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The Rynek Glowny, or Market Square, is the most touristy part of Krakow, as confirmed by the Hospitality Club members who met us there. They wanted to get out of the square a.s.a.p. and took us to a quieter and more “Polish” place nearby for drinks.

Being tourists, however, we returned to the Square lots of times during the week, and there was always something to see: the flower market, the drunk British and German tourists, the horse-drawn carriages, the little gypsy boy playing his accordion for money (with a tiny sad-looking puppy who was really the main part of his act), the clapping kids who did sometimes unsuccessful handstands also for money, the break dancers and the fire dancers who were actually quite good.

In the middle of the square is the Sukiennice, or cloth hall.:

It is mostly a tourist trap now, with loads of souvenir booths selling wood carvings (which Ian fell for), embroidered items and Baltic amber (which I fell for).

One of the corners of the square is dominated by the KoÅ›ciół Mariacki, a.k.a. St. Mary’s Basilica. Every hour, a trumpet song plays four times, breaking off in commemoration of a trumpeter who was shot while announcing an invasion of the city:

We visited the church to see the impressive gothic High Altar, built by Veit Stoss:

The weather was unseasonably warm for our first few days in Krakow, so we took full advantage of the many patios around the square. I think our favourite was the place serving 10 PLN deep fried spinach perogies and 6 PLN Zywiec beer (0.5L). Our close second favourite was Gruzińskie Chaczapuri, a chain of restaurants serving the Polish take on Georgian food. We kept going back for their excellent lawasz/lavash-wrapped dishes with yummy garlic sauce. Poland does not have a smoking ban in effect, like Vancouver, Scotland and soon Paris, so eating out was sometimes uncomfortably smoky.