We have spent the past five days exploring Krakow and have really enjoyed ourselves. Friday we caught an early morning flight from Gatwick, then managed to navigate our way into town and found our awesome and cheap apartment, just minutes from the centre of the old town. As per usual we spent our first afternoon orienting ourselves, stocking up on food at the supermarket and exploring the Christmas markets. We visited the main square that night and were impressed by the beautiful and colourful lights.
Krakow Main square
Saturday we went straight back to the main square (Rynek Glowy) and into the big church, St Mary's. The inside of the church was impressive, with lots of colours, a bright blue roof and huge opening altar. The church is known for it's trumpet call every hour (for the past 600 years) which stops suddenly to reflect the legend of the trumpeter who was killed by an arrow while trumpeting to alert the city of the approaching enemy's army.
Inside St Marys church
We also visited the Wawel Cathedral and the state rooms of the Royal castle, all of which were impressive. Another highlight of Krakow is the planty gardens which is the city park which circles the old town and provides a nice green space (when it's not covered in snow) and a great walking path. While wandering through the gardens we admired St Florian's gate and the small section that remains of the 14th century city wall.
Approaching the Castle
Castle Cathedral from inside castle grounds
Monday we took a tour out to Auschwitz. The tour was in two parts, with the first at Auschwitz-I, a well restored museum. Most striking were rooms filled with items from victims, such as shoes, brushes and one filled with human hair. Auschwitz-II was the more famous camp where 100,000 individuals were held at a time. An unimaginably large place.
Auschwitz-II, looking back upon main gate
Our last day was a fairly quiet one, generally wandering round, eating and drinking. Overall Krakow has been well and truly worth the visit!!
