Krakow Part 4...

All too soon it was time to go home.   We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel then took our luggage and boarded the tram into the city centre. We wandered through the streets once more taking in the architecture and the sunshine wishing we had booked another couple of nights as we discovered that November 1st and 2nd. are All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day respectively and important dates in Poland’s calendar. These two days are dedicated to prayer and paying tribute to the deceased by visiting their graves. Families all over Poland make pilgrimages to the resting places of their relatives, tending the gravesites laying wreaths and flowers and lighting candles that will be kept lit throughout the length of the holiday and beyond. As night descends, the country’s graveyards are aglow with the warm light of literally thousands of flickering candles apparently a sight to behold. Shame we were to miss it.

What we did see though was a sort of military parade, though what it was in aid of we had no idea.

They looked very smart in their uniforms and the horses were beautiful.

We sat outside one of the cafes in the Main Square enjoying a coffee then my friend and I decided to do a little retail therapy in the Cloth Hall.    My friend had been told by a friend that crystal was really cheap but excellent quality in Krakow and she had seen some crystal champagne flutes which had really taken her fancy and she wanted a second opinion.     The price on the glass was 95 zlotys which equated to about £22, now you can pay more than that in England for good crystal but when she asked the stall owner about the price he told her that was the price for SIX glasses!   "Wrap them up" she said "I'll take them!"

I bought a large Baltic Amber cross pendant for myself and an amber heart pendant as a present for someone else.     As we'd been shopping for about an hour we thought we'd better get back to the menfolk and have some lunch before it was time to go to the airport.    We ordered some toasties and another drink and spent another hour watching the world go by in the Square.    We noticed some men stretching nylon rope all around the square and wondered what was happening.  It turned out there was some sort of a road race and before too long the runners were charging past us - this lasted all of ten minutes then the rope was wrapped up again.

We hopped in a taxi to take us to the airport and although the driver didn't speak much English he was very friendly and told us he is coming to England at Christmas to visit his son who lives here and he was really looking forward to English food - I hope he's not disappointed!

Our flight was on time and uneventful and we landed at John Lennon Airport, Liverpool at 7.10 p.m., collected our luggage and car and were home by 8.30 p.m., when we had to go to Asda to do some shopping to stock up the fridge and the vegetable rack.

We probably won't go back to Krakow, as we have seen what we wanted to see, but if you are thinking of going I would certainly recommend it.

I hope you enjoyed our trip.