Tuesday, August 19 – Krakow
Today, we had a guide, Joanna, give us a walking tour of Krakow. First we were shown around the ancient Wawal castle and associated churches and castle rooms. It had rooms with tapestries and murals, elaborate decorations, etc. We got to see the lower catacombs, which held tombs of old kings and heroes. One of the heroes was Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who is memorialized with a park in Milwaukee.
One of the interior rooms
Then we went inside of St. Mary’s Basilica. Its ornate main altar was restored after World War II (long story) and has panels that are manually opened twice a day to reveal the carvings on the rear wall (video below). We also were shown around the old university, the Collegium Marius.
Statue of Copernicus
The guided tour was over around 1 pm, and we did some exploring on our own afterwards. That included lunch and an art museum. I think we walked five miles today.
We got a light dinner at a cafe near the hotel. Tomato soup for me and borscht for Maura.
