November 16, 1015 - Krakow

We are staying at the Hotel Santi, a small "boutique" hotel.  Our room is huge, but there is some tram noise under our window.  The breakfast is superb.  Not the usual huge buffet, but a relatively small buffet.  We can order omelets, pancakes, eggs - all are excellent, especially the pancakes which are served with whipped cream and chocolate.

We head to the Market Square and go to St. Mary's Church.  It is over the top ornate, probably the most ornate we have ever seen.  We get there in time to hear the bugle and the opening of the altar.  Building of the Church began in 1355 but was completed in the early 16th century.

 St Mary's Church

Altar (opens into three pieces when bugle sounds

Market square with St. Mary's church

St. Mary's Church

Market Square.  Building in back used to to be the Cloth Hall but now has little stalls and restaurants.

Another picture inside the Church

Before going to Wawel Castle, we stop for lunch.  Nothing in moderation here.  Check out the size of the sandwich!

We then head to Wawel Castle.  The Castle is closed but we see the

Cathedral.  There is a very good audio tour.  We also go to the museum .   Both are interesting.

The scene of the crowning of almost every Polish king and queen throughout history, the current Wawel Cathedral is the third to be built on the site. The first cathedral was built of wood, probably around 1020, but certainly after the founding of the Bishopric of Kraków in 1000AD. Destroyed by fire it was replaced by a second cathedral that subsequently burnt down.

The current building was consecrated in 1364 and built on the orders of Poland’s first king to be crowned at Wawel, Władysław the Short (aka Władysław the Elbow-high, 1306-1333), who was crowned among the charred rubble of its predecessor in 1319. Considered the most important single building in Poland, Wawel’s extraordinary Cathedral contains much that is original, although many glorious additions have been made over the centuries. At its centre is the imposing tomb of the former Bishop of Kraków, St. Stanisław (1030-1079), a suitably grand monument dedicated to the controversial cleric after whom the Cathedral is dedicated. Boasting 18 chapels, all of them about as ostentatious as you’re ever likely to see, of particular interest is the 15th-century Chapel of the Holy Cross, found to the right as you enter and featuring some wonderful Russian murals as well as Veit Stoss’ 1492 marble sarcophagus to Kazimierz IV. The Royal Crypts offer a cold and atmospheric diversion as the final resting place of kings and statesmen – most recently former president Lech Kaczyński – while at the top of a gruelling wooden series of staircases is the vast, 11 tonne Sigismund Bell - so loud it can supposedly be heard 50km away.

Sacristy

Walking along the Planty on the way to the Wawel Castle

View of Wawel Castle

Wawel Cathdral

Wawel Castle 

Wawel Cathedral also known as 

Entrance to the Cathedral

View of Krakow from Sigismund Bell

Sigismund's Bell

The bell was cast in 1520 by Hans Behem and named after King Sigismund I of Poland, who commissioned it. The bell weighs almost 13 tonnes (28 thousand pounds) and requires 12 bell-ringers to swing it. It tolls on special occasions, mostly religious and national holidays, and is regarded as one of Poland's national symbols.

Street in Krakow




We walk down the Planty back to the hotel and check out restaurants nearby.  A Corsican one , Corse is around the corner, and we have a huge fish/seafood dinner for 2 and some hot mulled wine.  Delicious.  

Dinner at Corse

November 17, 2015 - Krakow

We have another good breakfast; for me, pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate.  Yum.
We head to the Market Square to buy tickets for the Salt Mine Tour tomorrow.  We then meet up with the Jewish Walking tour.  We head to Kazimierz area, the old Jewish neighborhood.  It is a bit of a walk to this section.  The old synagogue is still standing, and is a museum, but the tour does not take us into it.  About 65,000 Jews lived in Krakow before the war, and now maybe a few thousand, although about 100 are orthodox.  The streets around the Old Synagogue now have a number of stores and restaurants with Jewish names, although they are not necessarily owned or run by Jews.  The area was relatively neglected until Steven Spielberg put it back on the map with the filming of "Schindler's List."  Across the street is the Isaac Synagogue, now run by Chabad.  Walking the streets we can see places in the doorways where mezzuzahs once were.  We cross the Wistla River and enter the part of the City that was the Jewish Ghetto.  

The Old Synagogue

Cemetery behind Remuh Synagogue

Isaac Synagogue

 

Roundabout in street before crossing to the ghetto

Crossing the Wistla River

 

Jewish Ghetto

 The Plac Bohaterow Getta formerly known as Zgody Square was  the site of families being torn apart, mass deportations to the death camps, beatings and executions. Following deportations and the final liquidation of the ghetto, Plac Zgody was strewn with furniture, clothes, luggage and other belongings that the victims had been forced to abandon - this image would later inspire the redesign of the square.  Laid out with 70 large well-spaced metal chairs meant to symbolise departure, as well as subsequent absence, the entire square has essentially been turned into an evocative memorial to the victims of the Kraków Ghetto. A place for candles and reflection was also added within the small, former bus terminal building at the north end of the square.

Heroes of the Ghetto Square

Guard house where Jews were taken to be transported to the camps.  

 From the Heroes of the Ghetto Square we walk to Oskar Schindler's Factory.  More than a factory, it is really a museum of the Nazi occupation of Poland.  We spent over 3 hours there and still were not able to take everything in.    There are photos of the people who worked in the factory.  

We make our way back to the hotel and then go to an Indian Restaurant (Hot Chili), which was pretty good.  The Polish beer was very good.


By the way, we are down the street from a number of consulates, including the French which has candles in front of it in memory of those killed by the terrorist attack in Paris on November 13.

November 18, 2015, Krakow

Yesterday we arranged for a tour of the Salt Mine in Wieliczka, about an hour outside of Krakow.  The salt mine, which was opened 700 years ago, is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.  The mine itself is about 300 km, but we only saw about 3 km.
The network of underground galleries and chambers reach a depth of 132 meter (about 442 feet) .  We climb about 800 steps to go to the lowest level.  The mine's attractions include dozens of statues, including Goethe, Casimir, hours, etc.  and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, including a chapel with the carving of the Last Supper.  Ken even got to turn a winch used in mining salt.   Below are some pictures.  It is impossible to capture all the sculptures.  Being at the bottom of the mine was a bit reminiscent of The Pit and the Pendulum.

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Statute of Pope Paul

Steps going down

After the trip to the Salt Mine, we go back to Krakow to go to the Wawel Castle.

We are too late to get a ticket to the Castle, so we head to the Jewish quarter.  We had hoped to see the museum in the Old Synagogue but it had just closed.  We went to the reform Temple and then the Kupa synagogue (orthodox).  Interestingly, all the people selling tickets to see the synagogues were not Jewish.

The Temple (reform)

Inside the Temple

Inside the Temple

Inside the Temple

Storefronts in Jewish section

Altar at Kupa Synagogue

Chandelier in shape of Menorah at Kupa Synagogue

We head back to our hotel, trying to figure out which Tram to take.  We got about 6 different directions.  Finally an older man, who is a researcher in cellular biology at UW - Madison, and was in Krakow for a conference shows us where to go.  We end up at the Train/Bus station to find out about a bus/train to Katowice.

We head back to hotel, and find that there is a demonstratioin going on at the Market Square.  Police all around, people waving flags and singing the Polish national anthem.  We later learn (at the Ukrainian restaurant where we have supper) that it is an anti-immigration demonstration, led by a right wing youth organization.  We have some great Ukrainian food and some Georgian wine and head back to the hotel.

Anti-immigration demonstration in Market Square

View from our room at Hotel Santi

Hotel Santi

November 19, 2015 Krakow

Our last day in Krakow.  We head out to Wawel Castle.  Tickets are free but one has to reserve a specific time to see the various parts of the Castle.  We opt for the state rooms and Lost Wawel.  The state rooms are beautiful but by the time we are ready to go to Lost Wawel it is raining heavily.  We cut our losses, take a taxi back to the Hotel, ask the driver to wait, get our bags and takes us to the bus station.

We fortify ourselves with lunch, Starbucks, pretzel and buy our bus tickets to Katowice.

On way to Wawel Castle

Wawel Castle

Courtyard around State Rooms