Third Day: Krakow (5/25)

  On the third day, we "rose again in accordance with the Scriptures" to our first sunny day in Poland. At 7 A.M., we walked back to the Rynek and took pictures of the St. Mary's Church and visited the Cloth Hall, where we bought a few souvenirs, including a much-needed scarf for myself. Later, we trekked to the university district before returning to our hotel for a day trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mines.
  After a brief drive out of the city, we stood in line among Russian, French, and Italian tourists to see the Salt Mine, which was built in the 13th century and continues to produce table salt today. Still, we weren't there to look at salt production or lick the walls--which you can do. Instead, we took in the sculptures, like the King Kazimierz and the cathedral, which were carved out of salt by the miners. Our tour guide spoke to us through a mic, which we heard thru headsets, and by the end, he curtly dismissed us and left us stranded to find a lift and our way back thru town.
  Later that afternoon, we returned to Krakow. Finally learning how to use the tram, it was back to the Rynek, where we took in some Polish beer (Okocim) before our dinner. We ate at Pod Aniolami or "Under the Angels" and feasted on exquisite duck and boar dishes. "Smalec," the traditional Polish dish of bacon-infused lard, was also used for spread. Lard-o'-licious.
  With dinner out of the way, we hit the Kazimierz district to see an ironic bar called Propaganda. Here we saw Soviet-era posters with old communist slogans and tried the local "tatanka" cocktail: Zubrowka vodka (bison grass), lime, and apple juice. On the trip back to the hotel, we took some more photos of the Rynek at night and stopped into a vodka bar, where we tried "wisniowka" and overheard a local drunk warn someone (and to us indirectly) that Vienna was not worth visiting.