Today was a full day of exploring Krakow’s Old Town. I got up at around 8 a.m. and headed to breakfast. I had done some studying before hand and was able to say my room number in Polish to the breakfast attendant. I’m sure I’m mispronounced it but I said it well enough so that she could figure it out. I’ve been trying to learn polish as I think it helps break the ice with service staff. I would imagine most Americans don’t bother learning polish and therefore it kind of looks bad when they just automatically speak English to service staff. 

At breakfast I had my usual scrambled eggs and toast. I also found out where the cereal is kept. So I had some chocolate Cocoa Puffs as well.

My Rick Steves guidebook said that I should stop by the Jagiellonian University and ask for the 30-minute English tour. I found the ticket area and was told the next tour was at 10:40. Therefore I had about an hour to kill before going back for my tour. I checked to see if the Old City Hall Tower was open. Unfortunately it opened at 10:30.  I did stop by the Floridian gate which is a medieval gate protecting the city.  A McDonald’s is right beside it providing me with free wifi. The Rick Steve book spoke about how when they were renovating the McDonald’s they found a medieval basement in the underground of the McDonald’s. So McDonald’s turned it into more seating. I did some window browsing and took some photos before getting back to take a tour of the University.

While waiting in line another gentleman saw that I was wearing my UT Vols shirt and mention that he did his undergraduate study at Vanderbilt. I mentioned to him that I lived near Nashville and was from Mount Juliet. I didn’t have much more time to talk to him because the tour was already started.

A stern security guard open the door to the library and invited our group of around 12 people in. Our tour guide was a young lady whose English wasn’t as good as others English. I really had to listen to her to be able to decipher what she was saying because of her thick accent. 

During the early days of the University of the professor’s would actually live at the University somewhat like a monk. Students who could not afford to pay for tuition worked as servants to the professors. Copernicus went there as a student can the university has several artists Renditions of his likeness. For example in the library there is a bust of his head. 

We saw a library, a few treasury rooms, and a lecture hall that looks very similar to a cathedral in seating arrangements. And one of the treasuries and Oscar, a Nobel Peace Prize, a 2004 Olympic medal, and a Neil Armstrong autographed photo of the view of Earth from space. The latter was for Copernicus’ 500th birthday.

After the tour was over I went over to the town hall Tower to climb to the top for some pictures. The town hall Tower is All That Remains from the former Town Hall. It was torn down by Austrians in never rebuilt.

On the way up there are various Museum exhibits about the history of the Town Hall. Fortunately they were in polish therefore it really did not mean too much to me. Had the top the viewing area is behind class therefore it would not look good to be doing selfies there. One space would turn dark while the background would be light.

Imagine what it would be like if they ever did rebuild the town hall but I think it’s so much of a landmark now that the town hall would overwhelm the rest of the empty Square.

Afterwards I wandered around some more and bought some souvenirs. I did find myself near the Barbican, which is a medieval Fortress which was one disconnected to the non-existent city walls. I paid my admission fee to get in and wander around. Unfortunately the view from the Barbican is not all that good. You can barely see the Floridian gate behind it.

I decided that I should at least try some pierogi as today would be a good opportunity to do so. I wondered around the old town till I Came Upon an authentic Polish restaurant sign. I was the only one in the restaurant at that time. I order the Pierogi with potato and cream cheese. Initially I thought I was ordering 10 but they gave me two extra perogies. The Pierogi was good but it’s not my kind of food. It was like eating a plateful of potatoes. 

I ended up ordering an extra Fanta in order to be able to have some thirst quencher. It almost felt like I was in an eating contest in The Amazing Race. And somehow I was doing it to prove to friends that I was willing to try new things.

Afterwards I stop by St Mary’s tower to visit the tower. As it turns out the next Tower visit was at 3:10 p.m. Therefore I had around 90 minutes to kill before having to be back in the tower.

 I walked around the Old Town and got a ticket to the underground Museum. The lady at the ticket booth recommended I go ahead and buy my ticket now so as to ensure my place in line. Therefore I scheduled my visit for 4:10 p.m. with plenty of time in between the St Mary’s tower and the underground Museum.

At the appointed time I climb the steps to the St Mary’s tower which is the largest tower in the old town. The Rick Steves book said that the stairs were in a state of disrepair because there was a feud going between the church and the City of Krakow over whose responsibility it was to repair the stairs. But by now the stairs were repaired with nice new steps and handrails. Therefore I figured that the disagreement between the church and city of Krakow had been resolved.

At the top one tourist had a GoPro camera on the end of a stick and was holding the stick out from the tower in the window. I thought about doing that too but I still not trust my equipment to be able to secure the GoPro. I probably would have freaked out if my GoPro had fell from the tower.

It’s a nice view of the city from up there. I was going to use my GoPro more but a couple of Germans were monopolizing the viewing area of the prime location showing the Market Square.

After climbing down the steps I really wanted some ice cream and soda.. the only problem was I couldn’t find any in the places I was looking. That kind of happened sometimes. When you’re needing to find something you never can find it. But afterwards you always seem to be able to come across it.

I started my tour of the underground Museum thirsty which was probably not a good thing. The museum had plenty of screens to read about primitive and medieval Krakow. Excavations from the city had brought about old skeletons, knives, spoons, and toys. It was all very interesting but unfortunately it was near toward the end of the day and I was really tired. Near toward the end of the tour there were short documentaries about the history of Krakow. The only one that I really enjoyed was the one about World War II and onward.

After the underground muzeum I was thinking about getting supper but I wasn’t sure if I wanted McDonald’s or something else. The Rick Steves book had suggested French bread pizza but I never could find it.

And now a word about the people who stand on the streets of Krakow and hand you flyers for whatever restaurant, bar hop or strip club they may be promoting. After a while it becomes incredibly annoying especially when you’re walking down the same street back and forth and they harass you each and every time trying to hand you a flyer. I’ve kind of death tit showing them the hand or just ignoring them quite completely. I act like I don’t know English either. It’s just one of those things that makes my vacation less enjoyable.

I decided on Pizza Hut again which was located at the mall by the train station. I had my usual: a pan pizza with all the meats. I think something was wrong with the seven up in that it probably didn’t have syrup and tasted like European water with carbonation. 

After dinner I saw that we was raining and therefore I changed back into my coach. I stopped by a convenience store and got a large Milka chocolate bar and got back to my hotel room. 

Tomorrow I have a day trip to the Auswitch concentration camp. This should be a sobering reminder of the evil humans are capable of doing to one another. 

I’m looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep.