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We ended up staying a week in Krakow, Poland. We arrived quite late after an epic train journey of more than 13 hours. It was only supposed to be ten hours but we were held up for a long time in a small Polish station, for some reason we didn´t understand. When we got there, the directions the hostel gave us were rubbish; they told us which tram stop to go to but didn´t mention where to go once we got there. Hate it when that happens. However we eventually found it and crashed out.
The hostel was excellent. For mere 6 euros a night we got a bed, breakfast, free laundry and free internet and much more...including a free "Mad Dog" shot ( awful) in the bar downstairs. They did shrink Alan´s jumper though which he was not happy about.They had a bar in the basement which was great, cheap and good atmosphere and open really late. There was also a pool room and cinema room with massive sofas where we watched some DVDs. We were really pleased because some hostels we have been to try to get as much money out of you as possible, so this was a refreshing change.
We spent the week relaxing in the hostel and sightseeing. We wandered round the Old Town of Krakow which is very nice, a bit like a mini-Prague. We saw the Old Cloth Hall and the castle. We also went past the old Pope´s house, as he used to live in the city. ( By the way, have noticed lots of nuns about, also people with cleft lips. Just so you know). One day Alan went to Aushwitz with a couple of people we met in the hostel, but I did not join him as I had been before and didn´t fancy a return visit. I dare say there are some photos which he will put up...
We also had a day out to the local salt mine which was cool, filled with lots of salt statues and carvings, and 130m deep. It is massive, and even has a huge salt chapel there and a big ballroom. A brass band was playing. Check out the photos. On the way back up we had to cram into a tiny lift with about eight cockney geezers, but most of the tour was in big open caverns. Our guide had a comical accent and I´m sure he makes the exact same corny jokes on every tour.
We ate in most nights cooking up such classics as nachos, chicken and rice, thai red curry and chilli with fajitas. Tasty stuff. We even managed to find a tin of beans. They were a bit rubbish but we rescued themm with some hot sauce.I was annoyed when coming down for breakfast one day to find someone had stolen our cheese. I asked about it and the Norwegian guy next to me calmly admitted stealing it. He then had the cheek to say it was quite tasty.Grrrr.
One night we went out to sample Polish "cuisine", and found a really cheap local cafe. We had dumplings with meat, cabbage potatoes and a large pork kiev type think. The whole meal was about 7 quid, including beer. We also had a few good nights in the bar. Alan stayed up very late with some Spaniards on one occasion and had a massive sleep the next day. We also had some good nights with an Aussie girl and Canadian guy we met, and we arranged to meet them again in Prague in a few days. They came along to the Irish pub on Tuesday when we went to watch the Liverpool game, don´t think they really knew what was going on but it was a good game. There was a good atmosphere and a lot of Madrid fans there. We went back the next night to watch the Man Utd game.
We had a great time in Krakow, and were looking forward to going back to Prague for a couple of nights... x
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