Krakow Wieliczka
I want to tell you about a weekend trip to Krakow and Wieliczka. To be honest, I went in great anticipation, because I heard a lot about Krakow and read almost as about the most beautiful city in the world. That is why my disappointment was so great. But first things first. The tour was by bus, departure on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning we were already in Krakow. We were lucky with the weather, there was still snow in Minsk, and in Poland it was already a real spring, very warm and sunny. The tour of the old town began with the Krakow barbican, a well-preserved fortification, considered the largest and most beautiful in Europe. Then through the Florian Gate we get directly into the old city. Immediately to the right of the entrance is a street where Polish artists sell their paintings. Moving on, we get to St. Mary's Church, where for some reason there were crowds of people with their heads up. At first I did not understand what kind of strange poses, but then it turned out that everyone was waiting for the trumpeter to start playing. It trumpets every hour in memory of the Tatar invasion of Krakow in the 13th century. Incredibly piercing clear sound. The guide said that if you shout loudly, after he finishes playing, the trumpeter will wave to us. We did just that, and he actually looked out the window and waved. Entrance to the church itself for tourists is paid - 4 zł . Opposite the church there is a monument to Adam Mickiewicz, on the steps of which Polish youth settled down to rest and a huge number of pigeons hang around in anticipation of handouts from tourists. Behind him are the Krakow Cloth Halls, built in the 12th-13th century. Previously, there were shopping arcades, but now too, just in a modern way, and on the second floor there is a branch of the Polish National Museum. Throughout the huge Rynok Square, you can see a huge number of living sculptures, and the most unusual ones. After that, our path lay in the Wawel Royal Castle towering on a hill, where the tombs of most Polish kings are located. And finally, we were shown the famous Jagiellonian University. From what else you should pay attention to in this city, I can advise the churches of St. Barbara and St. Ange and the monument dedicated to the Battle of Grunwald. Then we had free time, which was spent mainly on getting to know Polish delicacies and buying souvenirs. To tell the truth, for some reason I did not want to walk around the city. It seems that it is all so old and beautiful, but for some reason I felt uncomfortable in it. I can not explain this feeling, probably just some kind of inappropriate atmosphere for me. When it was time to return to the hotel on my own, some problems began. When buying a tour, I was promised a Classic hotel in Krakow. I looked on the Internet, indeed there was such a hotel, and almost in the very center. But in fact, upon arrival, it turned out that this was not a hotel, but a motel, and it was not located in Krakow at all, but on the Krakow-Wieliczka highway, and closer to the latter. I had to get from Krakow in the evening by minibus, and it was very problematic to recognize in the dark where exactly this motel is located and to tell the driver in time where I need to get off. The door of the room went straight to the street and, to be honest, it was pretty dumb, because there were no other residential buildings around. The room was narrow and long like a pencil case. Breakfast was offered in portions, and terribly tasteless - an egg, cold sausages and a jar of yogurt. After breakfast we drove to Velichka. There are huge salt mines. The mine has 9 floors underground and its deepest point is below 300 meters from the ground level. A tour of the mines is quite interesting - there is an underground lake, a chapel, there are statues everywhere, showing the workers who used to extract salt here. And in this mine is very healing salt air. In order to take a piece of this air with them, many people bought salt lamps as souvenirs - night lamps made of huge salt crystals. I decided that I wouldn’t carry such a burden, but I stocked up with all kinds of medicinal salts there and then gave them away to all my friends)
