Kraków

Polish pierogi 'dumplings', nom nom nom...

Well, I've posted a lot about Auschwitz, but there were some really lovely parts to Kraków, too. Pronounced Krak-ov, rather than the Americanised Krak-aw, apparently.

I stayed at the 70s Hostel just out of sheer curiosity. It was more of a 'room' than a hostel. Very small, but friendly. The kind of place you stay when you don't have much money and plan to be out 90% of the time. More than four people and finding sitting space becomes tricky. But it is situated in the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, which has a lot of character and is an easy walk from the old part of town.

I decided to upgrade to one of their apartments, which was more spacious:

Apartment room.

Funky light bulb.

Kitchen, through a suitably 70s string curtain.

Horses - of which there are many in Kraków.

Tower in the central square from whence
a trumpet sounds on the hour.

St. Mary's - large church in the centre.

Typical Polish church style.

Nice statues.

Krakóv castle.

Tributes one year after Poland's Prime Minister died
in a plane crash.

Percy Bunny chillaxing.

It's a nice town, but I think as far as pretty buildings go, and general atmosphere, I preferred Wrocław. There was a bit of a protest going on as it was the one year anniversary of the death of Leck Kaczynski, the Polish PM, in a plane crash. By all accounts he was a bit of a controversial character and there were protesters both in support of his regime, and against.

Still, nice to say I've been, and had a lovely meal in the square with two Swedish friends I made en route to Auschwitz: Annelie and her daughter Rebecka. We really needed that time afterwards to talk through what we'd seen. Visiting any genocide memorial is an extremely affecting experience - it's good to be able to discuss it, rather than bottle it up.