My last day in Krakow

I woke up around 7:30, a little bit woozy. Jacs woke up earlier than me, all prepped up after a quick shower. I packed up my stuff and was happy to be checking out of that hostel and particularly, that room. 

We had our breakfast at the hostel, which was cheap as, having a buffet for only 2 Euros. I took the advantage that you can even request for an omelet. A lady from Canada joined us too, she’s been traveling by herself around Poland. I learned that she booked herself in a dorm… part of me wanted to warn her but of course I wasn’t sure who her roomies were. The hostel was still quiet in the early hours of the morning. I checked out and left my backpack whilst we explored and did our errands for the day. 

The only thing I liked about the hostel, well besides the breakfast, was its proximity to the train and bus station. After a 5-7 minute walk, Jacs and I were taking care of our itineraries. She booked her train to Prague and I sorted out my train from Krakow to Vienna. After which, we headed to the bus station to check the schedules of the Zakopane trips. Seeing that it was every half an hour, I didn’t see it a problem for me. I told Jacs I wanted to take the 3 pm bus though. So that was my deadline to be heading back to the bus station. 

We checked our bearings on the map and I told her I wanted to check out the Jewish community first. She wasn’t fussy at all coz she still had 4 more days in Krakow, so she just tagged along, happy to have company exploring the town.

Kazimierz holds a lot of history since the 14th century, when majority of the people who occupied the community were Jewish, remaining there until the Second world war. It can easily be reached via Stradomska Street, from the old town of Krakow. I learned that in 1993, Steven Spielberg shot majority of the scenes of his movie "Schindler's List" in Kazimierz. This gave world wide attention to the said community, thus bringing a huge in flux of tourists from around the world.

We walked the cobbled streets of Kazimierz and went inside a few synagogues. Some people find it weird when I say I love walking through graveyards. But Jacs was so cool with us hanging around the Jewish cemetery for half an hour. There were group of Jewish kids who were with their school teacher, told of the history and the background of the surrounding community. Jacs and I did our own thing with our photography. We tried to decipher how people could even recognize their families’ graves coz the tombstones were designed different from the usual ones. There were no traces of flowers but only the abundance of stones on each grave. The walls that dictated the perimeter seemed to have been designed with respects for the dead, or I was thinking it might have contained the ashes of kids because of the palms etched. After some time, we strolled along the other somewhat hidden streets of the community till we decided to take a break and buy ourselves a cold fruity shakes. I wrote on my postcards while Jacs checked her facebook. 

While drinking our yummy shakes, a few familiar faces passed by. One of the more sensible Aussie guy with

his white hair and cool shades was strolling along the alley, exploring the place. I told him “good on you”. He explained that the past few nights of drinking was bugging his body and he felt bad just breezing through Krakow without even knowing the history of the place. We agreed and told him to keep it up. After some time, the Brazilian boys passed by, not feeling as hang over as the previous day. Because of the nights’ dramatic events though, they missed their morning trip to Auschwitz. Good though that the company said they could still get the 1 pm tour.

After filling up my postcards, we headed down to the Wawel castle. The colourful tors were stunning, I just couldn’t get enough of taking photos of the top. The place was packed by the time we arrived. I decided to go up the bell tower, as recommended by Mr.G. Jacs opted out and said she’s wait for me under the tree whilst I went up. I quickly bought my ticket and walked up the steep and tight staircase of the tower. The wood seemed to still be in tact through the years. I reached the highest bell and looked out the fenced window to get a top view of Krakow. The four slanting wood that supported the top most edifice looked like a dragons face. 

By the time I got down, the heat was already intense. I found Jacs waiting under the tree beside the lody stand. And that goes without saying that we ended up getting ourselves a yummy lody for the afternoon before continuing on. 

It was already 2:30 pm by the time we walked around the walls. I quickly looked for a post office and sent over my stuff. I didn’t get to explore more and go down to Wawel’s premises were the line was a trailing bunch of people. I knew Mr.G recommended me to go there, but I didn’t want to get a late bus either to Zakopane. So we quickly rushed off to the hostel, had our farewell drink and I collected my bags. Jacs was the first person ever I’ve met in a hostel who helped me get my pack on. I thanks her, hugged her goodbye and rushed off to the bus station. 

I caught the 4 pm bus to Zakopane. I didn’t know what to expect still, though I’ve checked out the photos before deciding to go south. I was supposed to stay in Krakow for 4-5 days, but at the last minute I decided the mountains was something I really needed at that point.