Tuesday 21 June We had a pretty big day planned today, starting with the two and a half hour Krakow Free Walking Tour of the old city. It was a very large group for a change, probably because Wroclaw has more tourism overall, particularly foreigners.
Fortunately the guide, Sophia, spoke good English and had a loud voice. She spent a lot of time talking about Krakow and Poland’s history, with unpronounceable names of kings and queens and their chequered histories. The painting in the photo is by Leonardo da Vinci (a copy) owned by a wealthy family in Krakow, but has not been on display for many years due to a very extended (and controversial) period of renovation of their private museum.
After being sacked in 1241, during the First Mongol invasion of Poland the city was destroyed. When it was rebuilt, it was done using a grid pattern for the streets which is unusual for that time. She also told us many legends (a very few true) about these of kings and queens and other events in Krakov.
For example there is a legend that the reason the trumpeter plays a tune every 15 minutes in the cathedral tower always stops abruptly is because the trumpeter that signalled the city of advancing enemies was shot by an arrow – not true.
The tune is played by a rotation of 6 trumpeters, plus one reserve, in 24 hour shifts where they stay in the tower – true. Watch the video. We saw all of the main town features, including the place where the young future Pope John Paul studied and became a priest. He’s pretty popular here.
The next part of the tour was to the castle and cathedral on top of the only hill. Like everything, it has a chequered history, its last reconstruction since 1990 partly funded by individuals around the world. Never having been destroyed, the main cathedral building is a mish-mash of architectural styles, reflecting the idiosyncratic wishes of whoever was in power at the time.
Speaking of mish-mash, many buildings in the city have a combination of gothic and renaissance style because this was seen as appropriate, and was done mainly be Italian artisans imported for the task.
There is also the controversial bronze head in the main square which is a copy of an ancient sculpture in the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Agrigento, Sicily. The locals hate it, the tourists love it Controversial because it was given to the Krakow by the artist for the main square.
When the town councillors wanted to move it elsewhere he threatened to take it back so it was left in place. A bit like the dwarfs in Wroclaw, a magnet for the tourist Euro.
We only had a short time to grab a quick bite before we headed off on our next tour, the salt mine of Wieliczka, a 20 min-bus ride out of Krakow. It’s just a tourist attraction, no longer operating, but processes thousands of tourists a day like a sausage machine. However the tours are well-organised and managed, possibly better than the mine when it was operational.
Basically the mine was started about a thousand years ago when the salty water that bubbled to the surface dried up and they started digging downwards. This also explains in part why Krakow was built nearby, was so wealthy, and sought after by other powers.
We descended by foot about 65 metres and marvelled at caves, carvings and dioramas – models of the way in which it was mined which was quite interesting. For example the men who went into the mine first each day clad in wet garments and carrying torches to detect pockets of methane that may have built up. I hope their families were well compensated.
Within the mine are chapels, halls, salt sculptures religious motifs, and shops, built mainly by the miners themselves. There are chandeliers made using salt crystals. In places where large quantities of salt were excavated, complex structures of wooden beams support the tunnel roofs. The most amazing thing was in fact the hardness of the rock – it’s very hard.
In the temperature and humidity controlled environment the salt is fairly inactive. I was expecting metallic corrosion something more like Sydney’s beachside suburbs, but there was none. Although where water seeps through the rock, there are stalactites of pure white salt. Most of the rock salt is a greyish colour. We were not allowed into the areas where there is crystalline salt as the humidity created by breathing would destroy it.
We finally exited via a miner's cage lift. Even though we felt a little manipulated, for example by the cheesy commentary, the scripted jokes and cute directional signs it was worth the trip and the money to see an original salt mine – as opposed to one created by the NSW or Federal Government for government staff.
We planned to have dinner at Resatauancja Tomasza tonight, the one that was closed yesterday, but it didn’t seem so good, so we went back to Polskie Smaki again.
I was hoping for the cabbage rolls, but no luck tonight. Frances ordered the Pork Knuckle in Beer with potatoes while I decided to have a mix of Meat and Spinach Pierogi with sided of spinach and vegetables.
Despite looking pretty awesome, the pork knuckle was very good. We also know that it was cooked in beer as we saw the chef pouring a bottle over it while cooking. It came with huge dollops of mustard and horseradish. The Pierogi were fine, although I was glad I’d brought a small shaker of Japanese chilli pepper with me that added a little spice to the flavour.
Fortunately the guide, Sophia, spoke good English and had a loud voice. She spent a lot of time talking about Krakow and Poland’s history, with unpronounceable names of kings and queens and their chequered histories. The painting in the photo is by Leonardo da Vinci (a copy) owned by a wealthy family in Krakow, but has not been on display for many years due to a very extended (and controversial) period of renovation of their private museum.After being sacked in 1241, during the First Mongol invasion of Poland the city was destroyed. When it was rebuilt, it was done using a grid pattern for the streets which is unusual for that time. She also told us many legends (a very few true) about these of kings and queens and other events in Krakov.
For example there is a legend that the reason the trumpeter plays a tune every 15 minutes in the cathedral tower always stops abruptly is because the trumpeter that signalled the city of advancing enemies was shot by an arrow – not true.The tune is played by a rotation of 6 trumpeters, plus one reserve, in 24 hour shifts where they stay in the tower – true. Watch the video. We saw all of the main town features, including the place where the young future Pope John Paul studied and became a priest. He’s pretty popular here.
The next part of the tour was to the castle and cathedral on top of the only hill. Like everything, it has a chequered history, its last reconstruction since 1990 partly funded by individuals around the world. Never having been destroyed, the main cathedral building is a mish-mash of architectural styles, reflecting the idiosyncratic wishes of whoever was in power at the time.Speaking of mish-mash, many buildings in the city have a combination of gothic and renaissance style because this was seen as appropriate, and was done mainly be Italian artisans imported for the task.
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| Original sculpture in the Temple of Castor and Pollux, Agrigento, Sicily |
There is also the controversial bronze head in the main square which is a copy of an ancient sculpture in the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Agrigento, Sicily. The locals hate it, the tourists love it Controversial because it was given to the Krakow by the artist for the main square.
When the town councillors wanted to move it elsewhere he threatened to take it back so it was left in place. A bit like the dwarfs in Wroclaw, a magnet for the tourist Euro.
We only had a short time to grab a quick bite before we headed off on our next tour, the salt mine of Wieliczka, a 20 min-bus ride out of Krakow. It’s just a tourist attraction, no longer operating, but processes thousands of tourists a day like a sausage machine. However the tours are well-organised and managed, possibly better than the mine when it was operational.
Basically the mine was started about a thousand years ago when the salty water that bubbled to the surface dried up and they started digging downwards. This also explains in part why Krakow was built nearby, was so wealthy, and sought after by other powers.We descended by foot about 65 metres and marvelled at caves, carvings and dioramas – models of the way in which it was mined which was quite interesting. For example the men who went into the mine first each day clad in wet garments and carrying torches to detect pockets of methane that may have built up. I hope their families were well compensated.
Within the mine are chapels, halls, salt sculptures religious motifs, and shops, built mainly by the miners themselves. There are chandeliers made using salt crystals. In places where large quantities of salt were excavated, complex structures of wooden beams support the tunnel roofs. The most amazing thing was in fact the hardness of the rock – it’s very hard.
In the temperature and humidity controlled environment the salt is fairly inactive. I was expecting metallic corrosion something more like Sydney’s beachside suburbs, but there was none. Although where water seeps through the rock, there are stalactites of pure white salt. Most of the rock salt is a greyish colour. We were not allowed into the areas where there is crystalline salt as the humidity created by breathing would destroy it.
We finally exited via a miner's cage lift. Even though we felt a little manipulated, for example by the cheesy commentary, the scripted jokes and cute directional signs it was worth the trip and the money to see an original salt mine – as opposed to one created by the NSW or Federal Government for government staff.
We planned to have dinner at Resatauancja Tomasza tonight, the one that was closed yesterday, but it didn’t seem so good, so we went back to Polskie Smaki again.I was hoping for the cabbage rolls, but no luck tonight. Frances ordered the Pork Knuckle in Beer with potatoes while I decided to have a mix of Meat and Spinach Pierogi with sided of spinach and vegetables.
Despite looking pretty awesome, the pork knuckle was very good. We also know that it was cooked in beer as we saw the chef pouring a bottle over it while cooking. It came with huge dollops of mustard and horseradish. The Pierogi were fine, although I was glad I’d brought a small shaker of Japanese chilli pepper with me that added a little spice to the flavour.
