Saturday, July 7, 2012

Krakow, Poland Part 2

 

The Royale Route ends at the Wawel (pronounced Vavel) Castle on the top of a hill overlooking the town, as most castles do.  Wawel was a castle before 1000 AD.

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Within the castle is the palace that was built on western European styles.  Sorry about the composite picture, the wall is not really bowed.

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It is said the Hindu goddess Shiva flung across the earth 7 stones as a gift to mankind. Those seven stones just so happened to land in some of the most important spiritual centers on earth,  namely Rome, Mecca, Delhi, Delphi, Jerusalem, Velehrad (CZ) and - what do you know? - the northwestern corner of Wawel’s immaculate courtyard.

d krakow (32) (1024x768)_thumb     Notice how dirty that part of the wall is.  They keep trying to stop people from touching it and hoping to receive some power from the earth chakra, but it doesn’t work.

Pope John Paul II came from Krakow.  You probably know his story, being a prisoner of conscience and then becoming Pope.  He, being the only Polish Pope, is revered here.  From the stories we have heard, he was a great Pope.  He visited many countries and worshipped with other religions.  There are statues of him and memorials all over.

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  A window he would talk to the local kids from (after he was Pope) d krakow (27) (1024x768)_thumb

 

A local band performing for tips                                  another arch                                          a medieval fair we bumped into

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We only stayed one day for 2 reasons, because there was much more to see.  First, it is about 90 odd degrees with the same humidity.  We walked for 3 1/2 hours.  Secondly, we don’t like the hotel we are in.  It is located near the train and near the old town, but they have rubber or plastic under the sheet, which makes it really uncomfortable, and the room is hot.  We have lots more to see, elsewhere.

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