We woke this morning to the sad news that IOM TT racer William Dunlop had died during practice for the Skerries Road Race in Ireland. William was the son of Robert Dunlop and nephew of Joey Dunlop both who also died while road racing. R.I.P William.

We thought our ride today would be about 385 km but Greg did a bit more research and we only ended up having to ride 285 km. We spent most of the ride on country roads passing fruit orchards, pine forests and farmlands. Each little village we passed through had a sign to announce the beginning of the village and another one at the end of the village. Most villages also had some sort of shrine, usually with a statue of Mary and flowers. Every church we passed had people gathered around - it is Sunday after all. The other religion being showcased today was of course Sport's Bike Sunday with many riders enjoying the fine weather and sweeping curves of the country roads.

Our destination for the night was Krakow, about 3km out of the city in a lovely Best Western Premier Hotel - has a great pool and restaurant. We will be here for 2 nights. Tomorrow we get to explore the city - recommendeed by my fellow traveller, Delma Parker - can't wait!

Rather than try public transport today we opted for Uber, the trip in to the Old Town cost us $11.89 between the three of us - cheaper and far more convenient than a bus would have been. We walked from our drop off point in passed the Barbican, a fortress which fortified the only surviving entrance gate, the Florianska Gate. The walls of the Barbican are 3 metres thick and it has a moat around it - no water in it though. After walking through the Florianska Gate we wandered down the cobbled street in the direction of the Market Square - Rynek Glowny. At 200 metres square this is one of the largest Medieval squares in Europe and is surrounded by elegant buildings. This square was renamed to 'Adolf Hitler Platz by Der Fuhrer himself - fortunately the new name didn't last long.

St Mary's Basilica is apparently one of the most dazzling cathedrals in Poland - we thought it was over decorated and dark and sombre although the blue star-filled ceiling is quite spectacular. It is from the left tower of the basilica that Krakow's famous bugle call is heard every hour on the hour, we were lucky enough to hear it twice today. The massive Sukiennice or Cloth Hall is the centre of the market square - one of the world's oldest shopping malls. The hall is crammed with stalls selling amber, lace, woodwork and souveniers. The upper floor of the building is the 19th Century Polish Art Gallery. Around the archways of the hall are numerous cafes and restaurants. Other buildings in the market square include St Adalbert's Church, the Town Hall Tower and several monuments. It is also from this area that the beautiful horse drawn carriages depart to take tourists on a leisurely ride around the square or further to the Wawel or Krakow Castle.

Our feet were already tired so we headed off to find our bus tour. We had already purchased our ticket as part of a two city deal when we were in Warsaw so we didn't want to miss out. The bus took us around the outside of the Old Town and across the Vistula River several times. One highlight was Kosciuszko Mound. Our Mount Kosciusko was named by the Polish explorer Strzelecki who thought the mountain looked like the mound in Krakow so named our mountain after the Polish Freedom fighteer Tadeusz Kosciuszko. We finally hopped off at the edge of the Planty - a green belt that surrounds the Old Town we then started our Kerrie Guided walking tour - all that was missing was an umbrella for Greg and Chris to follow.

Probably the most famour ex-resident of Krakow would be Karol Wojtyla, better known as Pope John Paul II. We visited the Bishop's Palace, the residence of Krakow's bishops since the 14th century so that also made it the home of the Polish Pope, a large photo of the John Paul II looks down on you from a window of the palace. Just across the road is St Francis' Basilica, Krakows most colourful church and the first brick building built in Krakow. Continuing our 'Kerrie Tour' we found the Church of Saints Peter and Paul which is located on the Royal Route and has statues of the twelve apostles standing on the gates outside the church. Our walk led us to Ul. Kanonicza one of Krakow's oldest and prettiest streets which is just across the road from Wawel Royal Castle.

The Wawel is on top of the hill at the southern end of The Old Town. The castle complex consists of many buildings of different architectural styles including the State Rooms, Royal Private Apartments, the Crown Treasury and Armoury and of course The Wawel Cathedral. This castle is the Polish equivalent of Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and Westminster Abbey all rolled in to one. After wandering the castle grounds and visiting the Cathedral we headed back in to the Old Town at about 'beer o'clock'. A couple of cold Tyske Beers and a lovely dinner overlooking Market Square we called our Uber and headed back to our hotel.

Thanks Delma Parker for the suggestion to include Krakow on our travel list - we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.