After a bare minimum of sleep, we were roused out of bed at the ungodly hour of 9:30am so that we could get ready in time for the day's sightseeing. There were two options for the day, the first being a trip to the salt mine at Wieliczka, and the second being a trip to an aviation museum and then tour around Kazimierz. I really wanted to see Kazimierz (the old Jewish quarter of the city) so I went for the latter option. The aviation museum was interesting because the guide knew a lot and there were quite a few historical planes that I'd heard about but never seen "in the flesh" but after a lack of sleep, it was a tiring morning and a sleep break would have been nice.
After the tour of the aviation museum we had a short 40 minute break before the next tour (that of Kazimierz) was to begin. Ania, Ante and I took this opportunity to seek much needed caffeine in the form of coffee. The coffee was much needed and delicious, albeit somewhat expensive, and the cafe was located in the main market square (Rynek Główny) so we were able to sip coffee and look at the square.
For the tour of Kazimierz and a few other sites around the old town, we were loaded into these electric tourist cars. I normally shun such contraptions but the chance to sit down for this leg of the sightseeing was a welcome relief from the walking that morning and the previous night. After an initial problem with the speaker system supplying the audio part of the audio tour (the speaker worked intermittently at best, though changing cars fixed this problem) we embarked on an interesting tour of Kraków's old town and Jewish quarter. There is a street in Kazimierz called ul. Kupa, which translates to 'Shit St.', a name that amused me greatly. Unfortunately I missed the opportunity to obtain photographic evidence of this name, so I shall have to remember for my next trip to this beautiful city.
After this tour, we went to a late lunch at an establishment roughly half-way from the market square to the dorm. The food was good (and we were starving). Lunch was followed by an afternoon of free time, which involved another cafe for me and a few others. The IAESTE group in Kraków (the people who organised this trip) put on a party for us on Saturday night, as well an a quick play that told the story of the Kraków Dragon. The party was good, and they played (mostly) good music, so I enjoyed the evening.
On Sunday morning, after being awoken early again, we were taken on a tour of the Wawel Castle. Wawel is smaller than a few other castles that I've seen in my travels, but it is still a very nice collection of buildings. We saw the bell tower and I touched the ringer of the biggest bell in the world with my left hand (a practise which is supposed to bring luck). The staircases leading up to and down from the bell tower were interesting and fun to walk on - they meandered through tight spaces and low ceilings as though the builders didn't have a plan and just added higher stairs as they felt appropriate, while drunk. The tour then went to the crypt under the cathedral where the bodies of most of the Polish kings lie, as well as a few other notable Poles, such as Tadeusz Kościuszko, the person after whom my current street and the largest mountain in Australia are named. Our guide then took us through several other buildings and down to the river to see the statue of the Kraków Dragon. The statue is good and every so often breathes fire, which is a nice touch.
At the conclusion of this tour our organised weekend in Kraków came to an end, so we had some free time before returning to the dorm to pack our bags and head to the train station. It was an awesome weekend, and I had heaps of fun. Kraków is a great city.
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