NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT TOUR - KRAKOW-POLAND

When we visited Krakow, I immediately loved this city. It had a special charm. Unfortunately a part of the photos I have taken have disappeared. I only can show you a few one. But still it gives you an idea of the city.

Krakow had been the capital of Poland (today it is Warsaw) but still is the capital of the historical region.  With just under 800,000 inhabitants  and 327 km ² area it is the second largest city in Poland and visited annually by about 9 million tourists.

It is a student city. Just under a third of Krakow residents are students. The former capital is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Poland. Unlike most Polish cities, Krakow was not destroyed during the Second World War and therefore has one of the most complete buildings from the Romanesque to the Art Nouveau of Europe with particularly many architectural monuments from the Gothic and Renaissance.

In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, became Pope John Paul II—the first Slavic pope ever, and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

The hotel we stayed in, was my favourite of all hotels I have slept in during the tour !



It was an old hotel but very modern inside, it had kept the old furniture in the public places and there were little crocheted table clothes everywhere. It looked so homely. Our room was very huge and very comfortable.





This was the view I had looking out of the window. Just opposite the street was a cat café !



As a cat lover this was of course something for me. When I had finished my sightseeing tour and had walked around enough, I had a coffee here with a delicious piece of cake. The cats wandered around and the huge ginger cat kept me company.



Walking through the beautiful city park



I arrived at the Barbican – a fortified outpost once connected to the city walls. It is a historic gateway leading into the Old Town. A very impressive building.



Inside Barbican



When the pope visited his home town in 1979 he stayed in the Bishop's Palace which is the second largest palace in Kraków and has been the residence of Kraków's bishops since it was first built in the 14th century. Today the Palace is most famous for having been the residence of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla from 1958 to 1978, before he became Pope John Paul II. During his visits to Kraków as Pope he would often make evening appearances in the 'Papal Window' to address the crowds





In honor of the pope





The market place



I stopped on this huge place and sat outside in a restaurant while watching the colorful carosses, I had a plate of Pierogi. Pierogi are dumplings that are most often filled with "ruskie" ("ruskie" meaning "Ruthenian" - with curd cheese and potato), meat, cabbage, mushroom, They are delicious and I can only recommend !

Here you will find everything you should know if you intend to visit Krakow. I think I should go back there and visit the city more. From what I have seen it was one of my favourite cities.