{"id":3694,"date":"2015-09-07T11:24:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T16:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3694"},"modified":"2015-09-07T11:24:28","modified_gmt":"2015-09-07T16:24:28","slug":"european-vacation-day-11-arriving-in-krakow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3694","title":{"rendered":"European Vacation: Day 11 Arriving in Krakow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our last morning in Germany came without event.\u00a0 We woke up to bright sunshine.\u00a0 This was a sad day for us.\u00a0 We had enjoyed our time in Germany so much.\u00a0 As I knew would happen, I wouldn\u2019t want to leave.<\/p>\n

We went down for breakfast and then let them know we would be leaving soon so they could bring the car up to the hotel.\u00a0 All too soon, we had packed the car and pulled out of Rothenburg through the old gate.\u00a0 We were headed back to Frankfurt and the airport.<\/p>\n

I had allowed time for construction and other obstacles to delay us.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t really the time after all.\u00a0 I would like to have looked around Rothenburg more, but we had really seen most of it the day before.<\/p>\n

We managed to find the car rental return without the help of the navi.\u00a0 She wanted to take us way out of our way instead of right down into the airport.\u00a0 We found her and won.\u00a0 The Sixt rental place was well marked.\u00a0 We got the OK to leave the car and gathered our cases to head up to the terminal.<\/p>\n

We crowded onto the elevator to leave the garage and go up to the terminal floor.\u00a0 As the elevator rocked a bit, Rich said, \u201cIt\u2019s not an Otis.\u201d\u00a0 One of the girls laughed and repeated him.\u00a0 Otis is a German name for the guy in New York who stated the company.<\/p>\n

In the terminal, we recognized where we had gone to pick up the car.\u00a0 We walked to Terminal 1 to find out gate.\u00a0 At the security point, we had to do the normal checks.\u00a0 We put the computers into their own bins and took off all the necessary stuff.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing how different each airport is.\u00a0 Rich had to take off his hat and hand it to the inspector to pass through.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t happen in the U.S.<\/p>\n

I had forgotten about water bottles in my carry on from our road trip.\u00a0 I had to go with an inspector to one of the stations to review what these were.\u00a0 I let him take the bottles rather than complain.\u00a0 There was no point in being a problem child about it.<\/p>\n

We got through security and put our stuff back together.\u00a0 Then we wandered down to the gate for our flight.\u00a0 After a bit, we got hungry and went off to look for food.\u00a0 This included the last beer we would have on this leg of the journey.\u00a0 After lunch, we went through one of the Duty Free Shops looking for chocolate.\u00a0 I bought a bag of Toblerone minis.\u00a0 I love this brand of chocolate.<\/p>\n

Back at the gate, we had a couple of hours.\u00a0 People started to come into the area and wait also.\u00a0 Finally, the flight was being called and we went up to pass through the gate.\u00a0 We had walk down a set of stairs and found a bus waiting for us.\u00a0 It was pretty confusing.\u00a0 Hope they weren\u2019t driving us to Krakow.<\/p>\n

We circled around the tarmac and drove up to a plane.\u00a0 We were going to have to get off the bus and walk up a staircase!\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had to do that in years.\u00a0 Both doors of the plane were open and people were filing in both ways.<\/p>\n

We got on board and found our seats.\u00a0 There was a young girl sitting in the window seat.\u00a0 Luckily, the seats were comfy with lots of room.\u00a0 I sat in the middle and Rich was on the aisle.\u00a0 The only issue was that we were delayed in taking off.\u00a0 We sat on the tarmac waiting for word that we could leave.<\/p>\n

Finally, we took off into the blue skies.\u00a0 The attendants came around with kuchen in a bag and offered us drinks.\u00a0 We had water from the airport with us so we weren\u2019t took thirsty.\u00a0 Rich was able to have his afternoon coffee on the plane.<\/p>\n

The flight didn\u2019t seem to take that long.\u00a0 Pretty soon, we were circling Krakow for a landing.\u00a0 The skies were gray and there was raining coming down.\u00a0 Again, we got onto a bus and driven to the terminal.\u00a0 Turns out, they were renovating the terminals and we were taken to a temporary place to pick up our bags.<\/p>\n

When we came through the arrival gate, Marcin and Aneta were standing in the hallway.\u00a0 It was a great surprise to see them there.\u00a0 We hugged and talked for a minute.\u00a0 I could see our driver with a sign showing my name.\u00a0 We promised to meet up for dinner at our hotel.<\/p>\n

We met with our driver, Pawel, and he took us out to the van.\u00a0 After loading the luggage and getting settled, Pawel zoomed off.\u00a0 They drive really fast in Krakow.\u00a0 I was highly impressed and it takes a lot to do that with me.\u00a0 I was watching the scenery fly by and trying to take in all I could see.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t look that much different from Germany.<\/p>\n

Pawel maneuvered all around the small cars.\u00a0 I was amazed at how he negotiated into tight spots.\u00a0 Finally, we pulled through the old wall and up to the front door of our hotel.\u00a0 We thanked him for the ride and confirmed our next trip on Tuesday morning.\u00a0 Inside, the front desk got our room keys and explained the status for breakfast.<\/p>\n

We rode the tiny elevator up to the second floor, which is technically the third floor if you are in the U.S.\u00a0 We found our room and went in.\u00a0 I had expected the room to be small, but it was really small.\u00a0 Oh well, we just need a place to sleep.\u00a0 We don\u2019t really need to live in the room.<\/p>\n

Marcin had said he had a reservation at the restaurant he wanted to go to for 8:00.\u00a0 About 7:30, we went down to talk to the front desk about some details.\u00a0 Marcin and Aneta showed up.\u00a0 We went out to the car and started out for the old Jewish section.\u00a0 This section was becoming converted to restaurants and entertainment.\u00a0 The place Marcin had picked out was called Dawno Ne Tatum Ne Kazimeriz, or Once Upon a Time in Kazimeriz.<\/p>\n

It was originally four tiny shops in the Jewish community for the butcher, tailor, woodworking, and grocer.\u00a0 The walls had been knocked down for the restaurant.\u00a0 They had left the inside pretty much as it was to give it character.\u00a0 It was very nice and very cute.\u00a0 The food was excellent.\u00a0 Rich had lamb shank, Marcin had fish, Aneta had Jewish stew, and I just had pierogi.<\/p>\n

We talked and talked about work, what\u2019s happening with us, about Rick, and a lot of other things.\u00a0 Rich tried Buffalo Grass liquor, which apparently tastes bad and requires apple juice.\u00a0 I had warm honey beer, which came with whipped cr\u00e8me and cinnamon.\u00a0 It was very tasty.<\/p>\n

Time to leave and Marcin drove around the city for a bit to show us some of the sites.\u00a0 In the dark, you couldn\u2019t see much and it was confusing to drive around with the one-way streets.\u00a0 There are street cars that still go up and down.\u00a0 We talked about how to drive around with these in the way.\u00a0 It is a bit tricky.<\/p>\n

Finally back at our hotel, we said good-bye and went up to bed.\u00a0 I posted a few pictures to Facebook, but was so tired.\u00a0 Time to drift off to sleep yet another night.\u00a0 Welcome to Krakow.<\/p>\n

\"Double<\/a>
Double decker plane at the gate next to us in Frankfurt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich walking up the stairs to board the plane to Krakow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Marcin<\/a>
Marcin and Aneta at dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joy<\/a>
Joy and Rich at dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Aneta<\/a>
Aneta and Joy at dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our last morning in Germany came without event.\u00a0 We woke up to bright sunshine.\u00a0 This was a sad day for us.\u00a0 We had enjoyed our time in Germany so much.\u00a0 As I knew would happen, I wouldn\u2019t want to leave. We went down for breakfast and then let them know we would be leaving soon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3694"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3700,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3694\/revisions\/3700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}