Krakow (Cracow), Poland!

July 13
Here 195 and I, in the Krakow, Poland (I was not kidding that they actually spell it Cracow in their language) That left me wondering why heck did the Europe spell their "K"s with "C"s and "C"s with "K"s, ie. Canada -> Kanada, Krakow -> Cracow... Ah, soon as we stopped at a train station just before our final destination, the hostels representatives (they were all young adults) got on and start going from seat to seat, asking us if we want to book a room (we already booked a room a day before due to high season) Not one but several of them came by, forcing us to shake our heads more than the usual. Once we arrived at Krakow (keep in the mind, we arrived there around 5:30 AM in the morning) and there were even more of them, the aggressive hostel representatives! Soon as we escape the hoarding reps..We headed straight to our hostel, Any Time Hostel (keep that name in mind)...It was not that far and we were already used to all walking :) (I believe 195 had lost some weight)
When arrived, the door into hallway was open but there was no reception or any staff around.. After wandering around abit, trying to find someone.. I peeked at the note tacked on the front door for someone that was supposely to arrive there at 5am and discovered that they didn't have staffs 24 hours and would be opening at 8am. Now you see why I said to keep the name of the hostel in the mind..."All Time", eh? .... It was 6am by then so we wandered even more around the district, enjoying quiet roads (sparsely filled with cars but plentiful of trams, seemly their main transportation) And stopped at cafe for some pastry and two coffee each of us to kill the time. Finally, we got in and viewed the room, pointing out to the staff that it got no pillows or blanket (apparently someone decide to be pig and help themselves more of pillows for the staff looked surprised)
At last, 195 and I took nap for we couldn't really sleep at ease on the vinyl seat with some draft from the train window. Slept for good two hours (actually two for 195 but one for me.. Couldn't sleep for a while), once refreshed, we ate our lunch out in the porch (hostel supposely to have a kitchen for us to use but there was none, hm!) Afterward, we headed out to visit the old town...looked at Wawel Hill castle that had been there for over 500 years and buried 45 monarchies there, then wandering out in the streets, looking at random stores and spotted this internet cafe to keep in the mind. Lot of stores sell amber stones things such as little statues, jewelry, and more at cheap price for Poland was known for its amber stones (plentiful of it). We stopped at a sourvier store, looking for a certain thing, near St. Mary's Basilica and we stepped out just in the time to see a man in tower playing the trumpet for it became a tradition in the honor when the guard, having spotted Tartars army on the horizon, started playing his trumpet to alert Krakow's citizens and was killed by one of the invaders' arrows in the neck. It was well into the afternoon, so we started to head back to the hostel to shower and get ready for the dinner out at a vegetarian restaurant that we spotted in the book. On the way, we stopped at the train station to find out the time and prices for the train to the town called Oswiecim, where Auschwitz was located outside of. We would be going there tomorrow before heading out to Prague, Czech on yet another overnight train.
After struggling with the water temp in the shower, I finally managed to get cleaned, faring 195 a good luck with it when it was his turn. Yes, soon as we were ready.. We headed out with food on our mind and arrived at Greenway, the name of this vegetarian restaurant (forgetting the thought of "should I bring umbrella?" for it did rained abit earlier) This restaurant turned out to be one of best vegetarian restaurant we ever been to and the prices was filthy cheap! I strongly recommend this place to anyone that happen to visit Krakow, Poland whether they were a vegetarian or not! :) With stomach full and a smile on our faces, we huddled against the rain (regretting for not bringing the umbrella) toward the internet cafe.......You know the rest :) (it sure was strange to be doing the blog of the day on the same day of this day..) Until then........!