"Welcome to Krakow! You gonna love it!"

Today is the most animated we have seen our guide Michael since the beginning of this trip. He's on time ...as far as we can tell has not yet sampled the "potato juice" and actually seems to know something about this town. We begin in medieval Krakow with a visit to Wawel Hill where we view the Royal Castle and Cathedral. We then have a walking tour of the Old Town which has a lively market square complete with horse-drawn carriages and outdoor cafes. The indoor market called Renaissance Cloth Hall is where traders offer a variety of goods...a tradition which has been going on through many generations.

One of my customers is from Poland and insisted we go to the Wieliczka Salt Mines (one of the oldest in Europe), which was actually included in our tour. These salt mines earned a place on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list because of its historical importance as well as the art work carved and created out of the salt by the miners. Truly amazing..

Do you remember I mentioned Jim (our entertainer and official fun guy) earlier in previous blogs on this trip...well, here he is:

Bravo! What a treat!!!

As far as our guide coming to life...well...glad we didn't count on him. One of our travelling companions raised a glass of vodka and made a nice toast during our farewell dinner but Michael was nowhere to be found. Nobody waited for him either..early to bed..early to rise for our very early flights in the morning.

This trip gave us an education that you cannot learn anywhere but actually coming here to experience it and put it into some sort of perspective for yourself. We love Poland as we do the other countries we visited....and the words that come to mind as I'm leaving this part of the world is "gratitude" and "hope". Grateful for what we never had to endure, grateful that this horrible part of history is over, grateful for those who sacrificed and grateful for everything that we have and the freedoms we enjoy. Hope for the future.