Weekend in Krakow

So we shall return to the topic at hand.. Poland!!  Lena and I spent a weekend in Krakow after her first weekend in Switzerland.  When I told people that I was going to Poland for the weekend, the most common response was, "why?"  Haha.  Krakow was actually really lovely!

I flew in late on Thursday night, so there wasn't much exploring done on the first night, but when we woke up on Friday morning, we were off to see the city!  I was immediately in love with the vibe of the city.  Even though it was gray and cold, the architecture was so lovely, and the city felt peaceful and content.

Directly outside our guesthouse

The other side of the square

Getting oriented!

Lena had bought a Rick Steves book on Poland before coming over, so we followed a self-guided walking tour that Rick had outlined for us.  (This was actually my first time using anything Rick Steves, and I was impressed!)

We started at the top of the Planty, which is a giant walking path that used to be the moat to the outside of the royal city!  It was really beautiful.

Fortress to the Old Town

The fortress stands directly in front of the gate.

The gate has the crest of Krakow shown on it.

Through the tunnel...

There are some musicians!!

And oddly.. this sort of reminded me of Disney.  Smooth paved streets with adorable buildings along the edges, and a castle at the end of the road.  (Out of the frame, you cannot see the McDonald's, which really makes it like Disney!)

There was also a big street art set up by the city walls!

Apparently, Rick isn't such a genius.  The path that he took us on is quite popular.

We wandered into the main square, which looks a little empty here, but it was really nice.

Loved this doorknob!

Stunning altar.

Bubbles!  I mean, come on.. how could you not love Krakow?

John Paul II's home in Krakow.. this guy was ALL over the city... they sure love him.

We ended our self-guided walk at Wawel Castle, which had a lot of cool buildings on the grounds!

You can see here how this church was built up over time based on the architecture styles

Castle grounds

After we left Wawel, we headed over to a milk bar for a late lunch of soup and pierogis.  Rick Steves mentioned that Polish soups are excellent, and since it was so cold outside, it was the perfect thing to eat!  The milk bar was a bit intimidating - it's sort of cafeteria style - but it was delicious and cheap :)

We then wandered over to the city's Jewish quarter before heading over to the Schindler Factory Museum.

I'm not going to post pictures of the Schindler Factory or from our trip to Auschwitz.  But I'm sure you can all imagine that they were both very moving experiences.  I'll just leave it at that.

Overall, the trip to Krakow was really good.  Even though it was gray and cold, I did really enjoy it.  There was a lot to see, and I definitely felt like I learned a lot!  And I found the city to be incredibly charming - in the summertime, it must be insanely gorgeous!!