Cracking Krakow

My fourth stop in Europe was Krakow, Poland. 

From Vienna I caught a Bla Bla Car up to Krakow with three Poles; Bla Bla Car is an online ride sharing website where people advertise where they are travelling from and to and on what date and give a price for those who want to get a seat in the car. This time it worked out much cheaper than any bus or train would have been doing the same route. The ride wasn't all that much fun given everyone was talking Polish to each other while I'm sitting there twiddling my thumbs! Not to worry...

Krakow features an old town in the centre where cars need a special permit to enter, making the roads larely populated by tourists and bicycles - a feature I liked a lot. I was lucky enough to be staying IN the old town, very close to the main square and most attractions.

I did a walking tour and learnt a little about Polish history. Krakow is one of the few cities that survived completely during WW2. The Nazi's literally marched through and took over without bombing the city at all, so the older buildings still remain. 

The city has its quaint traditions also. The clock tower in the main square has a trumpeter that plays the same tune every hour on the hour. Apparently a group of four trumpeters work in 12 hour rotational shifts and live in the tower!

Like Budapest and Prague, Krakow has a very big party culture among backpackers - being as cheap as it is does not hurt! I spent my first night on a pub crawl organised through the hostel and had a few nice Polish vodkas on the free tab!