A week after our visit to Wawel Castle we were back on Wawel hill to visit the Katreda Wawelska (Wawel Cathedral) and Muzeum Katedralne (Cathedral Museum).
General admission tickets for the cathedral and museum cost 22 Zł (about $5), good for one visit to each site within 14 days of purchase. Note that these tickets cannot be purchased with castle tickets. The cathedral and museum operate independent of the castle, with different websites and separate ticket offices on Wawel hill.
The line at the cathedral ticket office tends to be long and slow. Your best bet is to buy a cathedral and museum ticket online a few days in advance. Or, as I saw several people do, on your phone while you are standing and waiting in the unmoving ticket office line.
Wawel Cathedral was built between 1320 and 1364. Naturally it has undergone various additions, modifications, alterations, and renovations over the ensuing centuries. The cathedral’s interior is just beautiful, with wonderful stained glass. Too bad the cathedral has a no photo policy (except for the bell tower), which I don’t understand. The lady entering the cathedral just in front of us was not happy about this at all. She snapped at the guard, “What am I supposed to do to remember this, buy a post card?” The guard just shook his head.
Inside the cathedral is a marked one way walking route. The cathedral is not particularly large, so perhaps this helps with crowd flow during the busiest times of the year. After walking down the center of the cathedral to the main alter we were directed towards the bell tower. Neither of us had a strong urge to climb the bell tower, but the guard monitoring the walking route was fairly insistent.
So we got in line to climb the bell tower to see Sigismund’s bell, commissioned by King Sigismund in 1520. And stood there. And kept standing there. Several times I was tempted to jump out of line and tell the guard that I was skipping the bell tower whether he liked it or not. Eventually we started up the stairs in a very, very slow moving line of tourists.
We have never walked up 70 steps so slowly in our lives. Finally, at the top, the answer to the riddle. Taking up almost the entire floor at the top of the bell tower was a tour group which is best described as two guides leading about 20 geriatrics, most holding canes. No wonder we were moving so slowly. I have no idea how some of those folks made it up the steep, narrow stairs.
Realizing what happened, Stephanie and I quickly snapped a few photos of the bell and pushed our way to the exit stairs, to start down before the tour group.
It took us over 30 minutes just to walk up a few flights of stairs to see a large bell. Actually the staircase and wooden support system for the bell tower was more interesting than Sigismund’s bell. We probably would have appreciated it more but for being stuck behind the tour group. A lot of cuss words were being uttered during this time.
After returning to the main level of the cathedral we followed the marked path rather quickly to the exit sign, passed the tourists who stopped to look at the Royal Tombs, and made it out. Total time in the cathedral was just over an hour, including the trip up the bell tower.
Across from the cathedral is the Cathedral Museum, consisting of four rooms: Royal Room (objects relating to the coronation and funerals of Polish monarchs); two rooms of the Cathedral Treasury (religions objects and antiquities from the 1100’s to the present); and, Papal Room (dedicated to Pope John Paul II). As with the cathedral, this museum has a no photo policy. It was small, fairly interesting, and not at all crowded during our 30 minute visit.
The cathedral ticket also includes admission to the Muzeum Archidiecezjalne Kardynała Karola Wojtyły (Archdiocese Museum of Cardinal Karols Wojtyły … a/k/a Pope John Paul II), which is located just down the hill from the cathedral. After the Cathedral Museum we made the five minute walk downhill to the former residence of Pope John Paul II.
I’d describe this museum as part religious art and artifacts (paintings, sculptures, objects) and part personal museum (photographs, clothes, books, desk). It was another somewhat interesting 30 minutes of religious memorabilia.
After several hours in a cathedral and two religious museums, it was time to sample some local delicacies. No, not pierogi (dumplings), kotlet schabowy (fried pork chop), bigos (hunter’s stew), or gołąbki (cabbage rolls). We walked over to the okrąglak, an outdoor food court in Kazimierz with several vendors specializing in zapiekanka, the Polish fast-food sandwich.
Basically zapiekanka is like an open face French bread pizza. It’s cheap (under 20 Zł, less than $5, for a large footlong) but not that fast as they are made to order.
I played it safe and went in the direction of a pepperoni pizza, ordering a Chorizo: marinara sauce; spicy salami; cheese; tomatoes; and, basil sauce. It was great and very filling.
Stephanie, unfortunately, tried to go Mexican, ordering the Loco: chicken; hot sauce; peppers; cheese; chives; and, more hot sauce. It is rare in the United States for anything listed as spicy to be really spicy. Most “spicy” food is basically one step up from mild.
The Loco? Legit five alarm hot, to the point that Stephanie gave up before eating half of it. I took one bite and quit.
We bought a bottle of water to split, but Stephanie drank almost the entire bottle in an effort to tamp down the heat. It didn’t work; we promptly went to a convenience store to pick up some cold beer.
A few days before leaving Kraków we returned for another zapiekanka. This time Stephanie had the good sense to get a Crunchy: cheese; mushrooms; and, fried onions with garlic sauce. Much better.
Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter, is a must visit neighborhood in Kraków. It is popular with locals and tourists alike, and very active and vibrant from morning to evening. Every block has multiple restaurants and cafés with indoor and outdoor seating. Several beer gardens can be found, as well as a few food truck parks.
Every time a local recommended a restaurant to us, it was in Kazimierz. Our favorite is Kuchnia u Doroty. The maczanka po krakowsku (roast pork in loaf and gravy Kraków style) is highly recommended, along with a 0,5L Zywiec.
And yes, we tried pierogi at Pierogi Mr. Vincent. We ordered a tray of mixed pierogi (meats) with fried onions, spicy mayonnaise, and garlic sauce. They were pretty tasty, but not so great that we are planning on having pierogi every week.
There is also a super cool record store in Kazimierz, Paul’s Boutique.
As the weather was generally nice during our stay in Kraków, one afternoon we ventured to the Ogród Botaniczny Uniwersytet Jagielloński (Botanic Garden of the Jagiellonian University). For 15 Zł each (about $3.50), we spent about two hours admiring a nice array of plants and flowers, a few water features, and several greenhouses while walking along trails that afford plenty of shade.
If you need an afternoon away from Kraków’s city center, the botanic garden is worth a visit.
Garrett and Stephanie
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