The final IIE CESRI debriefing was located in the beautiful ancient city of Krakow. Wawel castle and its church are some of the oldest buildings in the city. At the entrance to the church hang the bones of slain dragon, in reality whale ribs. As the legend goes the city will stand as long as the bones remain chained to the church.
Wawel Cathedral also houses the Zygmunt bell - largest in Poland, and famed throughout Europe for it's clear tone. As the legend goes the tone comes from a silver string donated to the bronze collection for the creation of the bell. The bell is truly massive as can be seen from the giant timbers supporting it. It takes eight men to ring it, which is only done on special occasions and only major religious holidays.
In the main city square is the Cloth Hall, or Sukiennice. Usually in the cities founded under the Magdeburg law, as Krakow was exactly 750 years ago, the center of the city is taken by the city hall. However, because trade was so important to the city, the merchant cloth hall was given that central position. As you can see the square is not completely filled with tourists, as is the case in Prague. The word on the street though is that in the coming years Krakow will be equally as overrun. Indeed much of the old city is dedicated to tourist traps with many of the storefronts being taken over by designer clothing stores.
One of the original attractions was an oscypki stand. Oscypki are smoked ewe's milk cheeses, traditionally made by highlanders in the Tatra mountains. Recently oscypki have been included on the protected regional food list of the EU, meaning that they can be produced only in a specific region. At this stand one could buy a small oscypek from the grill with some cranberry jam for a buck. The smoked skin remained relatively intact, while the inside of the cheese was slighlty melted. Together with the cranberry jam this is one of the best snacks I've ever had.
Jagiellonian University founded in 1346 is the oldest university in Poland. Initially it was set up as a monastery, with professors sleeping in small cells above the lecture halls. They would come down the spiral staircase for meals eaten in silence in the dining hall in the picture.
The final IIE CESRI debriefing was located in the beautiful ancient city of Krakow. Wawel castle and its church are some of the oldest buildings in the city. At the entrance to the church hang the bones of slain dragon, in reality whale ribs. As the legend goes the city will stand as long as the bones remain chained to the church.
Wawel Cathedral also houses the Zygmunt bell - largest in Poland, and famed throughout Europe for it's clear tone. As the legend goes the tone comes from a silver string donated to the bronze collection for the creation of the bell. The bell is truly massive as can be seen from the giant timbers supporting it. It takes eight men to ring it, which is only done on special occasions and only major religious holidays.
In the main city square is the Cloth Hall, or Sukiennice. Usually in the cities founded under the Magdeburg law, as Krakow was exactly 750 years ago, the center of the city is taken by the city hall. However, because trade was so important to the city, the merchant cloth hall was given that central position. As you can see the square is not completely filled with tourists, as is the case in Prague. The word on the street though is that in the coming years Krakow will be equally as overrun. Indeed much of the old city is dedicated to tourist traps with many of the storefronts being taken over by designer clothing stores.
One of the original attractions was an oscypki stand. Oscypki are smoked ewe's milk cheeses, traditionally made by highlanders in the Tatra mountains. Recently oscypki have been included on the protected regional food list of the EU, meaning that they can be produced only in a specific region. At this stand one could buy a small oscypek from the grill with some cranberry jam for a buck. The smoked skin remained relatively intact, while the inside of the cheese was slighlty melted. Together with the cranberry jam this is one of the best snacks I've ever had.
Jagiellonian University founded in 1346 is the oldest university in Poland. Initially it was set up as a monastery, with professors sleeping in small cells above the lecture halls. They would come down the spiral staircase for meals eaten in silence in the dining hall in the picture.
1 comment:
Great Summary.....can you post your pictures online somewhere? Most of my pictures didn't turn out.
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