Days 14 and 15 - To Krakow

 The journey from Torun to Krakow was horrendous. What was meant to be a five to six hour journey took about eight hours in all. It simply chucked it down all the way, and at times we were down to 40 mph as we couldn't see anything. Add to this the massive road road building exercises going on in Poland, and I am not exaggerating when I say the road works went on for forty to fifty miles continuously at a time.

If you intend to drive to Poland, remember this - outside of the towns it is flat, uninteresting, boring, bland and just....dull. The towns, however....that is a different matter.

Krakow is the biggest town/city we have visited so far. As with all other towns the outskirts are just row upon row of Soviet/Communist era housing blocks, but as soon as you get into the old centre, things really change, delightfully. Everything is upscale in size and grandeur from Poznan and Torun, but not necessarily more attractive to the eye. Yet again, the Poles we met were so friendly and helpful.

Today was apparently the first day back at school for all the colleges and Universities that Krakow is renown for. There were thousands of students everywhere, but every single one dressed neatly in variations of school uniform or just good looking non-scruffy casual wear. Needless to say their behaviour was enthusiastic, but well moderated.

Today was a first for me. I hired one of those pick up and drop off anywhere electric scooters, and it was a hoot. You simply load an app, fill in the details, scan the Q-code on the scooter, and off you go. I used it for about half an hour for just over £2 - as there is an initial hiring fee, using it for longer is proportionately less expensive.

Here's a few photos. The initial ones were just after a bit of rain, but the rest of the day was fine.








The impressive Wawel Castle, and below



Every ten minutes this dragon breathes fire. If you zoom in you might see it.

A mirrored bicycle

Immaculately presented horses and carriages for hire.

Inside the Cathedral. Gold everywhere!

Tomorrow, Thursday, will be different. We are taking a bus tour to Auschwitz.

Comments

  1. queenfan1 September 2021 at 12:16

    WHAT a beautifull trip David. Tomorow will be emotional Day for sure. That wakes people up that our freedom and peace had a very high price. Greetz Katrien

    ReplyDelete

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