Day 248: Exploring Krakow

Time to get out and explore Krakow! The weather was forecast to be sunny, but that didn't seem to be materialising, as it was quite foggy outside! We waited until about 10:30 and the fog hadn't lifted, so headed out anyway. Caught a tram into the centre of the old town where we started to tackle our filming.

Essentially there's three components to the World Heritage site here: the old town inside the old city walls, the adjacent castle on the riverfront, and then the Jewish Quarter a few blocks away but just near our apartment.

Started with the city walls, which were still partly intact including a couple of gates. Lots of tourists here, including a surprising number of Brits. Apparently it's been a popular destination for easyJet and RyanAir. Wandered down to the main square which is one of the largest in Europe, 200 metres on each side. You don't notice how big it is though, because there's a large medieval market hall in the centre.

Nice basilica on one side, where every hour a trumpeter emerges from the top turret and starts a call. He abruptly stops midway through, in tribute to a trumpeter who spotted a Mongol army approaching the city and sounded the alarm, only to be shot in the throat by an arrow midway through.

Also an interesting tower still standing, though it's all that was left of the fortified town hall after the city's Habsburg masters tore it down in the 18th century. Jerks.

Had a couple of bread rolls for lunch (these large doughy donut-shaped things that are sold from carts everywhere for about 1.60 zloty or 40 euro cents), then wandered down to the castle. Walked up the long entrance ramp only to be greeted by an unfriendly security guard who told us in no uncertain terms that dogs were not permitted.

Disappointed, we walked around the base along the riverfront, admiring what was left of the walls and the keep. As legend has it, the city grew up around the castle, and the castle was founded here because a Polish hero of legend slayed a fire-breathing dragon that lived in a cave under that hill. The cave is still there, as is a bronze dragon that breathes fire every few minutes. Tacky, but worth a grin.

Got to the other entrance of the castle and decided we'd each have a quick wander around one at a time, so we each spent 20 minutes waiting for the other. It was a bit cold just standing there doing nothing (air temp was probably around 13 degrees), and still very overcast as the fog hadn't lifted.

Walked the few blocks over to the Jewish Quarter where we explored and filmed a bit more. Still several old synagogues here, though since it was 4pm on a Friday we weren't able to go inside - they were closing for the Sabbath. I remembered from my time working with an ultra-observant Jew that they aren't supposed to interact with technology after sundown the night before Sabbath - a problem when the sun sets at 5pm!

Finished up our filming and grabbed late lunch of a local ziebatkoska, or a flat open sandwich. Imagine half of a foccacia and you're on the way. I had mine with cheese, mushroom, onion, chicken and salsa. Very tasty!

Back home to chill our for a few hours before heading back out for dinner. Visited another food truck park where Shandos had a pulled pork roll and I had an outstanding hot dog, featuring bratwurst, grilled haloumi, cranberries, stewed onion, iceberg lettuce and mustard. Amazing.Read more