Postcards from... Kraków

Of all the places I wanted to see in Poland, Kraków was right at the top of the list. Nonetheless, it was quite a few weeks before I managed a trip there. Happily, it coincided with a long weekend, albeit one in which I had been roped into working the Saturday morning.

With the Kids' Club over and done with, the weekend could finally begin. After a nice cup of tea (or two) at home, I caught the 13:50 bus to Kraków. Once in Kraków I quickly located my hotel. I then forced myself to walk to the nearby supermarket where I stocked up on tea, milk and few other essentials. Back in the hotel I spent the evening reading magazines, drinking tea and making free with the WIFI while I tried to decide how best to spend my time in the Kraków area. After much to-ing and fro-ing, I decided to book a trip to Auschwitz for the Monday, which meant that I would be spending the Sunday in Kraków itself. Happy that I'd made a decision I went to bed, and as the clocks were going back, I got a much-needed extra hour of sleep.

Juliusz Słowacki Theatre

The next morning, fully refreshed, I went exploring. At 09:00 Kraków was shrouded in mist and very peaceful. I walked through the main square and followed the road down to Castle Hill.

Entering the old town

The Rynek

The Sukiennice, a vast cloth hall built in the 14th century

Under the arches of the Sukiennice

Least terrifying stone lion ever

Autumn mist at the foot of Castle Hill

Wawel Castle

Disappointed that the castle wasn't yet open I made the decision to head to Kazimierz, the war-time Jewish ghetto. By the time I got there, the place was mobbed and I tripped over yet another tour groups every time I rounded a corner.

One of the many synagogues in the Kazimierz disctrict, the former Jewish ghetto

Door to one of the synagogues

Another synagogue

Fed up I walked across the river to Oskar Schindler's factory. As soon as I reached the street I knew exactly where I was – I recognised it from Schindler's List. Inside I waited an awfully long time to get served (the staff in the factory absolutely suck!) but finally I had a ticket.

Concrete 'Auschwitz' tunnel on the way to Emalia, Oskar Schindler's factory

Schindler's office at Emalia

The factory is now a museum dedicated to the Nazi occupation from 1939-1945, and to be honest it's quite difficult to see the factory as it was. Upstairs two rooms remain almost as they were, one being Oskar Schindler's office. I spent such a long time just standing there looking that I drew the security guard's attention! Clearly I was meant to my three pictures and move on. I quickly took one last look around and moved on.

The most shocking thing was rounding a corner and suddenly coming face-to-face with three huge Nazi banners. I hadn't expected that and it sort of threw me and left me feeling uncomfortable for the rest of the tour. Outside I thought about Auschwitz, a place so closely linked to Emalia (Schindler's factory). If the factory upset me, God knows what I would make of Auschwitz...

I left the ghetto still feeling uncomfortable and made my way back to the main square, where I dived into Coffee Heaven for some lunch. Once again Polish service left a LOT to be desired but they got there in the end. After lunch I walked past the university and headed again for Castle Hill.

The królewska bazylika archikatedralna śś. Stanisława i Wacława na Wawelu (Wawel Cathedral)

The towers of Wawel Cathedral

Another look at the towers

One of the courtyards at the castle

Once there I realised it had been a mistake not to go earlier as the tickets for the Royal apartments, the bit I was most interested in, had completely sold out. I had to make do with the State rooms for 18zl (approx. £3/€4.30/US$4.80), which were fairly underwhelming. I wasn't as annoyed about missing out on the Royal apartments as I could have been, probably because I lived pretty close. I fully intended to return Kraków and make Wawel Castle a priority, but it never happened.


The towers of the Romanesque Kościół św. Andrzeja (St Andrew's Church)



The 14th century Kościół Mariacki (St Mary's Church)



The Sukiennice



Wieża ratuszowa w Krakowie (Town Hall Tower) in the main square

The Rynek from the Town Hall Tower



Views from the Town Hall Tower



Beautiful stained glass

By the time I had walked back to main square I was pretty tired – in my defence I had been sightseeing for almost seven hours – so I dived into a conveniently-located Coffee Heaven (not the same one as previously) for a muffin and some more tea, after which I went back to the hotel.

The Planty, a park that surrounds the centre of Kraków