Before I start on Poland….

We have found the best international airport – Southend. Very little traffic and close to town. So similar to country airports in Australia where you walk to your plane. We will look for flights from here again.

Landing in Krakow a little ahead of time gave us hope we would be able to meet our host by 3pm. BUT, we did not have change for the bus, so we missed it and eventually swapped a £1 coin for some local currency that got us onto a bus. If we hadn’t taken the wrong turn when we got off the bus we would have only been half an hour late, but we did eventually make it and we were shown around our apartment, which is right in the middle of the old town.

Michael is standing in the doorway to our place and we are on the first floor.
We headed off to find some local beer and food and to take in the sights around us. It is warm here and so I am able to get out my summer gear. (Michael has been wearing his all along!)

You must be careful when walking around here as the pavement / road / bike track can be a bit hazardous. This is a good bit out front of St Mary’s Church.

On advice from our host, we headed towards the Jewish Quarter of town to try authentic Polish food. We tried a few bars on our way and I was stopped by a young man who was promoting a Chopin concert, which I really hope we go to one night we are here.

I had sauerkraut soup ($3), Michael tried beef tripe soup ($2.75) followed by pork knuckle (which he did not need for $10). The restaurant had run out of dry red wine, so we both had a white which was not too flash but cost less than $1.50 a glass).

This is the tripe, and Michael loved it.

But, he should never have ordered the knuckle, as it was huge and sold by the kilogram.

This city is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in Poland. The city has almost 800,000 residents. We saw loads of tourist groups and school excursion groups in this city today. One very common shop is a 24 hour bottle shop, cleverly called the Alkohole. Some are better than others.

Our first night was pretty hot, but we have loads of room in our apartment and we have already caught up on our washing. Lots more exploring to do today.