Its actually been a few days since we left Kracow, its just that we have ticked off some major cities in a short period of time so its been go go go.
At the moment we are sitting in a park on the outskirts of Vienna not even visiting Vienna because we can’t find the energy to “do another city right now”. This travelling thing is exhausting.
Anyway back to Kracow. We headed off from Wracow and found this guarded park in the city centre with a few other motorhomes for around 13 € for 24 hours. It was a bit touch and go there for a moment as the old Polish guy that ran it who didn’t speak a word of English, couldn’t decide if he had room for us or not. Turns out he did. Lets just say it was an interesting conversation.
We found our way into the centre of Kracow more by luck than skill which made getting back to the motorhome later in the dark a touch and go experience. I say I navigated our way back, Doug says it was all pure luck. Whatever.
The Old Town is lovely, alot like Wracow just on a larger scale. The middle of The Market Square is dominated by St Mary’s Basillica which is stunning. I’m sure Doug rolled his eyes when he saw another Church that I just had to visit. Infact he disappeared outside and I found him being strung up by a rather large Polish Guy with a sword that was most disappointed that I only had eftpos.
For the first time we took a free walking tour with a young guy called Dimitris. It was definitely worth taking especially as Krakow is quite spread out so it ensured we didn’t miss the main things plus you get the history of everything even if Doug missed most of it because the guide spoke too fast.
The tour took us past the usual suspects, The Cathedral, The City Walls, The Castle and the Monuments plus all the quirky things inbetween. It was a 2 and 1/2 hour tour so by the end of it a drink was needed.
I was keen to discover The Jewish Quarter of Kazimierz where I had heard all the cheap, authentic eats were. Kazimierz was my favourite part of Kracow, with all the food, food trucks and bars. Maybe it was the previous visit to Auschwitz that made the ghetto seem quite special to us but I found it more real than The Old Town area – grittier but very authentic.
We especially loved the Lover’s Bridge over the river with all the balancing statues which were very clever.
After a late night of eating Goose Dumplings and drinking the local brew because it was cheap, Poland is lovely and cheap making it one of my favorite destinations, we “navigated” our way back to our motorhome just so that we could get up in the morning and do it all again.
It was a morning spent drinking strong Israeli coffee, eating cucumber, ham, cheese, a fried egg and a polish sausage for breakfast, and just enjoying being a traveller in Eastern Europe.
While I say Eastern Europe is grittier, some of the architecture is so so beautiful and decorative and the people, especially in Kracow are dressed so elegantly and it’s lovely to see such old world glamour still exists.
Having loved Kracow we are now heading to Budapest so have high expectations. What will Budapest bring?
Downunder Wanderings 