Wieliczka, Wawel Castle & Kazimierz

We woke up in the morning to find snow! Brrr.... Fortunately we knew beforehand that it would be snowing that Saturday, so we decided to visit Auschwitz the day before, since it involved spending a lot of time out in the open.

We set off for the famous Wieliczka Salt Mines, which was a short bus ride from the Old Town itself. The mine is included on Unesco's World Heritage List; everything there is made from salt- the chandeliers, altarpieces, sculptures, etc. The highlight of the visit is the richly ornamented Chapel of the Blessed Kinga; a beautiful chapel made of salt! Visiting the salt mine was a really unique experience! :)

We headed back to the city and finally found time to visit Wawel Hill. South of the Old Town, the hill is crowned with the Wawel Castle and Cathedral, both of which are enduring symbols of Poland. We were a little short on time, so we didn't get to see many of the attractions within the castle grounds, but it was nice just to walk around. We did pop into the Cathedral to take a quick look though.

Wawel Castle

Apparently, Krakow is a city founded upon the defeat of a dragon; hence the many dragon-related souvenirs! :)

We moved on to Kazimierz- the Jewish Quarter, where we visited the 15-th century Old Synagogue, the oldest Jewish religious building in Poland. It now houses the Jewish Museum, and it was really interesting to check out the exhibitions on Jewish traditions. We didn't have enough time there though, and it was a pity that we had to rush through the exhibits since the museum was closing! :p

It was a our last night in Poland, so we decided that we ought to have dinner in a Polish restaurant. We ended up at Chlopskie Jadlo, a really unique cellar restaurant with a country inn theme- complete with wooden benches and traditional music. Dinner was absolutely delicious- hubby had the veal schnitzel, and I opted for this...

Bacon roulade stuffed with meat and mushrooms in an aromatic herb dressing,

served with Silesian dumplings

We had beer again (of course!) and this time, it was Okocim! I have never had so much beer in my life! :)