Arriving to Krakow, Poland




Welcome to Krakow! Not, really, but come and travel with me through time and space and relive my adventures! I don't know where I'm going with this, but we spent the past weekend in Krakow, Poland and got to see and experiences some cool, dark and crazy things. 

We begin with art:


Fresh from the night train we met up with a tour guide who took us around the Old City of Krakow. Here is the gate from the original walls


In the center of the square the Cloth Hall stands open, full of souvenirs and traditional Polish goods like furs, carvings, and amber. So much amber.


Pictured below is the St. Mary's Church, the most famous church in the Old City. It's two towers stand distinctly unique from the other and at every hour of every day, a bugle is played from the top window out into the city.





A park dressed up for Autumn

Unbeknownst to most of us, Krakow has a large Christmas Crib contest where artists compete to create a beautiful "crib" depicting the nativity scene. This was the previous winner, and one of the largest to ever be made.


The old town is known for its churches. The tour guide explained that every street had a church of some sort on it, and as we looked at a map we knew she wasn't exaggerating. There were so many churches, and I'm sure you're all tired of looking at my poorly lighted church photos, so I've limited them this round.




As we worked our way up to the castle I found some cool brick art on the side of a building:





The Wawel Castle


It was rumored in the medieval ages that there was a dragon living in the lands nearby the hill. Apparently, a man killed the dragon by getting it to eat a sulfur filled goat, causing the dragon to drink so much water from the river that he burst. They have the "dragon bones" hung in front of this church entrance to prove it. 



The weather was not as neat as the stories

After the tour we had a free evening and since I had no plans I tagged along with Maia and Valarie for some shopping. And we ran into the Christmas decorations!



They're pretty great

Later we met up with the API students from Krakow and shared dinner with them. They turned out to be a pretty cool group of kids, and the meal was absolutely delicious. I may have finished off a few plates that weren't mine. I have no regrets.


The first day of Krakow came to a close on a full stomach and in good company. And this was only the beginning. 

     -Natalie

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