It's a miracle...

No Hangover...Just a little tired!

After the previous night, we decided to have a long lie and a slightly more relaxing day.

We started out with a coffee and almond croissant at a little café not far from Wawel Castle; the plan was to visit parts of the castle complex but it was so busy with school kids that there were queues everywhere. Apparently kids of all ages go on school trips during the months of May and June in Poland, so if you want peace and quiet, avoid these months.

We wandered around for a bit, before deciding to visit the Dragon's den, a cave in Wawel Hill and apparently the dragon's lair. It was formed nearly 12 million years ago and it really is home to a fire-breathing dragon (statue!).

The descent into the cave begins at the top of the castle and there is a spiral stair to navigate all the way down. It's not particularly far, but it is slightly damp in the cave and we chose a bright sunny day. There wasn't too much to see, but there is a statue of a dragon just outside the cave at the bottom of the hill, and it does breath fire every 5 minutes or so.

It was absolutely roasting so we decided the best thing to do would be a relaxing boat tour; we chose an hour ride and waited patiently for the boat to depart. Unfortunately, a group of 30 kids then turned up and the peace was ruined; we were subjected to loud music and lots of kids chatter for 30 minutes before we berthed and the kids departed. We then moved to a smaller boat, and carried on for the rest of the tour. Its fair to say, the last 30 minutes was much more enjoyable.

After the boat ride, it was time for lunch. We wandered up to the main square, found a restaurant called Restauracja Ratuszowa which had a bit of shade and we ordered a pizza and beer; this was more like it. Unfortunately, in our drunkenness, we had booked a walking tour of the Jewish quarter so the relaxation was quickly cast aside and we got our walking shoes ready. 

I grabbed a frappe, before meeting the guide outside St. Marys Basilica; I'm not sure why we met here as it was at least a 15 minute walk to the Jewish quarter. The tour was 2.5 hours and took in all the major sites including Krakow Old Synagogue, the Ghetto Pharmacy, the Empty Chairs Memorial, St Josephs Church and the Father Bernatek Footbridge with ten acrobatic, gravity-defying sculptures. We even saw a few locations from Schindler's List, and were told lots of good and bad stories from the war. 

The tour ended in Plac Nowy which is home to the best Zapiekanki in Poland. This square is the complete opposite of Krakow's main square in that its not particularly pretty, its full of locals and the prices are a bit more reasonable. It has a rotunda in the middle of the square which used to be a slaughterhouse for poultry up to the Nazi occupation, but now it is where locals line up to have Zapiekanka. It is technically a baguette pizza with the toppings of your choice; it was also our dinner for tonight!

After dinner, we decided to stay in the Jewish district and head to a bar or two. There are lots of interesting bars off the main square so we thought we would take a look. I was in the mood for cocktails, whereas Iain wanted beer. 

After our antics the night before, we decided to take it easy and head back to the hotel at a reasonable time. At least I remembered getting "home" this time!