Wawel Cathedral
Sara at Wawel Cathedral
We sacked in this morning. It was a cloudy cool day, just made for sleeping in and getting a late start on the day. We had a croissant and coffee at a cafe on the grounds of the Cathedral. We then got our tickets and toured the Cathedral. This is where the Polish nobility were married, buried and coronated. Chopin is buried at the Cathedral. It is like Westminster Abbey only in Poland instead of London.
I lit a candle and said a prayer for my sister Anna who is battling cancer as hard as she can.
Lunch
After touring the Cathedral we walked to the old town square and had lunch at an Italian sidewalk cafe. I know what you are thinking. We are eating a lot of Italian food. But you can only eat so many pierogis and kielbasa before your pants don’t fit.
The Old City Hall Tower
In order to work off our lunch Sara decided that we would climb to the top of the Old City Hall Tower. It was only a couple of hundred steps up but it was very narrow and you had to stoop to avoid hitting your head on the ceiling. Combine that with an almost complete lack of windows and you get the claustrophobic picture. We got a great view of Krakow from the top so the climb was worth it but I was glad to get down to the bottom.
Churches
We visited a couple of medieval Churches as we were walking around today.
Confessional in one of the churches.
As you can see, this confessional is set up so that the priest is in the middle and he can’t see the person confessing but the rest of the congregation can see and hear your confession. I saw this confessional and was swept up in an inexorable wave of religious fervor. I dropped to my knees on the right side of this confessional and loudly proclaimed:”Bless me father for I have sinned. It has been 50 years since my last confession!”
Everyone in the church froze with their mouths agape and looked at me like I was the Dragon of Krakow come to devour them and burn down their church. The priest burst from the confessional pointing at me and screaming: “Infidel! Burn him at the stake!”
I expected to be chastised by the priest for the lengthy gap between my last confession and my current confession, but I did not expect to be publicly denounced in such harsh language. To tell you the truth, I was hoping to get off with a penance of a few Hail Marys and a few Our Fathers. No such luck. Before things got too out of hand I decided to get out of that church as fast as my flat feet would carry me. Sara and I are done visiting churches for the remainder of our stay in Krakow.
Dinner
Where we ate dinner
We had a nine course plus tasting dinner here with a wine pairing.
Bread with celery butter.
Smoked carp, yes it was carp which is a traditional Polish delicacy, with sunflower seeds and oats.
Very nice dry Chardonnay.
Smoked cheese and honey.
Dumplings stuffed with smoked eel and crawfish swimming in a fermented rye broth.
A delightful Chenin Blanc.
Duck liver pate with a Polish plum liquor.
Borscht with Spelt vodka.
Turbot with a Napa Valley Chardonnay.
Apple and gin sorbet to cleanse the palate.
Venison tenderloin with a hearty Cabernet.
Parsley ice cream and white chocolate ice cream with Old Putney single malt.
Looks like an apple but it is not. Some sort of cake like concoction. Served with vodka mixed with mead.
A truffle in a box.
What a wonderful meal. What a wonderful four hour culinary and visual art experience. And we had an extraordinary waiter to shepherd us through the entire experience. Truly a meal to remember.
Good night from Krakow.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 