Sunrise: 4:38am Sunset: 8:51pm
I woke at 4 this morning, rolled over & went back to sleep for an hour or so and finally got up shortly before 6am.
I had internet problems last night, so couldn’t post anything until this morning.
I’m not doing the optional to the Salt Mines, as I have done that twice before, so don’t feel the need to go again, although the last time I went there, my DSLR camera battery died and I didn’t have the spare one with me, so didn’t get to take many photos and the previous time I was there, it was a pre-digital point & shoot camera. I am doing the optional Dinner & Polka Party tonight.
I decided to go over to the Galeria Krakowska Shopping Mall again today, to have a good look around and perhaps find a store where I could buy a comb. It is massive. 3 levels running north to south with 2 rows of shops on each level, plus more rows running east to west, through to the main rain station.The malls at home usually only have 1 row of shops on each level. I had walked over 9,000 steps by the time I got back to the hotel but had found another supermarket on the top floor, where I purchased a comb for about $2.00. I also bought a sandwich for lunch, which I ate later at the hotel.
We all left the hotel at 12:15 this afternoon for the included site seeing. First up we went by coach to the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, where we did a walk though.
About 64 000 Jews lived in Krakow before the war.
They were extremely active in Krakow, where they built 6 synagogues.
Then WWII came along
Since 1939 they were displaced from Krakow.
In 1941 Jews were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to Podgórze which became a ghetto that was completely closed off from other parts of the city.
Starvation, death, and misery followed, most who survived were killed during the liquidation of the Ghetto or moved to concentration camps
Only 10 percent of Cracovian Jews (3 000-4 000) survived the war, a lot of them with the help of Oskar Schindler. The awful crime known as the Holocaust led to a truly great loss of culture. Most of Jews who survived never returned to Poland
Back on the coach we then went to Podgorze to see the Ghetto Hereos Square. The square has 33 memorial chairs of iron and bronze. These chairs symbolize the tragedy of the Polish Jews.
From there, we were then driven Wawel Hill to visit the Cathedral, where we were not allowed to take any photos.
From there, we walked back to the main square. Nicole & I sat and had a cool fruit cocktail, before walking back to the hotel.
Those of us doing the optional dinner tonight, departed from the hotel at 6pm.
So much food and we had traditional Polish dancing for the entertainment. I think eveyone who was there, enjoyed themselves. I sat with John & Kathy and another solo lady, Carolyn.
We departed there at 9pm and were back at the hotel by 9.30.
Tomorrow we leave Krakow and head for Zakapone, which is in the southern part of the Podhale region, at the foot of theTatra Mountains.
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