ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Two roads today, first a walking tour of Krakow,  then on a bus to the Tatra Mountains.   Fortunately for us the walking tour was not a repeat of things we had learnt on the cycling tour or just walking around.  John, our guide, is an American who has lived here for many years. There seem to be quite a few of those people around the towns we have seen. Makes it easier for English speaking tourists.

We walked past the dragon statue I saw yesterday and I learnt the story - dragon in cave eating virgins, king offers daughter to dragon slayer, smart impoverished suitor defeats dragon, gets the girl, becomes king. Never heard that one before! I am sure you can see the gas in the pic ... at least if you look extremely closely you can make out the wave effect that blurs the fence behind. Otherwise just take my word for it, the dragon breathes fire.

We then walked into the old Jewish quarter, the Kazimierz,  named for the Polish king who invited the Jews to live here in the 1400s when they were being persecuted elsewhere. They moved in next to Catholics so the area also has a blend of synagogues and churches.

It is no longer a Jewish residential area, so very many died during the war or didn't come back after. it is however a fairly arty,  bohemian area with many cafes,  this seems appropriate.  From there we walk across the river to the ghetto area, which has a very different feel.  The buildings are often shabby with graffiti everywhere. 90% of the local graffiti reflects support for one of the two local football teams, often anti semitic,  and accuratly reflecting the threatening behaviour that goes on at derby matches.  Most of the area is public housing, John tells us this is because no one feels comfortable buying a flat here and doing it up. It seems wrong when the property has the history of personal suffering that it carries into today.

After the walk just time for lunch and then off on the local bus headed for the mountains. We caught glimpses of our destination, the High Tatras. We change over to a private bus and on again. We expect cold weather,  and are surprised to find it very mild when we get out for a quick photo stop.

A quick walk around the essentials in Tatraska Lomnica took a few minutes, delicious dinner and a restful night ahead. It is interesting how many words one has to learn to describe dumplings. We have mastered them all.