gniewko could point out all the major sights of Krakow from above. We were able to see Wawel, the Vistula River, Sukienice - the oldest Polish uni, Kosciol Mariacki - St Mary's Church, Jagielonski University - from 14th Century, Kazimierz - Jewish Quarter, Blonie - biggest park in Krakow, Gniewko's apartment :) , and the amazing artificial lake which is in the middle of a forest, right near the city!

Wawel Castle

Soon we drove into the city itself, and Gniewko dropped us off outside Wawel Castle, so we could do some sightseeing. We were pretty hungry so we stopped in at an outside restaurant. Loren was thrilled by their tables with swinging chairs, so we chose one of those. The swinging chairs were just like the ones that people put outside on their front porches.

Then we headed off to Wawel itself. The streets were absolutely filled with people, as the school holidays had just started and because Krakow was holding their yearly 'Wianki' festival, also known as the 'Virgin's Day', or the 'Wreath Festival'. The festival was originally a pagan festival and is held yearly on the day of the Summer Solstice (longest day of the year). On this night, all virgins are supposed to wear wreaths of flowers, and then place them on the river at the end of the day. Lots of girls follow the tradition, but we had doubts as to how many of them were actually virgins.

The festival is accompanied by a concert of famous bands in the evening. The star of this year's Wianki festival was Jamiroquai from the UK. As we walked toward Wawel, we heard music playing, so we decided to go check it out. We wandered through crowds of people, patrolling policemen and lots and lots of candy stalls. Eventually we reached the river, and realised that Jamiroquai was doing their sound check! The stage for Jamiroquai was on the other bank of the river, but was facing us. We sat down to watch, and had a great time listening to the familiar tunes and lyrics. It was like having our own private concert, as the crowds were not swarming like they would be that night.

We finally headed back to Wawel Castle, which used to be the home for the Polish kings, as Krakow was once the capital of Poland. We now only had 2 hours to visit the castle, which only allowed us to see some of the things on exhibit there. We did have time to see the Royal and Guest Chambers though, with an English tour guide.

The rooms were full of furniture and tapestries from the time when the kings lived there. The tapestries were hand woven, and each square metre took one month to make! There was also a table made of marble, which was used for testing if coins were genuine. To test the coins, they would drop them onto the bowl-like surface, and listen to the sound.

One of the last rooms we saw, was really big and impressive, but the coolest thing about this room was the ceiling. If you look up, you can see sculpted heads looking down at you. The faces are very colourful and have a wide range of expressions.

Wawel itself is pretty huge, especially its central courtyard with multi-level balconies on all sides. It looked more like a palace from the inside of the courtyard, rather than a castle. The thick outer walls of the castle are more convincing, thick with heavy bricks.

The other exhibit that we saw, was a display of Prussian paintings. The paintings were normally on display in Sukiennice, but we were lucky enough to see them here. The size of some of these paintings was astounding! So was the level of detail that they managed to achieve.

Old Town

After seeing Wawel, we decided to have a wander around the Old Town. We arrived in the impressive main square and admired the old buildings and monuments dotted around it. On all sides of the huge square, there were tall, old houses, which had been turned into restaurants or shops. All of the restaurants had outdoor eating sections, creating a friendly, relaxed vibe in the square. Horse carriages were trotting around everywhere, taking people for tours of the city.

At the very centre of the square is the old market building, called Sukiennice. Part of this building is used as a museum, but it is currently being renovated. On the ground floor of the building, hundreds of stalls are set up, selling amber jewelry in every shape and size imaginable. The stalls were very old and the sellers had to climb in and out of them, over the counter!

Loren decided to do a bit of shopping here for herself and for her mum, who loves amber. She found a couple of beautiful pieces, including a ring which was very different from what she'd normally wear. She was very happy with her purchases though, as she got several things for the same price that one piece would be in Gdansk.

Artur was waiting outside, under the Mickiewicz monument, chilling out and watching the crowds go by. For anyone that is wondering, Mickiewicz was an extremely famous Polish poet. He was seriously compared to Shakespeare, as his work was extremely complex in its structure, similar to the way each of the lines Shakespeare wrote had equal numbers of syllables etc. He was a true genius of his time. Every town and city in Poland has a street named after him, and there are monuments all over the place in his honour. Kids still have to study his works in high school, and because its in old Polish, they find it just as complex as the ones in Australia who have to study Shakespeare's old English.

Krakow Nightlife
That evening, we caught up with Gniewko and Emilka, his girlfriend. Emilka grew up in the Polish mountains, and was really pretty. We decided to go to a chain restaurant called 'Sphinx' for dinner. It is actually an Egyptian restaurant, and is very popular in Poland, probably because they serve a lot of meat dishes. We had some shoarma, which is like the meat that is cut off a spit, like in kebabs.

Afterwards, Gniewko suggested we go to visit Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter. This area of Krakow has been through many phases. Originally, as the name suggests, it was a predominantly Jewish area, however after WWII, a lot of this area lay empty and unused. Eventually criminals started moving into the houses there, and it became quite a dangerous place to be. Gradually though, artists started moving in, as the cost of living there was cheaper. The influence of the artists and bohemian types moving in, was that the area gradually started to become quite trendy and a bit safer again. A lot of Jewish people have now moved back into this area too, and it is becoming a great area for the alternative music scene and great nightlife.

Lots of artists have ended up opening up bars there, but in their own quirky style. The aim of these businesses was not to make lots of money, but just to create somewhere really cool to hang out. This makes the area really unique and not like the more clean and exclusive places you find in most city's nightlife areas.

We went for a few drinks to a bar called 'Zinger'. The name comes directly from the decor, as every table has an old 'Zinger' sewing machine attached to it. These tables used to be pretty common in everyday households, but now they are antique, and add a great atmosphere to the place. The bar was lit by only candles, so it was a bit hard to see, but we were able to find ourselves a great little table and some drinks.

We had heard from Gniewko that Emilka was in a band of her own, so we asked her all about it. She had actually just returned from a tour that she was playing in Ireland. They even played in men and women's high security prisons! Quite a place to play a gig, following in the footsteps of Johnny Cash. Everyone really loved having them play there, and they were even dancing. Gniewko was a bit worried about it though, as the people in these high security prisons are obviously quite dangerous and twisted.

While we were in Zinger, we heard fireworks starting, so we rushed out to see them. We had to make our way down to the water, where we could see the fireworks and hear Jamiroquai play. The fireworks were impressive and went on for about 20 minutes. Some of them were even launched from under water!

Suddenly, a tipsy Artur realised that he had left his backpack in Zinger! We had our car keys, car documents and all sorts of other extremely important things in that bag, so he sobered up quickly and we rushed back to the bar. Thankfully it was still there, so we grabbed it and went to another pub in Kazimierz. One of the girls from Emilka's band was here, so we got to meet her. This bar had the Euro Cup playing, so we watched the second half of the Russia vs Netherlands game here. Unfortunately the Netherlands was eliminated. The competitive spirit was in the air though, and Loren challenged Gniewko to see who could skol a pint of beer the fastest. Poor Gniewko didn't expect to lose, but was unmercifully defeated. He had plenty of excuses, such as 'we just ate a full meal, that was the problem', and insists on trying again another time. Bring it on!

Soon we headed to the last bar of the night. We decided to try a shisha here, and we got apple and blackcurrant flavour! There was a big projector on the wall, which was playing cartoons and video clips. We stayed there talking until nearly 3am, and then finally retired to Gniewko's apartment. There was only one bedroom, so Gniewko let us sleep on his bed, and he slept on a mattress in the kitchen. His appartment was pretty cool, despite being quite small. There were posters of his favourite bands on the walls and we got to see his collection of ID passes from concerts that he has perfomed at. We also got to see some of his own cds. There was an awesome picture that his friend took of him working in his lab, looking like a mad proffessor.

The Quarry Lake
The next morning, we slept in quite late, then Gniewko cooked us some scrambled eggs. He has obviously inherited the generosity gene from his family. Then we set off to see the artificial lake! The lake was originally a quarry, which was located in the middle of a forest near Krakow. Once they finished using the quarry, they decided to fill the hole with water. The whole area is behind a big fence, and no one is actually supposed to go there, but that doesn't stop the Polish!

When we arrived, there was barely a free parking space near the forest. Once we found one, we walked along the little pathways in the forest, and then through a hole that had been cut in fence. There was a sign warning people that if they injured themselves within these borders, the owners would not be liable. Gniewko explained that the owners know that the people of Krakow treat this area as if it were public land, so they are just covering themselves against lawsuits. He also told us that part of the land has been sold to build a hotel, but people aren't too happy about it, they want to make sure they can still come there and not be kicked off by the hotel.

We made our way through more bushes and trees and finally arrived at the edge of the quarry. The land dropped straight down to the water, like a cliff face, and we couldn't figure out how to get down to the water. We could see lots of people at the water's edge at several places aroung the lake, but we had to go exploring to find the entrance down along the rocks. We walked for a long way around the lake without any luck, but we didn't mind, as the view was amazing. We eventually decided to come back round the same way, as we thought we could see an entrance in the other direction from where we arrived.

We found the path to the water, which was filled on either side with sun bathers. People had their eskies packed with drinks and some even had little bbqs going. We could see a couple of people floating right in the middle of the lake, on top of air mattresses! The whole place had such a summery and fun atmosphere.

We got to the edge of the water, but the guys decided they weren't wearing anything suitable for wading in the water. Loren was determined not to miss the opportunity, so she went into the water with her shirt dress on, and just got rid of her jeans. The water was so cool and inviting, such a refreshing change to the hot summer air. The only downfall was the little rocks under your feet which can be quite tricky to stand on without shoes, and the bigger ones can be quite slippery. Some people wore surf shoes to fix this problem.

Ojcow Castle After visiting the lake, we decided to check out the Ojcow Castle, which is famous for its calcium rocks and the 'Maczuga' rock. Maczuga means 'club', and that's exactly what this enormous club is shaped like. It stands up from the side of cliff, like a giant's club.

We climbed up a big hill to get to Ojcow Castle, and were surprised by just how similar it was to Wawel. It's actually known by people as 'mini Wawel'. The courtyard in the centre was identical to the one at Wawel, the only difference being its smaller size.

We visited the museum in the castle, and were asked to wear some daggy slippers over our own shoes. When Artur last visited the Wawel castle, he was asked to wear some even bigger slippers, but this time when we were there, we weren't asked to wear any. Ojcow Castle, however, still has this custom in place. Artur thinks the idea is that instead of damaging the floor with our dirty shoes, we are polishing the floor with their big slippers.

Armed with our slippers, we headed in to polish the Ojcow floors. While polishing, we saw the royal chambers, like those we saw in Wawel. These were filled with even more pieces of furniture, tapestries, paintings and all sorts of artefacts from the time when the kings inhabited the castle. One item that stood out to us, was a beautiful piano, which was built vertically, rather than horizontally like the grand pianos. The structure of it was more unusual than your typical upright piano though.

Kalis Soon, we reunited at Kalis for a BBQ with Lila, Staszek and Gniewko. Lila's brother was also there with his girlfriend. We sat out in the backyard, which is like a forest, stretching far out of sight. The food as usual was spectacular, and we tried a sausage called 'Kaszanka'. This sausage is made of pig's blood and a grain that tasted like millet. Loren wasn't hugely keen on this sausage, probably because of her aversion to food made of blood, but the other Polish sausages, baked potatoes and salads were exceptional. Before we arrived for the BBQ, we had bought some ice cream to share with everyone, so we all shared that after we finished our meal.

Gniewko had to go early because he had a band rehearsal, so we stayed behind eating and listening to old music. A lot of the songs were the old versions of the ones which 'Swagier Kolaska' had played at the outdoor concert in Warsaw. Staszek also brought out a bottle of whisky that he had been saving, but didn't want to drink on his own. Only Loren joined him, but that meant he could open it. It was great whisky, but Artur doesn't like the taste of spirits by themselves, so he didn't try it.

After lunch, Staszek brought out his air guns. They were excellent guns, each from different countries. One Italian, one German and one Russian. Loren turned out to be the best marksman, though Lila's brother couldn't believe it. He was quite shocked when he missed a few shots, then Loren came out and hit the mark on the first go. We were shooting a can that was hanging from a tree, some way from the balcony, not as easy to hit as we thought though. Artur found it funny to watch, and Staszek tried to keep up, but even his fancy hat wasn't helping out, as he said himself. Artur had a few tries, and a few successes as well!

The next morning, we left Kalis and said goodbye to Lila and Staszek and Boni. Lila was very sad to see us go, as she loves having the house full of people. We promised we would come back, hopefully soon.

Krakow Today was our last day for exploring Krakow, as we were heading to Zakopane that afternoon. We headed into town and spent some time shopping for clothes, as Artur was running out of t-shirts, and Loren can always use something new in her wardrobe :)

Kosciol Mariacki

After our shopping, we visited the Kosciol Mariacki - St Mary's Church. It's quite a cool-looking church from the outside. It has two big towers, kind of like the Notre Dame Cathedral. We decided not to climb the tower though, but just have a look at the church itself. We came inside the church and had a quick look around, but were approached by someone wanting money for looking at the church. We were a bit surprised, so we left pretty much straight away.

Clock Tower

Next, we headed to see the Clock Tower. There was surprisingly no queue to get in, so we bought tickets and headed straight up the long flights of stairs. There were some exhibits on different floors on our way up, but we only had a brief look, we wanted to see the view from the top.

Finally we reached the last level, but were sorely disappointed with the view. The windows were tiny, and hard to see out of. We managed to get a couple of good photos, but now we understood why there was no queue to get in.

Wawel Cathedral

We had planned to visit Wawel castle again, as we had missed some of the exhibits we wanted to see; namely the Dragon Cave - dungeons, and the Treasury. We knew that Monday was free of charge, but we didn't realise there was a strict quota of tickets. The tickets disappeared long before we got to Wawel, so we had to change our plans. We decided to see the Wawel Cathedral instead which is essentially built onto and part of Wawel itself. Thankfully, the Cathedral was still open and selling tickets for the catacombs beneath.

We bought tickets, and came inside to see the cathedral. It was absolutely specatacular, with an enormous ceiling and a huge golden altar at the front. There were gilded sarcophogi of famous kings, huge, and built like altars themselves. The walls were filled with big paintings in religious motifs, and lots of mini chapels and altars lined the walls on either side of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral is also famous for it's huge Zygmunt Bell, which we climbed up to see. There was a great view from the tower, Krakow is very pretty from above.

After seeing the Cathedral itself, we headed down to look at the catacombs. Many famous Polish people have been buried here, including many Polish Kings. We also saw the sarcophagus of Adam Mickiewicz, the famous poet. There was a carving of Mickiewicz face in profile, so Artur had a photo with it to show the similarities :) Loren thinks the only similarity is the name, as her Mickiewicz is much better looking.

There was also a monument to all the Polish people who were killed in Russian concentration camps, when Russia took over the Eastern side of Poland, after WWII.

We started to leave the Cathedral when it suddenly started to pour with rain. We figured it'd only last for a short while, so we tried to brave it. We managed to get to the gates of Wawel Castle, but the wind was so strong that we physically could not walk through! We really tried, but the wind just swept us back through the gates! We sought shelter with a group of other people under a ledge of a building. However the rain was still reaching us and we were getting quite wet. It soon started hailing very heavily and we were glad that we had stayed there.
We were fairly freezing by the time the rain stopped, so we rushed back towards the car. It was a long walk to get there though, and we weren't quick enough to avoid the next shower of rain. We stopped under another building for a while, but eventually we figured that we were wet enough already, so we might as well just get wet and then get changed. We walked back in the pouring rain, loving it now that we were completely soaked. Everyone looked at us like we were total weirdos, as we looked like drowned rats. We finally reached the car, and found some dry clothes to change into. It felt good to be dry again! Later that day we heard that peoples cars had been damaged all over Krakow from the violent hailstorm that had struck that day. Good thing we stayed under the shelter at Wawel!