April 9, 2009

After sleeping in this morning, we left the apartment after noon and walked around town. We had decided to go to a museum today but didn’t know which one yet. Upon entering the main market square, we saw that the Krakow Museum was now open. Turns out it was only closed because a new exhibit was opening. Ania asked the lady at the ticket office what museums were open in the city and she gave us a pamphlet of all the affiliated museums that explained what each was about. We decided not to see the exhibit in the Krakow Museum as it was of an actress we didn’t know about. Instead, we walked a short distance to the Town Hall Tower and went there instead.

There were three floors in the tower that we visited. It was interesting just walking up the old, medieval style tower stairs. The stone stairs were uneven and slightly hazardous to climb up as well as narrow. The first floor had a small exhibit showing period clothes as well as old pictures of the tower and the square. The next floor had copies of pictures taken from before automobiles were used. The last floor had windows to see the views of the city. It also had, in a glass case, the mechanism we assumed was used to run the clock on the tower.

After safely making our way back down the stairs, we walked around the market stalls. Browsing all the way through the stalls I couldn’t help but wish I had some way to transport home the items I really wanted to buy. But, trying to bring home glassware and expecting it to still be in one piece when it gets through customs. We walked around the market for a while then decided to walk around the edges of the market since we had not done that.

After a couple of hours just walking around and browsing the shops we came back to our apartment to rest a little before going out to eat. For dinner we went to this little outdoor eating place where all the servers are university students trying to earn money for summer trips. Nikki ordered cabbage rolls, Ania ordered tomato and rice soup, and I ordered venison stew in a bread bowl. All of our meals were delicious and we enjoyed them very much.

After dinner, we all went to the internet café and spent an hour on the internet doing various things. I finally booked my flight back to Italy. I decided to go into Rome instead of trying to get to Florence as it was much cheaper, about $200 cheaper, to go into Rome. Nikki told me that the most expensive train ticket from Rome to Florence was 36 euro so I’m saving a lot by flying into Rome. Plus, I know my way around the Rome airport, sort of, so I’ll be okay.

Anyway, after logging off, we walked back to this gelato/ice cream place we saw while walking around the square today. We went inside and sat down. The waitress brought us the menus and we each ordered a different sundae. Mine was this tall kiwi/apple concoction with kiwi, vanilla and strawberry ice cream with whipped cream and kiwi sauce on top. It was the most delicious mix of fruit slices, ice cream and toppings that I’ve ever had. Nikki ordered a similar sundae but with strawberries while Ania had a chocolate-themed sundae. We walked around for a little bit afterward as each of us was stuffed from dessert before heading back to the apartment for the night.