Krakow (Part I)

Day 6, 7: Krakow, Poland

Ohhhh boy! I have too many photos of Krakow, all of them worth sharing. I think for this post I'll focus on the main attractions, and for the next one I'll cover more of the quirky things I observed.

Stare Miastro (Old Town), Krakow

Bunny ear covers (or devil horns)!

I loved Krakow. It was virtually unscathed from WWII and has thus been able to successfully preserve its historic architecture and wonderful old town feel. Krakow is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and I recommend everyone travelling through the Central European region to spend at least a day or two in town. Out of all the places that I've been on this trip, Krakow is by far the cleanest and most navigable city. My mom loved going into all the cute shops, which were interesting because they were mostly small mom n' pop and locally owned (I can't stand going to globally branded shops when I'm on a trip, unless I've run out of underwear or something). I can't even tell you just how many amber jewelry stores went into, but whatever makes mom happy... :) As you can see, there are also a lot of street-side cafes in the old town market square, which were all very nice for people/horse-watching and well-brewed cappuccinos.

St. Peter & Paul's Cathedral (1600's - late Renaissance) // Church of St. Andrew (1000's - Romanesque)

Having these two churches stand next to one another makes me ponder about the cultural evolution of mankind (deep, I know... haha).

Legend has it that Krakow began as a settlement on Wawel Hill, which overlooks the Vistula River. Unfortunately, there was a dragon that liked to snack on fair maidens living in a cave under the hill (I think we know where this story is going). Some clever guy killed the dragon by tricking it into eating sulfur, which made it really thirsty and so it subsequently drank itself to death. Haha, what a silly dragon!

Smok Wawelski (the Dragon of Wawel Hill)

Oh how far you have fallen...

Once able to bring terror into peoples' hearts, now just a lowly babysitter.

Krakow was the seat of Polish royalty for hundreds of years until 1596, when a Polish-Lithuanian alliance made it more logical to move the capital to Warsaw for geographical reasons. Even still, Krakow has always maintained its position as the cultural hub of Poland.

THIS is how you move the capital of Poland.

I may read too many fantasy books.

Wawel Hill.

By the way, the Poles pronounce their "W's" like "V's", so the correct way to call it is "Vavel". i.e. Warsaw = Varshava.

St. Mary's Basilica.

This hall was so freaking bad-ass. Visitors had to pay extra to take photos inside this church, but I managed to sneak a haphazard one in. There were tons of people who got caught (The Fine = 6 zloty & lots of evil stink-eye).

'God in the Act of Creation' by Stanislaw Wyspianski in St. Francis' Basilica.

I dragged my mom to see this, which is considered one of the greatest modern stained glass windows in the world. It makes me so not want to mess with God.

To Be Continued...