Last Day In Krakow
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We’ve had a busy two days touring Krakow & environs. We spent yesterday touring Wawel Castle (there’s a dragon in the caves underneath the castle – what could be better than that?, the cathedral where all the Polish Royalty, great military generals and poets are buried (it’s like the Westminster Abbey of Poland), and checking out the art deco stained glass windows in the Franciscan church. There’s one titled “God the Father” that makes God look like some vengeful comic book wizard – it’s unique. Oh Yeah – the Shroud of Turin is in the same church (I guess it pays to have a Polish Pope).
Krakow, Poland
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We’re in Krakow. We’ve just been wandering the city getting our bearings this afternoon, but so far it looks like all it was promised to be in the guide books. There’s an enormous castle in the middle of town, and an interesting historic downtown core. They seem to cater to tourists here, but not necessarily Western ones.
We’re staying at a great little hostel that’s set up like a camping / caravan system. It’s just outside the city center (Hostel Express), and costs $35.00/night.
Olomouc, Czech Republic
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We are on our second day in Olomouc, a very quiet and quaint town in Eastern Czech Republic. The difference between here and Prague is quite dramatic; there are no other English speaking tourists, prices are very cheap here, and you don’t have to pay to enter any of the churches. A few interesting things about this town: it has its own pro soccer team, you can eat pizza for supper in the basement of the town hall, it has quite an assortment of mythology themed fountains, it has the second oldest university in the Czech Republic (it has teaching, phys. ed., science & theology faculties), it has its own castle and cathedral (where an 11 year old Mozart wrote his Symphony in F Major), and the hero of the Czech Republic – King Wencelas – is buried here. It’s the ancient capital of Moravia, and a fantastic place to soak in a lot of culture with very little effort.
