Day 9 - Wawel Hill and The Main Market Square

I allowed myself to sleep in this morning and catch up on some sleep. I also did some laundry because my apartment has a large towel rack that works wonders as a dryer. My knee has been bothering me quite a bit the last few days. I feel like I either tore something or stretched something and it is causing me a bit of pain. I need to take a day or two and let it rest, but that won't happen for another 3 weeks, so I will have to find another alternative to help it. Once I got ready, I was out the door and it was a beautiful sunny day outside. I had a little bit of a limp starting out and I tried not to let my pain show too much.

My first stop was Wawel Hill. Wawel hill has the Royal Castle and the Wawel Cathedral, it holds great significance in Poland and is guarded by a large brick wall that goes all around the property. It looks exactly like a castle you would imagine in a childhood fairytale. I find it a bit difficult to be a tourist in Poland, without a detailed book that gives me step by step instructions. On most signs, English is the 3rd or 4th listed language and I find I don't get the best explanations of things. So it takes me a bit longer to figure out where I need to go and what I need to be doing. I manage to get it done, but it does takes a bit of time. Either way, I made my way around Wawel Hill and saw some beautiful views of the city over the river. I then looked into taking a tour of the Royal Castle, but decided against it. Instead I roamed around and took pictures of the picturesque castle. I then went inside The Cathedral and gave myself a tour of that, there were signs in English so I was able to read my way through. It was very pretty and a lot of Kings are burried here. Nic and Dorota informed me the night before that Wawel hill was seized numerous times after it was built and most of the things inside the Royal Castle have been burned over the centuries. There is still some on display, but a lot of the beautiful art and tapastries that once made the Royal Castle so beautiful have been ruined. I enjoyed my time there, and made my way down the hill to the main road, Grodzka that leads from Wawel hill to the Main Market Square. I spent a lot of time here, because the sun was shinning and it was warmer standing in the sunlight. I took a lot of pictures, the structures that surround the city centre are eye catching and each are built in different centuries, making a very diverse skyline. I walked around seeing all the buildings and decided to enter St. Mary's Catherdral, which is the primary church in the centre. It is one of the most magificent churches I have ever seen. The entrie church is decorated in bright colors and designs from the floor to the ceiling. The paintings on the stone walls and ceilings are tremendous, I could have sat there and looked at it for hours. The detail in the Cathedral is very impressive.

I was walking out of the Cathedral and I turned around and saw Nic and Dorota walking in! I couldn't believe it, the entire city of Krakow and I ran into them again. It was hillarious. They had taken a quick break over lunch to run a few errands and came inside to see the Cathedral. They took me over to the Christmas mart and Nic purchased some hot wine, which I tried and I did not like at all. So I gave it back to Nic. :) Also, Nic bought me some goat cheese which is a traditional Polish food, I thought it was really good and the warmth helped! We walked around the Christmas mart and saw all the different booths. It was very lovely and it did put me in the Christmas spirit. Next, Nic lead me to an art museum he recommended and we discussed dinner plans at 8, and they were on their way.

So I went into the art museum, Galeria Sztuki Wspotczesnej and I saw the artist Bunkier Sztuki's work. (Nic, I sure hope that is correct!) He does pencil sketches of large city landscapes, it was really impressive when you look at the detail of the pencil work. He also had a few video installations that were very interesting. I enjoyed the exhibit, thanks for the recommendation Nic. The only thing wrong with it was the tempature, it was FREEZING in the museum and I went into the connecting cafe to warm up with some coffee. I sat at a small table, one of the only tables open and made myself at home. The waiter approached me and asked me something in Polish, which I quickly replied with my usual, "Hello, I am sorry, I do not speak Polish." And he gave me the typical reponse here, "Oh, okay..............., I will bring you an English menu." And he did, so I ordered a Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream. Yes, I felt like being a kid again and treating myself to something delicous and warm. The waiter tried to convince me that I needed cake to go along with my hot chocolate, but I declined. He then brought me my hot chocolate, but it wasn't the hot chocolate I am used to. It was actually real melted chocolate, thick melted choclate. I couldn't believe it, and I couldn't even finish it. I was drinking pure chocolate, it reminded me of the chocolate river in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

After my real hot chocolate, I went back to the Christmas market and did a bit more looking around. I bartered with a man over some things I wanted and he was hillarious. He told me I was too beautiful to look at, so he could only look to the side and tell me no. It was a nice boost for my confidence level in another country, and I still got the price I wanted in the end! I took some time and went into touristy shops in the area. I was interested in what Poland is known for and what they were selling. I bought some postcards, and I have them right here with me, but I can never find a post office. So who knows if I will ever send them!

It gets dark here around 3:30 and is pitch black by 4:30, its really sad because I always think its much later than it actually is. But it gets so cold when its dark that I can barely stand to be outside. I began to walk down the main road again towards my apartment. I was starving at this point and I was looking for a nice place to stop and grab a small bite before dinner later. However, I hate being the stupid American that can only speak English and I find myself too scared to walk into any place for fear they don't speak English. So instead, I walked into a small grocery store and picked a few random things up to last me my time here. Including a Coca-cola light! I haven't tried it yet, but I certainly have my hopes up that it is the kind I like. I realized they do not have plastic bags here and they charge for cloth bags, so I tried to stuff everything in my bag from the Christmas mart and my purse. I was successful, but it was very full.

As I continued to walk home, I walked in front of St. Peter and Paul's Church (as I do everyday) and the sign said, Classical Music Concert today at 4:30 and 8:00. I decided to check out the price because it was just about 4:30, and why not, right? They told me 40 plz, and I said no thank you, but then the man said, 20 plz for you. And I decided to go. I walked into the church and made very loud noises with my large bag as I walked down the aisle. I think everyone turned to look at me, but oh well. I found my seat and not too long later, the piano player came out and started his concert. It was really beautiful piano playing, and I knew most of the music he played. It lasted about 45 minutes and I was very pleased with myself for going. The church was very pretty, but not as pretty on the inside as St. Mary's Church. The outside of the church however has statues of all the aposltes and is really neat to look at. I swear, Poland is COVERED in churches. Just about every 5 blocks you will see another church, each one unique and magnificent in its own right. The country is 90% Catholic, and takes it very seriously!

I then walked the rest of the way home, still limping I might add, and made some tea. I enjoyed a few animal crackers and tea and took about a 30 min. nap. Then I organized my laundry, put on my many, many layers and began my walk to Nic and Dorota's. This was my frist attempt getting there by myself and I was a bit nervous. It is dark out, but I had the path pretty much ironed out so I was confident I would succed. To make matters worse, I had used all my cell phone time up, so I didn't have a way to contact Nic or Dorota if I needed to, so basically I couldn't fail, pressure was on. I set myself as a determined Polish person on my regular path home and walked the 20 or 30 minutes it takes to get there. I only took one wrong turn, and realized it about 3 minutes down so I turned back, got back on the right street, praying it was correct. Then I saw a very famous statue that I use as my marker for their home, and celebrated at my success! Their apartment is right across the street from a convent, and they informed me that when Pope John Paul II (who is from here by the way) went to the Vatican, the nuns he took with him were from this convent. I think that's very impressive! Nic told me at night he can see the nuns doing "their nun things," and I think that is odd. :) Anyway, Marta and Goofy let me into the building on their way out for a walk, although I don't think she had any idea who I was. I said "Hello" very enthusiastically and she just ignored me and opened the door. Oh well! I walked up to their apartment and rang the bell. I think they were suprised to see I made it the entire way with no problems! Yeah me!

I brought them a bottle of wine, which Nic quickly opened and we began to chat about our days. They made a wonderful Turkey soup from the leftovers and we ate that with some warm bread. It was really good, but it didn't quite fill us up. So we got out more mashed potatoes and Turkey from the leftovers, oh and gravy and had a bit more. We talked a lot about different things in the world, and Nic and Dorota's experiences living in Paris and staying in Mexico City. I also made it a point to add more money to my phone. Then at midnight or so, Dorota called me a cab home, which I was thankful for because I didn't know if my knee could take the walk home. Once home I packed up a few things, folded my now clean and dry laundry and went to bed. It was a great day, but I needed rest. Tomorrow I have every intention of going to Auschwitz.

Do zobaczenia wkrótce, Anna