Theodosia (Teddy) Robertson

Friday, May 8, 2009

1st real day in Krakow


Today we had a 4 hour walking tour of Krakow. We followed the "Royal Way" ("trasa krolewska"), in other words, the traditional route that kings entering Krakow were obliged to follow on their way way to the Royal Castle on the Wawel hill or to their cornonation point at the Cathedral. The Royal Way begins at Kleparz, originally a town outside the walls of medieval Krakow, but now part of the city. Kleparz is also the district where our hotel is.
Our guide, pani Barbara, described the history of all points of interest. She has completed a year's course for city guides that is very extensive. She's young, in her early twenties, and clearly in a good business. Krakow is filled with tourists and it's still May! Many of the excursions are for school children who at the end of the year have a visit to Krakow. We see them happily traipsing after intrepid teachers.The other excitement in town is "Juwenalia" or the traditional university students' week when they enjoy themselves in costume and making music strolling about the Old Town of Krakow before they take their exams. Lots of fun and then come the grades; you may as well have fun now---who knows what your gpa will be at the end?
We walked the Old Town and Royal mound (the Wawel) til almost 2 pm (more on that later). Then we bought food in the Kleparz market (Rynek kleparski) a block from our hotel. You can see the market in the pictures above. Don't park your horse and wagon or tractor just anywhere! The market is many times the size of the Flint Farmers' Market and has everything: clothing, housewares, all kinds of food---meat, vegetables, fruit, fish, breads. And lots of plants and flowers:lilacs in bloom, lilies of the valley are especially fragrant.
Sandwiches in our room and collapse!

2 comments:

  1. How's the language working out? Any trouble refreshing your Polish? How is it for The Happy Consort? Is he learning a few words? We all (well, me and Joey and Cinder) miss you but we're also so glad you're there having adventures.

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  2. I was so tired from the travel that my Polish was weak, but each day gets better. The reality is so changed with 2 decades of freedom and capitalism! It's the 20th anniversary of 1989---I'm reading about how people are reflecting on life since the fall of the wall.

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