Kraków

A three day weekend and a country within driving distance that we had yet to visit meant a quick getaway was in order.  A plan was hatched, tickets were pre-booked, and the car was packed in record time.  We were all looking forward to a fun, family weekend in Karków.  And since we didn't want to waste a minute we picked the girls up from school at 2:45 and were on the road by 3:00.  We were making pretty good time until just outside of Brno (about 2 hours into our 5 1/2 hour drive), when it all came to a standstill.  Literally.  The next two hours, and about 1.2 miles, was more stop than go.  It is a good thing that my girls are such good sports and are used to travelling.  They just plugged themselves into their iPad's until the finally fell asleep.  Well past their bedtime, but thankfully before our midnight arrival time.  Yep, 9 hours later we finally pulled up to the hotel.  We were all exhausted and fell into bed immediatly.  But do you think that the girls let us sleep in the next morning?  Not when there was so much to see and such beautiful weather just outside our door.

The first thing on our agenda was to take a short walk to the Rynek Glówny (the main square).  Dating back to the 13th century, this is the largest medieval square in all of Europe and it was declared the World's Best Square by the Project for Public Places.  With the Cloth Hall dominating the center of the square, and churches and historic townhouses ringing the outside, I can see why.

Cloth Hall from the outside.

and the inside.

Our first stop of the day was actually underneath the Cloth Hall.  Rynek Underground is a museum housed directly below the stalls of the Cloth Hall.  Completed in 2010, the museum showcases life in Kraków in midieval times.  Using holograms, and touch screens, the museum walks you through what life was like and how important the city was in European trading.  Many of the exhibits are interactive, and the girls really loved spending time here.

Entering the mist - and the exhibit.

The trade routes in medieval times - Prague is the castle in the middle.  Kraków, the tall tower on the right.

We got to weigh ourselves in a bunch of different countries - using their measures.

I will let you guess which of the above weighs 230 Flemish pounds and 10 flemish ounces.

We tried to lift the cart.  We all failed.

Interactive games taught the girls the kinds of tools they used, and the fashions of the day.

There was a QR code on the back of the brochure that would pop us these different 3-D renderings of buildings as they looked back in time.

 We measured how tall we would be next to the average sized person in the 14th century.

"Digging" through the archaeological site that this land sits on.

The actual stalls from the market about 600 years ago.

Standing in and under the fountain - pictured below from above ground and in the square.

We had a few more things on our list, but no general no more appointments that we had to keep, so it was time to just wander a bit...And perhaps chase the pigeons, pet the horses and just enjoy the sunshine.

And then this called MadHatters attention...

St. Mary's Basilica is .  But not just for it's non-symmetrical facade, but because it also houses the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world.  Built in 1477, the altarpiece was dismantled at the beginning of WWII, and shipped to many locations around Poland for safekeeping.  Not safe, or secret enough it turns out, because all of the pieces were discovered by the Third Reich, and shipped to the Nuremberg Castle.  Polish prisoners at the castle sent secret messages back to their homeland stating that the altarpiece was there, and finally the monuments men (yep, the same ones from the movie) recovered it in 1946 and sent it home.

But as impressive as that is, it still doesn't do justice to the beauty of the rest of the church.  With its stunningly beautiful blue ceiling, and its inlaid, hand carved woodwork, this church is simply one of the most beautiful that I have ever encountered.  And taking pictures here was tough (no flash, no tripods...) so I don't think you can get a real sense of how gorgeous it really was.

MadHatter chooses one church to light a candle in on each trip.  This was her choice.

Right across the cobblestone pathway is St. Barbara's Church.  Not as grand and fittingly so.  While St. Mary's served the elite in Poland, St. Barbara's served the masses.

Finally it was time for a quick lunch.  The littlest ones spotted a Hard Rock Cafe and we were in no mood to argue.  They had been so patient with our sightseeing, and the 9 hour ride the day before, that a treat was in order.

With our bellies full we wandered over to see St. Florian's Gate - one of the remaining parts of the wall that surrounded the city in the 14th century from Turkish attack.

We stopped in quickly to see the oldest church in the city - St. Adalbert's - built in the 11th century...

 We goofed around a bit on our walk to Wawel on the left bank of the Vistula River.  The complex houses the Royal Castle and the Wawel Cathedral (which we didn't get to until the next day).  Since no pictures are allowed inside the private rooms and collections, I only have a few of the outside.  And a few of the girls having fun... 

We visited the famed Wawel Dragon.  The Dragon is a mystical beast that was said to have terrorized the town before being slain by Krakus, a Polish Price.  He was then said to have built his palace above the dragons lair. We descended into his cave, and bravely looked for him but did not find him at home.  Probably because we stumbled into him outside, breathing fire and terrorizing the passers-by.

Having walked many a mile, and seen as many sites as we could for one day, we stopped for some dinner...and of course, some more silliness.

 It was a great first day in Karków.  We headed back to the hotel early (though still past all of our bedtimes) because we had an early start in the morning...Stay tuned for day 2.