Day 232, 21 February 2013, Krakow, Poland. Walking tour of the Old Town, finishing at Wawel Castle. (That's pronounced Va-vill if you're trying this at home. And Krakow in Polish is more like Krakoov(f). And the currency really is called the zloty and is pronounced just how it looks. Roughly 4 zlotys to 1 euro). As with the Czech Republic and Hungary, the lack of the Euro is a blessing to travellers like us - whilst not super cheap here, there are bargains to be had - such as our hotel for €43 per night including a buffet breakfast and wifi. The next grand bargain to be had was transport. For 72 hours of unlimited tram and bus use it cost 72 zlotys for the pair of us - so €18. To make the most of it we rugged up well, defied the snow - still falling lightly after say 4 inches overnight, and headed into town to purchase our deals on walking tours and also a day trip to a salt mine for Sunday. Research if you want, but my lips are sealed. We think it will be a highlight indeed. The snow gave up, the sun came out (leaving the sunglasses at the hotel works everytime). We headed along the Royal Way - loved the Barbican - part of the old fortifications. It used to be joined to the Florian Gate by a drawbridge over the moat that surrounded the city. Thankfully they got rid of the sewer-like ditch, drained it and filled it with the Planty. Which means not surprisingly Plants - and now Krakow is surrounded by a wonderful green belt. Well it's snow white right now, but you get the drift. Stepping through the Florian Gate we could see clear down to St Mary's Basilica. We then strolled along Ulica Florianska (pron: Ulitsa). Pretty much Florian Street. Touristic heaven. Jewellers, souvenirs and money changers. And what rip off merchants they are. In the space of 3 shops we found one place giving 355 zlotys to the 100 euro. Then another giving 410 zlotys to the 100 euro. That's a quick loss of 25 euro to anyone who can't read an FX board. Both were equally happy to charge 418 zlotys if you wanted to buy 100 euro though. Seriously, we're in the wrong business. We eventually reached the Cloth Hall. Smack bang in the middle of Europe's largest medieval square - 200 metres x 200 metres. The cloth hall is essentially the world's first shopping mall - established over 700 years ago as a major trading centre for cloth(!), metal goods, jewellery and all manner of items from far and near. It errs more on the side of Bohemian glass, amber from the Baltics, postcards and dragons now. More on the dragons later. We took in the sights of the square - the remaining tower of the old town hall and also St Adalbert's church. The second smallest in Krakow, it sits in an odd corner of the square looking to us like one of the round topped houses you might see in a Santorini post card. The reason it's in such an odd place is essentially, it was there first. The square was built around the church. The original entrance to the church is off to the side and is 2.5 metres below the current level of the square - quite funny to see it engulfed by today's pavers. Our tour was due to start at 2 pm, but we had a few minutes grace and were listening intently at 2 pm when the trumpet called mournfully from the balcony of St Mary's. The tune cut off after just a few notes - according to legend, it was due to the trumpeter, probably on the city walls when they still existed, being shot in the neck with a arrow - mid "wake up" call. But it was enough to raise the alarm and fend off the invaders. We had a good sized group and set off to see some of the highlights we never would have bothered with if we'd followed our noses and the guidebooks. Our guide pointed out the highlights of the main market square including the statue of a famous Polish poet. So famous he never once visited Krakow when he was alive. So the joke goes he came twice after his death - once as a bronze man, the statue, and once in person... The Poles in Krakow started collecting dead famous people in the 18th and 19th century and his bones are stored in a church in town. And then we were off. Firstly into the university's historic heart (where Copernicus studied). By the by, there are apparently 3 things that Krakow is know for - Students (1 in 5), Churches (180 odd - 99 percent Roman Catholic) and, of course us - Tourists! From the university we passed on through the Planty and via a monument dedicated to Chopin - despite his father's french name, Chopin was indeed Polish. And on to JAC - "just another church". But it so wasn't. The church of St Francis (still with a Franciscan friary attached) is blessed with the most amazing art nouveau stained glass windows. Created by a Polish renaissance man who was also an artist, a poet, a musician etc, this church is decorated with stunning painted walls of pansies and lilies and other typical art nouveau motifs and the stained glasses are glorious. They raised many a conservative eyebrow over a hundred years ago when first unveiled. Particularly the one of god creating earth from the book of Genesis - aside from the modern design, his face was modelled on the artist's own uncle. A beggar. And that just didn't seem quite right to the good townsfolk of Krakow. From there we headed to another pod of churches and stopped for a warm up in a Ukrainian bar. Then onwards and literally upwards to Wawel Castle on the hill. A hodge podge of different styles abound and the first thing we saw was a bronze of a man on a horse - Tadeusz Kosciuzco. After which Mount Kosciuzco in Australia was named by the Polish man who first climbed it. Small, small world! Moving into the Castle complex we stopped outside the Cathedral and saw the bones of Krakow's dragon. Wow. This town seriously has it all. The story goes that the dragon was tormenting the locals (as dragons do). But the locals wised up and fed him a sheep stuffed with sulphur. The dragon became thirsty, drank water and exploded. And now his bones sit outside the entrance to the cathedral and are responsible for all the good things that happen to Krakow. Like not getting completely pancaked during WWII. Naysayers reckon they are obviously pre-historic bones - possibly of a blue whale or woolly mammoth. But they've been there for centuries and no one is game to take them down for further inspection. Speaking of dragons, today's photo is in fact the only fire breathing dragon I've ever seen - just outside the castle walls. To stop tourists toasting marshmallows he only breathes a few times an hour.... so we watched the sunset and waited a few minutes at the end of the tour until he performed for us. Cool. We used a company called Cool Walking Tours (via See Krakow) if anyone's in the vicinity and wants a stroll. Dinner was at a local restaurant called Polakowski - they call them self service over here... it's basically just bain-marie food so easy enough to "point & shoot". Hot, hearty, reasonable. Well that was our first big day out and about in Krakow. Hope you enjoyed it - we're off to the Jewish quarter tomorrow - Sleep tight.