Seeing in the New Year in Krakow
Trip Start
Aug 11, 2009
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Trip End
Sep 30, 2010
Where I stayed
Kraków, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Our 8 bed dorm is filled with Polish girls and in the common room we meet a large group of Russian engineers (uh oh) amidst the Croatians and Germans.
Needless to say, New Years in Krakow market square was an experience! Two huge stages with live bands and DJs, some fireworks and plenty of dancing (partly to try and stay warm). Well, at least you don't have to worry about keeping the beer cold.
Krakow also has (yet another) beautiful old town and castle. Sadly it is a little over touristed and everything has an entrance fee. But where else can you see a castle and then visit the cave where the resident dragon lived? (well, we could have if we visited in summer, and forked over some more cash but thats not the point).
We also visited the site of the nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz (including Birkenau). Pretty frightening in size, barbed wire fences stretching almost as far as the eye can see...
On the other side of town is the Wieliczka salt mine, which has been operational for over 7 centuries and has hosted tour groups for over 2 centuries. The chapels and churches, complete with salt statues, salt carvings, polished salt floors and salt chandeliers were all the more amazing for being further than 100m underground.
