City Notes

Prague in Winter

City Notes, Europe /

Prague in Winter I had been to summer Prague as a student when Golden Prague was the capital of communist Czechoslovakia. I’d walked in the green, sweet gardens and seen the city at its softest. Back then there were few tourists except from other communist countries, and seeing the sights, visiting coffee shops, drinking Czech beer were simple. They were dreary times, though, and a Czech-speaking friend traveling there called Prague the Golden City without the gold. Even so I found the city beautiful and mysterious, satisfying the Kafka in me. The Golden City Now the world has discovered Prague, and I understand that it’s packed in the nice months. So, I decided to make my return visit in late winter. Or you could say very early spring, late February into March. The good: I had quick access to all the major sights, and it was easy to get around walking and by tram. Apartment rental was cheaper than in the high season. Clubs, pubs and restaurants were open, and extra nice for their warmth and cheer. The not as good: I gave up the pretty gardens and a few sights that aren’t open in winter. The weather was mixed, with some bitter cloudy days and lovely sunny ones. It was usually cold but not intolerable. Just be prepared. Afternoon reflections It Was Never Lonely There are always tourists in Prague, strolling along with local people across Charles Bridge on cold, short afternoons, wrapped in puffy jackets. We tourists ascended Castle Hill and grouped up to watch the astronomical clock. But it wasn’t crowded. I stood alone in some magnificent places and generally had no trouble getting a restaurant table. I bought groceries, cooked at my apartment, ate out, went to the local Anglican church, and had two fine nights at the opera. I was also there for Masopust, the pre-Lenten festival (think run-up to Mardi Gras) that’s full of costumes, food, parades and events. That added texture to my winter wanderings. Staying there. I used TripAdvisor and other online sources to narrow down a list of likely places, and after more cross-checking, selected Prague City Apartments Residence Karolina. My apartment was close to the historic opera house and the river, walking distance to most major sites and just a short block from major tram lines. It must have been an elegant townhouse once – my foyer was enormous, as were my living room and eat-in kitchen. Some of the decorative plaster crown molding and rosettes remained, and there was a fine staircase to my apartment. The apartment was fully loaded with appliances, a concierge was available 24/7 (and they were efficient and friendly) and it’s not far from the My Národní department store, owned by Tesco, and with a Tesco supermarket downstairs. So I could have lived there indefinitely. Castle stairs in the afternoon Eating around. I did most of my meals at home courtesy of the big kitchen and proximity to Tesco. I ate out some, and had a nice lunch inside at the Lobcowicz Palace café while others ate bundled up on the slightly heated patio overlooking the city. The most fun was the Havelská Koruna restaurant. You can find it in the guidebooks. The inexpensive food was as good as I needed it to be. Go for the experience. A woman sat in a raised booth at the entrance and handed me a list ticket with her right hand while on the other side she toted up a departing guest’s bill with her left. As I went to each cafeteria-like station, no-nonsense servers ticked my choices on the list. The cashier adds it all when you leave, and it’s 500 crowns if you lose the ticket so hang on. The restaurant was full and I grabbed a small booth as a woman left. It pays to hover. Right away, a man asked if he could sit which he did and then hurried through his soup. As soon as looked ready to go, another man began to hover. Man #1 gathered his coat and hat, and man #2 slid into the booth. I finished my fish and cabbage before he finished his goulash, and handed over my place to another hoverer. As I left the restaurant, a woman stopped and asked me something. “Is it open? Is it good? Is it cheap?” Who knows exactly what she’d asked. But I guessed it was one of those questions. I said, “ano (yes)” and she went in. I made a second equally fun visit when I was the one who asked to sit with people. Top 10 and then some – no need to stay off the beaten track in winter. Grab your favorite guidebook and make your list. I stuck fairly close to mine because I could get to all of the top sights without crowds. Roam the streets and look at the beautiful buildings; climb the Old and New Castle steps if you’re able or take the tram; watch the castle guards in their fur-collared overcoats and commiserate with the guys who stand facing the setting sun’s glare. I saw the Old Town Square almost empty in early morning and lively later with mimes, buskers and umbrella-led groups, but not crowded. Watching the astronomical clock was easy. I revisited and lingered at all the major places I’d seen before, and looked for a list of places I’d made from a book of Prague photographs that I’d bought all those years ago. I also added on a few new sights (most all from the Lonely Planet guide to Prague & the Czech Republic). And if you’ve seen my post about shoes, I spent my first afternoon at the famous Czech shoe company Bat’a replacing old favorite traveling shoes that had decided this was the time to fall apart. Bat’a is even in the travel guides. Not bad for a shoe store. Of the top sights, only the Strahov Monastery was crowded when I went on a weekend.

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Sydney, Australia: City Notes

Australia, City Notes /

Sydney, Australia: City Notes City and local notes: Line on Travel’s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips. Sydney is big, well documented and full of options for travelers. There are easy day trips (such as the Blue Mountains), beaches and beautiful hikes all around the city. There are good restaurants and nightlife, but I’m usually already sleeping when the nightlife ramps up. Here are some spins on Top 10 sights and a few just-off-the-beaten path things I’ve enjoyed in Sydney. There’s so much more – check your favorite guidebook. Spins on Sydney’s Top 10 The Sydney Harbour Bridge is definitely Top 10. Why not climb it? I don’Bridge 8t like heights much but paid the sizable fee to do the Bridge Climb. They give you a breathalyzer test, a good-looking jump suit, a belt with a safety cable, a hanky with a wrist band and croakie for your glasses (up on the bridge you can’t wear or hold anything that’s unattached), some climbing practice and coaching. Then up you go, to the very tip top of the bridge and Sydney Harbour. It is way, way down. Don’t worry about having to leave your phone behind. Bridge guides take plenty of pictures of you with a variety of dramatic views. A photo of your climbing group comes with the package but the individual shots are available for purchase when you leave (through the picture-purchase line of course). I bought all of mine which they gave me on a thumb drive. When I said that I wanted them all, the cashier asked again to be sure. Maybe that’s unusual. Anyway, I’m glad I bought them. It might be my only climb. Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk. Take the street-level pedestrian walkway. It’s not as exciting as the climb but it’s free. You’re still high up over the water so it’s exciting enough, and it’s a nice walk over to Kirribilli where you can wander around and look at houses, have a snack, sit in the park and see great views of Sydney before you head home. Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb Opera House Backstage Tour. Opera House. Top 10. Of course. Everyone has to do something with the Opera House if only a selfie with it behind you. I’ve gone to performances there (including opera – how fitting). But I especially liked the backstage tour. You get to poke around pretty much everywhere, stand in Joan Sutherland’s dressing room (for you opera fans) and have a chance to sing on stage (to an empty house). I immediately clammed up. Darn. But great fun, breakfast in the green room, and you learn a lot, too. Don’t forget to set your alarm – the tour starts very early in the morning so you’re out of the way before it’s time to set the stages. Hike to North Head. The Sydney Harbour National Park is a Top 10, but I wonder how many people take the nice long hike from Manly to North Head. There are dramatic views and lots of flora, fauna and geology to observe. Depending on the season, you might even find yourself alone a lot. If it’s whale watching season, take binoculars and look for where the whale watching cruises are circling. Do keep an eye out for directions. Maybe you won’t, but I got lost twice, was re-directed once by a nice man and his daughter, and got lucky the second time when I wound up at the Q Station just as a Manly bus arrived. As I said, watch the path. You can enjoy lunch in Manly, too, on the right day. I found it horribly crowded on a nice weekend day at summer’s end, but just perfect other times. Hike to South Head. This is a beautiful (and popular) walk along the ocean cliffs and around South Head. There’s a historic lighthouse, and the views of the ocean and Sydney Harbour are gorgeous. I have not gotten lost here. It’s a different and easier walk than at North Head. I suggest avoiding weekends in good weather. Way too crowded. I like getting there by ferry to Watson’s Bay, and I can grab a snack at Doyles on the Wharf or just have some ice cream and watch other tourists before I go walking. Leave the crowds behind at Circular Quay Take a night photo tour. I enjoyed day and night photo tours with Alfonso Calero in Sydney. Otherwise, the opera house picture here wouldn’t exist. Opera HouseThe people I met on the night tour were all from Sydney if I remember right and had taken Alfonso’s tours and classes before. We had a good session on the harbor and then doing light painting at the Observatory while listening to fruit bats forage in the Moreton Bay figs. Elizabeth Bay House. Elizabeth Bay is a pleasant (and expensive) neighborhood around a pretty bay, and Elizabeth Bay House is right in the middle of it. The house was completed in 1839 and is a neoclassical house as beautiful as money could buy, except that the Colonial Secretary who built it ran out of money and hardly lived there. It was originally surrounded by magnificent gardens (I think that’s what broke the bank). I was there on a beautiful day. A wedding was starting in the little park just across the street. After the visit, I had a good lunch in the nearby Café Two Ants. It’s tiny and popular. I was happy to get a table. Sydney Opera House Vaucluse House. An odd, neo-gothic, hodgepodge of a house started in 1805 but built onto and rejiggered for years. It’s kind of two houses in one, connected awkwardly, and oddly without a front door. But so interesting for its quirky design, pretty rooms, views and history. Vaucluse is a nice outing. The grounds are pretty and it’s not overrun with crowds. One of the most pleasant things to do while you’re there is have tea or a meal at

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Warsaw, Poland

City Notes, Europe /

Warsaw, Poland City and local notes: Line on Travel’s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips. You see the slogan “Fall in Love with Warsaw” with its cute logo all over town. And I did, for a lot of reasons. But when I first got there, I was curious instead of enraptured as I rode into the commercial center on a late summer weekday rush hour. What was the look? What kind of city was this? An architectural mélange where tall modern buildings overlook the enormous Stalin-gothic Palace of Culture and Science. Communist-era architecture sidles up to blocks rebuilt in the old style. There are big parks and Chopin’s music somehow figures into everyday life. All this in a city that had ceased to exist in 1945.There was so much to see and figure out, and I still have things that I’ve left undone. More to learn in this welcoming city that came back from World War II’s total destruction and depopulation. Warsaw Impressions This is an account of some of my experiences. It’s not a travelogue – there are loads of guidebooks, and a lot more things that I could include here. But I also want to share more than I might for a similarly well-documented city. That’s partly because while I’ve read plenty of articles about Warsaw as an up-and-coming destination, I still don’t know many Americans who think of Warsaw when it comes to picking European cities to visit. We should. Don’t speak Polish? No worries. English is pretty much a lingua franca, so with adequate English getting around is easy. Don’t think you’ll like Polish food? Well, it’s delicious and diverse and besides, you can find every cuisine you’d expect to find in any other city this size that has a growing food scene. And there’s no need to pack the kitchen sink. There are shopping malls where I found everything I needed but hadn’t thought about, like wool socks and tights when I came back in late October. Plus all the brands you know from wherever home is. Palace of Culture and Science What else to do? I found some great museums, good food, a good public transportation system and enough palaces and gardens to keep me happy for days. I heard two piano recitals by winners of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition. There’s lively night life, too, but night life for me was usually total collapse after a day roaming around. I do think it’s important to get into Warsaw’s history to some extent – it’s essential to know some recent history to appreciate what you see. But it’s not all about history class. Enjoy the flavors of Poland, stroll in the parks, visit museums, visit the shopping malls, and keep a list of things you want to do next time. There’s so much I still want to experience and learn. Some background and thoughts about a few of the top sights I suggest going early in your visit to the excellent Warsaw Uprising Museum, because it gives us visitors a context for everything we’ll see in Warsaw. I went near the end of my first trip and wish I’d gone earlier. Here’s a little background. In 1939 Hitler invaded Poland from the west. The Soviets invaded from the east not long after. Hitler broke his pact with Soviet “allies” and went on to invade the USSR and occupy all of Poland. After years of struggle, in 1944, Warsaw’s underground home army tried to seize the city from the Nazis. After 63 days of fighting the home army surrendered, and in revenge, Hitler personally ordered the city razed to the ground, leaving only about 15% of greater Warsaw standing. From a population of about 1.3 million in 1939, in 1945, there were only about a thousand people living in the ruins. The Museum covers the events leading to the uprising and its aftermath. Be warned. This innovative museum is a warren of galleries and gets crowded, so ask around (for example, your hotel’s concierge or local friends) about slower times, or just get there early. An audio guide (available in many languages) will help a lot. The destruction of Warsaw isn’t the whole story, but for a preview of what that destruction was like, you can watch “The City of Ruins,” Warsaw in 1945 on YouTube. It’s a montage of still photos made to look like a flight over the city. The 3D version that the Museum shows seems shorter and if I remember, spares you the music. Or you can also turn off the sound. Old Town and Royal Castle Everyone is probably drawn first to the Old Town and Royal Castle. I was. What you’ll see was scrupulously rebuilt according to pictures, photographs and documents. In the Castle, don’t miss the Rembrandts but also be sure to look closely around you in the Canaletto Room that contains 22 townscapes of Warsaw painted by Canaletto between 1767 and 1780. You can see what a fine city Warsaw was, and these pictures among many other resources informed the rebuilding of the old town. If your Castle Museum ticket includes the Tin-Roofed Palace, visit this too. I don’t know if everyone does. When I visited in August, there was only one other visitor there. This fine house has also been restored. The upper floor contains the apartment of Prince Józef Poniatowski which I found pretty and intimate, even cozy. I’d be happier living there instead of in the Castle, not that they offered. The helpful docent guided me back to a piano with knee levers that I’d missed seeing, and I likewise guided the other visitor to it. He tolerated my mini tour well but must have wondered, “Who is this woman and what is she saying to me?” Downstairs, there’s an exhibit of rugs and tapestries which I confess to skipping. Sigismund Column and Castle Square rooftops It’s important to understand Warsaw’s Jewish history, even if you’re not Jewish. The

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Eating and Sleeping in Warsaw

City Notes, Europe /

Eating and sleeping in Warsaw A lot of my travel meals are so basic that some of you might not call them meals. Still, I did go to some restaurants in Warsaw, most importantly for traditional Polish food. I didn’t seek out any vegetarian options although I’m sure they are available in the growing local food scene. At the recommendation of a young woman at my hotel reception, I joined both townspeople and other tourists at Dawne Smaki where I got sour rye soup and the best pierogis of both 2016 Poland trips trips and all the cities I visited.  Delish! I chose four pierogis, one each stuffed with cabbage, duck, veal and mushrooms. And the sour rye soup was loaded with potatoes and sausage. I also got a surprisingly good daily lunch special at the National Museum café one rainy day. But maybe I like the bar młeczny – milk bar – best. These are communist-era holdovers which I have read are disappearing. Too bad. For those of us without Polish grandmas, it might be as close to everyday Polish home cooking as we’ll get. At my local milk bar, I ordered at the counter, retrieved my food when it was ready and bused my own table. My local Milk Bar My “local” attracted all kinds of customers, and you can even reserve a table there as I saw by a homemade “reserved” sign one day. The food is plentiful, tasty and almost insanely inexpensive. The tricky bit is figuring out what to order since everything on the board in my milk bar was in Polish. I’m sure there’s a posh bilingual bar młeczny somewhere, or take a chance and point at the menu or someone else’s tray. Apart from that, I had nice sandwiches and pastries from bakeries and picked up salads and sandwiches from grocery stores (the bakery sandwiches were lots better). Check TripAdvisor, Like a Local, Warsaw in Your Pocket or your favorite travel guide – there are lots of restaurants with good ratings, and the lists include some milk bars. As for hotels, all the brands are in Warsaw and there are other lodging options including apartment rentals and Airbnb. Although it’s not a money-saving choice, my “home away” in Warsaw has been the InterContinental Hotel. I’m treating myself, of course, but I like the hotel, the location, the reception staff and concierges, and I can have the hot or cold breakfast of my choice (which costs extra) at the hotel’s superb buffet overlooking the Palace of Culture and Science. If that building doesn’t appeal, sit on the other side of the table. There’s usually a harpist playing at breakfast so all my days started well. (See my post “In defense of travel breakfast!”) To get around, I walk and use public transportation – buses and trams as well as intercity trains – and the InterContinental and other city-center hotels are a short walk to the Centralna train station where along with the trains, several bus lines originate. There’s a metro station close by, too. Depending on my plans, I bought day or multi-day transit passes from a machine at Centralna. Easy. The big Złote Tarasy shopping and entertainment center is in the next block from the hotel. I was there at least once a day to meet needs from wool socks to desigual tops to groceries, or to get to the train station via the indoor route. Handy. Across the expanse of the Palace of Culture and Science there are other familiar stores and a TK Maxx (TJ Maxx to us English speakers), another Marks & Spencer, and other stores which also came in handy. Use the underpass to get across the busy Marszałkowska Street.

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Gdańsk, Toruń and Malbork, Poland

City Notes, Europe /

Gdańsk, Toruń and Malbork, Poland City and local notes: Line on Travel’s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips. I visited Gdańsk, Toruń and Malbork in a single 6-night trip from Warsaw north. That’s not nearly enough time to get a feel for Gdańsk in particular. I regret that in general and also because a young woman on staff at my hotel in Toruń gave me such enthusiastic recommendations for places to see. So, naturally I’ve been thinking of an itinerary to include Gdańsk on a future Baltic trip. Gdańsk Gdańsk is a big city with an “old town” that you can visit in a couple of days. But there’s a lot more to the city than that, and I gave myself too little time in Gdańsk to allow saying much about it. What I can say is that Gdańsk is a large Baltic-facing city that feels different from any other place I visited in Poland. It was a big, rich merchant city for centuries. Then for about 20 years after 1920, the oddly contrived Free City of Danzig. Then pummeled in World War II. The rebuilt city was the birthplace and heart of the Solidarity movement in the 1980s. And today Gdańsk and the nearby beaches and resorts are pretty and vibrant. Strolling along the Dlugi Targ I visited in sunny but chilly mid-October so saved the beaches for another trip. Reception staff at the Mercure Hotel told me to come again in early September when the weather is still nice and most of the tourists have left. But even on a cold October weekend, there were a lot of people strolling along the Dlugi Targ (the Long Market) which is both a square-like gathering place and a way to the river ports. The Gothic and Baroque merchant houses lining the Dlugi Targ have been restored to show the city’s historic wealth as a Baltic trading power. It’s the old town’s place to be. I read a tourist site that compares Dlugi Targ to Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Maybe. I didn’t exactly feel that. It’s Las Ramblas on the Baltic. Many of the sights of interest are along the Dlugi Targ or around a corner. When I visited, the Dlugi Targ was vibrant and crowded. Restaurants I looked into at lunch time were full, restaurant hawkers were still annoying passers-by, and amber sellers touted festoons of suspect jewelry. I visited the helpful Tourist Information Office near the Green Gate by the river (where staff speak good English), had an interesting chat about Gdańsk and the U.S., and bought a “deluxe” tourist map for about U.S. $1.50. This map was my guide to at least seeing the exterior of all the highlighted buildings in my short time there. As one must, I viewed the famous Gdańsk Crane. The Crane is a 15th century hoist for cargo upgraded in the 17th century, blown to pieces in World War II and reconstructed after 1945. It’s unique in Europe, but only takes a short while to visit. Brick Gothic buildings abound around the Baltic Sea with its dearth of available stone for building, and in Poland some of the buildings are the biggest of their kind. Just down the road in Malbork the Teutonic Knights built the biggest medieval castle in the world – perhaps the biggest castle in the world – all of red brick. In Gdańsk, the restored St. Mary’s Basilica is said to be the biggest brick church in the world. I could sense the vastness inside the bright, whitewashed nave. The Gdańsk In Your Pocket Guide says it holds 25,000 people. But it was mainly from my room at the Mercure with its view of the old town that I could see how St. Mary’s dwarfs everything else around. I also went into several other restored churches, including St. Catherine’s, the oldest church in the city. It was begun in the 1200s but badly damaged in World War II. It was restored but unhappily, the church was all but destroyed again in a 2006 fire and is now only partially re-restored. It deserves a visit because of its historic importance and lesson in persistence. The 19th century central market was nearby. There were vegetable stands outside which are always interesting to peruse (buy sunflower seeds still on the flower) but inside there didn’t seem much worth exploring (unless you want to check out the butcher shops on the lower level). I hadn’t gone to another historic church, St. Bridget’s, but decided to duck in on my last evening in town. Please visit St. Bridget’s. Like other churches, the ancient St. Bridget’s was destroyed in World War II. It was finally restored in the 1970s. One of the must-sees in St. Bridget’s is the so-called amber altar. I had envisioned something that looked like a Renaissance or Gothic altar, a table or a block, but this is different, modern, with several large figures carved from amber of different colors arranged among soaring steel bars. The plan is to add more figures. But even more than the altar, the history of the church and Solidarity engaged me. The church supported the striking workers, and murdered priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, who supported Solidarity, is buried in the church. There’s an ongoing video related to Solidarity. The Katyń memorial was also sobering. If you don’t know about the Katyń massacre, give it a quick search online, or for a wrenching and emotional film account, see the Oscar-nominated 2009 film Katyń. Sleeping and eating. The Mercure Hotel where I stayed was at the edge of the old town and I had a panoramic view. I watched the nearly full moon’s progress, the illuminated Ferris wheel and one night, fireworks in the distance. It was an easy walk to the sights and a real prize was a shopping center across the street with a grocery store, a book store and a variety of other shops. And, although I found this near the end of

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Kraków, Poland

City Notes, Europe /

Kraków, Poland City and local notes: Line on Travel’s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips. With a millennium of Polish royal history and its historic buildings, Kraków is Poland’s biggest tourist attraction. There’s a whole body of Kraków travel literature; this is a short review of some personal highlights. I had about four days there, took two out-of-town excursions, and managed to see the places that were top on my list, though not everything there was to see. My entire focus was on the old town. I hardly ventured into modern Kraków. In the vicinity. Kraków is where you embark for tours of Auschwitz. I did that, and for a lot of reasons don’t think this is the time to write about it. But whatever history you know, or pictures you’ve seen, being there will affect the lives of thoughtful visitors. So go, as hideous as it was. I also took an excursion to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a shorter trip, the oldest operating salt mine in the world. It’s an interesting place but be aware that you spend a lot of time underground in an atmosphere suffused with sodium chloride. Your lips taste salty when you exit. I didn’t lick my hands or wrists to see how they tasted, but I did lick a wall in the mine when our guide challenged us to test it. The walls and even floor “tiles” are carved from the dark-colored salt; there are chapels, some enormous, with bas relief religious scenes and chandeliers also carved from salt. There are elaborate salt sculptures by mine workers throughout, and of course you can buy anything salt as a souvenir. The guides are dressed in understated but snazzy salt mine uniforms and in his, our tall guide looked like a 19th century cavalry officer instead of tour leader. The magic of uniforms. Back in Kraków Kraków’s monumental buildings are originals. The Nazis planned to make Kraków an eastern capital and installed their man in the castle. Thus the physical city was spared. Along with the architectural monuments, there’s the main market square that’s the largest medieval town square in Europe. It’s hard to see just how big it is because of the expansive Renaissance Cloth Hall right in the center, but walk across and around it to get the feel. When I visited during August, there was a performance of some kind – folk dancers, musicians, singers – every day, even on the rainy day I arrived. The devoted stood around the stage holding umbrellas. The kiosks that appeared daily around the Cloth Hall sold everything Polish that a tourist could want, including lunch, and there was more on offer inside Cloth Hall. Watching a performance on the Market Square There are some beautiful things there but I didn’t buy much. Won’t fit in the suitcase. But color, energy, performers, buskers, lots of tourists and more pigeons – those things I could take away in my memory and photos. Pleasant as it was in the old market, I enjoyed staying a little way apart, not far away, but not in the tourist center. It felt the relaxation every time I walked to my hotel along the busy Karmelicka with its café-au-lait colored buildings. It was like not being a tourist any more. Around the Castle The fine castle on Wawel Hill may be Renaissance, but it has Gothic underpinnings and as a seat of Polish royal power, goes back a millennium. The castle premises was restored after much damage and alteration by the Austrian military when Kraków within the Austrian Empire. But it was undamaged in World War II. You can walk around the large courtyard for free, but you need tickets to get inside any part of the castle or cathedral. Buy castle tickets ahead (there’s an additional reservation fee) or be sure to queue up early to get a time you want if you’re there during tourist season. I stood on line for a while and bought tickets for the next day. Cathedral and castle visits are sold at separate locations, and I only mention this because I was confused at first and saw others who were, too.   The castle architecture is interesting, Gothic remains and Italian Renaissance buildings fitted out with steep slate roofs to shed snow and ice. A transmontane hybrid. Around the castle The castle’s State Rooms tour was self-guided, after which for a modest extra fee you can see Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine. It is phenomenal. Do not skip it! After looking at the picture as long as I could, almost straining my eyes like I could absorb more that way, I went on to my timed, guided tour of the Royal Apartments. That tour was scripted and carefully timed to avoid loitering. Then you’re propelled out, so ask questions when they occur to you, and quickly. But do take the tour. I also took the Architecture and Gardens Tour and found it very interesting, partly because of the engaging woman who led it.  She knew everything about the castle’s history and structure but oddly claimed to know nothing about gardens, at least what’s planted in them. Still, she knew when and how the gardens were laid out, where the historic plants were and she took us through some gardens and areas of the castle that are otherwise closed to visitors. Churches Kraków is a religious center and is full of churches. Of course, there’s the history-laden Wawel Cathedral that you see at the castle. If you’re interested in very big bells, climb the cathedral’s bell tower to see the huge Sigismund Bell, cast in 1520 and nine feet across. I wanted to see most of Kraków’s other churches, too. Each has unique attributes – architecture, artworks, history. St. Mary’s Basilica is the big draw, with its beautiful altarpiece – the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world – its stained glass, hejnał (more later) and location on the market square. It’s

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