Day 6 Eastern Europe Tour - Krakow, Poland

Good morning Krakow, Poland. This morning I woke up to a rather gloomy sky. As usual, we headed to the hotel's cafeteria to find out what is in store for us for breakfast.....

The buffet spread turned out to be pretty good with much healthier options such as greens and fruits. If you are looking for hot dishes you may be disappointed though as it is generally cold dishes, bread, cheese and fruits. I kind of like it for a change as I had been having quite a lot of bacon and sausages over the last few days.

my big healthy breakfast....

Gloomy sky soon turned into rain as it started drizzling the whole day!!. I came all the way to Europe to see snow not rain...aargh..

Nevertheless, the environment of the day did set the right mood for the place we are visiting that morning... Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

It is a historical place that one must visit to understand more about the brutality of the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. About 1.3b people were deported here and the Nazis tortured and killed about 1.1 million people comprised mostly of Jews. The scary thing here is how they became so efficient in killing people. Right from the selection of people to be executed to sorting out belongings of the dead. Once I enter into the camp area, the sad sombre feeling immediately set in.

I will try not to talk too much about this place with such dark history. Long story cut short... it is definitely a place not to be missed when you are in Poland. We ended the visit with a sombre feeling and adjourned to lunch at a restaurant nearby.

Some how the sombre feeling made us appreciate more of what we already have. Compared to the life of people who had to undergo the torture of Auschwitz Camp, we consider ourselves very blessed. This probably is the reason lunch tasted a bit better that day.

Simple lunch but good.... pork cutlet with potatoes and coleslaw.

Next destination....Krakow old town. First stop was at Wawel Hill, the old capital of Poland. At the bank of the Vistula River, there was a statue of the Wawel Dragon, which is a Polish myth believed to have lived in a cave at the foot of Wawel Hill. Apparently, tourist can sent a sms text to number which can activate the dragon to breath fire. We were unaware of this during the tour. Click here for more info on Wawel Dragon.

Spot the Wavel dragon at the bank of Vistula River?

From Wawel Hill we walked towards to nearby Wawel castle. The weather was not good as it was drizzling during winter. The local tour guide said that the weather was peculiar cause it was raining in the midst of winter when it should be actually snowing. Yes...why isn't it snowing? I came all the way to Europe during winter to see snow......:(

Wavel Castle

Wavel Castle Inner Courtyard

The Wavel castle was built in the 14th century which is now a museum of arts. Our tour did not include a visit in the castle / museum. Instead we visited the adjoining Wawel Cathedral which is some sort of a mausoleum where past Kings were buried. Sorry no pictures there because the use of camera was strictly prohibited inside the cathedral.

Next stop was St Mary's Basilica which is located in the old town about 600m away. Walking there is a chsllenge as it was still drizzling and the wet weather made the day even colder.

St Mary's Basilica is a catholic church well known for its wooden carved alterpiece and architectural beauty. The altarpiece is the largest in the world and is considered as national treasure. What is a alterpiece? It is a sculpture depicting several events mentioned in the bible which made it easier for the priest to preach to the illiterates in the olden days. We spent about 20 minutes inside for a short briefing on the church's history (a much needed respite from the coldness outside) and we headed outside again.

St. Mary's Basilica

As we stepped out of the church, a pleasant surprise greeted us as it started snowing outside. In fact, it was actually snowing and raining at the same time! This is kind of weird to us who have not seen snowfall before. Anyway...my wish has been granted hah hah...

Little trace of snow start to accumulate on top of our umbrellas (it was still raining)

After our visit to St. Mary Basilica, we had about 2 hours of free and easy time to explore Krakow old town. With the cold weather and lack of interest on shopping, wifey and I decided to enjoy a cup of coffee at a nearby Costa Coffee instead.

After coffee, we were to assemble at the Cloth Market located at the centre of the old town square. We will be heading to dinner next.

Snow fall got heavier in the evening.

While the rest of the tour members were busy window shopping in the cloth market, I was not too interested. Instead I was enjoying the scenery of a serene winter night which I will not see again back home. Anyway, the cloth market is an attraction on its own though I noted that things sold there is not specifically cloth as the name suggests. Nevertheless you can find good local souviners there. I bought my Krakow refrigerator magnet there as well.

Picture of the old town square and Cloth Market (Source: Google Maps)

Those who are travelling to Europe for the first time should know one thing. Not all European countries uses Euro as their currency. For example, the local currency in Poland is the sloty and do note that Euro may not be accepted by the traders although some may do. Without the local currency you may not be even to buy yourself mineral water or coffee.

Old Town Square

Our dinner place was just located nearby and was within walking distance.

Traditional polish dinner. Beetroot soup and poached pork served with mashed potatoes.

The poached pork tasted similar to the pork that is used as ingredient for Chinese soup. May bland to some people but I have to admit it is healthy.

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel. Looking out from my room window, I said to myself...finally I see snow fall.

That's not the end of my day yet though as I headed to the hotel gym to burn off some calories before going to bed. The gym at Galaxy is small but I guess it is better than nothing. One thing I note is that most of the hotels during my trip will gym, sauna and steam bath facilities. While most will feel comfortable enough to go to the gym, Asians may feel uncomfortable in the sauna or steam bath facilities as users are required to be naked. Sometimes the facilities may be shared by both sex as well. Do check properly before going in....

More to come.....

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Day 5 Krakow - Parlo Eastern Europe Tour

As usual we are starting our day with a heavy breakfast at our hotel. Its our 5th day but I am still loving it the breakfast here. Today we going on a long road trip from Prague (Czech Republic) to Krakow (Poland). Our bus journey took us about 5 hours to reach Krakow.

We stopped halfway at a big rest area which consist of several supermarkets and DIY stores. We had Mcd for lunch. Not much difference as compared to our McD in Malaysia except that portion is bigger.

We reached our only tour destination for the day at late afternoon. It is called Wieliczka Salt Muzuem, the oldest salt enterprise on Polish land dating back to the middle Ages.

At first, it did not look like a big place to visit. We soon learned that we were wrong.....

That's because the interesting part is actually underground. We will be making of the super dark and cramp shaft (elevator) to below the surface.

Didn't I say super dark?? Oh yeah, there is probably another 12 person cramp behind me.

Going through tunnels to reach the salt mine....

Some statues to remind us how people use to mine for salt. Btw, the tunnel wall has high content of salt. Our tour guide told us that the air at the salt mine is very fresh and beneficial to health due to some form of oxidisation.

There is also a fully functional church there. Locals like to hold weddings there.

Right in the middle there is a salt lake. The water is saturated with salt so no life can live in it. It's kind of like the Dead Sea where things float easily on the surface due to the high salt content.  

There is even a banquet hall there.

By the time we are back up it was already dark. We set out to Galaxy Hotel in Krakow where we will spent 2 nights. It took us about an hour drive there.

Once there, we immediately checked into our room which was pretty decent and comfy. The hotel is not big but it does come with adequate facilities including a small pool and gym. There is also a shopping complex nearby which would be fun for those who wants to adventure out at night.

A polish buffet spread was specially prepared by the hotel for our dinner. Food was quite satisfactory.

More to come...
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Prague - Parlo Eastern Europe Tour Day 4

Day 4, Prague (Czech Republic). Waking up to a fantastic buffet breakfast at Prague Clarion Congress Hotel.

Although the outlook of the hotel may seem a bit dated and less classy, the buffet spread was definitely awesome. They even have spaghetti and fried rice in the morning something which is not a norm in Europe. There are also different varieties of cheese and butter.  

Briefly, our itinerary for the day would include the visit to the Prague Castle Area, St Charles Bridge and the Old Town. The day started off as usual by picking up the local guide and off we went to our first location. On our way to the Prague Castle, the tour guide gave us a heads up that we would be exploring Prague on foot for at least 5 hours. Yay.... time to burn off some calories so it was fine by me but it was not be so welcoming for the elderly. 

The weather was actually pretty fine with a lot of sunshine hence it wasn't that cold (ie about 2 to 4 degrees celcious) although we were in the middle of winter.  When I planned for the trip, I thought it would all be covered by snow..... It turned out that I was pretty wrong. 

Our first glimpse of Prague Old City..Enroute to Prague castle area.

Our group entered the castle area via the north west entrance. St. Vitus Cathedral can be seen up high on the hill though at that point in time, I did not know much about it.

Took the opportunity for photo session with the palace guards.

Entrance flocked with tourists.

Finally we reached the main gate and the place was just swarmed with tourists. It was kind of different as compared to where we were just a moment ago where we took picture with the palace guards which was pretty quiet.

Just past the gates, we reached a place where we can enjoy a beautiful view of Prague city.  The orange colour tiles on most of the roof of the buildings really brightens up my day. 

I finally realised why many tourists congregated here. Most were waiting for the march by palace guards. Our tour group had our itinerary planned out so all we need to do is to go with the flow and enjoy... Honestly the march was a bit dull and I think one won't miss much if he / she decides to skip it.

After the march, we proceeded to St Vitus Cathedral. So what is so special about this cathedral other than it is more than 670 years old? This cathedral probably is the only one you can find tombs of kings and emperors in the past. It is a very historic site and much to learn from the relics there.

The interior looks so magnificent.

After the visit to the Cathedral, we walked towards the Golden Lane, a display of how people of in the medieval times lived. Again....lots of people.

After the Golden Lane, its the end of our tour Prague castle. We continued our walk down the hill towards the old town via the Charles Bridge.

I really admire the scenic view of the city...

After about 20 minutes walk, we reached one of the most romantic pedestrian bridge in the country called Charles Bridge.

A view good enough for a post card.

We were given some time to take some pictures and then continue our walk towards the old town. 

In fact, we were already at the old town once we crossed the bridge but it was another 500m away to the old town square.  What we do once we arrived? 

LUNCH TIME!  We had lunch at a restaurant Kamenny Stul which located right at the centre of old town. We were so hungry from our long walk this morning and were looking for a nice and hearty meal.   

We had roast duck served with potatoes and cooked beetroot. As usual, lunch is accompanied with soup, a glass of wine and dessert. The dish looks pretty simple but it was actually quite delicious. The beetroot tasted a bit sweet and sour and goes well with the duck when eaten together.

We had a window seat overlooking the old town square.

After lunch, we were given free and easy time to explore the old town until dinner time. We did not have any particularly itinerary hence we just stroll along the streets at a leisurely manner. Look out for specialty shops selling local beauty products like handmade soaps which make good souvenirs. Two shops that we visited were Manufaktura and Botanicus. Wifey was able to spent about 30 minutes in one while I continue to stroll the streets.

Prague Astronomical Clock

Soon enough it was dark and it was dinner time. We were going to have Chinese food for the first time :). It was obvious that most of us were already craving for our staple food.

The dinner was pretty simple much like home cook food and probable will not even make it to the B rating restaurants in Malaysia. Yet, we enjoyed quite much simply because we miss our home food.

To be continued....

Overview

Day 3

Day 5