April 26, 2011: Krakow Day 5: Wawel Castle

April 26, 2011: Today we went to Wawel Castle to take all the tours we had missed the other times we had visited the castle. To get there, we took the hotel bus to the city stopping at Barbakan on the way.

Barbakan

Barbakan

Barbakan

From Barbakan, we walked to Old Town for breakfast. We found a nice restaurant in Cloth Hall.

Restaurant in Cloth Hall

After breakfast we roamed in Old Town Square before heading to Wawel Castle.

Afterward we walked to Wawel Castle. Unfortunately, pictures cannot be taken inside the castle but I did take a few more of the outside.

Wawel Castle

Palace in Wawel Castle

The guided tour took us through the residential rooms of the castle and the furnishings were quite impressive. Many of the walls were covered with leather that had been "sculpted" with various patterns. There were also a lot of paintings from all over Europe and furniture to match. After visiting several sections of the castle, we ended up going through the Dragon's Den, a stairwell that led us under the castle and out towards the river. We encountered the statue of a dragon near the exit door.

Wawel Castle: Dragon's Den statue

After touring the castle, we decided to go back to the Jewish section of town for dinner. We went to Ariel's, the restaurant where we had had a drink a few days before. The food was adequate (nothing special). Then we returned back to our hotel via bus. We had taken the bus the day before when I had tried to present the bus driver with money to buy our tickets. He pointed to the ticket machines on the bus and indicated I needed to buy the tickets there. Unfortunately I only had paper money and the machine required coins. A Polish gentleman tried to help me get change for my paper money from other passengers but no one had the needed change. Finally, the gentleman indicated not to worry and to just ride for free which we reluctantly did (Fortunately no ticket inspector came on the bus this time). However, when we took the bus today, being an "expert" rider by this time, I brought coins with me. We got on the bus and I approached the machine and looked in vain for the slot to purchase the tickets, but alas, I learned from another passenger that this machine was only for people who had already purchased tickets for buses and that I would have to buy my tickets from the bus driver, so I went to the driver who sold me my tickets! Go figure.


Meanwhile, I have witnessed some interesting customs of the Polish people in Krakow:

• Just as in Hungary, I've seen Polish people carrying their flowers upside down. I'm beginning to wonder if it's not we Americans who are peculiar in carrying our flowers petals up instead of down.
• Women often buy glasses of beer which they drink by using a straw.
• On the streets, I've seen men and women holding signs pointing to a store/product being sold. Unlike the US where these sign holders are twirling the sign to the point of making the job an aerobic exercise, the Polish signholders are virtually still holding their signs rigidly and without any expression on their faces. I wonder which technique is more effective in getting customers into the intended stores.

And so ends another day in Krakow. It's really been very enjoyable visiting this beautiful city and feeling the vibrancy of it.