Lions, ice cream, churches, oh my Krakow!

The group managed to get out of bed and out of the hotel by 6 AM. Julie, our Berlin guru and guide helped us back to the airport and then said goodbye. We kept telling her to hop on a plane to Krakow and she said she would have if she could have.

Our flight was only an hour long and suddenly, we were in Poland! Our new guru and guide, Ania, met us in the airport and a bus picked us up. We went to our hotel to check in and drop off our luggage and then it was off to explore Krakow.

The city is beautiful. It has a population of around 800,000 people and there are many students who attend universities scattered throughout Krakow. The most iconic section of the city is the marketplace. It's one huge square and you can most likely find anything there. What we found when we first arrived in the square was St. Mary's Basilica. It was built in the 14th century (woah!) and throughout the years has collected artifacts. It was a beautiful church and very colorful. We spent almost an hour in there, listening to Ania tell us more about the history and taking in the art.

Our exploration of Krakow took about 4 hours. Along the way we stopped for lunch and later ice cream. We visited a castle in one part of town as well as the Jewish quarter. I think everyone can agree that we prefer Krakow over Berlin. While Berlin was fun, Krakow calls to us in a different way.

Of course, four hours was a long time to be walking. Professor Keenan gave us a 45 minute break (lots of the guys took a nap) before going to diner. We decided to try the Polish cuisine which turned out to be an excellent choice. I opted for grilled chicken with tomatoes, cheese, rice, potatoes, and sauerkraut. Delicious.

This was our lightest day in terms of material. The day was simply ours to explore, which was nice. The next two days will cover some of our heaviest topics and conversations. While I'm looking forward to it, I also know it will be incredibly draining, both physically and mentally. I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep!