On the 31st March, 27 members of RTA Kilkenny headed to Dublin airport to fly to Krakow for a 4 night trip. We stayed in the INX Design Hotel in the Kazmierz district.

On day one of our stay the group went on a pre-booked free walking tour with Pawel our guide. He brought us to the Czartoryski Art Museum where Da Vinci’s ‘the Lady with an Ermine’ painting is exhibited, to numerous beautiful churches with hand painted walls and ceilings and to the main square of Krakow and city hall markets. We finished the tour at Wawel Castle, former residence of the King, and Wawel Cathedral. 

Next day, we went our separate ways, strolling along by the Vistula river, visiting some local churches and stopping in some cafes before boarding  a bus to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. A very thought provoking and sobering experience indeed. 

On the Thursday morning, we visited the UNESCO Heritage Salt Mines, the centrepiece of which was a beautiful church 120 metres underground and adorned with salt sculptures of The Last Supper and other biblical scenes. Ari, our guide, gave us a very interesting tour and the history of these world renowned mines.. Some others visited the shrine of the ‘Black Madonna’, a short train journey from Krakow and others visited the Oskar Schlinder factory as depicted in the film ‘Schlinder’s List’. That evening, a few of us attended a ‘Chopin’ piano recital nearby. 

Our last morning was spent  strolling around the Jewish quarter , Kazimierz, visiting the synagogues, stopping for a coffee in Plac Nowy and doing some last minute shopping. The weather was sunny throughout our trip, the magnolia trees were in bloom and all in all we had a wonderful few days in the beautiful city of Krakow.