It's gotten very expensive to travel the normal way of renting a car and staying in hotels so we're trying something new. We're traveling around Eastern Europe by train and staying in apartments. Later we'll join a tour group. It's definately cheaper but does it work? Join us and find out.
As we walked back into Krakow from the tour bus, we were surrounded by bands.Marching bands with red plumes on their caps.There were also pretty young girls in native costume.If yesterday was Daschund Day, what could Krakow be celebrating today (a Monday)?It turned out that this was the week of the 21st World Mining Conference and Expo.Not exactly the kind of thing I’d expect hundreds of people to be celebrating in the Main Square but Krakow likes to celebrate.
We followed into the Square, picked a café and had lunch while listening to the bands.The food again, was excellent.I had Czech salad of cucumbers and tomatoes in a sour cream dressing served in a hollowed-out zucchini and chicken medallions in a spicy spinach sauce.A flavored couscous wrapped in cucumber slices accompanied it.It tasted as good and as unusual as it looked.My husband’s lunch was a little more prosaic but we both had some of that great Polish beer.
The OldTown section of Krakow is supposed to have 32 churches and cathedrals.We tried to visit all of them this afternoon (this was definitely not my husband’s idea - he would have been happy with one or two just to get the general idea).I love visiting churches.They are so important to the way people live, have required such an immense portion of the local resources to construct and portray how local people interpret beauty.Churches are a window into local culture and way of life so the more churches I visit, the better I feel I understand the culture.
By this measure, Krakow is an ornamental culture full of curlicues and cupids overlaying a Gothic framework.However, there is also a guy in a beer mug costume running around town which implies a heavy local emphasis on enjoying life as well.This is a great town for walking around.You can’t get lost since you have to go through the park to leave the OldTown and there are cafes, gelato and pleasant people everywhere.
