We started with a quick trip back over to Plac Nowy, as there is supposed to be a flea market with a few antiques on Saturday mornings. We didn't see much difference from week days, but we did poke through a few stalls, but found nothing of great interest. Lots of communist era military medals, etc.
David had read about a church that sounded interesting, so we meandered in that direction. We enjoyed being a bit off the tourist route.
We came to a lovely looking church--Gothic design. We decided to pop in for a look, but the doors were locked. Just as we were walking away, a priest unlocked the doors and invited us in.
The Church of St Catherine
The Church Of St. Catherine is one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in Krakow. It was founded in 1363, but was never fully completed as planned--the facade and two front tower were never built. The interior has been restored several times after floods, earthquakes and fires. The lovely Gothic "bones" remain unchanged, and the beautiful altar piece from the 1600's is being restored. There are also original Gothic murals, and some interesting tombs.
One of the many Gothic murals in the cloister area. This is the first crucifixion portrayal I remember seeing which includes other men being crucified.
Interesting tombs--don't know who, though!
The only stained glass window in St Catherine's:
We were also able to visit the 15th century Gothic cellars, where there was a conveniently located gift shop, small cafe and a WC! But really, it was very interesting.
On the corner of the street next to the church there is an old bell tower building containing a small shop selling religious articles associated with St. Rita. According the the sign outside, St. Rita is the Patroness of Difficult and Impossible Cases. Of course, David is convinced that she must be my very own personal Saint! And yes, I now have a small St. Rita statue.
My personal patron Saint:
After leaving St. Catherine's, we walked along a narrow street bordered by a 12th century wall surrounding St. Michael's Church and Pauline Monastery.
Church of St Michael the Archangel and St Stanislaus:
Statue dedicated to Pope John Paul II
The interior was actually very small, almost cramped feeling. It was given a very Baroque remodel in the 1700's
Yet another memorial and dedication to Pope John Paul II inside the church:
Below the church are the Crypts of the Meritorious, containing tombs of famous Polish writers, composers, artists and scientists. The crypts were added to the church in 1880.
We wandered some more, and saw an interesting shop window with carved wooden animals and angels. I had to take a look, and left with a lovely carved angel holding a heart. She's wonderful!
And look what else I saw--a reminder of my dear friend Donna's two lovely daughters, Janna and SaraBeth:
And then--these reminded me of Dear Bren. They must have moose in Poland?
After all that wandering (miles!) we were hungry, and decided we'd head towards the Food Market Square for some more pork and sauerkraut. Yesterday we were tired of it, but it sounded good today.
Some pretty buildings along the way:
This booth at the food market is always busy, and for good reason!
Smoked boneless ham hock with more of those yummy mushrooms:
David's grilled sausage and red cabbage--tasty:
The view from our lunch table: wonderful!
After our lunch we cruised the vendors in the market. There are a couple of ladies selling beautiful tatting. They tat while they sit and chat--man, do their fingers fly! Deb--you now have a Polish tatted snowflake, made by this lovely lady:
For our favorite neighbor boy, Nathan--you CANNOT hit your sister over the head with this! It's to hang on your wall next to your scary mask from China! Of course, we have a special surprise for Miss Hailey, too. We have two of the SWEETEST neighbor kids ever!
Each time we are at the food market, we look at this dessert--today we decided to give it a try. They are filled with goat cheese, and topped with jam. They were gross, and we spit it right out--ick. At little too "goat-ish" for me! But they looked soooo good...........
There's been different entertainment on the stage for each of our visits to the market. These were just the cutest little girls singing and dancing:
After we finished our shopping in the market, we roamed around some streets south of the market. We saw this lovely building, a theatre built in the late 1800's.
The Juliusz Slawacki Theater:
The faces all around the dome were funny:
By now it was late afternoon, and we'd been walking all day! We decided we'd head back to our apartment and relax for a couple of hours before dinner. We took a new route through one of the pretty parks:
For dinner we chose to have Italian again, this time at the lovely Portofino Bistro, where they make that "bests ever" mulled wine. It's just around the corner from our apartment, and the same nice waitress welcomed us, and asked if we were there for our nightly hot wine! We enjoyed a lovely dinner of two pasta dishes--both were absolutely delicious, with my pasta with pesto being just a bit better. The friendly and warm service here is outstanding, too.
David's gnocci with Gorgonzola sauce:
And yes, I enjoyed a hot mulled wine--just to warm me of for the walk home, of course!
Another wonderful day in Krakow, I'm going to miss this place.
Tomorrow in Krakow: Sadly, it's our last day in this lovely city. We have plans for a morning antique and flea market, and then there's the beer festival!
Thank you so much god the tatted snowflake- I will treasure it:)
ReplyDeleteNate says THANKS! You are the best neighbor ever!
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