On day three of the trip, our little group said goodbye to Prague, loaded up on a VERY nice private bus at 8am, and set out for our next destination.
After a few hours of driving through the gorgeous Moravian countryside, we stopped for lunch and sightseeing in the quaint little village of Stramberk, Czechia. This was such a cute little place, with several restaurants, a town square, a museum, and even a small castle. We spent about an hour and half before loading back on the bus and continuing the trek to Poland, arriving in Krakow early evening.
Krakow
Our hotel was in the old town and the bus was too big to get anywhere near that part of the city, so we unloaded and schlepped our luggage a few blocks over some really rough cobblestones and through a pedestrian gate to reach the hotel.
I highly recommend the Hotel Polski if you ever find yourself in Krakow. It’s small, lovely, close to everything in the old town, has a restaurant, a really nice bar, and a private outdoor seating area.
Everyone checked in and got settled before we connected with a local guide for a tour of the old marketplace before sharing a traditional Polish dinner.
Wawel
Early the next morning we met our guide again to learn about the history of Krakow and visit the Wawel complex and St. Mary’s church. The Wawel site includes a castle, a cathedral, and a beautiful view of the city. Plus, if you look through the trees in the right spot, you get a peek at the Krakow dragon, which is a sculpture that actually breathes fire. Unfortunately, my video got corrupted somehow so I couldn’t include it. But please enjoy these lovely examples of Krakow architecture!
After our tour of the castle complex, we headed back downhill to the old market square, where we visited St. Mary’s church.
Yes, another church, but this one has a very unique attribute. Every hour of every day for the past 600 years a bugler climbs up 300 hundred steps and plays a short tune in each of the four cardinal directions. I added a video to the social media notices about this new blog entry if you are interested in watching. As for the buglers, there are strict requirements about who gets to participate. There are a rotating cast of three men, and yes, the bugler must be male. He also has to be a firefighter AND pass a rigorous audition before selected. It’s a lot, but it’s also one of the cool things about Krakow.
After our tour, we all went our own directions. I did some more sightseeing, and, of course, shopped, then met up with one of my fellow travelers to attend a candlelight Chopin concert at a local monastery. It was a really nice, informative, and enjoyable day.
The next day we visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, which I will write about at a later date. It was heavy and heartbreaking.
After returning from that excursion, most everyone just wanted an adult beverage and time to process what we had seen. I had dinner with a new friend, then turned in for the night.
Thanks for reading. Next time I will tell you all about Bull’s Blood and other interesting things!