Travel
- 10 Place To Visit And Things To Do In Poznan
Poznan is an interesting mixture of old and new and just perfect for a weekend getaway. In spite of being a relatively small city, Poznan is trendy and it has the cool factor. But what we love best about it is that it really knows how to draw inspiration...
- Drottningholm Palace, Stockholm. Unesco World Heritage Site
Palaces and castles always fascinated me and tickled my imagination. Therefore it will come as no surprise that on our last day in Stockholm I dragged my husband to see Drottningholm Palace. The reputation preceded this place for being listed as...
- A Morning On Stockholm's Royal Canal Boat Tour
Before I even arrived in Stockholm I already knew that going on a canal boat tour was the one thing I wouldn't miss for anything in the world. Therefore when I spotted the Royal Canal Tour on the list of 'free sightseeing' of the...
- Orebro Castle. Majestically Rising In The Middle Of A Modern City
Situated right in the middle of the town, the Orebro Castle majestically dominates the views. We arrived in Orebro on a very rainy day. The castle revealed itself to us just as a pretty unusual site. A moat surrounds the castle and the city...
- Chasing Dwarfs In Wroclaw, Poland
Wroclaw is a city to fall in love with. It has a charming Western atmosphere and we needed constant reminder that we were actually in Eastern Europe. It's a trend among the Polish cities to be gracefully combine the old and the new in a...
Travel
Krakow. In the Footsteps of the Jewish People
We spent the 3rd day of our InterRail month through Europe in Krakow.
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| Quirky statue in Krakow's Main Square |
Much like Poznan, Krakow is a surprising city. First thing we did was visit the Wawel Castle. As it was Monday, only the gorgeous Wawel Cathedral was open. Too bad they have a 'no photos' policy I will never understand. The cathedral is heavily decorated in a mixture of styles. It's like every generation put their 2 cents in here.
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| Wawel Castle |
As we wandered through the castles premises, we found this guy in the middle of a group of people, advertising 'free Krakow walking tours' and inviting everyone to join, which we did, for like the last 5 minutes of the Royal Krakow tour. He advised us to take the Jewish tour in the afternoon with one of his colleagues. And since we were eager to join one of the Krakow tours anyways, in order to learn more about this fascinating city in situ, we didn't hesitate to do so.
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| Meet Alice, the sweetest guide ever |
The free Krakow walking tours has an amazing idea behind it. You can join and leave the group whenever you want, and if you stay all the way till the end of the tour, you can tip the guide as much or as little as you want, if you feel like it.
So at 3pm we joined Alice's group in the Main Square, right in front of the St Mary's Church. Alice is a native Polish girl who speaks perfect English. She's the kind of person I would like to have as a friend. She is fun. She is energetic. She is soooo nice. And she was the coolest guide we've ever had. OK, I have to say that we met two more of her colleagues and they were really cool people too, so it's not only that Alice has a great personality, they all are nice people, therefore I think we would have been in good hands with any of them.
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| Quirky cafe in the Jewish Quarter of Krakow. All tables have a sewing machine on them that you can actually use |
Alice took us on a tour of the Jewish Quarter, with it's sinagogues, quirky cafes, one decadent market and one huge satirical graffiti. She recommended us traditional Polish food, talked about the local drinking customs and she even showed us the house where Helena Rubenstin was born.
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| Market in the Jewish Quarter |
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| Graffiti criticizing the masses who blindly listen to whatever the Church has to say |
We also passed by movie sets used in Shindler's List.
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| One amazingly looking restaurant in Krakow. It was a movie set in 'Schindler's List' |
More often than not, a bridge is more than just a simple bridge. The new pedestrian bridge opened only a couple of years ago over Vistula River also opened new horizons on both its sides. The love lock culture so in vogue all over Europe these days, can also be found in Krakow. Alice got engaged on this bridge. This and other personal details made her a delightful guide.
However by now the storm was upon us. On the other side of the river, there was a saddder story to be told. We visited the getto where the Jews were kept during the WWII. I know we wouldn't have looked for this horrifing place on our own. But we are glad we took this walking tour and found out so much about the history of this city. It gave us a different perspective over Krakow, one we wouldn't have gotten from just walking around the Main Square on ourselves.
Now the getto is a memorial site and all that's left to remind us of the terrifieng faith thousands of people had here seven decated ago are some empty chairs.
The tour ended at Schindler's factory. Not much of a site to see, but a powerful story to tell for sure.
The free walking tour lasted 3 hours. And we were very happy we took it. We hope we'll manage to go on the free walking tours they organize in Wroclaw and Warsaw too.
And when everything was said and done, Alice showed us 'back to civilization'.
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| Water for the horses |
We return to the Main Square to admire more of its UNESCO Heritage Sites...
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| Sukiennice, part of Krakow's UNESCO Heritage List |
... and the beautiful horse pulled carriages.
You can also see our month long Interrail itinerary and read our tips for traveling Europe with an Interrail pass. Have you used an Interrail pass before or are you planning an Interrail trip in the near future? Please leave us your feedback. It means the world to us.
Though we used the Interrail Global Pass for our journey, it's worth noting that single country passes are also available.
- 10 Place To Visit And Things To Do In Poznan
Poznan is an interesting mixture of old and new and just perfect for a weekend getaway. In spite of being a relatively small city, Poznan is trendy and it has the cool factor. But what we love best about it is that it really knows how to draw inspiration...
- Drottningholm Palace, Stockholm. Unesco World Heritage Site
Palaces and castles always fascinated me and tickled my imagination. Therefore it will come as no surprise that on our last day in Stockholm I dragged my husband to see Drottningholm Palace. The reputation preceded this place for being listed as...
- A Morning On Stockholm's Royal Canal Boat Tour
Before I even arrived in Stockholm I already knew that going on a canal boat tour was the one thing I wouldn't miss for anything in the world. Therefore when I spotted the Royal Canal Tour on the list of 'free sightseeing' of the...
- Orebro Castle. Majestically Rising In The Middle Of A Modern City
Situated right in the middle of the town, the Orebro Castle majestically dominates the views. We arrived in Orebro on a very rainy day. The castle revealed itself to us just as a pretty unusual site. A moat surrounds the castle and the city...
- Chasing Dwarfs In Wroclaw, Poland
Wroclaw is a city to fall in love with. It has a charming Western atmosphere and we needed constant reminder that we were actually in Eastern Europe. It's a trend among the Polish cities to be gracefully combine the old and the new in a...