Schindler's Factory

After touring the salt mine, we took a bus to Schindler's Factory. (Remember the movie Schindler's List?) The factory has been turned into a museum that illustrates life in Krakow from 1939 to 1945. 

 The most powerful moment in the museum was having to weave through the Nazi flags. This effectively represented the Nazi takeover of Poland. 

There were also letters written by children. It was interesting to read their perspective on what was happening around them. 

Above is one of "Schindler's Lists." And on the wall was all the names of people saved from concentration camps by Oscar Schindler. 

After touring the factory we took a bus back into the city center. It had finally stopped raining, but everything was still wet. So we took some cool "shiny" pictures before heading home. 

We had a great weekend! Thank you Ilona for taking us to Krakow!!

Sunday Salt Mine

Last Sunday was a big day! 

We began with a trip to the Salt Mine. We needed to check the validity of this so called salt mine. What better way than licking the walls? 

Yes, they are salty!!

It is a HUGE mine. The tours were kind of expensive so we opted for the cheaper option, going on a tour in Polish. Ilona was nice enough to translate, but the tour was 2 hours long and about an hour longer than my attention span!

There were all kinds of statues in the mine. Everything was carved out of salt! 

We took pictures of every one! 

There is even a church in the mine. I guess people get married there. There was also a ballroom and a restaurant in the mine! 

Notice the chandelier. It is made of salt! 

All in all it was pretty cool and a great way to spend a cold and rainy morning! 

St. Mary's Church

My favorite building in the Krakow City Center was St. Mary's Church. 

There are two towers that are different heights. We were told that two brothers built the towers. Each wanted his to be taller than the others. One brother died and the other brother continued to build his so it would be taller. 

The taller one severed as the city's watch tower. During medieval times the watchman would play his bugle as a warning call. There is a legend that when the watchman on duty spotted the enemy and sounded the alarm. He was shot with an arrow and abruptly stopped playing. He successfully woke the town and they were able to defeat the invaders. Today, the melody is played from the tower each hour by a trumpeter and still stops abruptly when the watchman was shot.