Kraków and Wieliczka – January 2010

After oversleeping the train station and traveling 600 km more (to Warsaw and back) and stressing out my girlfriend we've got a reward. Krakow. Probably the most beautiful city I've ever seen.

Beautiful historical city of Kraków has magical atmosphere. Cafes and restaurants are everywhere you go, buildings impress with old architecture, you can visit museums and galleries, Jewish quarter (with “restaurant square” ;)), listen to the legend of the dragon in Wawel castle, and buy good souvenirs – in comparison to Prague. This is off topic, but westerners going to Prague, be aware what you buy. It is very difficult to find something original, Czech, because almost every shop is Russian (when you see Matrioska doll, you are in the wrong shop). You won’t have this problem in Kraków. There is great market at the main square – Rynek (= “market” in Polish) where you can buy pottery, wood carvings, jewelery or even traditional clothes. Snow was covering everything during our visit and it only underlined the beauty. Freezing made us going to cafes or restaurants or shops more often than planned, so it was very tourist friendly ;) (www.krakow-poland.com)

From Kraków we went to nearby UNESCO world heritage site Wieliczka salt mine. We thought it should be just 30 minutes visit as we were rushing home. But guide told us just inside, 324 stairs bellow the surface, that it would take 2 to 3 hours… At least it was much wormer than outside – with plus 16 degrees centigrade the difference was 24 degrees! Cathedral built underground in the mine is just unforgettable (very nice acoustics by the way). Definitely place to visit, and you will walk the same tunnels Copernicus, Goethe or Pope John Paul II walked. (www.wieliczkasaltmine.net)

I wish Slovak tourist attractions were such well presented as these two places…