Night location: Sleeper train to Vienna

A relaxing start to our last day in Krakow. We took full advantage of our 12pm check out time as we knew that it would be a long time until we boarded our overnight train. After checking out and leaving our bags at the hotel we wandered towards the St Mary's Basilica in the Market Square. We were unsure of what to expect inside and were quite surprised that we had entered just as a seemingly popular ceremony began where the large altar piece at the front of the church opened to reveal some intricate friezes of Mary mother of Jesus. The church was full of people who had clearly been waiting for some time. Triumphant music played as two Australians stumbled in and witnessed the ceremony by chance! As it turned out the Basilica was ornately decorated and the altar, the largest of its kind in Europe, was magnificent, displaying Mary's Assumption. The church was built between the 13th and 15th centuries and is a beautiful example of Gothic architecture.

After lunch we took a tram to the area of the former Jewish ghetto and the Schindler's Factory Museum. The exhibition was fantastic, incorporating clever use of lights, sounds, videos and life-like recreations depicting everyday life in Krakow under the Nazi occupation. The journey through the museum commenced in 1939 just before the outbreak of the war, and proceeded to tell the story of both Polish and Jewish inhabitants until the Soviet liberation. It was interesting to observe the gradual removal of civic rights and the imposition of the Nazi State during this period. One example of this was that the streets and major landmarks were renamed in German. It was fascinating to see the impact on ordinary Polish citizens as a result of the invasion. A particularly moving exhibition was an extended walk following a recreation of the wall built to surround the Jewish ghetto. It was made to look like tombstones and there were notes from inhabitants that commented on the foreboding sense of gloom they had when looking at such a wall. This section was particularly dark and used everyday sounds of dogs barking, shouting and crying to really impress upon us the awful nature of this place.

We both agreed that it was one of the best museums we have ever visited. The museum is housed in the actual enamel factory where Oskar Schindler saved approximately 1000 Jewish people from certain death. The thematic units were arranged over three storeys of the building and Schindler's office contained a memorial with the names of those he saved.

Returning to the Old Town we relaxed in a park and enjoyed the sunshine. The trees were starting to show their first green, the wild daisies were blooming and dogs played with their owners. We walked up to the Medieval walls and the Barbican which was a fort to protect the entrance of the town and then wandered back to the Main Square.

Our dinner was deliberately extensive so as to draw out the time before our 10pm departure. As is our custom, we opted for Italian, and had four courses, all of which were excellent.

We are writing this entry on board our sleeper carriage which is remarkably clean and comfortable. Fortunately this is a significant improvement on the last sleeper train that we took in Egypt!