Krakow, Poland

We wanted to sneak one last big summer trip in before they would no longer let me fly, so a couple of months ago we bought tickets to visit Berlin and Poland coming back right when I hit 36 weeks. The tickets we bought into Berlin were super cheap, but it required us to travel 9 hours by train to get to Krakow. And then it ended up being longer as our train from Warsaw to Krakow suddenly stopped and a nice Pole later informed us that the thermometer on the train had broken, so we had to wait either for another train engine or another train to pick us up. After about an hour and half of waiting we were just as suddenly back on our way.  After two days of travel to reach our destination, we already felt fully rewarded by a delicious and cheap meal.

Enjoying borscht, perogis and stuffed cabbage. So what if the kids were more into the fries? Daniel and I certainly enjoyed ourselves.

We stayed in the old Jewish quarter, Kazimierz. Apparently, it has been kind of the new hip area of Krakow ever since Steven Spielberg spruced it up to shoot Schindler's List. 

This ended up being our morning ritual: chasing the pigeons in Planty Park as we headed into the old town. Or at least Jonas and Jaxon's morning ritual.

In the Old Town Square in front of St. Mary's cathedral.

The Old Town Square was full of street performers, which I am such a sucker for.

More pigeon chasing

The kids practicing their blacksmithery (is that a word) skills at the Rynek Underground Museum that just recently opened in Krakow. They had a great children's theater and the boys also enjoyed the skeletal remains of some early Krakow inhabitants.

Lunch. Poland is full of milk bars, a tradition left over from the communist era, serving traditional Polish fare. You order at the front and take your dishes back at the end. Apparently the government still subsidizes the food served here, as they did under communism to give the little people a chance to eat out. I'll take it.

Splashing around with the local kids in a city fountain which would land you a several year prison sentence in Switzerland.

Jonas warming up. My poor skinny boys have no blubber to keep them insulated, so they have to take advantage of the warm concrete.

While the boys were splashing we were entertained by a girl from somewhere singing some Arab-sounding songs and belly dancing. There was not a huge showing, just this old guy on the right video taping her and this drunk guy on the left mimicking her. I may have felt a little awkward if I were her, but she handled herself well.  We did noticed that more passers-by would stop for the dancing. Jaxon and Jonas appreciated that part, too. 

At the Cloth Market Hall, a market which has been around since the 14th century. Don't worry about Jonas, this was a common position of his.

Climbing the tower at St. Mary's

Just a little bit treacherous.

Okay, so I have seen a lot of street performers in my day, but this I had never seen-a levitating guy. They sure do pretty well for themselves with this trick.

The '80s gave us so many wonderful things, not the least of which is break dancing. I'm glad that it still lives on.

We ended the day with a ballet performance. Although we were a little under-dressed, we still enjoyed ourselves.