Back In May this year I was surprised with a birthday gift I wouldn't of even thought of! New camera? New Tech, NO....
Well I can tell you it was non of those. My girlfriend (Sam) had got us a weekend city break away to a place I wouldn't of thought of or imagine would be so amazing.
Krakow, Poland!
Poland was not particularly high on my list of places to go, and why I had that mind set I don't know, but after visting I now want to to back.
I actually found out about the upcoming trip a week or so before my birthday, (by accident) but once I knew I was looking through social media for places to visit in Krakow, and me being me, looking for places I could photograph.
We stayed in a really cute apartment overlooking a sports field, which was just on the edge of the main square in Krakow.
We spent the a long weekend from Friday - Monday visiting the places Krakow had to offer.
Wieliczka Salt Mines
These mines were highly recommended by everyone we spoke to. They are fascinating and beautiful. You can get there via private tour or like we did, take public transport out of town to visit the mines. We took a bus there and a train back. It is amazing to think that the mines are all man made! The tour we took was about 3 hours long, and starts with a descent down approx 400 steps! The salt mines are not to be missed if you are visiting Krakow.
Auschwitz Concentration Camp
A visit to Auschwits is best taken with a tour guide. We were picked up at 9am in Krakow by private transport; it takes just over an hour to get to Auschwitz.
I had learnt about what happenned here at school. I guess it didn't sink in at the time just the sheer scale of what was going on here during the war. The tour consisted of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II- Birkenau, these are both concentration camps, yet Auschwitz II was also a extermination camp. We visited buildings, huts and places were horrific things happened. It was very insightful and very upsetting, but important we don't forget. I learnt a lot that day and I spent lots of time after just thinking about it all and letting it sink in.
Krakow Main Square, Jewish Quarter and more
We spent our spare time exploring, eating and drinking if you're into cider then grab some local Dziki Sad cider really lovely I asked a polish colleague what they recommended food wise and they said Polish dumplings (Pierogi) these are amazing and although a snack are really tasty and filling. We often spent the evenings In the main square, were there is lots going on. We caught a bit of a music festival that was going on during our visit. This was my spot, where as a typical hobbyist photographer, I wanted to create amazing images with the beautiful scenery I had at my finger tip; church's and other glorious buildings.
I took a lot of photos but I wasn't happy with a lot of them, but the ones I did get and I will put in this post I think are brilliant, just a snippet of what I shot!
During exploring we also got time to visit the Jewish quarter of Krakow, a beautiful area and as the name suggests lots of Jewish related places.
Krakow Is a beautiful area of Poland, I cant wait to go back in the future and explore it more.