Europe 2017: Day #25 Once Upon a Time in Krakow

Sunday, 27 August 2017

Sunday was always going to be an easy-going day for us in Krakow.  We had nothing specifically booked or planned and just wanted to take it a bit easily.

Our main stop of the morning was at the Underground Museum in the Main Square.  This is located under the Cloth Market (see photo) and extends for some distance under the square itself.  About ten years ago, in the mid 2000s, the city basically took the top of the square to expose the archeological ruins hidden beneath.  Once that was done and the digging was complete they put in a number of supports and put the square back on top.  This provided them with the means to turn the underground area into a massive museum detailing the full history (from the 900s) of Krakow and the surrounding areas.

Model of Krakow Old Town in Underground Museum

It has resulted in one of the best museums of its type that I've ever seen.  Robyn and I spent two hours there and could have stayed all day if we hadn't got hungry and if we weren't looking forward to our next stop, Schindler's Factory.

Situated on the southern outskirts of the Krakow Old Town Oscar Schindler's Enamel Factory is now a major Krakow museum dedicated to recording the history of Krakow during the Second World War.  Needless to say it is rather harrowing, though I doubt to the level of the concentration camps in the countryside - sites we decided long ago not to visit.

The outside of Schindler's Factory

Oddly enough, there appeared to be only one room of the museum dedicated to Schindler, along with a gallery of photographs of those he saved and an art installation listing all the names.

Nevertheless, the museum was an excellent representation of its subject matter, even if it was majorly depressing.

In one of those quirks of travel, as we were leaving the museum and contemplating our return home, we ran into the young Melbourne couple (Evan and Jacinta) who had shared the bus with us from Riga to Vilnius about a week before. We shared an Uber back into town with them, had a beer and swapped stories before they had to head off for a dinner appointment. 

It had been a very interesting and surprising day in many ways.