Honeymoon
Directly after our weeding weekend we started our honeymoon trip to Kraków, Poland (Jul 4th - July 8 2016)
You might wonder why Poland? This does not sound as a typical honeymoon destination. And you might be right. However, Jeanine always wanted to visit the country of her family roots.
Marco chose Krakow as it's the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Kraków's historic centre, which includes the Old Town, Kazimierz and the Wawel Castle, was included as the first of its kind on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1978.
We flew from Frankfurt to Krakow and we were picked up by a private driver ("Mr and Mrs Eidinger") who drove us to our hotel in the city. We stayed in the small but beautiful boutique hotel Queen Boutique Hotel which is located between Main Square and the "Jewish district" Kazimierz.
Our room was a Wawel View Deluxe Room. The balcony of the rooms has a breathtaking view on the monastery gardens, Wawel Castle and the Old Town churches. We enjoyed the magical sunset puting us into a special romantic mood.
The very next morning we started the day with a walk to the Wawel Royal Castle and we discoverd the grounds for free. The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally important site in Poland. For centuries the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood, the Castle is now one of the country’s premier art museums.
Afterwards we enjoyed a river tour on the Vistula (Polish: Wisła, German: Weichsel). It's the longest and largest river in Poland.
In the afternoon we joined a food tour to discover the culinary highlights from Poland.
- Żurek (Sour rye soup)
- Kielbasa (Sausage)
- Obwarzanek krakowski (braided ring-shaped bread)
- Polish "ogórek kiszony" (Pickled cucumber)
- Pierogi (Dumplings)
- Polish vodka
We lost our tour guide and group after the vodka tasting :)
We were wondering around Krakow and found the perfect place to leave our love lock, a gift from one of our wedding guests, leaving a symbol of our love in this beautiful city we chose as honeymoon destination.
Wednesday morning we were touring the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This salt mine ies within the Kraków metropolitan area and is one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as "the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland." In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites. The mine's attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners. The older sculptures have been supplemented with new carvings made by contemporary artists.
On Thursday we faced the dark past of Krakow. With help of a private driver we left Krakow to the west for about approx. 50 kilometres (31 mi) to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
It includes the German concentration camps Auschwitz 1 (original camp, famous for the "Arbeit macht frei" sign over the gate) and Auschwitz 2-Birkenau.
Both camps are very different but share the same melancholic atmosphere. Auschwitz 1 is an old military barack housing complex. Birkenau is out in the open and the camp site enormous.
Our last stop for today brought us back to Krakow and we visited the Oscar Schindler Factory museum. A fantastic museum which illustrates the life and destiny of the Jewish population in Krakow from 1900-1950.
Krakow is a very cool city and we enjoyed our stay very much. Below you can see our favorite spot. A cafe at the main square. We sat here often and enjoyed the view and people watching.
