Krakow, Poland.

As you may or may not know I'm going to Poland on the 21st of Feb, Krakow.

I'm so ridiculously excited; it's such a cultural and beautiful place and I'm so excited about exploring the market stalls and discovering adorable cafes and restaurants tucked away in the side streets of Rynek Glowny. It's going to be a very long and extremely tiring two night trip, and I'm only allowed to pack hand luggage! However, I think that issue is for another time and another post.

I shall arrive at Hotel Wielopole at roughly 2 o'clock in the afternoon for lunch before I take a tour of the very run down, but in my opinion stunning Kazimierz Jewish District. I'll be seeing a lot of the synagogues in the area which I cannot wait for because the decor inside some of them are absolutely awe inspiring. I'll also be visiting The Galicia Museum which is photographic museum documenting the history of the Jewish people in Krakow and surrounding areas - this should hopefully be really interesting.



Hotel Wielopole



Tempel Synagogue (reform)



I will then be having dinner at Jewish Restaurant 'Ariel' with live Klezmer music! It's all Kosher so I think I'll be having either the roasted salmon served with cucumber saffron salad, or soya medalions with vegetables, and a fresh fruit salad. Although the cinnamon cookies look amazing I'm on a diet so I'm going to have to just stare and drool instead.

Steven Spielberg came to Krakow to film Schindler's list, he visited this restaurant and was so taken by the trio that plays in Ariel that they featured on the soundtrack to the film. Exciting little fact for you there!

Restaurant Ariel

The next day I'll be going on an Auschwitz and Birkenau Tour, it's meant to be absolutely fantastic so I can't wait. As part of my RS course I study Holocaust Theology so I hope experiencing it first hand will be much more insightful then just reading about it.

Auschwitz and Birkenau Tour

After the tour I'll then be visiting Krakow Old Town, which will consist of me exploring the ridiculously massive and beautiful main square, Rynek Glowny - described as the most impressive urban space in Europe. Hopefully after going to the Sukiennice, which includes a Middle Eastern bazaar and a gallery of 19th century Polish art, I'll have time to visit some of the churches dotted around the place. The day will conclude with dinner in one of the beautiful restaurants I will have (hopefully) found off one of the streets of the main square.



The awe inspiring Rynek Glowny

It's then an early start to catch the plane home, but as the flight is about 3 hours I will have plenty of time to catch up on my much missed, and needed, beauty sleep.

I can assure I will be taken as many of my own pictures as humanly possible, so watch this space.