After the double header of Spain, we felt the pull of yet another eastern European destination. Poland has always held our attention due to its significant and poignant history, especially surrounding the Second World War. We headed for Krakow (pronounced Crack Off) which is the oldest city in Poland, scene of the movie Schindlers List and home of Pope John Paul II.
Our group of 5 arrived at a reasonable hour on Fri night so we had enough time to go out and see what the nightlife was like. Anna had been recommended a place in the Jewish Quarter that was good and apparently had a walk through wardrobe as a door.
That was all I needed to be persuaded so off we went. It was a charming place and we happily sat around soaking up the atmosphere. Thing is we kept getting distracted by people coming in with massive half loaves of bread covered in delicious grilled toppings. Chris was subsequently sent on a mission to find this delicious snack. He was gone quite some time so we started to get worried...needn’t have been as he was happily conversing with the locals at the food stand getting people to help him order food, having it cut up and of course ensuring he got the one with the most meat on it.
The next day we had pre-planned that we would set off to see Auschwitz concentration camp. From 1942 onwards the camp became the site of one of the greatest mass murders in the history of humanity, committed against the European Jews as part of Hitler's plan for the complete destruction of the Jews ('the Final Solution'). It can’t be said that visiting Auschwitz was a pleasurable experience but more a necessary one. Understanding and acknowledging that a great tragedy took place less than a mere 70 years ago was something we felt was important and a must when visiting Poland. 
We were pretty hungry when we were coming back from Auschwitz which actually made me feel guilty after having read and seen pictures of people that had been starved to death. Despite these feelings we wanted to try some local cuisine and had originally just wanted to try somewhere for a snack as it was only 5pm and not really time for dinner. We found a great little place which I am sure would have been heaving full of people at normal dinner time but at 5pm we were the only ones there. This didn’t stop us ordering a feast and we all had different things, starting with some homemade lard and bread, probably a real treat back in the day but I think I will stick to butter. Some of the things we had were Zurek (soup based on fermented rye - it's sour and creamy and often has slices of kielbasa sausage or a hard-boiled egg added), Barszcz (soup made with beetroot), Pierogi (dumplings that are most often filled with "ruskie" - curd cheese and potato), meat, cabbage etc, and of course pork knuckles and other various meat options! Needless to say we didn’t need dinner and this was not just a snack.
With our hunger appeased, we wandered into the old town of Krakow through the main square and through the old Cloth Market which is now just a market full of tourist crap (which I purchased of course).
The square was alive with street performers, ornate carriages being pulled through the square with dressed up horses, flowers, food and atmosphere! The city gives off such a nice vibe and it was great to just be part of it all. We ended up going out that night back in the old town by the square.
On the way home we just HAD to get a kebab. This might not sound very traditional but seriously, kebab places are everywhere and the locals love them! Not as much of the mystery meat nightmare that kebabs normally are as well – spicy, packed full of salad and meat and really quite tasty.
Our final day in Krakow and we had earmarked a visit to the Wieliczka ancient salt mines which are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The deposit of rock salt in Wieliczka-Bochnia has been mined since the 13th century. Spread over nine levels, it has 300 km of galleries with works of art, altars, and statues sculpted in the salt. You can get married in the mines in a spectacular cathedral and even hold business events if you wanted. You go seriously deep underground to wander through the caves with an official guide, not a place to go if you freak out about that kind of thing but a definite must see if you can handle it!
For the last few hours of our time in Krakow we strolled back through the Old Town and around Wawel Castle which is considered to be the most beautiful castle in Central Europe, besides the Hradcany in Prague. It certainly lived up to this claim and we only wandered around the outside of the buildings and through the gardens so can imagine inside was even more spectacular.
We left Krakow with mixed feelings. We had a fantastic time but there was an element of sadness for the hard times the people had faced through history. However this hasn’t stopped the Polish being an incredibly friendly nation of people and their biggest city being an amazing tourist hub which holds its own amongst other European destinations with ease. We didn’t want to leave, could have easily stayed another day, or two, or more... 
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