The 3 hour trip on the shuttle from Ostrava to Kraków went fairly smoothly. The shuttle dropped me off at the Galleria mall which sits over the new railway/bus station. I went to the mall to find an ATM to get some Polish currency (Zloty). The U.S. Dollar is very strong now & the exchange rate is 3.75 Zloty to 1 USD. It was an easy 15 minute walk to the apartment where I was staying for the next 2 nights. I met the apartment owner to get my keys. The apartment is well located & close to all the sights. The weather was chilly for my first 2 days, it was in the mid 50s & windy at times.
I found a good place that served Polish food that was close to the main square & only spent $7 for a dinner with a soft drink. I walked around the main square which is one of biggest in Europe. They had some musicians, street performers, & lots of women trying to get you to visit a "gentlemens club".
On my first full day in Kraków, I made a visit to Aushwitz. It is about 1 hour 20 minutes by bus from Kraków. I knew it wasn't going to be a fun visit, but it was something that was important to see. I checked online & all of the guided tours in English were already filled & a local guide was $30-$40, but if you get there before 10:00 am you can do a self tour at no charge. I got on a bus just before 8:00 am & arrived around 9:30 am, still lots of people there at that time including large groups of kids. Almost all of the signs & exhibits were translated into English, which was helpful since I didn't have a guide. There were obviously absolutely horrific & gruesome things done there, so there is not much more I can say about it. It was a long trip as I didn't return until 4:00 pm. Here are a few photos from my visit.
The next morning I had to check out of the apartment & check into the Park Inn hotel for another free 2 night stay. The hotel is located right next to a tram stop & the river. I was upgraded to their best room which was a junior suite on the 4th floor with great views of the river.
I visited a famous salt mine after checking into the hotel, it is a 20 minute train ride from Kraków. The mine started 700 years ago & at one time it contributed 1/3 of the revenue for the Polish economy. It was a very long walk down about 300 steps to get to the main level of the mine. There were quite a few interesting exhibits on the history of the mine plus a church where all of sculptures were carved from salt. It was nice visit & an easy day trip since they had trains leaving every 30 minutes.
There was a bike path along the river near the hotel, so I got in a few 5 mile runs along it. My last day in Kraków, I visited Wawel castle, the Old Jewish Quarter, & the main square. I also tried some Polish fast food, something called Zapiekanka which is similar to a French bread pizza & also tried something that looks like a pretzel, but tastes like a bagel.
In the evening of my last night in Kraków, there was a large fireworks show along the river. I watched some of it on the bridge nearby & some of it from my hotel room. In the morning, I take the Polskibus for 3 hours to a city called Wroclaw in eastern Poland for a 1 night visit.
Here are some more photos from visit to Kraków. It is definitely a place I could see myself visiting again.
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