Olomouc (10-11/12/2016)

Together with my girlfriend Ania, we decided to spend the weekend visiting the city of Olomouc in the Czech Republic. After getting up quite early, we took a bus leaving at around 7:30 and taking nearly 4 hours reaching the city at around 11:30. After reaching the destination, we decided to head to the place we had booked for the night and leave the luggage before visiting. After walking through the town we reached the Cosy Hostel, located in the city center and at just five minutes walk from the main square. After checking in, paying for the room, leaving our luggage and taking a shower from the long bus ride, we decided to go into town. We reached the Horni Namesti, literally Upper Square, or the city's main square where the main monuments stand. The immense Holy Trinity Column caught our sight as it towers above everything else. A Unesco world heritage site, it is a Baroque monument built from 1716 to 1754. It was built as thanks for the ending of a plague that had struck Moravia during that period and it's a perfect example of local expression of art and sculpture as all artists and craftsmen came from the city. Also many of the saints depicted standing on the column are local saints both from Moravia and Bohemia; and incredible thing is that the column is so big it even holds a chapel inside. Right behind it stands the town hall, dating to the 14th century in the Gothic style with a few additions and refurbishments from the next three centuries. Really interesting and peculiar is the astronomical clock which was unfortunately destroyed during wwii but then reconstructed; at midday we even saw it perform. Around the square there are also three fountains, two of which date to the 17th century the Ceasar and Hercules fountains, while one is much more recent. As it was close to Christmas time, a Christmas market had taken spot all around the town hall and it looked very nice. From there we walked over to the Dolni Namesti, or Lower Square, where a smaller version of the Holy Trinity Column stands at its center. There are also two other fountains one dedicated to Neptune and the other to Jupiter. Right next to the Marian column we decided to have lunch in a popular place called Hanacka Hospoda which was full as expected but cheap and really good. After eating we went back out once again and began walking uphill through old streets. We reached the Church of Saint Michael; one of the most impressive of the city. It was built during the 17th century in the Baroque style and had an incredible interior. Once out we headed a little further and visited the small but pretty Chapel of St John Sarkander built in the Baroque fashion. Another nice Baroque church not further on was the Church of Our Lady of the Snows which we also visited. Typical Jesuit church is has a really impressive facade. Continuing on we reached the Cathedral dedicated to St Wenceslas. Originally built in Gothic style, at the end of the 19th century several Neo-Gothic additions were made to make it look even more impressive. After visiting the large yet quite unadorned interior, we exited to a beautiful sunset. Then as it was getting darker we headed back into town and towards the main square. After looking around the market we decided to go back to the hostel and have a nap before dinner. After the relaxing nap we came back to the main square and decided to try the food from the christmas market stands. It was quite nice though slightly more expensive than average but still enjoyable. Then we also decided to have a beer as the Czech Republic is famous for it. We headed to a local brewery called St Wenceslaus which had good beer and even a beer bath which we didn't have the chance to try. After the beer we were slightly tired and decided to head home to get up and visit the next day too. The next day, after getting up later and having breakfast in the hostel, we headed out to see the midday astronomical clock show. Not far we then visited the Church of St Maurice, built during the 15th century in Gothic style, it holds one of the largest organs in the Czech Republic. Then as we still had most of the day to do something, we decided to take a train and visit the nearby town of Kromeriz. After reaching the train station we took a train and switched in a small town called Hulin. After reaching Kromeriz, we headed towards the town center, initially passing by the B\roque Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary which we also visited quickly. From there we reached Riegrovo Square with a nice Marian column at its center, similar to those in Olomouc. Then not far ahead, we reached the main square, with nice tenement houses all around its perimeter. At its center stood another Marian column and a nice baroque fountain. Jutting out from behind the houses was the tower of the town's main attraction: the Castle, or Bishop's Palace. Inscribed, together with the gardens, in the Unesco world heritage site, it is a good  but not outstanding example of  princely residence in Europe, while its Pleasure garden is a very rare and largely intact example of Baroque garden. After reaching the castle though we found out it was closed and the opening time was only during the summer. Right next to it stood the Archbishop's Gymnasium with its impressive facade, and a little on the Church of St Maurice built in the Gothic style. Impressive and unexpected was the Church of St John the Baptist with a beautiful Baroque interior and a enjoyable choir practice taking place inside. We were then able to visit the Castle gardens which lie a little the west of town and were free of access as it was winter and most of the plants and trees were dead or without bloom. We walked around and nonetheless thought the place looked really nice, with its maze hedges and fountains decorating the area. After seeing the Baroque garden, we headed back to the station and took a train back to Olomouc. As we had booked a late bus we still had time to spare, so we decided to have a coffee and crepe in a small place called Cafe la Fee. After that walking around town further and going back to the hostel to take our bags we decided to have dinner right before taking the bus. We found a place called Restaurant Drapal which was ok but at least had good beer, but definitely not as good as last day's lunch place. After dinner we were then off to the bus station taking our ride back to Krakow.

Olomouc's main square with the Holy Trinity column and the Town hall

The town hall's astronomical clock

The lower square with its Marian column

The Church of St John Sarkander

The St Wenceslaus Cathedral

The sunset from the Cathedral

View of the town hall at night

The main square at night

Kromeriz's main square

The Church of St John the Baptist in Kromeriz

The Baroque castle gardens

Tarnow (03/12/2016)

After getting up relatively early, I decided to take the train at 9:30 from Krakow Glowny and reached the town of Tarnow one hour later. From the train station I headed towards the city center, whch took me about fifteen minutes to reach. I then passed through Plac Sobieski and Plac Kazimierz Wielki with the statue of Adam Mickiewicz. Continuing on I reached Plac Katedralny, where the Cathedral stands. I entered the church, which unfortunately had a mass going on so I had no way of walking around. Constructed during the 14th century in the Gothic style but refurbish in the 19th century in the Neo-Gothic one, it holds two immense sepulchral monuments; one Gothic-Renaissance belonging to the Tarnowski family and the other Baroque to the Ostrogski family. After exiting, right in front of the bell tower, stands the Mikolajowski House, dating to the 16th century and the oldest standing in Tarnow. From there I reached the Rynek: the main square. At its center stands the Gothic town hall with beautiful renaissance grotesque heads and faces in the roof rim, and the circular tower jutting out. Unfortunately the museums around town, including the one in the town hall were closed, so I had to rely on seeing the city from the outside only. From the main square, I headed north, passing by the pretty tenement houses and reached Plac Rybny. Here used to be the Old Synagogue of which only the Bimah remains, a four pillared podium from which the Torah was read. In fact before the war, nearly 45% of the population was Jewish, the being completely eliminated by the Nazis. Not far, a little outside town, I also visited the Jewish Cemetery. One of the largest and oldest in Poland, it was also closed, but I was able to peer over the low wall the large amount of headstones which were fortunately left untouched by the Nazis.Walking back into town I crossed the main square again and decided to look for a place to have lunch. I found a restaurant called Tatrzanska where I had a tasty duck meat with gooseberries. As I came out from the place, the sky was starting to become black and menacing to rain; I thus decided to head quickly to the bus station and take the next bus back to Krakow.

Tarnow's Main Square

The Grotesques on the town hall

Historic houses on the main square

Entrance to the Cathedral and the Mikolajowski house

The Jewish Cemetery

Lublin, Zamosc & Sandomierz (11-13/11/2016)

This one was the first trip with my girlfriend Ania. We took a really early train from Krakow leaving at 5 am and arrived in Lublin at 10 30am. Luckily the woman checking tickets in the train told us that she would open a carriage just for the two of us as we had found only separate seats, so we were able to spend those five hours in a comfortable way. After getting out of the station we took a bus and went to drop our luggage off at the hotel. We had booked a room in the Hotel Campanile, not far from the city center, so after checking in and leaving our stuff we were already heading into the old town. We first stopped at the Krakow Gate, one of the only surviving remnants of the fortified 14th century wall that used to surround the town of Lublin. Most of its base is from that period while the top dates from the 17th century. Passing under the gate, we reached the medieval core, and entered the small yet pretty Rynek. At its center stands the Crown Tribunal which used to be the seat of the highest appeal court in the Polish Kingdom. We then continued down Grodzka, the main street, and reached Plac Po Farze where the foundations of what used to be the Church of St Michael stand. From there we had a nice view over the surroundings, including the castle. We then exited the old town from the Grodzka Gate, originally dating from the 13th century, but completely refurbished in the 18th century. Crossing the bridge we stopped at the foot of the castle and notice a crowd of people looking down on the castle square. I then figured out what the bustle of people and the polish flags hanging all around was all about. Apparently today was the National Independence Day of Poland, and a large group of military personnel was parading at the castle square. After enjoying the show, we moved on and reached the Dominican Monastery, built in Gothic style it suffered a fire which completely destroyed it and was rebuilt in the Renaissance style; as a mass was taking place we gave a quick look but found it rather pretty. Continuing further we entered the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. Built in the Baroque style during the 17th century for the Jesuits it has a nice interior, and rare for countries in northern and eastern Europe, a lone standing bell tower. We were getting hungry so we decided to have lunch on the main square in a place called Biesy which was quite good. After lunch we were feeling quite tired so we decided to head back to the hotel and rest a bit. After a nice nap we woke up around 7pm and decided to head back into town; we walked through the old town again and enjoyed the cold yet soothing night. We then decided to head back again to the hotel but first stopped at a bar for a hot mulled wine, which we ended taking twice each as it was tasty and heated us up from the cold. The next morning we woke up at an acceptable hour and headed to the bus station where we took a bus leaving at 10am and reaching the town of Zamosc one hour and a half later. A Unesco world heritage site, the town was founded in the 16th century by a polish nobleman, Jan Zamoyski, and under the direction of Italian architect Bernardo Morando as an unique example of a Renaissance town in Central Europe and modeled after the Italian ideal town. After getting of the bus we headed immediately to the main attraction: the main square. The so called Rynek Wielki, measures 100x100 meters and is surrounded by beautiful renaissance houses and the town hall at its northern end. At the north-eastern end of the square stand five beautifully colored houses called the Armenian houses because they stand on Armenian street which used to be built and funded by a rich amernian merchant. We then passed by the Jewish synagogue, as Zamosc along with many other Polish cities used to hold a large jewish population before wwii, and the Franciscan church which was unfortunately closed. However we managed to find the Cathedral open and visited its rich renaissance interior with some rococo additions. We then passed under the Brama Szczebrzeska and reached the Rotunda, a fortification dating to the 19th century, which was regretfully used as a place for mass murdering a large part of the polish population by the Nazis during WWII. After that unpleasing yet touching place, we were back in town and walking along the pretty streets. We had lunch at the Bistro Zamoscianka just as it started snowing outside. We then decided to take a bus back to Lublin to be able to see the museum as it had closed on the previous day because of the national holiday. After reaching Lublin, we were in time to check out the main museum, located inside the castle. For 6,50zl we saw various paintings and object dating from the medieval to the modern times, but most of all the castle church. The Chapel of the Holy Trinity was built in a Gothic style during the 15th century and holds some beautiful Rutheno-Byzantine frescoes, mostly religious scenes but also the portraits of king Władysław Jagiełło. After the visit we decided to go for dinner, and Ania had found a nice Thai restaurant online called Thai Story where I had a nice massaman curry. After sleeping the last night at the hotel, the morning after we took a bus leaving at around 11am that took us to Sandomierz. The bus took around 2 hours and dropped us off right in front of the Opatowska Gate. The main and only remaining old town gate dating to the 14th century; it also has a viewing platform which we climbed up to see the old town from above for 3zl each. It started snowing again, and most of the roofs were already turning white. Once down we walked further and reached the small yet really nice Rynek, not perfectly flat but slightly sloping down towards the river, with the Gothic town hall at its center and colorful house all around its perimeter. We then entered the tourist office and asked if we could leave our luggage while visiting the rest of the town; they kindly agreed. As we were getting hungry we decided to eat at a restaurant on the square where we had a cheap and nice lunch. After that we continued on and reached the Cathedral and entered as it was open. Originally built in Gothic style, it is now mostly Baroque looking and contains an interesting series of paintings depicting the murder of priests and the murder of christian children by the Jewish population. The second part supposedly is an old belief that Jews used to kill christian children to use their blood in rituals, which was obviously never true. Not far from the cathedral we walked further and got to the Castle which dominates the southern end of town on top of a hill and overlooking the Vistula river down below. It was time to go, so we headed back through the old town, grabbed our luggage and took the next mini bus which took us to Krakow in about three hours.

The Krakow Gate in Lublin

The Rynek in Lublin

View of the Lublin castle

The so-called Armenian Houses in Zamosc

The Rynek in Zamosc

The Castle church in Lublin

Opatowska Gate in Sandomierz

View from the tower over Sandomierz

The Sandomierz town hall and main square

View of a street and the Cathedral of Sandomierz