Sightseeing by bike in Krakow

Today we started off with a small walk in the Planty Park on the other side of the city walls. The pretty gardens encircle the old historic centre.

At 10:00 we visited the bike shop where we had a city tour booked for midday and rented bikes to ride through the Planty Park, then along the Vistula River to the Kościuszko Mound. Of course, being Australians, how could we NOT visit this? It was part of yesterday’s Country Ride itinerary that got cancelled.

The 34m Mound was erected between 1820 and 1823 and dedicated to this freedom-fighter. It was a lovely ride, until we had to climb the hill 326m above sea level - tough initially, then a steady grind; harder than our Thursday rides out to Wirlinga! When the road runs out, you have to pay an entrance fee to walk the serpentine track to the top where there are panoramic views over Krakow.

We had a quick ride back down and along the river because MF had gone off-piste on the way to the top, insisting on taking his own path and getting lost ...

… we just made it in time for the midday start in the main square for our city bike tour ...

For the next 4 hours, we had a whistlestop tour of the main attractions in Krakow (some of course we had already seen).

The day was quite hot (!) - such a difference after the past couple of days. The city bike tour itinerary would have been impossible to do on foot in the time we have in Krakow: the Jagiellonian University founded in 1364, Wawel Castle (from a distance; we visited this yesterday), the Jewish Ghetto and Cemetery, Oskar Schindler’s factory and scenes from the film, and Kazimierz (the old Jewish quarter), finishing with a late lunch at a Polish restaurant (I think this was Kuchnia u Doroty) where we had yummy pierogi again (yum).

In the center of the old Krakow Ghetto is the Ghetto Heroes Square with its 33 memorial chairs of iron and bronze. These chairs symbolize the tragedy of the Polish Jews who were imprisoned in the Krakow Ghetto during WWII and the German occupation of Poland; then afterwards losing their lives to the Germans on the premises of the ghetto and in several German death camps.

Of course everyone knows the story of Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, made famous in the Steven Spielberg's movie, Schindler's List (1993). Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) was a German entrepreneur and a member of the Nazi party, NSDAP. He is credited with saving approximately 1200 Jews by employing them in his factories.


After the bike tour, we returned to our hotel for a quick change and we took in a delightful concert by the Royal Chamber Orchestra in the Chopin Concert Hall. The 1st violinist, Kamil Skicki, was simply amazing. The small group started with Schubert’s Ave Maria to get us into the mood - what a delight! Then we had Mozart, Bach, Rossini’s William Tell, some film scores - and, of course, a Chopin waltz. All very good.

I had a Żubrówka bison grass vodka - neat, on the rocks to help while away the time whilst we wait for our 22:34 overnight train to Budapest. This Polish vodka has a blade of bison grass sourced from the Białowieża Forest in every bottle. Tasted just like ordinary vodka to me ...