A day later, we drove 3 hours southeast towards Krakow and our Airbnb house outside the city. The scenery included countless, empty military transports heading west. Additionally, the weather forecast for our weeklong stay looked like crap.
On our first day we woke up early (jetlag) to overcast conditions and intermittent drizzle. We drove out (10 minutes) to scope out Sokolica and then decided to burn the day sightseeing Krakow and followed it up by cooking and drinking with the family back at the house. Reasonably scenic city and – given the early season – still largely devoid of tourists.
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Cultural immersion.
More of the same on day two; except, worse weather in the morning and, instead of sightseeing a city, we drove out to the historic Wieliczka salt mine and spent a couple of hours being dry underground. We took solace in a dryer forecast for day three.
Photos
On the drive to Krakow (May 2022).A quick break. Weather was great – would not last (May 2022).Coffee break (May 2022).Welcome to Poland (they got the OK part right; May 2022).First afternoon in our rented place. A small village in the Polish Jura some 25 minutes from downtown Krakow (May 2022).That’s how the week went by: some sightseeing, some climbing, and plenty of family meals (May 2022).A Jura sunset. Photo by Tom (May 2022).There she is: the mighty Sokolicain its 60-80 meter glory (May 2022).Unknown climbers on the Lewy Komin route. I think they beat the rain that morning (May 2022).Krakow (May 2022).Strolling aimlessly while we wait to meet our guide. Photo by Tom (May 2022).Shirley and Tom digging into a traditional breakfast (May 2022).Lard, fresh bread, sausage, pickles, and two shots of vodka (unfortunately flavored; May 2022).Tom, Shirley, and our guide at Wawel Castle (May 2022).Wawel with our local city guide. Photo by Tom (May 2022).Shirley and our guide (May 2022).Wawel Castle. Photo by Tom (May 2022).Shirley, Tom, and Wawel (May 2022).Vistula River as seen from Wawel (May 2022).Wawel Castle (May 2022).One more of Wawel. Photo by Tom (May 2022).Krakow’s central square. Photo by Tom (May 2022).Shirley in the main square of Krakow (May 2022).Mariacki Church in the central square (May 2022).Inside the Mariacki Church. Photo by Tom (May 2022).More of central square (May 2022).Krakow (May 2022).Shirley and Tom with Wawel in the background (May 2022).Krakow mascot (May 2022).Shirley cooking up a storm back in our rental (May 2022).Heading out the next morning to see the salt mine (May 2022).Wieliczka Salt Mine (May 2022).Family in the Wieliczka Salt Mine (May 2022).A manmade lake in the mine (May 2022).Shirley and Tom in the mine (May 2022).A church in the mine (May 2022).Wieliczka (May 2022).Salt sculptures (May 2022).Some church or chapel or something in the mine (May 2022).Wieliczka Salt Mine (May 2022).Much like that underground lake with salt, we too were pretty saturated with sightseeing after two days (May 2022).
