Pierogis and Żubrówka

I thought Salzburg was as good as it gets, and then Krakow happened. This one was a weekend for the books, in one of my new favorite cities.

My favorite picture from the weekend, lol

We took off for Krakow, which isn't too far from Olomouc on Friday morning, with our first stop being the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This salt mine is more than 100 meters underground and it is massive. We had a tour that lasted for about two hours that covered 1% of the mine. It has been around since the 13th century when salt was an extremely valuable resource. We got to travel to the many excavated chambers, learn about the mining process, and lick the walls made of salt, haha. The craziest part was that the mine holds many chapels and churches (where you can even get married) and has for a very long time. There are still events held in the salt mine but even in older times there were events and dances and masses held underground.

The beautiful church in the underground salt mine.

That night we had a delicious Polish dinner of Polish soup and pierogis. The food in Krakow knocked it out of the park and it was ridiculously cheap. Pierogis are little noodle dumplings stuffed with meat, mashed potatoes, or my favorite, sauerkraut. We enjoyed some good beers at dinner (an IPA finally!) and then headed for a legendary Krakow Pub Crawl. Our whole group went which was a blast, and we spent the night hopping from bar to bar. If you go to Krakow you just have to do the pub crawl. You get your $10 worth in the power hour itself and it some of the most fun I've had in an European city.

An IPA brewed in Krakow. I don't miss ranch dressing but I miss IPA's.

Pierogis :)

After little sleep the next day was a struggle, but we got to check out the Wawel Castle and spend the day wandering around the city. At the castle, we had a tour of the treasury and the armory. From the castle, we spent the day going into some of Poland's beautiful churches, checked out the town square, and enjoyed the markets which Krakow is known for. One thing that I noticed that was different about Poland was that when you went into a church people actually were reverent and prayed. There weren't groups of yelling tourists like in other cities. The churches were silent and people were always on their knees praying which I really liked to see. Poland is a very religious country though, so it makes a bit more sense than say what you see in the Czech Republic.

The church at the Wawel Castle.

The church were Pope John Paul II worshiped before he became pope. There was a plaque in the pew where he sat everyday.

The main square. 

St. Mary's Basilica in the Old Town Square. I loved the blue stars painted on the ceilings. 

I really enjoyed the markets in Krakow. They had beautiful silver jewelry and Polish pottery (my fave), and great food. I eventually made my way to the vintage markets in the Jewish Quarter and of course spent all my money on records, but hey, I got The Beatles Greatest Hits for a total of like $8. I really liked the Jewish Quarter, which was where we stayed as well. The streets were brimming with cool bars and clubs, restaurants with all types of foods, and cool shops. It was definitely the "cool" area of Krakow.

A few of us went out that last night in Krakow and had a great time. Krakow will make people that hate vodka, love vodka (that's me). They are known for this vodka called Żubrówka, which has a little herb flavor but it's really good. Thad made sure I was drinking it and bringing him a bottle home. We stayed out late but had a wonderful last night in Poland. They even played music with words! Hahaha, techno is getting old.

On our last day, we packed up and headed to Schindler's factory on the outskirts of town. Many people know of the factory and the story of Oskar Schindler because of the movie Schindler's List. Oksar Schindler was a German Nazi that owned a ceramic, and eventually ammunition, factory where he first employed Jews to work, and eventually protected them from being transported to concentration camps. He had many connections and was able to save 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. The factory is now a museum and we had a great guide that led us through the exhibition. He had some great things to say and in some ways put a new way to think about the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust. He expressed the Holocaust in words and ideas that I hadn't really heard before and I really enjoyed that aspect of the tour. During our time in Krakow and Auschwitz, I could tell that Poland was hit especially hard by Nazi Germany. Many of the death camps were established in Poland and Poland had the largest number of Jews killed. You could just get the feeling that things were especially terrible in Poland. Even non-Jewish Polish men were forced into labor for Nazi Germany, they believed Poles to be an inferior race.

One of the last rooms at the end of the tour. It was bright and signified the end of the war. There were various diary writings and testimonies written.

We returned to Olomouc earlier today and looking back on this weekend, I definitely had my fair share of fun in Krakow but I also learned a lot, especially today at Schindler's factory. Krakow was one of those cities that made me want to stay and it definitely got added to that list of favorite places. The food, people, culture, and beautiful city just made for a perfect 10/10 weekend.