Krakow as a gift
The best gift is the one that will remain in your memory forever. Therefore, my daughter and I went to celebrate her birthday in magnificent Krakow!
The city is really amazing, it conquered us from the first walk. Of course, the first thing tourists go to the city center. But due to the fact that our settlement was in one of the new areas, we were surrounded by such new buildings:
Cozy and very warm apartments, and despite the approaching end of November, it is warm without heating.
You can comfortably get to Old town from any district of Krakow, since transport runs on schedule and is not crowded. I say this with confidence, because we visited the city on weekdays. Tickets by zones and time, it is convenient to purchase in the transport itself using PayPass. We did not come across Russian-speaking Poles, but in English you can boldly address young people, they will prompt, they will help.
From the tower of the town hall, you can admire the architecture of the old quarters of the city. Entrance to the observation deck this Monday was free, you can say another gift for the DR. And already from these photos you can determine that the Old Town occupies a considerable area.
A huge clock mechanism is located in the center of the observation deck, and outside, at a height of about 50 meters, of course, the clock itself.
Here, on the market square, is the Cloth Market, a shopping gallery that appeared under King Boleslav V, but was repeatedly rebuilt.
A lot of souvenirs, jewelry, as well as warm clothes in the form of socks, hats and other products made from sheep's wool are sold at the market. Everything is bright, beautiful, even just walking around is pleasant. I bought my daughter silver earrings with green amber and a few souvenirs.
Nearby is St. Mary's Church, a Catholic church that is beautiful from all sides. The red brick building in the early Gothic style began to be erected at the beginning of the 14th century. Well, once upon a time there was a wooden church in its place.
A trip to the holy places of Krakow, perhaps, can be put in a separate topic, since they are everywhere!
There is no fuss here, only silence and prayer. . . Tourists enter silently, while Christians pray and reflect on life.
Church of Peter and Paul
St. Barbara's Church
This church of St. Barbara is located, as it were, in the shadow of the St. Mary's Church, but it has a rather rich interior appearance. Sculptures of St. Mary Magdalene and John the Theologian, the Mother of God, sculptures of Angels, many covered with gold leaf.
The Basilica of the Holy Trinity in the Old Town and the Basilica of the Body of God in the Kazimierz district could not remain indifferent either. These huge buildings, like many in the Gothic style, amaze with their both external and internal beauty. And it will not be superfluous for a Christian to sit and pray in the silence of these majestic buildings. The Basilica of the Holy Trinity is run by the monastic order of the Dominicans. The Basilica of the Body of God is a protected monument of the Mał opolska Voivodeship. Inside is a huge organ. The interior is mixed, from Gothic to Baroque.
I recommend visiting one of the main attractions of Krakow - Wawel Royal Castle.
Already at the entrance to the territory, you can see a monument to John Paul II, who was a bishop of the Wawel Cathedral for a long time, and in front of the front gate, a monument to Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the leader of the uprising of 1794. The cathedral is located to the left of the front gate, and in the center is a very cozy courtyard of the Royal Castle.
From the Wawel observation deck you can enjoy a magnificent view of the Vistula River. We were especially lucky to see the sunset here and take photos.
Going down to the Vistula, you can see a dragon that spews fire every 15 minutes, this is an unusually beautiful sight when it gets dark.
Also, across the Vistula, only in another part of the city, there is a bridge with circus artists soaring over it, which we stumbled upon purely by chance. Yes, Krakow is a city with many highlights!
For lovers of not only antiquity, but also modernity, there is an opportunity to visit the Moczak Museum of Contemporary Art, which borders on the Schindler Museum. The museum is very versatile and huge, get ready to spend several hours to get acquainted with it. Here are both photos and installations of the extermination of the Jewish people by the Nazis during World War II.
One of the creepiest installations
At the same time, there are a lot of modern installations here, for the sake of interest, I’ll show you a couple of them:
It also features works by contemporary artists and hosts a variety of temporary exhibitions every year.
Well, for a snack, I left one of the kurgans of Krakow (and there are already four of them), which we went to already on the way to the airport, namely, the mound of Jozef Pilsudski.
Unfortunately, it was not very possible to see the city from the mound, there was fog. However, a walk through the Volsky forest, which rises to the mound, and a meeting with a Pole carrying a carriage in front of her with a child sleeping in it, was very amusing. Naturally, my daughter and I did not pass by, but helped the woman to carry the stroller downhill. She doesn't speak Russian or English at all, so we had to understand Polish. And what can I say, we did it very well! It turned out that she was here for the third time. Well, she gives, to be honest, the slide is cool!
Here is the mound itself, but you still need to climb down the hill through the forest to it. The Pił sudski barrow is considered the most inaccessible of the Krakó w barrows. But neither we nor the Polish woman with a child are afraid of difficulties!
And what a reward it turned out to be such a magnificent view!
The road to the airport near Pił sudski barrow
Chess at Krakow Airport
