Krakow's royal castle and the Jewish quarter

Back to the castle this morning; it's the same location as the cathedral, and in fact we were standing in its courtyard yesterday while waiting to enter the cathedral.  This time we didn't make the trip on foot, but had a fleet of golf carts on steroids with some protection from the weather.

Once we were at the top of the hill, we could see the Wisła (Vistula) river.  Really heavy rain has been soaking Poland for several days, causing widespread flooding.  Note how close the surface of the river is to the bottom of the bridge.  Later in the day, this bridge was closed as too dangerous for traffic.  For us, it's an inconvenience: we will probably not get to visit Auschwitz because it, too, is flooded.  It's a disaster for the Poles, though, as towns and villages have been flooded and apparently some people have been killed.

The approach to the castle and cathedral, in the rain.

The inner courtyard of the castle, with a troop of school children on a field trip.  The castle has three levels:  bottom for offices and storerooms, middle level for the royal family, and upper level for the king's guests and state business.

Our guide telling us the history of the castle before we went inside for our tour.  Photography was not allowed inside, which means I have no photos of some of the amazing architectural features and artworks that adorn the rooms.  Example:  tray ceilings in all the top-floor rooms, with the trays about 2 feet deep and an enormous gilded stylized flower in each.  Really impressive.

Outside after the tour, the statue of Pope Paul II was a popular spot for people to have their picture taken.

More castle sights on leaving.  Still raining.

Back to the golf carts for a ride to the Jewish quarter.

Our first stop was the Ariel Restaurant, for coffee and amazing sweet dishes.  The one pictured is called Passover Cheese, and it's really a wonderful cheese cake without the crust.  Its a bit hard to see, but the whipped cream on top is in the shape of a Star of David.

We heard about the history of the Jewish quarter, called Kazimierz, while we were inside, out of the rain.

Outside, we walked to the Tempel Synagogue.  In the adjacent block is this place.  The neon sign says "Propaganda".  Next to it is a bar that celebrates Che Guevara.

Is this Krakow or Austin?  The place on the right, with the multicolored sombreros, is the Burrito Buffet.

The facade of the synagogue.

Inside, we learned more about the synagogue and its restoration since World War II. 

After visiting the synagogue, some of the group went back to the hotel and the rest toured Jagiellonian University.  The rain hampered outside photography, and photos were allowed inside in only a few rooms.  See the Wikipedia entry (link previous) for more photos.  Here, we and another tour group are in one of the lecture halls in the university's oldest building.

After that, we split up in to smaller groups to find lunch and return to the hotel.  The party I was with had an excellent lunch in a restaurant on the main square in the old town.  Still raining, but I took a few shots in the square.  I don't know who or what the head represents.

There are pianos like this scattered around the city.  A piano filled with rain is a fitting coda to our Krakow visit.

Later this evening, we'll go to a Jewish restaurant for dinner and Klezmer music.