Final Poland Travelogue

Fewer pics for these days; I had filled the disk on my camera. I'm using Chris's pictures and have still to get pictures from Debbie, Janice & Barbara. If there are real good ones I will post when I get them. The last days of the trip were the worst weather, so no one too too many pictures.

Poland Tour Day 5: April 4
The next morning we were up early. The breakfast buffet was lavish, we were sorry we had to leave so quickly. But an 8:05 train was taking us to Krakow on the Wisla River, no time to linger over waffles. Once again we humped our suitcases up & down stairs and heaved them onto the train. We left most of them outside our compartment this time. No one complained and the train was not that busy. We got to Krakow around 11:30. Took 2 taxis to the hotel. While Ewa, Debbie & Janice went to the Czartoryski Museum to see Da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine (one of his only 4 paintings of women, with Mona Lisa being the most famous), me, Chris & Barbara returned to our driver who took us to the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

I was already nervous about going down into the mine, and when we got to the ticket counter it said that, due to work going on, there may be delays in getting in and getting out of the mine. (Nothing sets off my fear of claustrophobia faster than the thought of being in a space I can't get out of.) Barbara talked me down and I decided that having come all this way I had to do it. We bought our tickets and went to the café to pass our waiting time in another exercise in odd-tasting wine. I had half a beer. Our driver was so nice - he waited around and then checked to see that we were going on the tour before he left.

The mine tour was interesting to a point. Our guide seemed to be doing her spiel by rote - we detected no personality. We went down 50 flights of steps, and started going into the rooms that had been carved by the miners. They were connected by long, log-lined tunnels. The "tah-dah" room is the Kinga Chapel; a magnificent large room with carved altars, the last supper, the crucifixion, etc. It was spectacular. But the rest of it was just OK. We got back up to the surface in the miner's elevator; several cages on top of each other into which they piled 10 people each. It was tight and when we got to the top, our doors didn't open, but we could hear people above or below us getting out. We had to go back up one floor so they could let us out. I was glad to be back at the surface.

Kinga Chapel - found this pic on the web, ours are all very dark


Not a great pic of me, but it proves I was there!


We got back to the hotel, the lovely Hotel Grodek. I went upstairs to recover as best I could - my cold was really getting bad now - so I took a lovely hot bath and then slept for a bit. Everyone else was shopping in Krakow. And Janice and Debbie found a café and had a couple Irish coffees, which they said were just the thing to combat the cold temperatures - it felt like winter was coming back.

That evening, we met our guide Marta at 5:30 at the hotel. She took us on a tour of the old Jewish part of town. Poland was a very tolerant country for most of its history, and many Jews settled there. Krakow had a very large Jewish community. Too bad it was already late and most of the places were closed. There are two fine Jewish museums, 7 synagogues and a very interesting cemetery in the area. Picturesque Poland also offers a Jewish Trail Tour which would have taken us to those sights the next day; but we were on a different tour.

We saw an old synagogue, toured several streets and ended up the Isaac synagogue that contains a permanent memorial entitled “Memory of Polish Jews”- many pictures of people in the community before 1932, and then some as they were being labeled, and taken away to the camps. I was a basket case seeing this, sobbing at the end. I cannot get over how badly people have treated and do treat each other. Usually I can go on with life, but seeing memorials really affects me. Before this stop, heading to the Jewish quarter, someone asked me if I’d been to Dachau or Auschwitz and they were surprised when I said no, and I wouldn’t ever be going. After seeing me fall apart at this small memorial, they understood.

We finished up around 7:30. Stopped in one restaurant to try have a drink before dinner, but they were all full, (We had seen several other tourist groups of 20 - 30 people roaming the Jewish quarter earlier.) So we went to the Ariel Restaurant, where we had reservations, early. I had a wonderful tea - rose hips and black tea and cherry brandy - and then the matzo ball soup. Matzo balls I can leave - they rank right down with knodel - but the broth was delicious. Debbie had a pre-dinner shot of vodka which she said was very smooth, once she could talk again! While most of the others went with the safe stuffed cabbage, Janice tried the stuffed goose necks, which she claimed were delicious. I revived for about an hour, but then I knew I was about to crash. Ewa called a taxi, which whisked me back to the hotel where I collapsed back into bed. The rest stayed in the restaurant where the Jascha Lieberman Trio was to play Jewish music. They said the concert was great - a modern take on some folk songs and classics.

Poland Tour Day 6: April 5
The next morning we woke up to mixed rain and snow. Snow! After breakfast, Marta was there to take us to the castle and cathedral. I was wearing just about everything I could, plus 2 scarves. We all trudged along under our umbrellas. I was glad the hill up to Wawel castle wasn't too steep - I was puffing hard already. We walked onto the grounds. Marta told us that most of the Polish kings have been crowned and buried in Krakow. Part of the ceremony is that the kings walk from the coronation to the Florian Gate, on foot. A sign of humility for the king to do this. Even one of the kings who had been crowned in Warsaw came to Krakow to take this walk.

The cathedral was magnificent. We heard about the legend of St. Stanislaw, who was quartered after his murder (it's a tough life, becoming a saint) and all the pieces were laid to rest in a stupendous silver casket. The legend is that as long as they remain together, Poland will not be divided. (In the 1700s Poland was "partitioned" between Russia, Prussia and Germany. It was only in the 1920s that Poland became a unified country again, only to get occupied by the Germans then taken over by the Russians.)

There were many works of art here, both including the tombs of beloved rulers and paintings and altars off to the side of the cathedral. We climbed the bell tower to the Zygmunt Bell. Touching it with your left hand is supposed to bring luck, and to the unmarried women, a husband. (Not sure if that's lucky or not.) We duly touched and Marta took our picture.

Everyone touches Zygmunt’s bell for luck. Notice how bundled up I am – I think I had on 3 shirts, both scarves that I brought and a vest!


We exited the cathedral through the catacombs, where the kings are laid to rest. We got a story for each room. We went into the courtyard of the castle, which was built by an Italian designer. Marta pointed out that the walkways between the wings are all outside (to go through the interior, you had to go through private rooms). Great for Italy, but not so much for Poland. Did I mention it was snowing? In April?

The Wawel castle inner courtyard.


There's a spot in the inner courtyard that is one of the chakra points of the Earth. We all stepped up; I could hear & feel a buzzing. I'm sure it wasn't the cold medicine! I want to go back when I'm well and go there again, plus do more clothes shopping. A quick flight, a weekend shopping and attuning my chakras to the Earth's, what could be better!

We left the castle ground through the Dragon's cave - a set of spiral steps down to river level. There are natural caves there, some quite large. Marta said that early peoples lived in the caves.

Us in the Dragon Cave


We walked back into town, stopped at a Ukrainian cafe for a warm cup of something. I tried the warm beer - it was on the menu. It did warm me up, but tasted awful. Needed lemon & honey. Some of the others tried tea with shots of raspberry syrup or spoons of jam stirred in, which they said were interesting.

Then we went to the more modern Franciscan church, with windows in the Art Nouveau style by Stanislaw Wyspianski. It was beautiful. With that, the tour ended. We went for lunch at Chlopskie Jadlo, a country-style restaurant. Their afternoon was spent shopping; I was back in the hotel napping. Janice & Debbie found a café again and had more Irish coffees. I sure missed a lot, being sick.

That evening, we went to a very cute café for dinner. Had salads! What a change from the meat/cabbage/potatoes what we'd been having. We walked to a nearby liquor store so people could buy Goldwasser, a vodka-based drink containing gold flakes. Then Debbie and I went back to the hotel, we were both very chilled. The rest of the crew went to the Jazz Club U Muniaka, where they thoroughly enjoyed the music. The first set even included Poland’s great tenor sax payer Janusz Muniak, who owns the club.


Poland Tour Final Day: April 6
The next morning, after breakfast we went for last minute Polish food shopping at a nearby supermarket and then headed back to the train station. Another 3-hour ride put us back in Warsaw. Debbie and I spent most of the trip in the dining car, that’s a very pleasant way to travel - sitting and sipping coffee as the scenery whizzes by. We got cabs to the airport and caught our flight back to Munich.