After spending 3 nights in Warsaw, we took the Polish high-speed train and headed to Kraków. We stayed here for 5 nights, and enjoyed the city very much. For this post, I wanted to just show some of the external views I have had of the city.
We were staying outside of the Old Town, on the north side. But nevertheless, the Old Town was just a short walk away, and we wanted to make good use of the good weather and just walk around the town, since there were a few rainy days ahead, which we were reserving for visiting museums.
Of course, a good place to start is Kraków's Main Square, or Rynek Główny. This is a huge space, and very attractive. Somehow, Polish main squares always have this standard structure, with well-manicured buildings lining up its sides, and a set of buildings (or one large one, as is the case here) right in the middle. Also add a church or two and you're all set.
The building in the middle is the Cloth Hall, or the Sukiennice. It's essentially the place where travelling merchants did business and traded with others. Nowadays, it's a rectangular building that is full of shops to buy souvenirs as well as cafes.
There are two churches nearby, the small St. Adalbert's Church, and the large St. Mary's Basilica. I would enter the latter at a later point.
We continued further south, and as we were leaving the square, we checked out other features, such as the Adam Mickiewicz Monument.
We were making our way to the castle, which is south of the main square. As we passed through the Royal Road, we gazed at a few other interesting architectural features, showed above.
Of course there are other parts of the city we went to, but I have dedicated posts for that. To close this entry, let me show you two photos of a square in Podgórze, where the Kraków Ghetto used to be.
I have a few upcoming posts related to Jewish aspects of the city, so stay tuned.
