11 June 2005 - Krakow
Today it has been wet and grey in Krakow.
In the morning we set out for the Krakow castle, by the Wisla River. We visited the armoury and looked through the complex at the Basilica, it's fine courtyard and views over the river and city. We finished by going into the dragon cave. You go down a spiral staircase a long way - I wondered if it ever was going to end. Eventually we got to the cave which could have housed Krakow's famous dragon.
The dragon was around in the reign of King Krak, and it was a nasty dragon. It would attack stock and people without warning and although many brave knights tried, no-one could slay the dragon.
Eventually, a shoemaker's apprentice came up with a plan - he approached King Krak and asked for a whole mutton, some peppers and some mustard seed. The King thought these were crazy items to attack the dragon with, but if it would rid the town of the dragon it would be worth it, so he gave the apprentice the items.
That night, the apprentice opened the mutton up and placed the peppers and mustard seed in the mutton stomach. He sewed the mutton up and placed it near the cave. In the morning the dragon came out and ate the mutton. The pepper made him thirsty so he went to the river to drink. When he drank, the mustard seeds swelled up and he burst in a big explosion that shook every building in town.
Of course the apprentice was a hero and everyone was glad to be rid of the dragon. This is commenarated by the dragon statue at the exit of the cave, which breathes real fire every minute to scare the tourists!
We then walked up the royal way, past the home of Archbishop Karol Woytola until 1978, when he moved to Rome and travelled as Pope John Paul II. Everywhere you go in Krakow you see a devotion to John Paul II - many shops have his picture and there are mentions of him everywhere. There is also many Preists and Nuns in the town, I don't think I've ever seen so many religious people in one city before.
Along the royal way we found St Peter and Paul church. It is a beautiful church with statues of the 12 apostles facing the street. Inside we saw many wonderful paintings and statues. We couldn't take any photos as this was not permitted. Any tourist who tried was immediately told off by the attendant.
We walked along a little further to the Main Square, which is the largest outdoor market in Europe. The square has dozens of stalls selling souvineers, flowers and bread to feed the pidgeons. It started to pour so we took cover in the main building in the centre of the square where there are more stalls.
After lunch we headed to Kazimierz, the old Jewish part of the town. While the cementary was closed and the synagogue not impressive there was a street festival underway. Along the street a group of children were performing a play about an impoverished family. (I could make this out, but not much else as it was in Polish, of course.)
Afterwards we headed back to the main part of the town to see if we could find any bargains in the stores. The cost of most things in Poland is about half what the equivilant products cost in NZ, although we ended up not getting anything as it was either end of line and not in our sizes or just as costly for the brands we recognised. We did however find the last remaining part of the city wall and it had a huge art market along it - every scrap of wall had a painting covering it.
We had dinner at Pizza Hut and headed home after a big day of walking. We have booked our tour to Austwich tomorrow.
In the morning we set out for the Krakow castle, by the Wisla River. We visited the armoury and looked through the complex at the Basilica, it's fine courtyard and views over the river and city. We finished by going into the dragon cave. You go down a spiral staircase a long way - I wondered if it ever was going to end. Eventually we got to the cave which could have housed Krakow's famous dragon.
The dragon was around in the reign of King Krak, and it was a nasty dragon. It would attack stock and people without warning and although many brave knights tried, no-one could slay the dragon.
Eventually, a shoemaker's apprentice came up with a plan - he approached King Krak and asked for a whole mutton, some peppers and some mustard seed. The King thought these were crazy items to attack the dragon with, but if it would rid the town of the dragon it would be worth it, so he gave the apprentice the items.
That night, the apprentice opened the mutton up and placed the peppers and mustard seed in the mutton stomach. He sewed the mutton up and placed it near the cave. In the morning the dragon came out and ate the mutton. The pepper made him thirsty so he went to the river to drink. When he drank, the mustard seeds swelled up and he burst in a big explosion that shook every building in town.
Of course the apprentice was a hero and everyone was glad to be rid of the dragon. This is commenarated by the dragon statue at the exit of the cave, which breathes real fire every minute to scare the tourists!
We then walked up the royal way, past the home of Archbishop Karol Woytola until 1978, when he moved to Rome and travelled as Pope John Paul II. Everywhere you go in Krakow you see a devotion to John Paul II - many shops have his picture and there are mentions of him everywhere. There is also many Preists and Nuns in the town, I don't think I've ever seen so many religious people in one city before.
Along the royal way we found St Peter and Paul church. It is a beautiful church with statues of the 12 apostles facing the street. Inside we saw many wonderful paintings and statues. We couldn't take any photos as this was not permitted. Any tourist who tried was immediately told off by the attendant.
We walked along a little further to the Main Square, which is the largest outdoor market in Europe. The square has dozens of stalls selling souvineers, flowers and bread to feed the pidgeons. It started to pour so we took cover in the main building in the centre of the square where there are more stalls.
After lunch we headed to Kazimierz, the old Jewish part of the town. While the cementary was closed and the synagogue not impressive there was a street festival underway. Along the street a group of children were performing a play about an impoverished family. (I could make this out, but not much else as it was in Polish, of course.)
Afterwards we headed back to the main part of the town to see if we could find any bargains in the stores. The cost of most things in Poland is about half what the equivilant products cost in NZ, although we ended up not getting anything as it was either end of line and not in our sizes or just as costly for the brands we recognised. We did however find the last remaining part of the city wall and it had a huge art market along it - every scrap of wall had a painting covering it.
We had dinner at Pizza Hut and headed home after a big day of walking. We have booked our tour to Austwich tomorrow.
posted by Michael at
9:28 PM
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