See Kraków in two days

After leaving Katowice airport we took the minibus to directly Krakow. It cost us about 90zł.

It's worth getting the Alicante-Katowice flight, which is really cheap, to visit wherever you are. This is what we did in our case:

Katowice Airport – Cracovia. 90, 50 zl 18:55 a 20:55. This was the price for two people, obviously. In two short hours we got from Katowice to Krakow. It's important as you save a lot more than if you get a flight to Krakow. There are sometimes cheaper flights though.

There is also the train option, but this is more expensive and takes even longer. I recommend the minibus as it is cheap and the most economic.

In Krakow we stayed in Good Bye Lenin Let's Rock, one of the best hostels I know in Krakow. We had to share the room with 10 other people, something my sister (new to these situations) found really weird, although by the end of it we were going out with some of the people we met at the hostel.

But, like I said, this was one of the best places. To spend the night with breakfast in the morning costs €4 and the hostel in general is really good, fulfilling all your needs. It has a common room, computers and wifi.

The first day in Krakow we did a 'free tour' available due to the close proximity of the city's more important landmarks. The central square, the biggest in Poland where you'l find the Basilica of Santa Maria; Wawel Castillo, famous for the myth of the dragon that terrorised Krakow's locals, eating sheep and young virgins, etc.

The legend states Krak, the village leader, promised to give his beautiful daughter to the man who could kill the dragon. After many had failed in their attempt, a young shoemaker filled some sheep with inflammable objects and left them near the dragon's lair. The dragon didn't take long to start eating the animals that threatened to blow him up and as a result he threw himself in to the Vistula river and drank it dry... or something along those lines, that's what my sister told me/all I can remember, haha.

After leaving the castle we saw the big iron dragon (statue of the same one I mentioned earlier) which sometimes breathes fire too.

We dedicated our other day in Krakow to Auschwitz, taking the train that took about an hour and a half/two hours, I don't remember, and went to the famous concentration camp. There isn't much more to say about Auschwitz-Birkenau other than that it's a must see if you ever go to Poland. Just as spectacular as it is terrifying. Even if you know just a little about the history behind it, it will still move you. And if you are interested in finding out even more, the short films, documents, etc will make the visit even more memorable.

On our third day in Krakow we took the opportunity to go to the Oskar Schindler Factory museum that as you well know, the owner of which used to protect his workers from the concentration camps, saving 1, 200 people in the process. The exhibition is permanent and tells the story of the city during Nazi occupation through the reconstruction of cells, weapons and clothing (among other things) as well as the use of images and sound effects.

The price of entry is around 19. 00zl. About €5. Good for what it offers, but anymore and you could say it was expensive.

Another important stop if you going to Krakow is Pod Wawelem. The famous restaurant of swords and one litre beers. But I'll speak a bit more about this in Places. For anyone that wants to make sure they have made the most of the food, rather strangely there are some scales you can use to weigh yourself, before and after.

At night we took the 'Polski Bus' to Warsaw. This bus is always the cheapest option. 36zl for two people from Krakow to Warsaw. We got to the station 2 hours early as the bus left at 1:35am and the only place we could stay was near to the toilets, next to the security desk and 4 chairs (that were of course taken) so me and my sister decided to sit on the floor. After a while there were 10 people on the floor, some sleeping, some reading and the more annoyed among us, talking (nearly shouting) amongst themselves.

Unfortunately, it would still be a long time before we got to Warsaw...

To be continued...

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