Monday, January 21, 2019

2019.. We have a plan

What to do in 2019 apart from locking ourselves in a dark room and singing la la la until March 29? Actually, that's not a good idea; we might emerge to find that our worst fears have come to pass......

When we return to the UK in April, it's going to look different whatever is going on, so, after family hugs and kisses, we won't stay long; we're off on tour in our trusty Touareg + Sterling Continental caravan, meeting up in Poland with adventurers on the Camping and Caravanning Club's tour of the Baltic States. That's Poland > Lithuania > Latvia > Estonia > Russia - and back. As always, we plan to linger on the way back, perhaps having a better look at Poland. You might notice that we have an eastern European thing going on for recent adventures...

So that means a new blog and lots of planning to keep us amused: see you there, all being well.

Meanwhile:


Thursday, November 1, 2018

Five days in Krakow

Flying out from Stansted in the UK to meet up with friends in Krakow, we spend a really enjoyable, if exhausting (and sometimes emotional), five days visiting the second largest city in Poland. There's so much to see here that five days just about does the trick although an extra day might have meant that a more relaxed itinerary was possible..

Most of the main sights are within easy walking distance.. and there's always the tram system, which is frequent and heavily used. All the sights info is HERE...' and here's the DETAIL

The large Main Square, old town, is dominated by the Cloth Hall, once a major centre of trade but now home to gift shops and other tourist shops.It's got a great feel though, with performers, tourists, more tourists and beautifully prepared horse drawn carriages.


A trumpeter sounds the hour from the Gothic tower of St Mary's Basilica



The Jagiellonian University Museum houses wonderful instruments of Copernicus and other notable astronomers. Must-see for me




The Salt Mines are a surprising highlight


There are memories of a more sinister nature here, of course; a trip to Auschwitz brings the absolute horror of mass murder of thousands under Nazi rule into powerful focus.




  Back to Krakow, Ghetto Heroes Square remembers the fortitude of Jews in the appalling conditions in the ghettos created by the Nazis.