Five Polish Towns Plus Frankfurt - September, 2011 - A Trip Report
May 16th, 2012, 11:03 AM
#41
ann - you were lucky to happen upon that concert - it sounds like it was a wonderful experience!>>
it was - the outside of the church was all lit with those funny glass votive lights that they sell in every shop in Krakov just about [well, they did when we were there] and inside they just had candle light, even for the orchestra. the singing was so good, and even though we understood very few actual words the meaning came across, loud and clear.
we also went to a concert in the concert hall - i can't remember the programme now but that too was well performed and very professional. you can also get tickets for concerts done in C18 dress, but they were much more expensive and i suspect not as good.
it was - the outside of the church was all lit with those funny glass votive lights that they sell in every shop in Krakov just about [well, they did when we were there] and inside they just had candle light, even for the orchestra. the singing was so good, and even though we understood very few actual words the meaning came across, loud and clear.
we also went to a concert in the concert hall - i can't remember the programme now but that too was well performed and very professional. you can also get tickets for concerts done in C18 dress, but they were much more expensive and i suspect not as good.
May 18th, 2012, 04:34 AM
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Hi adrienne. Your report brings back and allows me to enjoy from my arm chair my trip to Krakow in Oct. 2010.
The only regret I have is that I was only there actually three days and two nights. We left for Budapest on a night train the third night.
It really wasn't enough time to enjoy this wonderful city and I would love to go back.
There is so much more to see then I expected.
Thanks.
The only regret I have is that I was only there actually three days and two nights. We left for Budapest on a night train the third night.
It really wasn't enough time to enjoy this wonderful city and I would love to go back.
There is so much more to see then I expected.
Thanks.
May 25th, 2012, 11:28 AM
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Hi Paulo,
Marta charged 450PLN for a full day. She also has a half day rate that is a bit more than 50% of the full day price.
I really enjoyed my time with her and did a second day visiting the wooden churches outside Krakow.
More report to come when I have some writing time.
Marta charged 450PLN for a full day. She also has a half day rate that is a bit more than 50% of the full day price.
I really enjoyed my time with her and did a second day visiting the wooden churches outside Krakow.
More report to come when I have some writing time.
Jun 3rd, 2012, 02:52 PM
#45
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Sunday October 2, 2011 – Krakow – Wooden Churches
Today was my big splurge for the trip. Nancy went to Auschwitz and I went to see wooden churches outside of Krakow with Marta, the guide we used the other day. It was an expensive day and I knew I had to bear the cost of the trip by myself so I thought a long time about spending money to visit the churches. In the end I decided that this outing was important enough to me to spend the money. I could cut back on other things (like not buying striped flint jewelry).
Marta picked me up at 9:00 and we set off. There is one wooden church, St. Margaret’s Chapel, on the outskirts of Krakow in the Salwator district, but that was closed so we couldn’t go inside. The chapel was built in 1690 in an octagonal shape. Marta thought it might open at noon for mass. I was able to take some photos of the outside of the building.
The three churches we visited are part of the UNESCO heritage site of Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland. These are pilgrimage churches and many of them have deep eaves so people arriving the night before could sleep underneath the eaves for shelter from the elements.
St. Leonard’s was the first church we visited, located in Lipnica Murowana, about an hour southeast of Krakow. We had to wait a while until the church opened at noon and wandered through the small cemetery on the grounds. While we waited, we went to the parish church which was celebrating mass, piping the service outside. At first I thought that was because the people with children listened to the mass outside rather than inside the church but after we entered I realized that the church was full and there were no more seats. People were also standing in the aisles. Immediately following mass was a very long rosary session since October is the month honoring the Blessed Virgin. Everyone was on their knees, the people who had been standing were now kneeling on a stone floor. Yikes! I bowed my head but there was no way my old knees were connecting with the floor. As an aside, I saw many, many people kneeling on stone floors in Polish churches. These are very devout people.
The interior of St. Leonard’s was almost completely covered in paintings with the Last Supper, painted in 1540, is on the right wall, a painted pulpit and the ceiling painted in a cutout motif of brown, beige, and terra cotta.
The Benedictine order founded this church in 1142 on the site of a pagan chapel. The wooden pillar behind the altar dates from that chapel. It was a parish church until 1360. Today’s church is the same shape as the one built in 1480; the stone floor is original. The altar is the oldest part with the ceiling containing the oldest polychromes, painted by local people in 1490. The newest painting, near the pulpit, dates from 1710, depicting the Life of Christ.
There are two triptychs in the right and left chapels; the one in the left chapel showing the Adoration of Christ is original, from 1480. The left chapel and altar triptychs are replicas.
The second church was in Binarowa, about another hour southeast of Lipnica Murowana. This was Church of the Archangel Michael and dates from around 1500 with a baptismal font from 1522, a 17th century confessional, an original 16th century ceiling and a 17th century confessional. It was restored 80 years ago. The bell tower was added in 1595. The interior was beautifully painted but the violent aspect of Christ’s Passion was a bit unnerving.
The church is open Wednesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 6:00 and Sunday from 12:00 to 4:00.
The third church in Sekowa (Church of St. Philip and St. James – early 16th century) was a bit of a disappointment as the interior wasn’t painted and there was a rosary service while we were there so we couldn’t walk around inside the church. It was getting late and we had to get started back to Krakow as it was about a 3 hour ride and we hit traffic getting back into town.
Both St. Leonard’s and St. Michael’s had docents inside the church but they both only spoke Polish; there was no English translation available either spoken or written. I asked Marta if it were possible for someone who didn’t speak Polish to drive around this area and find lodging and she said it would be very difficult and that there weren’t many places to stay. Other than the wooden churches there didn’t seem to be any tourist attractions to warrant pensions or B&Bs.
Even though it was a long day (11 hours), I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the churches and seeing the countryside outside of Krakow and I decided that I was glad I spent the money for the excursion.
Today was my big splurge for the trip. Nancy went to Auschwitz and I went to see wooden churches outside of Krakow with Marta, the guide we used the other day. It was an expensive day and I knew I had to bear the cost of the trip by myself so I thought a long time about spending money to visit the churches. In the end I decided that this outing was important enough to me to spend the money. I could cut back on other things (like not buying striped flint jewelry).
Marta picked me up at 9:00 and we set off. There is one wooden church, St. Margaret’s Chapel, on the outskirts of Krakow in the Salwator district, but that was closed so we couldn’t go inside. The chapel was built in 1690 in an octagonal shape. Marta thought it might open at noon for mass. I was able to take some photos of the outside of the building.
The three churches we visited are part of the UNESCO heritage site of Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland. These are pilgrimage churches and many of them have deep eaves so people arriving the night before could sleep underneath the eaves for shelter from the elements.
St. Leonard’s was the first church we visited, located in Lipnica Murowana, about an hour southeast of Krakow. We had to wait a while until the church opened at noon and wandered through the small cemetery on the grounds. While we waited, we went to the parish church which was celebrating mass, piping the service outside. At first I thought that was because the people with children listened to the mass outside rather than inside the church but after we entered I realized that the church was full and there were no more seats. People were also standing in the aisles. Immediately following mass was a very long rosary session since October is the month honoring the Blessed Virgin. Everyone was on their knees, the people who had been standing were now kneeling on a stone floor. Yikes! I bowed my head but there was no way my old knees were connecting with the floor. As an aside, I saw many, many people kneeling on stone floors in Polish churches. These are very devout people.
The interior of St. Leonard’s was almost completely covered in paintings with the Last Supper, painted in 1540, is on the right wall, a painted pulpit and the ceiling painted in a cutout motif of brown, beige, and terra cotta.
The Benedictine order founded this church in 1142 on the site of a pagan chapel. The wooden pillar behind the altar dates from that chapel. It was a parish church until 1360. Today’s church is the same shape as the one built in 1480; the stone floor is original. The altar is the oldest part with the ceiling containing the oldest polychromes, painted by local people in 1490. The newest painting, near the pulpit, dates from 1710, depicting the Life of Christ.
There are two triptychs in the right and left chapels; the one in the left chapel showing the Adoration of Christ is original, from 1480. The left chapel and altar triptychs are replicas.
The second church was in Binarowa, about another hour southeast of Lipnica Murowana. This was Church of the Archangel Michael and dates from around 1500 with a baptismal font from 1522, a 17th century confessional, an original 16th century ceiling and a 17th century confessional. It was restored 80 years ago. The bell tower was added in 1595. The interior was beautifully painted but the violent aspect of Christ’s Passion was a bit unnerving.
The church is open Wednesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 6:00 and Sunday from 12:00 to 4:00.
The third church in Sekowa (Church of St. Philip and St. James – early 16th century) was a bit of a disappointment as the interior wasn’t painted and there was a rosary service while we were there so we couldn’t walk around inside the church. It was getting late and we had to get started back to Krakow as it was about a 3 hour ride and we hit traffic getting back into town.
Both St. Leonard’s and St. Michael’s had docents inside the church but they both only spoke Polish; there was no English translation available either spoken or written. I asked Marta if it were possible for someone who didn’t speak Polish to drive around this area and find lodging and she said it would be very difficult and that there weren’t many places to stay. Other than the wooden churches there didn’t seem to be any tourist attractions to warrant pensions or B&Bs.
Even though it was a long day (11 hours), I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the churches and seeing the countryside outside of Krakow and I decided that I was glad I spent the money for the excursion.
Jun 4th, 2012, 08:15 AM
#46
adrienne,
i read about these churches when we visited Krakov but never got to them. clearly it was a very worthwhile trip.
i agree with you about how devout the population is - we saw many people young and old kneeling on stone floors, and when we arrived the area outside the Franciscan church was knee deep in votive lamps commemorating the death of Pope John Paul. most interestingly, we thought, young people made up a very high proportion of people queuing for confession, and votive lamps were on sale at every small shop and stall, even the ones selling newspapers and vegetables. a devout people indeed.
i read about these churches when we visited Krakov but never got to them. clearly it was a very worthwhile trip.
i agree with you about how devout the population is - we saw many people young and old kneeling on stone floors, and when we arrived the area outside the Franciscan church was knee deep in votive lamps commemorating the death of Pope John Paul. most interestingly, we thought, young people made up a very high proportion of people queuing for confession, and votive lamps were on sale at every small shop and stall, even the ones selling newspapers and vegetables. a devout people indeed.
Jun 4th, 2012, 08:45 AM
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ann - you're right about the younger people. When we went to the church in Sekowa, most of the people praying inside the church were young adults and in Krakow I saw many young people (perhaps student age and a bit older) praying.
Jun 11th, 2012, 03:40 PM
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Monday October 3, 2011 – Krakow
This was our last morning in Krakow. I took a walk in the direction of the Florian Gate and looked into St. Kazimierz church with the lovely small meditative square across the street, the Carmelite Church, and tried again to get into St. Anne’s church at the university but was only able to look through the door. St. Anne’s is a beautiful Baroque church with stucco reliefs and pastel paintings. I went into the Cloth Hall one more time, looked at the souvenirs inside the TI, and then Nancy and I ate zurek at Camelot Café and had one last coffee latte in Rynek Glowny before our taxi to the train station for the train to Warsaw.
The Krakow to Warsaw train ride is an easy 3 hours and the train was full of business people wearing suits, huddling over their laptops, and conversing about spreadsheets. At the Warsaw train station we had the usual haggle with the taxi drivers over the fare. Again the cabbies all stuck together and wouldn’t budge on price so we walked around the corner and there were more taxis. We agreed to pay more than the usual amount after some negotiating. The driver explained that there was “big traffic.” Obviously he has never been to the New York metro area during rush hour to see really “big traffic.” There was very little traffic. No additional tip for him as it was included in the extreme fare.
We checked in and went to old town for dinner; ate at the same restaurant we went to the first night in Warsaw at the beginning of the trip, Literatka in Old Town Square.
This was our last morning in Krakow. I took a walk in the direction of the Florian Gate and looked into St. Kazimierz church with the lovely small meditative square across the street, the Carmelite Church, and tried again to get into St. Anne’s church at the university but was only able to look through the door. St. Anne’s is a beautiful Baroque church with stucco reliefs and pastel paintings. I went into the Cloth Hall one more time, looked at the souvenirs inside the TI, and then Nancy and I ate zurek at Camelot Café and had one last coffee latte in Rynek Glowny before our taxi to the train station for the train to Warsaw.
The Krakow to Warsaw train ride is an easy 3 hours and the train was full of business people wearing suits, huddling over their laptops, and conversing about spreadsheets. At the Warsaw train station we had the usual haggle with the taxi drivers over the fare. Again the cabbies all stuck together and wouldn’t budge on price so we walked around the corner and there were more taxis. We agreed to pay more than the usual amount after some negotiating. The driver explained that there was “big traffic.” Obviously he has never been to the New York metro area during rush hour to see really “big traffic.” There was very little traffic. No additional tip for him as it was included in the extreme fare.
We checked in and went to old town for dinner; ate at the same restaurant we went to the first night in Warsaw at the beginning of the trip, Literatka in Old Town Square.
Jun 12th, 2012, 01:06 PM
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Tuesday October 4, 2011 – Warsaw
We took a taxi to the university library as I wanted to see the rooftop garden which opened in 2002. It’s quite a large garden, although not many flowers. It covers 2 hectares with paths, shrubbery, sculptures, and a fish pond and goes over the top of the library via a bridge giving a nice view of Warsaw. You can even look into the library through the glass roof and on sunny days the clouds are reflected in the glass. There were few people walking in the garden while we were there.
After the library we looked for a taxi and asked inside the library but none were to be found, probably because students can’t afford taxis and there’s no need for them to cruise or station outside the university. So we walked to the Ethnographic Museum. The ground floor had rooms representing various cultures, mainly African and Australian and I think these rooms are mainly used for teaching children as there was a school group sitting on the floor with their teacher explaining the displays. The first floor was polychrome painted wooden masks, some with fierce expressions and carved and painted wooden figures. The second floor (top floor) was the most interesting with Polish costumes (beautiful embroidery) and 19th century religious folk painting on glass.
We took a taxi back to the hotel and not wanting to go out again to old town we looked in the area for a restaurant but there weren’t any. The hotel recommended one place a few doors away but it didn’t look appealing and there were only two other people eating. The only other option in the area was the buffet across the street. It was very busy so we went in but I must say that it was a sad choice. We ate quickly and left and had an early night.
We took a taxi to the university library as I wanted to see the rooftop garden which opened in 2002. It’s quite a large garden, although not many flowers. It covers 2 hectares with paths, shrubbery, sculptures, and a fish pond and goes over the top of the library via a bridge giving a nice view of Warsaw. You can even look into the library through the glass roof and on sunny days the clouds are reflected in the glass. There were few people walking in the garden while we were there.
After the library we looked for a taxi and asked inside the library but none were to be found, probably because students can’t afford taxis and there’s no need for them to cruise or station outside the university. So we walked to the Ethnographic Museum. The ground floor had rooms representing various cultures, mainly African and Australian and I think these rooms are mainly used for teaching children as there was a school group sitting on the floor with their teacher explaining the displays. The first floor was polychrome painted wooden masks, some with fierce expressions and carved and painted wooden figures. The second floor (top floor) was the most interesting with Polish costumes (beautiful embroidery) and 19th century religious folk painting on glass.
We took a taxi back to the hotel and not wanting to go out again to old town we looked in the area for a restaurant but there weren’t any. The hotel recommended one place a few doors away but it didn’t look appealing and there were only two other people eating. The only other option in the area was the buffet across the street. It was very busy so we went in but I must say that it was a sad choice. We ate quickly and left and had an early night.
Jun 26th, 2012, 06:36 AM
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Wednesday October 5, 2011 – Warsaw
Our last day in Poland. We began with the Warsaw Uprising Museum, another great Polish high-tech masterpiece museum. It was created in a disused power station and is accessible by public transportation (buses and trams). We took a taxi there and when we left there was a taxi at the entrance gate.
http://1944.pl/en/
There are lots of interactive displays, photos, planes (sometimes one of the planes is open and you can enter but it was closed during our visit), sewers, and cobbled streets. The story of the uprising is chronological in the museum but it’s a bit hard to follow and easy to get off track, particularly since there is a mezzanine level. As with the Krakow Under the Occupation Museum, there are wonderful sound effects such as machines guns, bomber planes, and a quite disconcerting heart beat.
At the end of the exhibit there’s a small 3D theatre showing a 5 minute film of the destroyed Warsaw in March, 1945. At the top level there’s an old style café, looking like something from the 1940s. This museum was the best thing I did in Warsaw.
After the Uprising Museum we went to the Polish Catholic cemetery. It was nice to look at the tombs but I find that all cemeteries pale in comparison to those in Paris and I’m always a bit disappointed in other cemeteries.
We caught a taxi to Old Town Square and wandered around looking at the shops and churches. We returned here that evening for our last dinner in Poland.
I totally enjoyed the two weeks in Poland and can’t wait to go back. It’s a country with a long and distinguished history, beautiful cities, and warm welcoming people. I also loved the food. The drawbacks are: 1) the wine is expensive, and 2) the scenery is not great but I travel for architecture more than nature so that didn’t bother me.
What things cost in Poland (all prices in PLN):
Warsaw – taxi airport to hotel (across river from old town square) – 54
Warsaw - taxi hotel to train station – 24
Dinners – 200 – 270 with wine
First class train tickets with seat reservations – prices are for 2 adults:
Warsaw to Poznan 283 + 32 seat reservation
Poznan to Wroclaw 164 + 12 seat reservation
Wroclaw to Krakow 265 + 12 seat reservation
Krakow to Warsaw 282 + 25 seat reservation
Bus Krakow to Zakopane 18 each way
Our last day in Poland. We began with the Warsaw Uprising Museum, another great Polish high-tech masterpiece museum. It was created in a disused power station and is accessible by public transportation (buses and trams). We took a taxi there and when we left there was a taxi at the entrance gate.
http://1944.pl/en/
There are lots of interactive displays, photos, planes (sometimes one of the planes is open and you can enter but it was closed during our visit), sewers, and cobbled streets. The story of the uprising is chronological in the museum but it’s a bit hard to follow and easy to get off track, particularly since there is a mezzanine level. As with the Krakow Under the Occupation Museum, there are wonderful sound effects such as machines guns, bomber planes, and a quite disconcerting heart beat.
At the end of the exhibit there’s a small 3D theatre showing a 5 minute film of the destroyed Warsaw in March, 1945. At the top level there’s an old style café, looking like something from the 1940s. This museum was the best thing I did in Warsaw.
After the Uprising Museum we went to the Polish Catholic cemetery. It was nice to look at the tombs but I find that all cemeteries pale in comparison to those in Paris and I’m always a bit disappointed in other cemeteries.
We caught a taxi to Old Town Square and wandered around looking at the shops and churches. We returned here that evening for our last dinner in Poland.
I totally enjoyed the two weeks in Poland and can’t wait to go back. It’s a country with a long and distinguished history, beautiful cities, and warm welcoming people. I also loved the food. The drawbacks are: 1) the wine is expensive, and 2) the scenery is not great but I travel for architecture more than nature so that didn’t bother me.
What things cost in Poland (all prices in PLN):
Warsaw – taxi airport to hotel (across river from old town square) – 54
Warsaw - taxi hotel to train station – 24
Dinners – 200 – 270 with wine
First class train tickets with seat reservations – prices are for 2 adults:
Warsaw to Poznan 283 + 32 seat reservation
Poznan to Wroclaw 164 + 12 seat reservation
Wroclaw to Krakow 265 + 12 seat reservation
Krakow to Warsaw 282 + 25 seat reservation
Bus Krakow to Zakopane 18 each way
Jun 26th, 2012, 04:41 PM
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Thursday October 6, 2011 – Frankfurt
Arrived in Frankfurt around noon, collected my bag and then to the train. The first thing I noticed was there were new (wonderful) tickets machines on the platform for the train into town. Instead of fumbling through the ticket purchase process and having to remember what the code was for Frankfurt, I effortlessly bought my tickets. Thank you Germany for improving the process!
I checked into the hotel (on the south side of the Hbf) and then went to the Romer area, wandered around a bit and had a late lunch with a glass of wine. I was running out of reading material so I bought a book at the train station which has a decent, although not large, assortment of English books. I had stopped taking notes (I was good for the first two weeks of the trip) so I have to depend on my memory for the three days in Frankfurt.
The weather, which was wonderful in Poland, had changed a bit and had become gray and overcast and colder.
Dinner tonight was a Baeseler Eck, a restaurant a few blocks from my hotel that I remembered from my stay in Frankfurt last year. Jagermister (breaded pork cutlet with mushrooms in cream sauce), boiled potatoes and red wine.
Arrived in Frankfurt around noon, collected my bag and then to the train. The first thing I noticed was there were new (wonderful) tickets machines on the platform for the train into town. Instead of fumbling through the ticket purchase process and having to remember what the code was for Frankfurt, I effortlessly bought my tickets. Thank you Germany for improving the process!
I checked into the hotel (on the south side of the Hbf) and then went to the Romer area, wandered around a bit and had a late lunch with a glass of wine. I was running out of reading material so I bought a book at the train station which has a decent, although not large, assortment of English books. I had stopped taking notes (I was good for the first two weeks of the trip) so I have to depend on my memory for the three days in Frankfurt.
The weather, which was wonderful in Poland, had changed a bit and had become gray and overcast and colder.
Dinner tonight was a Baeseler Eck, a restaurant a few blocks from my hotel that I remembered from my stay in Frankfurt last year. Jagermister (breaded pork cutlet with mushrooms in cream sauce), boiled potatoes and red wine.
Jun 27th, 2012, 09:23 AM
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Friday October 7, 2011 – Mainz
Of my days in Frankfurt, this one really stands out. I had a list of possible things to do in Frankfurt and all of them depended on the weather. As long as it wasn’t raining I wanted to do more outside activities and I had seen quite a few museums in Poland so I wasn’t looking for more museums.
The wonderful TI in the Frankfurt Hbf gave me explicit directions to get to Mainz, about 45 minutes from Frankfurt. I wanted to see the Chagall stained glass in the church there. I was to take the S-bahn S8 or S9 in the direction of Weisbaden and get off in Mainz (one way tickets – E7.30). Well…I did get off in Mainz but it was not near the town. Fortunately, another woman made the same mistake (I can’t remember if I was following her or not – I probably was) and since she spoke German we got on a local bus to the center of town. She explained that I could use my S-bahn ticket and didn’t have to buy another ticket for the bus. I got off where she did.
There was a wonderful market with flowers, produce, cheese, sausages. Many people were buying food and eating it at tables set up in the market. I went into the cathedral and museum (E6 admission) which contained fragments from the original churches, paintings of the 12th century church. Downstairs is the treasury and the chapel and the large memorial door flanked by St. Barbara and other saints. In 1814, the cathedral was used by Napoleon as a military hospital.
After the cathedral I wandered around the shopping area and looked at the interesting buildings below the shopping area. It started raining so I went into a restaurant and had a bowl of soup and since the rain had stopped I started walking to St. Stephen’s for the highlight of the day – the Chagall windows.
To find the church, just keep walking up the hill. There were few (if any) signs until you get close to the church (and I didn’t have a map) so I just started asking the way. I found the church, a rather plain, stone church on the outside, opened the door and gasped out loud! The windows are spectacular. They’re all blue and white and completely amazing. I walked around and around and kept looking at them. I’m completely envious of the people who live in Mainz and in the area and can come and gaze at these windows any time they want to. I took photos but they do not do justice to these amazing windows.
As I was leaving the church I went out the wrong door and wandered into a beautiful rose red cloister. Spent a few minutes there and then left the church. It has begun to rain again and I walked down the hill and the rain was coming down harder. I didn’t have an umbrella and I didn’t know where the train station was since I got off at the wrong spot so I hailed a cab to take me to the station. This was a good move since even if I had directions to the station I would never have seen it since the entrance is about as large as a doorway and looked like an alley. I trusted the cab to bring me to the right place and it was. I had to wait a bit for the next train back to Frankfurt.
Dinner tonight was at a place that I believe Mainhattengirl recommended - Paulaner behind the Dom. It was quite busy and the food was good. I had pork medallions with mushrooms in cream sauce, string beans wrapped in bacon, mashed potatoes, and wine for E26.
Of my days in Frankfurt, this one really stands out. I had a list of possible things to do in Frankfurt and all of them depended on the weather. As long as it wasn’t raining I wanted to do more outside activities and I had seen quite a few museums in Poland so I wasn’t looking for more museums.
The wonderful TI in the Frankfurt Hbf gave me explicit directions to get to Mainz, about 45 minutes from Frankfurt. I wanted to see the Chagall stained glass in the church there. I was to take the S-bahn S8 or S9 in the direction of Weisbaden and get off in Mainz (one way tickets – E7.30). Well…I did get off in Mainz but it was not near the town. Fortunately, another woman made the same mistake (I can’t remember if I was following her or not – I probably was) and since she spoke German we got on a local bus to the center of town. She explained that I could use my S-bahn ticket and didn’t have to buy another ticket for the bus. I got off where she did.
There was a wonderful market with flowers, produce, cheese, sausages. Many people were buying food and eating it at tables set up in the market. I went into the cathedral and museum (E6 admission) which contained fragments from the original churches, paintings of the 12th century church. Downstairs is the treasury and the chapel and the large memorial door flanked by St. Barbara and other saints. In 1814, the cathedral was used by Napoleon as a military hospital.
After the cathedral I wandered around the shopping area and looked at the interesting buildings below the shopping area. It started raining so I went into a restaurant and had a bowl of soup and since the rain had stopped I started walking to St. Stephen’s for the highlight of the day – the Chagall windows.
To find the church, just keep walking up the hill. There were few (if any) signs until you get close to the church (and I didn’t have a map) so I just started asking the way. I found the church, a rather plain, stone church on the outside, opened the door and gasped out loud! The windows are spectacular. They’re all blue and white and completely amazing. I walked around and around and kept looking at them. I’m completely envious of the people who live in Mainz and in the area and can come and gaze at these windows any time they want to. I took photos but they do not do justice to these amazing windows.
As I was leaving the church I went out the wrong door and wandered into a beautiful rose red cloister. Spent a few minutes there and then left the church. It has begun to rain again and I walked down the hill and the rain was coming down harder. I didn’t have an umbrella and I didn’t know where the train station was since I got off at the wrong spot so I hailed a cab to take me to the station. This was a good move since even if I had directions to the station I would never have seen it since the entrance is about as large as a doorway and looked like an alley. I trusted the cab to bring me to the right place and it was. I had to wait a bit for the next train back to Frankfurt.
Dinner tonight was at a place that I believe Mainhattengirl recommended - Paulaner behind the Dom. It was quite busy and the food was good. I had pork medallions with mushrooms in cream sauce, string beans wrapped in bacon, mashed potatoes, and wine for E26.
Jun 29th, 2012, 01:23 PM
#57
Join Date: Jan 2003
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Hi Asrienne. I loved Krakow but it is the only place I visited in Poland.
I will return someday and this gives me lots of ideas...if I can tear myself away from Krakow because I only spent barely three days there.
I will return someday and this gives me lots of ideas...if I can tear myself away from Krakow because I only spent barely three days there.
