Situated on the Vistula River, Kraków is the ancient capital of
Poland where almost all the Kings of Poland were crowned and eventually
buried. The legendary founder of the
city was Prince Krak who vanquished the Wawel Dragon and set up his residence
on what is now called Wawel Hill.
The Wawel Cathedral with its colourful domes …
… and the castle are very popular visitor attractions.
One touching story is told by this memorial to Dzok the dog.
When his master died at the Grunwaldski Roundabout, Dzok
returned to the place every day of the year 1990-1991 and waited in vain for
his master to take him home!
A short distance away is the old town, once surrounded by
walls, remnants of which still remain.
The Rynek or Market Square, is the largest in Europe and in
its centre is the Cloth Hall and the tower of the old City Hall.
The Cloth Hall is now filled with little craft and souvenir
shops.
The Jewish Quarter has lost its atmosphere as it is now full
of chic bistros and restaurants. One
poignant reminder of its troubled past is the Ghetto Heroes Square where a
memorial in the shape of randomly placed, larger than life chairs is a reminder
of the occasion when the Nazi soldiers cleared the houses in the Ghetto,
throwing the furniture out of the windows into the roads and the square. The Jews forced out of their homes were
transported to Auschwitz.
Oskar Schindler’s factory, made famous by the film
“Schindler’s List” is still there …
… and is now a museum and memorial of what he did to save so
many lives.
From Krakow we travelled south east to Niedzica whose castle
sits just above the dam of a huge reservoir.
Hydro-electric generators are built into the dam and on the
walkway across the top is an amazing painting showing the dam apparently
collapsing in on itself.
From this lovely and popular holiday area we travelled the
short distance to Zakopane – a journey that took quite a long time as the
traffic in and out of the town moves at snail’s pace. In the winter Zakopane is a popular ski
resort with everything from gentle nursery slopes to some impressive ski jumps
We were able to walk up a beautifully maintained path …
… into the lower Tatra Mountains on a lovely sunny day …
… and intended taking the cable car (you can see it in the
picture above) to the summit of Kasperowy Wierch (1987 m) the following day but
the weather closed down and our plan was thwarted. We did, however, see a three-toed woodpecker
on the camp-site.
We also saw the strangest caravan we have ever seen.
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