Last Day in Krakow
Packed our backpacks and checked out of our apartment in Krakow at abt 10am, we will be catching an overnight train to Prague at 10.25pm.
Left our backpacks at Old Apartment's Office, and we are off to explore the last bit of Krakow.
Like Warsaw, it has its beautiful street scene.
On our way to the Wawel Hill's Castle,
The Church we see the other nite...
Can anyone tell me why is he carrying an inverted cross??
Our feet stepped into the castle...
Piece of art or wat?? The building grows beard?
The dragon and the angel outside the cathedral...
You see, there is a legend that remains amongst the best-loved in Poland, which is a dragon-slayer, no less, who killed a monster and ascended the throne of Krakow. So, there were lots of souveniors in the form of dragons on sale in the city...
Remember the famous Big Ben's chime? In Krakow you can see, and actually even touch, an equal of the London bell of the Houses of Parliament. Huge Zygmunt (Sigismund) bell is nearly 9 feet across too. At the same time Krakow’s Big Sig is a third heavier, weighing 18 metric tons. It The giant ranks among the world's largest bells. It was donated to the Wawel Cathedral by Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Big Sig still is where it was hung in 1521, i.e. at the top of a 14th-century tower turned into the Cathedral's belfry near the Royal Castle. Its beautifully deep toll is heard far away on important Church and national occasions. And it needs the strength of ten men to ring the giant bell every Christmas, New Year Day or Easter Sunday.
We bought tickets, at the belfry entrance in the Cathedral and climb many flights of stairs in order to see the famous Zygmunt and, touched its 660-pound clapper. They say the wish then whispered is to materialize soon. Oops, picture over-exposed! =p
We just can't get enuf of the cathedral's awesome view....
cute hor? =)
Livingstone's reflection....looks like a fish eye lens isn't it? hur hur hur....
The gold plated roof creates beautiful color to the sight.
Met some kids on our way. they were really spontaneous!
We needed lunch, and we needed some polish-krakow food.
There was this lady that introduce us a place for pirogi. We searched and asked, and got there!
(Pardon me, I got the spelling wrong on my foto... hee)
like warsaw, the dumplings are stuffed with cabbage, mushrooms, meat...
but there is no pork lard for dipping. heh...
The meat dish is fantastic! So much nicer than the one we had in Warsaw!
back to the city cquare, street hawker. big busines isn't it?
This is real.
This is fake.
The square is so nice.
And this little girl wrapped in a white jacket, is so adorable.....
My reflection once again....of Krakow square..
It's so difficult to snap a picture like this! Bravo! I like!
We had all the time in the world that day cos we had to wait for our overnight train anyway.
Sitting in the square, just staring at the pigeons and the lovers, the street arts and the everything....is a luxurious thing to do (at least for me) now.
whose head came rolling off??
Talented street art....the art of spraying....
We decided to go back to the same place (we had for lunch) for dinner!
How can we not try the other krakow-food before we leave poland!?
So this is the counter, like a fast food joint, we ordered the food at the counter, the lady gave us a queue number, and we pick up our food later.
There are three storeys of dining, however, only the ground level and the 2nd level are sort of self-service, the basement sitting resembles more of a high-class dining, where u get a butler serving you, and music from the piano - live. Of cos, i suppose you have to pay a premium...
We of cos, stayed at the ground level... haha...
Comfort food in the winter!!! Tomato soup with pasta and white radish and egg soup.
Yummilicious!!
This is good too! grilled pork with grilled juicy mushrooms!
and this, i tell u, the taste still lingers in my mouth now...now u see this, wait till i cut it open...
look! there is broth contained inside the meat!!! Can u believe it? don't ask me how they do it? or what is the name to this dish....it's in polish!!
It was quite a headache, to decide where to go for the few hours, while waiting for our train, with our backpack, we were lucky that the Krakow Galleria shopping mall is open till late!
We spent our time in the foodcourt tapping to the wireless, heh heh...
Part of us were quite worried abt the overnight train. You see, we read so many stories abt how dangerous it is to travel in this kinda train. How some pple are gas to unconscious state and their belongings stolen...we were really skeptical about the coming ride.
But, it is 8 hrs to Prague from Krakow, if we travel in the daytime, we would have wasted an entire day!
We paid about 499zloty which is about SGD$333 for 2 first class tickets.
Time to board the train! That's how the corridor looks like. All individual cabins.
The room comes with its own mini table, basin, 2 power plug, 2 face towels, 2 cups of mineral water, hangers and window. We can adjust the lightings as well as the heater in the cabin.
1 double decker bed for two.
Very cosy. And there is a compartment for you to hang your jackets and stuff.....
We set our mind at ease when we see the condition. And we also met the cabin crew in charge of our compartment who will travel with us for the 8 hours, and also sort of 'protect' us. He knows english! and he told us to remember to lock our door with the hinge provided, which he stressed is very very important.
Toilet is found outside the cabin(which was clean) and comes with shower facilities as well. Breakfast is not provided, but you can purchase bread and hot beverage from the captain. Now the train stops at Botumin station for almost 45mins, and within this time, the toilet will be locked, the bar is close, and the entire power is switched off. I guess it is for safety reason. The cabin crew checked our tickets only once thruout the entire ride (usually when we board the train, and he will keep the ticket after that) and he will knock our door and inform us 30mins prior to reaching Prague.
The reason why I am trying to be so detailed with the information of the overnight train, is becos we couldn't find such information before we flew to Poland. We were skeptical and unsure if we shld board the 'dangerous' first class overnight train to Prague. Now that we have been there done that, I think I should note it down as detailed as I can, so that anyone trying to find this information will find it helpful. =)
Anyway, we slept thruout the journey, and I must say, the train ride was fabulous, and was really safe! We reached Prague at 0645.
Left our backpacks at Old Apartment's Office, and we are off to explore the last bit of Krakow.
Like Warsaw, it has its beautiful street scene.
On our way to the Wawel Hill's Castle,
The Church we see the other nite...
Can anyone tell me why is he carrying an inverted cross??
Our feet stepped into the castle...
Piece of art or wat?? The building grows beard?
The dragon and the angel outside the cathedral...
You see, there is a legend that remains amongst the best-loved in Poland, which is a dragon-slayer, no less, who killed a monster and ascended the throne of Krakow. So, there were lots of souveniors in the form of dragons on sale in the city...
Remember the famous Big Ben's chime? In Krakow you can see, and actually even touch, an equal of the London bell of the Houses of Parliament. Huge Zygmunt (Sigismund) bell is nearly 9 feet across too. At the same time Krakow’s Big Sig is a third heavier, weighing 18 metric tons. It The giant ranks among the world's largest bells. It was donated to the Wawel Cathedral by Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Big Sig still is where it was hung in 1521, i.e. at the top of a 14th-century tower turned into the Cathedral's belfry near the Royal Castle. Its beautifully deep toll is heard far away on important Church and national occasions. And it needs the strength of ten men to ring the giant bell every Christmas, New Year Day or Easter Sunday.
We bought tickets, at the belfry entrance in the Cathedral and climb many flights of stairs in order to see the famous Zygmunt and, touched its 660-pound clapper. They say the wish then whispered is to materialize soon. Oops, picture over-exposed! =p
We just can't get enuf of the cathedral's awesome view....
cute hor? =)
Livingstone's reflection....looks like a fish eye lens isn't it? hur hur hur....
The gold plated roof creates beautiful color to the sight.
Met some kids on our way. they were really spontaneous!
We needed lunch, and we needed some polish-krakow food.
There was this lady that introduce us a place for pirogi. We searched and asked, and got there!
(Pardon me, I got the spelling wrong on my foto... hee)
like warsaw, the dumplings are stuffed with cabbage, mushrooms, meat...
but there is no pork lard for dipping. heh...
The meat dish is fantastic! So much nicer than the one we had in Warsaw!
back to the city cquare, street hawker. big busines isn't it?
This is real.
This is fake.
The square is so nice.
And this little girl wrapped in a white jacket, is so adorable.....
My reflection once again....of Krakow square..
It's so difficult to snap a picture like this! Bravo! I like!
We had all the time in the world that day cos we had to wait for our overnight train anyway.
Sitting in the square, just staring at the pigeons and the lovers, the street arts and the everything....is a luxurious thing to do (at least for me) now.
whose head came rolling off??
Talented street art....the art of spraying....
We decided to go back to the same place (we had for lunch) for dinner!
How can we not try the other krakow-food before we leave poland!?
So this is the counter, like a fast food joint, we ordered the food at the counter, the lady gave us a queue number, and we pick up our food later.
There are three storeys of dining, however, only the ground level and the 2nd level are sort of self-service, the basement sitting resembles more of a high-class dining, where u get a butler serving you, and music from the piano - live. Of cos, i suppose you have to pay a premium...
We of cos, stayed at the ground level... haha...
Comfort food in the winter!!! Tomato soup with pasta and white radish and egg soup.
Yummilicious!!
This is good too! grilled pork with grilled juicy mushrooms!
and this, i tell u, the taste still lingers in my mouth now...now u see this, wait till i cut it open...
look! there is broth contained inside the meat!!! Can u believe it? don't ask me how they do it? or what is the name to this dish....it's in polish!!
It was quite a headache, to decide where to go for the few hours, while waiting for our train, with our backpack, we were lucky that the Krakow Galleria shopping mall is open till late!
We spent our time in the foodcourt tapping to the wireless, heh heh...
Part of us were quite worried abt the overnight train. You see, we read so many stories abt how dangerous it is to travel in this kinda train. How some pple are gas to unconscious state and their belongings stolen...we were really skeptical about the coming ride.
But, it is 8 hrs to Prague from Krakow, if we travel in the daytime, we would have wasted an entire day!
We paid about 499zloty which is about SGD$333 for 2 first class tickets.
Time to board the train! That's how the corridor looks like. All individual cabins.
The room comes with its own mini table, basin, 2 power plug, 2 face towels, 2 cups of mineral water, hangers and window. We can adjust the lightings as well as the heater in the cabin.
1 double decker bed for two.
Very cosy. And there is a compartment for you to hang your jackets and stuff.....
We set our mind at ease when we see the condition. And we also met the cabin crew in charge of our compartment who will travel with us for the 8 hours, and also sort of 'protect' us. He knows english! and he told us to remember to lock our door with the hinge provided, which he stressed is very very important.
Toilet is found outside the cabin(which was clean) and comes with shower facilities as well. Breakfast is not provided, but you can purchase bread and hot beverage from the captain. Now the train stops at Botumin station for almost 45mins, and within this time, the toilet will be locked, the bar is close, and the entire power is switched off. I guess it is for safety reason. The cabin crew checked our tickets only once thruout the entire ride (usually when we board the train, and he will keep the ticket after that) and he will knock our door and inform us 30mins prior to reaching Prague.
The reason why I am trying to be so detailed with the information of the overnight train, is becos we couldn't find such information before we flew to Poland. We were skeptical and unsure if we shld board the 'dangerous' first class overnight train to Prague. Now that we have been there done that, I think I should note it down as detailed as I can, so that anyone trying to find this information will find it helpful. =)
Anyway, we slept thruout the journey, and I must say, the train ride was fabulous, and was really safe! We reached Prague at 0645.
Labels: first class, overnight train, prague, Travel
