Day 10 Krakow to Waraw

Day 10

Dzenh dobriy - good morning! Today is our last day in Krakow, with a morning tour of Polish historical sites, free time in the Old Town Square for eating, looking, and shopping, followed by Poland’s “Amtrak” train to Warsaw for just under 3 hours, leaving Krakow at 2:00 p.m. Henryk, our dependable bus driver, left with our luggage early to drive the 6 hours to Warsaw, after dropping us off at our first site, Wawel (pronounced “Vavel”) Castle and cathedral complex.
The previous evening gave us all another chance to explore the charming city center with its magnificent square, the Rynek Glowny, and the Cloth Hall, the Sukiennice, which inside is filled with stalls selling wonderful Polish crafts and gifts, such as wooden boxes, amber jewelry and ceramic pottery. Some of us found an intriguing vodka tasting shop with such flavors as wormwood and herbs, chocolate, blueberry, and many others. Most of the group found traditional Polish cuisine to round out the evening.
This morning our beloved guide Janusz, needed to pay a visit to a medical clinic to check out his hoarse voice. In his stead, we were fortunate to be led by his close colleague, Edita, who charmed us with her smile, her detailed knowledge of Polish history (and dates), and the “valued added” stories. Upon entering the complex, she regaled us with Krakow’s famous dragon tale: There was a dragon that was terrorizing the city. A young lad set out to slay the dragon. He offered the dragon a sheep stuffed with phosphorous. The dragon swallowed the sheep and then, out of thirst, drank water until he burst. End of dragon.
First stop in the complex was the courtyard of the castle of the kings built in the 14th Century. The novel Renaissance style of the building was copied by Polish nobles all over the country. Of note were the resident 136 large tapestries designed and made in Belgium centuries ago and ultimately moved from country to country to preserve them during the Nazi era. These tapestries were finally retrieved from Canada in the late 1960’s. We learned that during the Nazi era, the castle was the home and office of Hans Frank, head of General Government, the title of Nazi occupied Poland. His son used to bike in this very courtyard.

St Stanislaus (Patron Saint of Catholic Poland) Cathedral, high above .the Old Town Square, is the burial place of Polish kings. In their honor, the church is adorned with sarcophagi of silver, and all manner of precious materials, along with tapestries, a throne for the reigning archbishop, and decorative columns, friezes, and statuary, reflecting styles across the centuries. At the entrance of the cathedral, three gargantuan bones hang from one wall. The legend insists that these are the bones of the dragon, but we learned that they are, in fact, the bones of a rhino, mammoth, and whale. The centerpiece inside is the ornate silver reliquary of Stanislaus. Our guide also detailed the reign of young Queen Jedwiga (married at age 12 and from Lithuania) to King Jagiello, whose legacy in the early Middle Ages paid for the construction of the Cathedral. The king’s legacy is Jagiellonian University, the oldest in Poland and Alan’s alma mater from his summer course in 1988. A familiar chuckle was had by all as we observed the bricks in the wall of the castle complex engraved with the names of the donors who maintain the area.

From the heights, we descended into the Old Town Square. Once in the Old Town Square, largest in Europe according to our guide (and tourist center), first pause at small, very old church in the center of the square - St. Adalbert or alternatively St. Wojciecha - Joe and Elise’s namesake. From there, the Jagiellonian University where the highlights were buying JU hats, viewing a copy of Copernicus’s Manuscript and watching 3 foot high figures of King Jagiello and Queen Jedwiga circle in and out of two open windows under a ceremonial clock in the courtyard of the oldest university building, to music. According to our guide, when the clock mechanism works this Prague-like phenomenon happens 3 times a day - at 9 and 11 a.m. and at 3:00 p.m.

Left on our own at 11:30 a.m. the group pursued two separate and important missions - shopping (especially at the open stalls of the “cloth market” ) and indulging in hot soup or coffee to ward off the morning chill, and it was chilly! People watching in the square was only trumped by a statue of the large head of Eros, permanently installed from a 2005 open air art festival, lying on his side, with bands around the lower half of his eyes. Interpretation: Love is blind or Marriage is eye-opening. We also got to see/hear the famous bugler from a turret window of St Mary’s Church on the square. Historically, he played to warn the locals of the oncoming invasion of the Tatars, but was tragically cut off in medio res when an arrow hit his throat. Thus the bugling stops abruptly each time it is heard, in our times.

Sated from lunch, purchases (amber jewelry, local pottery, wooden boxes), and unexpected sunshine on a very cold day, we met up with Janusz and followed him for the 20 minute walk to the train station. Train left on time and off to Warsaw amid convivial bantering and food and vodka sharing, and the promise of yet another (and our final) destination.
Our arrival in Warsaw was smooth. We walked across the street from the train station into a beautiful modern mall. Upon arriving at the other end of the mall we crossed the street and immediately entered the Holiday Inn. People were on their own for dinner and began to explore the streets of the Polish capitol.