Thank you

Thank you to all who have been reading these blogs. Just for your information, I have no new holidays planned at the moment but will let you know by email or facebook when I am travelling again, or when I have been on an interesting day out, so you know when to return to this site.

Last day in Krakow

Thursday 22nd March

I hadn't slept well the night before, but this was our last day and we were meant to be out of our rooms by 10. Luckily packing was easy and the hotel was happy to store our luggage until our departure.

Our first stop was Wawel Hill, site of the old cathedral and castle complex. Although it was possible to walk the distance, we thought it would be fun to use our Krakow cards and try out the trams. The hotel receptionist marked our maps suitably, and we set off for the tram stop. The system was easy, though on a later journey I had trouble getting OUT of the tram. It turns out that the button we Australians and Brits would use to ask the driver to stop, is the one used to open doors on the trams. Oops! Thank you to helpful passengers everywhere who help ignorant tourists.

We walked around Wawel Hill and explored the old cathedral. The hill is a mixture of old buildings and newer ones in Hapsburg Imperial style (so very regular). I enjoyed the unpredictability of the older style.

By the time we'd finished here, it was time for coffee and a snack. The castle coffee shop had a special offer on. For less than the price of a cake, we could get coffee and cake. This little snack cost us about £2.50 each! From the British perspective, food in Poland is very cheap, though to those on Polish wages it is expensive.

Once again we separated. Marian wanted to visit the Jewish quarter, specifically to look at an antique market we had seen on the tour on our first day. I wanted to continue our walk around the Planty. We had done the top quarter the previous day but I thought it would be good to continue. I took the tram back to our starting point, near the hotel, and started walking along. Unfortunately I took a wrong turning at one point and found that once again I had climbed Wawel Hill! I had a lovely view down on the river and the lower section of the Planty (complete with dragon statue) and enjoyed another view of the castle as I walked around and downhill to rejoin the Planty.

I enjoyed my walk, and it didn't take long to get back to the place where we had stopped the day before. From there it was only a 2-minute walk into the market square. I found that preparations for Easter markets were even more advanced. These stalls (which I assume are also used for Christmas markets) were in the process of having basketwork decorations added.

The other end of the square had goods for sale under large umbrellas. These were set up each day and only removed about 9pm. Goods for sale were made from brightly-coloured grasses and natural objects like pine cones and eggs. Marian was told by one stall holder that they are put in the house and kept for the year in order to bring happiness. I would have loved to buy a few items, but could not see how I could get them home safely without crushing them.

After buying a lovely velvet embroidered bag for my phone in the cloth market stalls, I had another cappuccino and sat and read and relaxed. After all, it was 2.30 and I'd been on the go for four hours. I eventually had to leave my comfy spot as someone sat down nearby with strong perfume, and I started to feel nauseous (a sign that the perfume could be causing my blood pressure to drop). I bumped into Marian while looking at the display of Easter items, and then we separated again so I could walk the last section of the Planty - from where we started the day before to the street near our hotel. I saw some lovely buildings, and stopped to watch four lads doing gymnastics, just for fun.

I arrived back at the hotel at 4.45, in time to see the four people with whom we had travelled to the hotel on Monday, head for the transfer car. They had been there early (planning to organise luggage and get coffee) and the car had arrived for someone else and the driver had told them they were to go too! They asked several times about us and were told that a car would come back for us. I was so glad I'd seen them to get this message. Marian arrived about half an hour later and we sat and read while waiting for our car at 6.00. I was worried when it hadn't arrived by 6.15 so the hotel receptionist phoned for us. It turns out they were expecting to collect us at 6.30 (but didn't actually arrive until 6.45), so somehow messages had not got through. I'd worked out a fallback arrangement of taking a taxi to the airport (only about £17) but didn't need that. (The taxi price quoted by the hotel seemed quite cheap to me, as we had paid £10 each for transfers. With a group of 3 or 4 it could be cheaper to get a taxi. It would be worth phoning the hotel in advance to check it out.)

The flight back was crowded and a bit uncomfortable as I was squeezed between two solid men. We were flying Ryanair and they fit 6 seats across the plane. The man next to me says that it only used to be 5 seats. No wonder I felt more squashed on this trip! I had to sit with at least one arm forward of my body the whole way, as there was not room for my shoulders between the two men. (The moral is: find skinny people to sit next to, or be sure to sit on the window or aisle so that one shoulder has enough space.) We had a wait of about 15 minutes for the 11pm shuttle bus back to the car park at the Hilton. Our cars were parked about the furthest away that they could be from the hotel, but the receptionist kindly walked out there himself and collected our cars for us. He must have thought we looked old and tired! I finally got home about 1.15am.

Would I recommend Krakow for a holiday? Definitely!

Payback day 

Wednesday 21st March

I woke this morning feeling rotten - tired and weary and bad-tempered and aching. In other words, I've been doing too much for the past few days and it's caught up with me! (With CFS it's typical to get payback 2 or 3 days later. Normally I mange to get through a short holiday and get home before it catches up with me, but I'd been too busy in the weeks leading up to this trip and so started it tired.) I find it difficult to talk when I'm like this, so was not very good company.

Getting up and having a shower didn't help any, as I managed to completely flood the bathroom floor. The cleaner had adjusted the shower head in such a way that the water hit the back wall and then flowed onto the floor. I used up all our towels to soak up the water, walking the towels along from puddle to puddle. I can see it must have happened before as the wood in the doorway is rotted at the bottom!

We started our day back at the Old Town Square, at the Cloth Market. It was a grey day with a chilly wind - perhaps not too inviting but the lovely buildings of Krakow are enough to make one forget the weather.

We didn't have a set programme for the day. I had originally thought of visiting the salt mine, but then we found it involved 360 steps down, which was definitely too much for Marian and only something I might achieve on a good day. Instead we had thought that we might walk around the Planty - the narrow strip of green all around the old town where the old walls and the moat used to be - and then go in to look at places of interest. In preparation for this, we bought Krakow Cards for about £10 each, which gives us free entrance for two days to various museums plus free public transport.

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A quarter of the way around the city we found the Palace of Fine Arts, where Marian explored the paintings while I enjoyed the wonderful building and took photographs outside and rested for a while. I was intrigued by this fountain, covered with greenery for the winter? I felt this ad hoc approach wouldn't work too well as Marian had specific museums in mind (and we'd already backtracked to find this gallery), so we abandoned it. We were only a couple of minutes walk from the central square, so returned to the cloth gallery.

Our Krakow ticket allowed us to explore the museum under the cloth gallery. This showed the history of Krakow through the ages, with cross-sections of ground showing different levels of occupation. It was also possible to see the stonework from previous markets. It was disconcerting in places, walking along glass pathways protecting the stonework beneath. It was a good multi-media presentation.

We split up for a while, as Marian wanted more time in the museum and I liked the idea of wandering and having lunch and a cup of coffee. On meeting up, our next stop was upstairs, to see examples of Polish artwork, plus a visit to the balcony to take photos of the square and of each other.

We divided forces again, with Marian staying to look longer at the artwork and try to find a specific museum with a da Vinci painting (but unfortunately that museum was closed for renovation and the two special paintings were out on loan anyway) while I took a few more photos and then headed back to the hotel for a rest.

I realised I'd been out for about 4 hours, which is the amount of time I normally manage well when I'm on a cruise holiday. Perhaps that's what I should aim for as a daily amount in future holidays, rather than pushing myself too far when it's only a short holiday.

Marian had found a few restaurants for us to choose from for our evening meal. I tasted tarte tatin, something I've seen on TV and in recipe books but never tried before. It was lovely. I was not at all tempted by Marian's chicken liver, cherry liqueur and pear dish. (I'm a boring eater.) The restaurant was very small but had a lovely ceiling and lights.

We headed to the square for coffee, to see it by night, and were amused to be greeted by young men and women offering free hugs (all with hand-made signs in English saying 'free hugs'). I have no idea what it was all about but we got four hugs and my evening was brightened by their generosity.

Scenic Krakow

Tuesday 20th March

Krakow is beautiful! Our hotel is only five minutes walk away from the Old Town. (I'd read reviews on the internet that placed it 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 15 minutes away. Must depend on speed of walking, getting lost and how many people stop you for a chat. We were stopped by an Australian tourist as I took photos of the hotel, a fellow guest, for a 10-minute chat. I suppose, then, that it took us 15 minutes to get there.)

I could see many similarities with Prague, Vienna and Budapest - relics of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is all so different from the beauties of English architecture. There is more colour and decoration here. I love all the town squares, surrounded by diverse buildings.

We found that the Hoho (hop-on, hop-off) bus only operates in the Summer, so we chose to go by electric car - like a golf buggy. Various companies operate these. Prices started at 360 zloty a carload (4 people - same price even though there were only 2 of us) but came down to 250, and then about 5 minutes away from the main square we found someone who immediately offered it for 200 (about £40). Our driver was a trained archaeologist who had not been able to find archaeological work since the recession. His English was good from working in Northern Ireland. He told us many interesting things, in addition to the taped commentary. The tour was supposed to be 90 minutes, but he gave us an extra 15 minutes. We saw the Old Town, the Jewish Quarter, and Schindler's factory.

He made an extra stop at the bottom of Wawel Hill so I could photograph the statue of the famous dragon of Krakow. Familiar dragon story with a twist: dragon terrorizes town; dragon likes virgins; king fears for his daughter's life and offers half the kingdom; many toughs get killed trying to slay dragon. Along comes the hero, who is a cobbler: he fills dead sheep with sulphur; dragon eats sheep; dragon gets thirsty and drains River Vistula dry to slake his thirst; dragon's stomach explodes; cobbler and princess live happily ever after.

Back in the Old Town, we wandered through the wonderful Cloth Market, which the Lonely Planet guide describes as being full of tatty souvenirs. I wonder if it was written before the market was updated in 2010. The souvenirs were a mixed batch, but seemed fine to me.

We ate a packed lunch on benches in the town square, then visited a coffee shop for coffee and cake. Sarah, my sports therapist, had told me about a cake shop she had visited in Krakow 20 years ago with the best chocolate cake ever. All I knew was that it was by the corner of the cloth hall. However, the cloth hall has 4 corners! Luckily only one corner had close restaurants or coffee shops, but that corner had three in a row. The first one I went inside had an incredible chocolate cake, so we tried it. The young waiter was very friendly. He had an interesting chat-up line. He suggested that if I had a daughter I could send her along to the forthcoming football match and he'd show her around Krakow. I said I only had nieces and he thought that sounded good. Well Sarah, did I get the cake right?

Here are a few photos from our wanderings to give you a flavour of Krakow.

Dinner
Ari, a friend of Polish background, had mentioned Pierogis to me. I'd searched for them on google and found them to be a cross between a dumpling, a pastie and ravioli. Imagine a circle of pastry, filling in the middle, folded over in a half-circle and then boiled or breaded and fried. Our acquaintance from the morning told us of a nearby workers' cafe that sold authentic food. We had pierogis for dinner. Mine were breaded and filled with potatoes. Marian's were boiled and filled with meat, with fatty onions on top. Our acquaintances gave me some of their leftovers to try - breaded but filled with meat - which I considered the nicest. Okay, I've tried it; I've suffered the indigestion; I'll look for something different tomorrow!

Oxford to Krakow

Monday 19th March 2010

Does it really take a whole day to travel anywhere, or does it just feel like it? Okay, staying in bed until 10am may feel like half the day is over to some of you, but it's an early start for me!

The flight was due to leave Stansted at 5pm. The satnav says that's about 1 hour 40 minutes away but I decided to leave no chances. I will never forget the holiday where I arrived at the check-in desk two minutes before it closed, after being stuck in traffic. I left home at about 11.45 and was at the Stansted car park by 1.30. I had booked a late deal with Pink Elephant parking, which operates out of the Hilton hotel. What a lovely start to the holiday, sitting down in the Hilton lobby for an hour, drinking coffee and talking with Marian, my travelling companion, and transferring some of her belongings into our shared case. (I packed so lightly, and Marian had even less. How did it ever come to exactly the 15 kg allowance? So fortunate I weighed it before leaving and decided I had more than my share, and took out my tiny torch and my boots.)

Standard travel - shuttle bus to the airport, queues to check in and get through security (and for a change i was not stopped and searched at security), long wait in a crowded lounge, 2-hour flight (on time leaving and early arriving) in crowded conditions, queues to get through passport control in Krakow. At the airport we were met and put into a mini bus with 4 other people who had booked the same deal we had, ready for the 30-minute drive to the hotel. We negotiated with the driver after he told us what time he'd be collecting us on Thursday. Instead of collecting us at 4:50, he'll do so at 6, which should still get us to the airport early for our 8.50 flight. Leaving 4 hours early would have been ridiculous.

We are staying at the Holiday Inn, very close to the centre of Krakow. This is an old building that has been renovated, leaving the original facade. We are on the ground floor, in Pokoje 62.

In my typical fashion, the first thing I did was rearrange the room. The two beds were only a few centimetres apart (look at the headboard), with an armchair and table and lamp beyond. Those three items fit perfectly next to the TV, which means the bed could be moved several metres over, against the wall. I wonder what housekeeping will think when they see it in the morning. We've been in hotels where I change the furniture each night and they change it back each morning.

It's lovely that the hotel has free internet access. It's just a pity that sites like blogger come up in Polish and it's taken me the whole time of writing, guessing which button to click on, to notice that there's an offer to translate it into English. Oops!

 Preparing to leave, March 2012

Holidays have a departure point. This is mine - Oxfordshire in England in mid-March









Winter is ending and Spring is champing at the bit. The crocuses have finished; the daffodils, irises and primroses are adding much-needed colour after Winter's dullness.







Spring is a difficult time of year to leave home. There are new beauties to be found each time one looks out the window.

However, Europe beckons!





The Holiday
Travelzoo offers wonderful cheap holidays. Imagine 3 days in Krakow in a 4-star hotel, flights included, for about £130. Who could resist? Find a friend and start booking. Oh yes, you want to take luggage, don't you? That's extra. You've phoned up a bit late in the day, after many others have booked, so the flights have gone up by £10 each. Transfers between the airport and the hotel? After all, the flights are late evening. And what about an upgrade to a 5-star hotel that's in a more central location? Only an extra £40. (And would you like fries with that?) By then it was closer to £200 each but it all seemed worth it. Hmm, but add in the cost of petrol getting to Stansted airport and the cost of parking for 3 or 4 days and these hidden costs are probably more than the original holiday!