Krakow - Day 2

Day 2:
We began our second morning with coffee at Coffee Heaven, right off the Main Square of Old Town. Coffee Heaven had free wifi and a clean bathroom so this was our base for the rest of the day. After we got breakfast and caffeine, we attended a Catholic mass at St. Mary's Basilica. Since we were at mass, Emily and I didn't take pictures. However, this church was gorgeous and I am attaching a googled image below (www.commons.wikipedia.org). 

In front of Cloth Hall.

After church, we shopped a bit, Emily ordered a chili coffee, and we headed to Trap Krakow. In an effort to avoid doing purely touristy things, I scoured Trip Advisor for some out-of-the-ordinary activities. Then I found Trap Krakow. The Trip Advisor explanation is as follows:

Trap is an enigmatic basement where you can test your skills in an unusual setting as a team.You are going to be locked up and have 60 minutes to escape from our tricky rooms...In order to find your way out, you need to solve various puzzles,using creativity and common sense.The game is designed for groups of 2-5 in all ages. We guarantee one hour of pure fun with lots of challenges...

This place was CRAZY COOL! As explained, we were locked in a room for an hour and had to disarm a bomb and find a code to get out of the room. We solved about 30 different connected puzzles (keys, locks, trap doors, jumper cables, the works) and (with the help of the receptionist guy via walkie-talkie) we got out safely!

This challenge worked up an appetite and we went to a restaurant recommended by a Polish friend of Emily's called Babci Maliny. I ordered Kotlet Staropolski Ziemniaki, which was a dish of pork and potatoes. It was delicious. And very Polish, from what I could tell.

After our victorious escape!

We shopped some more and went to the famous Wawel Castle. We toured some state rooms, the crown treasury, and armory. Unfortunately we were not supposed to take pictures but Emily sure tried...  to take a picture of every awkward child portrait painted before 1800. She also tried to touch the walls, which is apparently another no-no and the curator people kept their eyes on us for the rest of the tour. 

 

After this excursion, we were ready for dinner - after a quick wifi stop at Coffee Heaven. We wandered our way to a highly-reviewed restaurant in Old Town. After realizing the selection and pricing wasn't to our tastes (although expensive in Poland is not very expensive with the currency conversion... we were being picky) we decided to go to the place next to our planned restaurant. I was craving pizza so followed this craving with a margherita pizza and water. Emily however, was feeling particular adventurous ordering the seafood salad. I loved my dinner, Emily however, was a bit surprised and grossed out by the plate of barely-cooked-looking seafood sitting in front of her: calamari (not breaded and fried), mussels, clams, and other aquarium dwellers. Needless to say - since we couldn't stare at it for very long without getting sick - she ended up ordering a red pepper stuffed with chili con carne instead.
 For dessert I ordered one of my favorites, tiramisu.

After this feast, we met up with another free walking tour. Our guide was Alicja and she was amazing! She spoke excellent English (as did a surprisingly large proportion of the Krakow population), and was excited that we were from Kansas just like Superman (because unlike the Irish population, the Polish are not into The Wizard of Oz - according to Alicja).  This tour was extremely in-depth and we got a summary of Old Town, the Jewish Quarter, and saw Pope John Paul II related sites. 

If I was going back to Krakow, I would definitely spend more time in the Jewish Quarter. Unfortunately, because of our limited amount of time, we spent the smallest amount of time in this eclectic and interesting area. This is the best area for nightlife in Krakow and is known for its themed bars. The first popular bar is in the theme of a chemistry lab and you have to pass through a wardrobe to get to the smoking area. Every bar had to stick to a distinctive and interesting concept to compete and this blossomed into the fun area that it is today.

To conclude our evening we went, once again, to Coffee Heaven. This is where we reminisced about our day, caught up on social media, and planned our final day discussing our coming departure.

The conclusion of Krakow, coming soon!

Yours,

The Opinionated Lassie