24 hours in an ancient capital

A visit to Poland is incomplete without a taste of the original and some say the best vodka in the world - Żubrówka or Bison Vodka (there is one straw of grass in every bottle) that is usually mixed with apple juice. The damage for last night - 2 Żubrówka shots (I cheated by drinking apple juice), 1 vodka orange and 2 Wsciekly Pies (also known as mad dogs - vodka with some sweet syrup and a touch of tobasco). It was a good decision to only bring enough cash cabs and some drinks, and leave everything at home, including credit cards. Managed to stumble out of the air bed at 8am to pack everything when Ola stepped out of the room all ready for work seemingly like she has slept a good 10 hours! She was still upset that I did not do justice to the city by spending more time but we bid each other farewell and I will be looking forward to her planned 2 year adventure around the world!

The snow continued to fall from the night as I took the metro to Centrum. The Warsaw Centralna station is slightly 1km walk away, passing the enormous and Soviet looking
Palace of Culture and Science, a reminder of the architecture so common during the Stalin era. Paid 105zl for a Intercity train that should arrive in Krakow in 2.45min. I sped away through the city into the countryside in no time and was quite glad to only have another passenger in the 6-person cabin although she was yakking away on her phone most of the time. I caught up on my blog and was pleasantly thrilled to find power sockets, and a refuel of coffee and snacks by the attendants.

1.45pm: The train called into Kraków Główny train station. I took a wrong exit and ended up walking 30min in circles as the locals seems clueless to a chinese man speaking English asking for directions. Finally checked into Flamingo Hostel that is directly above Mcdonald's in the north corner of the Main Market Square. Paid 35zl for a night stay in a 8-bed dorm that was voted the best hostel in the world in 2007. Thoroughly impressed with it - facilities such as bed side lamp and power point for every bed, cleanest toilets and showers I have ever come across and free breakfast - all adds up to the cookie points. If you ever visit the city, make sure you check it out!

Krakow sights are pretty manageable in 1 day if you can cover some distances. Start with Wawel Hill and work your way down the Old Market Square. There are even suggested trails such as Jewish trail, John Pope II trail, etc, on the maps around the major junctions. I decided to skip the touristy bit and stroll to the Kazimierz area where majority of the Jews stay, before crossing the Vistula river hoping to catch the real Oscar Schindler's factory where he saved the thousands of Jews in the movie Schindler's List. The Plaszow Concentration Camp which was highlighted in the movie is another 2.5km away and I decided against venturing too far out as it was getting late.

Ventured back into the market square for coffee in Cafe Manekin (which is Mannequin in Polish). The interior design was quite unique although the smoke in the cafe was slightly too much for my comfort. Followed that up with more Polish local food in a very homely looking cafe and was literally their last customer before closing.

Got back for a short rest in hostel before heading out to the Square again for some night shots, not great but I guess I should make use of my tripod since I have been carrying along. Nothing else interesting from the day; finding my posts slightly boring especially since I am catching up on past days' happenings.

Oswiecim next, stay tuned!