When I was starting my trip report I thought I could fit it into one posting, obviously I couldn't. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy reading other posters' reports. I just wanted to bullet a few thoughts and opinions on Poland:
Kraków - very compact, very walkable, very friendly. Much to see and do. 6 days there and we missed quite a lot on our list. Highlight, pierogi making class.
Wroclaw - nice, small city, again, very walkable and lovely people. Highlight, panoramic battle picture
GDANSK - a surprise. Reminded us of Amsterdam. Larger then we thought and many, many lovely churches and museums. Highlight, solidarity museum and St. Bridget's Church with amber altar.
Warsaw - very large, cosmopolitan city, inexpensive cabs a plus for getting around. Highlight, Warsaw Uprising Museum.
Poland is very, very inexpensive. I will use the word cheap, even thoughmy mother always frowned upon that word, sorry mom. Because it was so cheap, I know we over tipped many times. But we just couldn't help ourselves, people were so nice and some went out of their way to help us. The people have a very rich history, unfortunately, most of it is sad. But, they do not seem to be the type to sit and wallow, they get up, get together, and move forward. They have a work ethic I haven't witnessed in a long time. If you are a Catholic, practicing or not, you can't help but feel the spiritually of its people. We attended Mass 3 times while there and enjoyed it immensely. it was the same feeling we had in Rome. And don't forget the donuts. Please try them if you go to Poland at the place we frequented, Stara Paczkarnia and tell me you didn't like them. The milk bars offer great, cheap, fast meals. Some had English translation, others we just pointed. We really enjoyed every meal we ate. The only two things we didn't like were their soft ice cream and cheesecake.
We didn't get to many of the sights on our list. For us it is a catch 22 because we travel often with my cousin and her husband. They do not know how to pack light, but after this last trip said they will try harder. He has a heart problem and does not do stairs well and moves slower then on our last trip 2 years ago. We are 61 and they are 67 and those 6 years make a difference. We found though on this last trip we liked the slower pace we adopted because of our travel buddies. And, they are such a joy to travel with - easy going, lets me do all the planning, travels in high season because I have to, tries any local cuisine, generous to a fault (money is no issue for them), picks up tabs because I do all the pre-work, and most important they are FUN to be around. So yeah, we missed the DiVinci in Kraków, and the WWII museum in GDANSK, and the Polish uprising museum in Warsaw, but the trade off is worth it. Hopefully we will get back to Poland off season, after retirement, and enjoy the sights we missed. Our next trip together is Lisbon during February school break. Looking forward to Lisbon trip reports for fellow posters.
Thanks for reading.
Barbara