Phase 3: Krakow (round 1)

PCVs in Ukraine (and probably other Eastern European countries too) rave about Krakow like it's the new Prague or Budapest. It may not be as grand as either of those capitol cities, but Krakow certainly has it's own charm in spades.

From Ukraine, Krakow is easy for us to get to by rail or by bus fairly cheaply, and is a beautiful place to visit with plenty of stuff to do and it is home to an airport that services many low budget airline carriers like Ryan Air, Sky Europe, Wizz Air, etc, so we can use it as a jumping off point for other places, which was the purpose for this visit to Krakow.

We spent one evening there, after arriving on a very nice train (I hardly knew such existed in Ukraine). I was impossibly giddy when the Polish boarder guard took my passport--it meant I was out of Ukarine. Even though we had been vacationing in Crimea for a few days--I finally felt like I was on holiday.

We stayed in a nice hostel directly across from the beautiful theater in Old Town close to the train and bus stations.

I walked my company around trying to show him why we all love the place so much--but I don't think he fully understood until he saw Wawel Hill, where the Polish kings lived and were buried.

We got in in the afternoon and did not have much time to sightsee but we'd have another afternoon on the way back after Croatia.