50% Chance of Rain Forecast Changed to Sun for Me!

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014--Warsaw to Krakow

I can see why it was easy for the Germans to overrun Poland in one night at the beginning of WWII; it's mostly a flat country.  How they moved fast enough to do it, however, is another question.  Wes' bus trip to Berlin was 9 hours long!!  And my train trip which covered about 1/3 of the distance across Poland (going north to south) took 3 1/2 hours. 

My apartment here in Krakow is very conveniently located.  It is just 2 1/2 blocks from the train station/bus station/shopping complex, and it is a quick walk to the Old Town (just on the other side of that complex).  When I arrived, the host had just finished washing the floors and they were drying.  She had a renter for a month who moved out this morning.

The forecast had called for a 50% chance of precipitation today here.  When I arrived at 13:45, it was sunny and warm, and it stayed that way for the rest of the day.  As soon as I put things away, I headed for town.  I explored all the streets of the Old Town and its central square which is the largest in Europe.  I walked into a few of the churches.  I hiked up to Wawel Castle to see its grounds and exterior.  I watched people everywhere.  I heard some entertainment (bands, singers, etc.) both on stages and performing for tips on the square.  It was a pleasant afternoon.

My impression of Krakow is that the Old Town is nice.  However, it is not as impressive in LOOKS as other old towns I have seen.   What makes it special is that it is almost completely in tact and that it was never destroyed and rebuilt in recent times; it's original from hundreds of years ago. 

Among my thoughts today as I wandered around town was that it is better for me to take an around-the-world trip than it is for me to take a long holiday within one region.  Everything is looking similar everywhere.  I am tired of European churches, European art, European city museums, European town squares, etc.  With an around-the-world trip, I may stay 6 weeks in Asia, 6 weeks in Europe, 6 weeks in South America, etc.  And the areas within those continents that I visit may vary quite a bit.  Today, however, I kept thinking:  Do I really want to go to the trouble to try to go inside Wawel Castle?  To do so requires studying about 7 separate areas to determine which interest me the most.  Then tickets must be bought in advance that require visiting at a certain hour during the day.  So a whole day could be wasted waiting in line for tickets and then waiting for visiting times.  And then it would be ANOTHER European castle!

I'm going to sleep on it.