Krakow & Wieliczka Salt Mine

Damn, 2 A.M. wake up calls by the border patrol SUCK. Not that either of us slept much on the train with the constant starting and stopping. Went back to bed for a few hours, the conductor woke us up around 5:15 for our arrival into Krakow. *yawn*


Salt GnomeWe stumbled off the train into Krakow and headed straight for an ATM to get some cashish. We found out hotel, the Hotel Polonia and dropped off our bags since we can't check in for a few more hours. Thankfully it was very close to the train station, so we didn't have too far to go with our packs this morning. We tried our best to find some food by wandering into the Old Town and Rynek Glowny, the main square. Nothing was open yet except for a tiny little grocery/pastry shop, so we grabbed some pastries and headed back to the bus station for a ride to Wieliczka (Vee-lish-ka). The bus dropped us off, unfortunately, we were at least a mile from the Wieliczka salt mine which was our intended destination. Thankfully it was all downhill!


Chapel of Saint KingaArrived at the Wieliczka Salt Mine, it was crowded with lots of tourists! We paid the entry fee for an English tour — $16.50 each!! — and felt like we were majorly ripped off! While waiting for the tour we met two Americans from NYC, a mother and daughter who wer extremely trashy and very annoying. When the tour began we headed down into the mine, 356 steps down to be exact! The two hour tour covered approximately 3.5Km of the 300Km that are part of the mine complex between 64 and 135 meters below the surface. What a beautiful place! This is the longest running industrial site in Poland, it has been in operation for around 700 years! The mine is full of hand carved salt sculptures and numerous underground cathedrals, it was truly amazing to be there and see the art of the miners. This was way beyond our imagination and made the entry fee worthwhile. Being the klutz that I am, I put my foot down on an uneven floor and twisted my knee as we were headed out of the mine. OUCH! The tour ended with a very tightly packed mine shaft elevator ride to the top, I thought Steph was going to toss her cookies.


Salt StatueWe took a minibus back to Krakow. The traffic and roads suck in Poland, it took over an hour for us to travel only 15Km. Checked into the hotel, Steph did some laundry and I took some Advil and laid down to rest my knee. I was limping pretty badly by this point. We both took some much needed showers and changed the clothes we had on for the past 36 hours.


The BarbicanLeft the hotel and walked across the street to the Barbican, one of the few remaining fortifications surrounding Krakow's old town. Except for the Barbican and the Florian Gate, all of the town fortifications were dismantled during "modernization" in the 19th century. This wasn't all bad, the entire old town is now surrounded by a green space called the Planty. Of course, the Barbican was closed, so we walked around the Planty and through Florian Gate and explored the Old Town in the grey, rainy afternoon. We stopped in for a drink at one of the bars that was recommended to us, Faust, that is located in one of the old cellars beneath the houses surrounding the main square.


Florian GateLeft Faust and headed to Chospkie Jadlo, a restaurant serving traditional Polish peasant food, for dinner. While extremely expensive by Polish standards ($24 for two courses and beers!), it was very good and filling.

We're headed to Auschwitz in the morning with much trepidation. Its been a long day, so we're headed to bed.

Rynek GlownyP.S. I found the WORST W.C. ever in the Krakow train station, it reminded me of the schene in Trainspotting where the guy drops his dope in the toilet. YUCK! And to think I had to pay 2 zloty ($.66) for the privilege!

Town Hall Tower
Rynek Glowny

Plzen

Well with wooden pipesWoke up this morning, I was feeling a little slow. Absinthe hangover? I only tried one glass, but the stuff was potent (70% ABV!). Headed down the hall for breakfast in the Hotel Contental. What an odd experience. There were three other people in the dining room when we arrived, all Asian (Japanese?) and clearly in Plzen together. All three of them sat at different tables in the room and proceeded to have a loud conversation from their different locations. Why not sit together? Will wonders never cease?

After breakfast we headed out to explore the city. First stop is the Plzen Historical Underground Museum. There are 18Km of tunnels which have been excavated from beneath the city, they were built from the 13th to 19th centuries to provide access to water wells and pathways between residents basements where they brewed beer, stored root vegetables, etc.
Nice hard hat!As time went on, the wells began to run dry, so the residents filled the wells with trash which has since provided archaeologists with a vast amount of artifacts from the local regions which have been collected and displayed by the museum. The tour itself was very interesting with many displays of the artifacts discovered in the dry wells, wooden "pipes" used to transport water from the wells to resident's homes and interesting historical tidbits. Our tour guide — we named him "One Eyed Jack" — was extremely odd. He spoke English well, when it was on the prescribed tour, but otherwise was limited in his communication skills. And his bad breath and B.O. were quite offensive, thankfully the tour was short, about 45 minutes!


The Great SynagogueOn to our next adventure. We wandered off in search of the Great Synagogue in Plzen, however, it was closed for another 45 minutes so we stopped off in a local bar for a drink. No English spoken here, but they did understand "Coca-cola"! It was still early (around 9:30 A.M.) but there were plenty of people drinking in the bar. One guy was passed out at the bar with a full beer in front of him. He woke up, took a big swig and passed out again! Others were drinking shots of Bacardi 151 and chasing it with beers. They are clearly adherent to the thought that its "5 P.M. somewhere!" — Central Asia, to be exact!

Gate to the
Pilsener Urquell BreweryTime for the Synagogue to open, so we walked a few blocks and took some exterior pictures while we waited on the doors to open. We're a couple of bad Jews, it was the beginning of Passover and the Synagogue was closed for the holidays! No tours given today. So we wandered back across town to a small museum of 20th century Czech art. A children's choir and band were having a morning recital, they were all dressed up in traditional clothing and singing what were probably traditional songs. Unfortunately my Czech prevented us from grasping exactly what was going on.


Pilsener Urquell BrewhouseAnd now what I've been anxiously awaiting: a tour of the Pilsener Urquell Brewery! We walked over to the facility and right through the brewery gate which is on every Pilsener Urquell label. We joined an tour given by a dreadlocked local girl who spoke very good English. There were a few Americans on the tour, a nice older couple, very bitchy couple from San Francisco that is our age, a few Norwegians and an older man from El Salvador. The gentleman from El Salvador could not keep his mouth shut! He lectured us all on the history fo Pilsener Urquell and its ties to El Salvador's locally brewed beers. The tour guide was clearly getting annoyed with him, as were the rest of our group. Steph and I laughed when he said, "I come from a small humble country..." There was nothing humble about this guy!


Lagering BarrelsAnyway, the tour was lots of fun! First you walk to the brewhouse, the sweet smell of mashing grains is thick in the air. Inside the brewhouse they show you some demos of how the beer is brewed and you get to check out the old copper brew kettles as well as the newer, stainless steel systems. From here you go down into the lagering cellars, a network of 9Km of tunnels hand carved out of the limestone rock underneath the brewery and surrounding countryside. Traditionally, beer was brewed in the brew house and then the wort (sweet, unfermented beer) was pumped into large open white oak barrels in the lagering cellar where it underwent primary fermentation. It was then pumped into barrels for secondary fermentation (lagering) for up to a month in the cellars. I learned that the brewery covered the inside of the barrels with pine tar (pitch) to prevent the beer from acquiring any flavors from the barrels, the pitch is replaced in every barrel after fermentation is complete. Since 1993, the brewery has stopped using barrels for primary and secondary fermentation for the most part. Only a small percentage of the beer is still produced in this way for quality control and tours, the remainder is strictly fermented in stainless steel conical fermenters. Of course no tour is complete without tasting the final product. Somehow everyone figured out that I was the beer geek in the crowd, so a few people gave me their beers. Drunk and happy, once again!


Primary FermentationAfter the tour we headed into Na Spilce, the brewery restaurant located in a converted lagering cellar. Lots of good food for very reasonable prices. The beer was dirt cheap too, 15Kc (~$.75) for .5L! After lunch we headed back to the bus station for a most unpleasant, hot and crowded trip back to Prague. We had a few hours to kill before our train left for Krakow, so we sat around Wenceslas Square people watching since we didn't feel like toting our backpacks everywhere!

We headed to the train station and bought some beer, cookies and water for the trip. While having dinner in the station Steph saw a man push a woman down to the ground and take a running kick at her! She turned white as a ghost, I didn't see a thing because it was behind me. The local cops were within 15 feet, but they did nothing to help her out. Steph didn't feel comfortable hanging out there, so we headed to the platform for our train.


The Beer MeisterAll aboard! Found our sleeping compartment, it was TINY! Two beds were stacked up and there was a small place for our luggage. We got settled in and met a few Americans, a Canadian and his Ukrainian girlfriend. As the train started down the tracks we spent some time trading travel stories and shooting the shit. One of the guys is from Chicago but lives in Krakow where he has been teaching English for three years. He was very helpful to us with restaurant recommendations and some lessons in speaking Polish which will come in handy. In the morning. Time for bed, we have a 2AM wake up call from the Polish border control.



"First Class"
Sleeper Car

Prague and Plzen

Memorial to the Victims
of CommunismToday started with a much easier tram ride — we learned our lessons yesterday — to a place busy with American expats called Bohemia Bagel. Had a bagel sandwhich for breakfast and some crappy coffee before heading out for the day. We did check out the memorial to the victims of Communism which was across the street and attracted my attention while waiting for the tram.


Prague CastleHeaded off to czech out the Prague Castle (Prasky Hrad), we figured it would take us a few hours. Made our way on the tram to the base of the steps to the castle, which resides on the top of a hill overlooking the city. Some good views from up here, but it was a very hazy morning. At the entrance to the castle everyone is waiting, but we have no idea why. So we enter through the gate and see the castle guard walking toward us quickly. It was the top of the hour and the changing of the guards was taking place! I figure we got backstage passes! ;-)


Prague CastleWe then walked around the courtyards and admired the beautiful architecture within the castle walls. The crowds grew as we got closer to the second courtyard and the ticket desk. There were LOTS of tour groups, each with 25 to 50 people walking around speaking in every langauge imaginable. People moved en masse everywhere with lots of pushing and shoving. While the sights were beautiful, it was very hard to appreciate what we were seeing. I cannot imagine what it must be like at the peak of the tourist season later in the summer! Unbearable.



Prague CastleBye, bye castle, hello beer! We headed across town to u Flecku, a Prague beer hall dating from 1499. All of the beer is brewed by u Flecku for the beer hall itself. We sat down at a long table in a busy room and two beers appeared as if by magic. Well, actually the waiter didn't bother to ask, he didn't have to. You come here to drink beer and eat, which is what we proceeded to do. Unfortunately, its a bit expensive at almost $2/beer. By Prague standards its a rip off.

Columns in the Old Royal PalaceSoon after, the a waiter comes by with a plate full of shots of liquor that smells like cinnamon and has a slight golden tint. He pushed them hard, "its a before dinner drink, you must try it. Its traditional!", so I tried one. Its Becherovka, a medicinal tasting local drink that did anything but please my palate. Its like Jaegermeister for the Czech crowd.

St. Vitus CathedralMeanwhile the tuba and accordion player are showing off oompah-style. We ordered some nibbled for lunch, a plate of beer cheese and a liver sausage with vinegar and onions both with rye bread. The beer cheese was great, stinky cheese mixed with the beer and some spices. The liver was awful, it didn't taste bad but the texture was very bad and made it hard to swallow. Yuck!

u FleckuWe left u Flecku drunk and happy. Time for a trip to the Tesco supermarket. I love running into random supermarkets wherever we go, you never know what you'll find and fall in love with. Had to buy some apples — a.k.a. crapples since there is little fiber in the local diet outside of the cabbage! — We then headed back across town to the pension. We picked up our bags and said goodbye to the damned stairs that I tripped on EVERY time I went down them.

Steph appreciating BecherovkaHeaded over to the bus station and bought tickets to Plzen, the home of Pilsener Urquell beer! What a great bus line! It was very oriented toward students with video screens playing music videos and free drinks served on the road. Steph and I both had hot chocolate, they also served coffee and you could buy bottled drinks as well! Sweet, none of the other buses were this nice! We got off the bus in Plzen and walked back to the center of town where we found the Hotel Continental where we'll spend one night. The town is deserted, nobody is out on the streets on a Saturday late in the afternoon!

u FleckuChecked in to the hotel, a very simple room with a shower but no toilet. We both took some long overdue showers before heading out to a local place for dinner. We ended up at Plzenská Basta, a Czech restaurant mentioned in the Lonely Planet. What a great meal! I had a spicy wild boar ragout with a dense rye bread for an appetizer and the venison goulash with knedlo (dumplings) for dinner. This is by far the best food we have found so far! We then headed back to the hotel to check out their "Music Club", an undergound bar/club run by the blues-loving owner.
Plaque Commemorating the Fall
of CommunismThere was a British singer/songwriter playing her original music and covers there. She even played Allison Krauss songs! Another odd coincidence for us... I tried a glass of absinthe. Nasty stuff! Even the waitress was confused how to serve it. Apparently, you should place a sugarcube on a spoon, soak it with absinthe and light it on fire. Place the caramelized sugar into the liquor, stir and add water. Down the hatch. Damon, for some reason, wanted a bottle of this stuff. I hope he enjoys it!

Prague and Terezín

Charles BridgeWe woke up early this morning, we had a lot ahead of us! First, we walked across town in the early morning mist to the train station. The walk was longer than I expected, almost an hour, but we got a nice view of Charles Bridge without any tourists — except us! — and empty streets throughout the Old Town. Picked up our tickets to Krakow for the sleeper train leaving Sunday night, we leave at 9:20 P.M. and arrive in Krakow around 5:30 A.M. UGH!


Charles BridgeWe then attempted to walk to the Florenc bus station, which should only be a few minutes on foot. Somehow we got all confused and it took us 45 minutes and through some not so desirable areas of Prague! Dumb Americans, we should have taken the Metro, it was only one stop! Later in the day we bought 24 hour transit passes, we'll take the Metro and trams a lot more often now since we don't have to find tickets every time we need to use the system. We barely made it to the bus station in time to buy tickets and a little bit of breakfast before our 9:00 A.M bus to Terezín. Breakfast is interesting here, I had a klobása (spicy sausage) with two pieces of dense rye bread and mustard, Steph had a very oily and cold potato pancake called a bramborák. We purchased them from a tiny stall outside the train station, very cheap and tasty! Hopped on the bus and started on our 1 hour journey to Terezín.

Terezín was built as a garrison, surrounded by town walls, and a fortress (The Lesser Fortress) was built on its outskirts in the late 18th century. The protections provided by the walls and fortress were never used defensively. However, the fortress was used as a jail and during WWI a POW camp.


"Work Sets You Free"In 1940 the Gestapo again used the Lesser Fortress as a prison for "undesireables" — Communists, Fascists, Roma (Gypsies), members of Nazi resistance groups, etc. The townspeople of Terezín were evicted in 1941 and the town was turned into a transit camp which more than 150,000 Jews passed through en route to extermination camps. The town was also the site of a great hoax on the Red Cross by the Nazis, who convinced the Red Cross that the Jews living in the ghetto were living in a "refuge". The Jews were made to clean the town, put on cultural performances, "shop" at stores filled with the property of others who had been transported through Terezín, etc. The ruse completely fooled the Red Cross, although the reality was more grim. The town itself was meant to be a garrison for 5,000 people, at its peak over 60,000 Jews were imprisoned there and 35,000 people died at Terezín through starvation, disease or suicide.


Shaving Stations built
for the Red CrossAt the Terezín Memorial we explored the Lesser Fortress, cemetary and the Ghetto Museum — it was quite intense and very interesting. I found the most moving display to be the pictures drawn by children in the ghetto of their lives in the ghetto as well as what their lives were like before being detained. The Ghetto Museum was packed with information — too much information — it provided real insights into the life of those living in Terezín during the war. There's not much I can say, its something you have to experience.


Lesser Fortress WallThe town itself was very eerie. We ate lunch at the one restaurant that was open, it was very good. We ran into a group of Americans who seemed surprised when I spoke English to them. Turns out they were from Boston Latin High School. I chatted with one of the group leaders, she asked me if I knew where Boston was! Duh!? (I was born outside of Boston).

If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, I highly recommend visiting.


Cemetary outside the
Lesser FortressAfter a full day of depressing WWII history we headed back to Prague on the bus. Unfortunately, we had to stand for the first half of the ride because the bus was packed. The B.O. was enough to kill a mere mortal! Once we arrived back in Prague we took the Metro to Wenceslas Square. Tourist trap. Prices are up to twice for the same food and drink as you can find in less central parts of Prague.


Gate of Death
Lesser Fortress
Prisoners were walked
through this gate on the
way to their executionWalked through the Old Town and found an open air market where we perused for a bit before stopping to have a beer in a cafe and do some people watching. It had been a long day, so we headed back to the pension for a rest and later grabbed dinner in a local pub about a block from where we were staying. The food was great, Steph had a smoked chicken drumstrick and potato pancakes and I had dumplings stuffed with bacon and cooked cabbage (anyone know where I can buy a gas mask, cheap!?). Of course, we also consumed lots of Budweiser — not that American shit they call beer, but the real thing! At 35Kc ($1.75) for 500ml, it went down easy!

First day in Prague

Arrived in gay Paris... late due to heavy fog on the ground. Ran to catch our Czech Airways flight to Prague just to stand in a queue for 90 minutes because the entire airport was running late that morning.

Czech Airways had one of the nicest flight crews we have ever encountered. This was the first time I have had a flight attendant apologize to me for the flight taking off late. We got into Prague about 2 hours late around 1 P.M.


Charles BridgeDeplaned, flew through immigration and Customs — there was no Customs check whatsoever! — hunted down an ATM for some cash and phone to call our pension to let them know we had arrived. 45 minutes later and 40 Czech Crowns (Kc) poorer ($1.75) I finally managed to make the 4Kc phone call. I never can seem to figure out foreign payphones.

Took a ride via bus, metro and tram to Malostranské Naméšti and walked uphill a few blocks to our pension. After we walked up five flights(!) of creaky, broken stairs — insert asthma attack here for Steph — we landed in a small, clean room where we'd spend the next two nights.


Jewish Cemetary BuildingWalked to the river and crossed at Charles Bridge (Karluv Most). The crowds were heavy already, early on in the tourist season. We then explored the Josefov District, a former Jewish ghetto following the walking tour in Lonely Planet Prague. It was getting late, due to our late arrival we didn't think it was worthwhile to buy the Jewish Museum pass since many of the sites were closing.


Church of Our Lady Before Tyn
Staromestské NámestíWe spent some time in a cute cafe with an adorable black lab that wandered over to say hello to us. We miss the dogs already! I had my first Pilsener Urquell in Prague. I definitely think it had a better taste in Prague, much more crisp and clean. A 33cl (12oz) bottle was only $1.25!

We then wandered through Staromestské Námestí (Old Town Square) and headed back to the pension and then into Nové Mésto for dinner at Cafe Konvikt — YUM! We walked home because we couldn't find a Tabak shop, which were listed as being "everywhere" in the guide book, to buy tram tickets. Instead we bought gelato on the way home before passing out for the night.



Charles Bridge



Steph at Cafe Konvikt


Charles Bridge and Prague Castle at night