Krakow Day 2 and 3 - Shopping and Tours

I decided to split my Krakow trip into two parts. We just did so much the first day, and it was so overwhelming, that I didn't think I could keep going. But there was so much more to our trip, and I wanted to share it. That first night (after the Salt Mines and Auschwitz), we had dinner at a restaurant in the main square. Again, it was absolutely incredible. I asked for a recommendation from the staff about what to eat, and they were extremely helpful. The food I got was so delicious, we actually ended up coming back to this restaurant on the last day for lunch. On our way home, we stopped in a vodka bar for a few samples. The picture below is just one of the shelves with their different vodkas.

The two lovely ladies in the picture chatted with us for a few hours - about learning English, education, politics, vodka, minimum wage, employment, and pretty much everything else. They were so helpful, friendly (and so fluent in English!) we had a great night. We bought a cherry flavored vodka and a sloe berry vodka. They were delicious, and I don't even like vodka. We called it a night finally, and crashed into bed.

Day 2 wasn't very interesting. Other than eating a lot more incredibly food, we went shopping. We never shop in Switzerland, unless it's an emergency, because things are very very overpriced. But shopping in Krakow? I brought a whole empty suitcase just for this purpose. I was looking for a few more work outfits and some cycling gear. They had a gigantic mall right across the street from our hotel. It was a relaxing and rather normal day, the kind of day that I love.

Day 3, our last day, we took a city tour in the morning and a Jewish quarter tour in the afternoon. It was a bit of a wet, grey day, but we learned a lot and appreciated the city a bit more than we had before. For example, look at the picture below:

Before they had addresses, they sent mail to each other using the animals carved above their doors. This is one of the earliest made doors, the squirrel. 

Here is one of the statues in the main square, each part representing something different.

This weird metal head was given by an artist. Apparently, it doesn't mean anything, it's just a big head...

Part of Krakow university - right in the middle of the city and beautiful!

One of the billions of churches found all over Krakow. They love their statues. 

Same church, just from the front. I think it's used as an opera house now.

A church on top of the hill - so many people added on to it that it's made of a multitude of different materials. We went inside, and it was just as impressive. 

This is Paul's "I am not amused" face. Love you, baby!

 Later in the afternoon, I took a tour of the Jewish quarter. I was surprised to learn that there was a gigantic Jewish population here up until World War 2 - so large that 25% of Krakow's population was Jewish! Even though there were tensions between the Jews and the Poles, Jews were eventually granted citizenship and they began to just think of themselves as Polish - a huge step forward!

By the end of the tour it was absolutely pouring, and I was soaked to the bone. We rushed through the last few stops - a cemetery, synagog (that we didn't have time to go in!), and the holocaust memorial (the chairs). I would like to go back and spend more time in the Jewish quarter, and eat there to have some more delicious food. I grabbed a metro back to the hotel and we raced off to the airport. Our short weekend was over, but we loved it. Krakow, we shall be back!