Papal Influence

​I was surprise to find that 71% of Poland is Catholic. There are churches everywhere, although many would be considered cathedrals by UK standards! Most are open for visitors, which is lovely.  Wawell Castle was filled with art, and much of it had religious undertones, and this one was the most beautiful 💕. 

And then tapestries…many were 900 to 1,000 years old!😱

And then some random pretty I couldn’t resist🤗…

There was one of these ceramic heating units in several of the rooms.  I’m not sure how they worked, but they were just beautiful. The photo above it is a close up of one of the tiles 😊. 

We were surprised to find it growing dark when we emerged from the castle, so we headed down the royal hill and back to the Christmas market.  The crowds of people were much thicker, but it only added to the ambiance. There are a LOT of British folks here!  I think if I lived as close, I’d come every year too☺️! 

Scenes from ‘the square’…

The woman above is grilling smoked cheese, one of which is wrapped in bacon. The other is served with cranberry. We got one of each, double dipped in the cranberry sauce, and were happy as can be!  By now we were very cold, so for the remainder of our walkabout and the trek home, we sipped on steaming, thick and decadent hot cocoa😆.

It was a wonderful first day in Krakow!  I am looking forward to our walking tour tomorrow, and more exploring more of the Christmas market! 

Part II

​We spent a good deal of time touring Wawell Castle, which sat up on a hill overlooking Krakow.  Poland no longer has a monarchy, but it was fun exploring where they had, at one time, lived. 

And of course…back to the ‘fee to wee’😂😂😂…

Hometel

​Our Airbnb apartment is in a historic building, although I haven’t yet figured out what it was.  Still, it is beautiful inside and so, so comfortable and quiet.  On the outside…

And the inside, although photos do not do it justice☺️…

We had a peaceful and lengthy rest through the night, and started our day around 10:00. A local bakery was recommended, but we had difficulty finding it, so we stopped at the first one we came to.  It was delightful! 

Our hometel is within a mile of ‘Old Town’ and is where we spent the remainder of our day. The Christmas market is amazing! The vendor sites grow as afternoon/evening sets in. We decided on a sit-down bite to eat, as we were getting chilled. Today was our experimental dressing day to see how light or heavy we need to dress for our outside, afternoon walking tours. We both decided another layer would be in order for tomorrow, which is the Jewish Quarter and Ghetto tour.  

For lunch, Dean enjoyed mulled wine, and pirogies. I, in the other hand, had sauerkraut and meat stew, and an apple hot toddy. If I see sauerkraut on a menu, I will order it😂😂!  Must be the German in me.  Needless to say, it was all so very delicious!

The people in Poland have been engaging, kind, and always willing to answer a question or point us in the right direction. It is fun to see them out enjoying the Christmas markets along with us tourists!  

Some scenes from the walkabout…

A small size version of the photo above it!

This is a small size version of the city gate above it 😊. 

Part II to follow! 

Sunset

​Warsaw sunset, at 4:06 pm 🤗. A full circle. We are finally on our last leg of the journey, which is the 2.5 hour train ride to Krakow. First class, with a senior discount, was $32 USD each. Well worth it!😂😂👏👏 We have both decided next time to spend a night or two at the first landing, which in this case would have been Amsterdam. That would alleviate the 36 hour transit day. But we are feeling fine just now, and are looking forward to being in Krakow for the next six days.💕

Hot tea to hydrate…

And a beautiful sunset upon leaving Warsaw🤗. 

Schiperol

​A great airport to fly through in Amsterdam! I forget how large it is😱!  We are feeling tired, but only one more 2 hour flight, then the train ride. We’ll have more room to move on the train, so that will be an easy end to a long travel day. 

Some pretty shots as we were getting close to daylight again…

Plan B

​Minneapolis-St. Paul is typically my fly-through preference for flightS to Europe, but the connection through SLC was much shorter, so we routed ourselves through there. And while the Midwest is under a massive blizzard just now, Salt Lake Valley is beautifully clear! Thank you, Lord🙏💕!

And downright lovely too😊.  Next stop…Amsterdam 😆👏👏! 

Leaving on a Jet Plane

​BRING ON CHRISTMAS!😆😆

It’ll be a long day for us, but we both slept well last night. I got to thinking of ways to simplify this international travel thing as we get older, but to avoid a lot of hassle, I figured it’d just be easier to not sleep😂😂.   As it is, we’ll go from Missoula to Amsterdam, then in to Warsaw.  From there we will take a 2.5 hour train ride to Krakow. Then, rest.  Sweet rest!🤗😆😂😂👏👏