Took the train from Poznań to Kraków. Haven loves family trips! The excitement level the night before can best be described as a high-pitched “Eeeeee!”
But, after an hour on the train…
Annora did her school work during the 4-5 hour journey. I kept distracting her. Bad mommy.
Brian and Annora visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, but that wasn’t a good choice for a little kid or prego mama. Instead, we decided to have the funnest day ever!
Wawel Hill, Wawel Castle, and the Wawel Dragon greeted Haven and me. There’s a famous legend you can find here Kraków Dragon Legend and Other Info. This video is Haven’s favorite rendition of the legend.
And, yes! There’s a real cave in the hill under the castle, but it’s only open during the warmer months so check ahead of time if you are going. The dragon cave exit is visible from the riverwalk area, near the fire breathing statue of the dragon. The fire roars from the dragon’s mouth suddenly from time to time–don’t let it startle you!
We explored Kraków a bit, found a cat cafe. There are two–one of them, the one we found first, doesn’t allow children. Walking quite a ways to the second cat cafe, we found the old town (I wanted to check it out, but cat cafe took on a certain, righteous significance to Haven), and a monument. We then did a hop on hop off bus tour, where she napped happily and I rested my weary, prego legs for over an hour while seeing a good portion of the city’s landmarks.
When Haven woke up, we walked along the river. The ethereal nature of a solo violin being played under a super-echoey bridge by an expert was something I won’t soon forget! A few yards/meters further, and Haven found a fluffy, pink “cotton candy/candy floss/wata cukrowa” twice as big as her head! Two dogs and a man were in charge of the little wata cukrowa push cart stand, and they looked like they greatly enjoyed their work, especially the times between customers when all three snoozed contentedly in the sun. (Sorry–no videos or photos of some things! Sometimes you just have to experience a thing instead of taking pictures.) Having gotten sufficiently pink and sticky, we decided to take a boat ride down the river, past the castle, just for fun!
We met Brian and Annora for dinner at a restaurant in the Jewish Quarter. The atmosphere, music and food were all excellent.
(Brian and Annora needed the entire evening to start processing what they experienced on their trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They both said that it must be remembered, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us so that it never happens again.)
Next day, we packed up and hung out at Wawel Hill for a short time before hauling our tired selves back to Poznań via train.
Meandering Meltons 