DAY 22 – Budapest to Krakow

On the road again, oh I just can’t wait to get back on the road again...

Today’s drive took a little longer than usual due to flooding affecting the roads. A bonus of this was being able to see more farmland with people raking the cut grass by hand into stooks or onto tractor trailers to be carted to nearby sheds for conserving for winter(?) Seeing the long line of grass in front of the workers out in the hot sun with their small garden rake definitely made me appreciate V-rakes and tractors with Air con!

We also wound our way through small villages and felt like we were stepping back in time with the quaint houses and basic farming styles.

Arriving into Krakow we checked into the Hotel after battling our way in through the continual traffic build ups we seem to strike at most cities...maybe the problem is we just aren’t used to city traffic!

After dinner we jumped on the bus and headed into the centre of Krakow (pronounced Krakov) where Emma took us round some of the famous buildings so we could gain our bearings for our free day in Krakow the next day. Wawel Castle was the seat of Poland’s Kings from the 11^th-17^th century, underneath the castle is the Dragon’s Den (no, not the TV show) where it is believed a dragon was once kept. We then went to the Market square the hub of Krakow, at 10 acres square it is the largest of all Europe’s medieval cities. The square is also where the Cloth Hall is located, this is thought to be the first marketplace in Eastern Europe. St Mary’s church perches on the edge of the square, the facade of the church is characteristic for its 2 towers of not equal height. According to legend it was the result of the competition between 2 brothers. Every hour of every day for the last 600 years a bugle is played from St Mary’s tower which you can still hear today.

Heading back to the hotel at 10pm the temperature was still 30 degrees Celsius. The absence of air con in our room wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience with 4 girls in a small room - especially for those on the top of the sky high bunks!