Krakow

Once we crossed the border between Slovakia and Poland, it was a short distance to the city of Krakow on the Visla River. It's one of the largest cities in Poland, though its population is about 700,000, and it is also one of the oldest. It has been a center for education for centuries, its Jagellonská university's graduates include Copernicus and Pope John Paul II.

There's an enormous square in the old city of Krakow, with an imposing church in the middle of it. Somehow, none of it made a big impression on me, perhaps because it was cold, drizzly, and dark. Adjacent to the Jewish quarter (ghetto), is Oskar Schindler's factory. I skipped that tour only because I found it so difficult to manage on slippery cobblestones. I also skipped a tour of a church built into a salt mine.