Road Trip to Southern Poland - PART II

KRAKOW
Alright, here is what I have seen so far...


I walked down to the Market Square, which is only a few minutes away from the hotel.    There were lots of booths with various things for sale.  I'm thinking about going back tomorrow, if they are open, and getting a set of nesting dolls.  I got Charlie's birthday present - it's perfect for him.  There were also lots of restaurants with or without outdoor seating in the square (more about this later...).  And of course the street performers.  There was even a group of break dancers - I'm pretty sure they had all Chicago street performers beat.


One thing I really like about the city is that it is very diverse.  And I've heard so many people speaking English I don't really know what to do with myself.  I met some guys from the UK and from Australia.  I also met two girls from the US.  One guy from China... You get the idea.


I started walking down one of the streets because there seemed to be a lot of commotion coming from one side.  I wandered down there and found a wedding picture with the WHOLE family being taken.  It would be like me and the Kacmars on my wedding day.  Lots of people!  What I thought was kind of funny was that there was another wedding party waiting in line to get their pictures taken in the same place.  

Then I accidentally found Wawel.  It is an old castle with a cathedral attached, which happens to be where the former President of Poland and his wife are laid to rest.  I got in this line, I had no idea what it was for, I figured maybe it was to get into the cathedral.  I was wrong.  It was to get into the tomb to pay respects to the first couple.  People were crying and I just felt way out of place.  I did eventually find the line to get into the cathedral and the royal tombs.  The cathedral was so ornate it was absolutely ridiculous.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures, which stinks, because it was outrageous.  The tombs were interesting too.  I saw the tomb of one of the Polish queens and one of the first Polish kings.  His tomb was very medieval and well preserved.


After all of my walking around I was kind of hungry.  Now, I wandered all over creation trying to find Schindler's factory, but never did.  Then I wandered all over Market Square trying to decide what I wanted to eat.  It was way more expensive than the little town of Plock.  


So I found a place I thought I'd like and went to sit outside but a waiter/waitress never came to me.  So I went inside thinking they'd have the same menu.  I was WRONG.  It was one of the fanciest restaurants I had ever been in and I stroll in wearing jeans and a pseudo-dressy top.  I was out of place (again).  And I felt weird just turning around and walking out after I realized I didn't really want to eat there.  So I went with it, and spent a lot of money, but the food was good and the waiters spoke fluent English which was very refreshing. :-)  Hopefully I own't make the same mistake tomorrow morning at breakfast...


I had to add this little thing about my room - so in order to turn the lights on in the room you have to put your room key in the slot (see picture below) and when you take the key out it turns all of the power off to the room.  Talk about energy efficient!