A lot of travel firsts for the Durneys this weekend as we checked a new country off our list, Poland! First time traveling from Eindhoven airport (a little over an hour away, turn 2 hours with Friday traffic). First time almost missing our flight (flight was delayed 45 minutes which saved us). First time not checking any luggage (how liberating and fortunate as we would have missed the cut off window).
We spent a long weekend in Krakow, Poland's capital until around 1600. The city was not bombed in WWII so it holds all of its original charm (unlike the current capital, Warsaw).
We did not put a lot of effort into planning the trip. Mainly because in the days leading up to the trip, we weren't sure we would even be going. We received the dreaded news of the loss of a loved one, my dear aunt Cathi, the weekend before. Her service was today on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I was prepared to cancel the trip, book a last minute flight and be with my dad's family during this sad time. I wasn't prepared though to miss Maeve's birthday. The tough decision was made. Poland is a very Catholic country so I had plenty of opportunity this weekend to say prayers for my devout aunt and light candles in the many cathedrals throughout the city.
Pete's coworker who used to work in Poland saved the day for us by emailing us all of the to-dos and to-eats. Armed with that info, we were ready to explore!
Saturday was a gorgeous day. We left our AirBnB in the Kazimierz neighborhood, the former Jewish quarter and spent the entire day walking the city. Please excuse my lack of explanations for the things we saw. I find myself lacking the emotional energy and the Polish language skills.
 |
| A whole new language and currency to contend with. |
 |
| View from apartment. |
 |
| Called a pretzel, but taste like a donut. Bigger than Jude's head! |
 |
| These carts were all of the city, selling popular circular breads. |
My little research told me where the playgrounds were in the city (priorities), so we headed to one along the former old town walls. The walls are gone, the area was filled in and is now a lovely park that rings the town.
The main town square of Krakow has a real wow factor, in it's sheer size and number of significant buildings. It didn't make me
cry like the square in Brussels at Christmastime, but it was still impressive.
 |
| Tall tower was part of the former town hall. The big building to the left is the Cloth market, an old marketplace in the middle of the square. |
 |
| The main Cathedral on the square. |
I took the kids through the market hall, offering to buy them a little toy while Pete toured underneath the square. So many cute wood toys, little dolls, etc. and the kids only wanted slime!
 |
| The side of the market hall. |
After running off some good energy on the pedestrian square, we headed to the recommended Cafe Camelot for lunch. With the exchange rate 4 to 1, we feasted!
 |
| Beer with raspberry syrup for me. |
 |
| A shared smoothie and a super rich hot chocolate. |
 |
| Pierogis were a big hit with Jude! |
 |
| St. Florian's Gate |
 |
| This little corner of the city could not have been more charming! And then a horse drawn carriage went by! A real life fairytale. |
The main square was lined with cafes, all bumpin' on a warm Saturday. Maeve took her snooze so I did some souvenir shopping.
 |
| Playground stop number 2 |
Pope John Paul II was from near Krakow and is celebrated all over town. There is a University of PJPII and a lot of young priests roaming about. The University was having a community day where they had set up lawn games and were giving away lemonade for donations. It felt really odd to me seeing the men playing soccer with the kids in full length gowns, but then I remembered the scenes from Call the Midwife where the nuns hold community events and it didn't seem so strange.
At the edge of old town, along the river, lies Wawel Castle. We didn't have the energy to go up and explore the castle grounds, but we wandered around until we found the fire breathing dragon statue. Having no idea how often it actually breathes fire, we were so happy to see it happen just moments after arriving. This is the l
egend of the dragon.
 |
| If you look closely, you can see the flames. |
It was hot and our feet were barking so we found a docked ship serving beer, ice cream and food and made ourselves comfortable for a while.
 |
| We play Uno all the time now! |
 |
| Third and final playground of the day! |
 |
| A feast for dinner. Potato pancakes, traditional sour fermented soup (sounds awful, tastes delicious!), pork knuckle and pork ribs. |
