Krakow - Days three and four

Needless to say, Day three of my trip -- the day after "testing" vodka with the locals -- I was up a bit late and slow moving. I hooked up with a gal from Taiwan who also arrived at the same time as I did on Saturday and we took off for the castle. Wawel Castle grounds are free and there is also a cathedral, a dragon's cave, and a number of museums. Unfortunately, we were not able to get tickets into the museums as they were sold out for the day, but we did walk the grounds and walk through the Dragon's den. There is another legend, this one about a Dragon who usually ate sheep, but once a year, needed to eat a virgin. The towns people would randomly turn over a young girl each year to the dragon. One year, the Kings daughter was selected. The King offered any young man who could save his daughter, half of the Kingdom and of course, his daughter's hand in marriage. One poor young man tricked the dragon into eating a "sheep", although it was really a sheep skin stuffed with sulphur. The dragon got so thirsty that it started drinking water. It drank and drank and drank the water until he finally exploded! And that was the end of the terror of the dragon! But, his cave still exists under the hill where the castle is, and we walked through it!

For a very late lunch, we found a "Milk Bar". These are cheap cafeterias left over from the communist days -- we had beet root soup, chicken breast with mashed potatoes, a plate of 3 salads (including a cabbage one of course) and a fruit juice drink for 14.50 zlotys - or $4.43!

After lunch I headed for the Ethnographic Museum to see all the folk art, etc. Unfortunately, my guide book was wrong and it was closed! So, I wandered around the area (the old Jewish quarter) and visited the market as well. After I got back to the hostel I took a nap and hung out in the common room for awhile with a number of folks who had been here for a few days and new ones coming in. I ended up heading out to dinner with two of the guys, but they were looking for traditional Polish food (which is very similar to the Hungarian food and the food I had for lunch), so I took off and went to an Italian restaurant - YUM! I had minestrone soup and fetuchini with asparagus and prosciutto -- so nice to have something different than the cafeteria at school.

Today, Tuesday, I was up early and was at the castle at 9:00am for a tour of the state rooms and the royal apartments at the Castle. Glad I did this as it was different than many of the other castle tours in that they did not try to re-create the rooms exactly as they were, rather showed off tapestries, paintings, wooden chests, tables, chairs, etc., that were used over the years.

From the castle, I headed to the Ethnographic museum. FANTASTIC. More about these later, as my fingers are getting tired of typing!