Day 2: Wawel Palace

Thursday, May 6---This morning we moved from Kosmopolita Guest Rooms to Hotel Atrium (a bit nicer accomodations and super breakfasts).  Our rooms were ready for us so we could settle in.  Everything is light and bright and a happy contrast to Kosmopolita and its construction on Dluga St. Students are happy to be able to have their "permanent" rooms, mostly in one wing of the hotel.

Then we walked up to the Wawel to the castle where we met our guide from yesterday, Barbara.  She actually works as a guide in the Wawel Palace too.  So we'll go through the palace public rooms with a pro.  It's quite a trudge up the hill; as we walk up, on our left is a wall with plaques that commemorate the donors to the renovation of the Wawel which suffered a lot of damage during Austrian occupation---a military garrison was there until 1911.  Rising up above the wall is a glorious statue to Tadeusz Kosciuszko, hero of the American revolution and the Cracow uprising of 1794.  At the top of the hill the open area between the palace and the cathedral buildings---usually a grassy space with the outlines of the most ancient church foundations still visible---is now undergoing renovation.  Like so much in Krakow this year.  Barbara says that repairs had been put off for a couple of years and now everything has scaffolding and fencing and signs of repair work.
The Palace means the royal residence in the castle which was transformed from Gothic to Renaissance in the 16th century with a 3-story arcaded inner courtyard. The official rooms once housed the Chamber of Deputies (Polish parliament or Sejm) and the Senate. On the ground floor is the Governor's suite; on the 2nd floor we saw the Tournament Hall, the Envoys or Deputies' Room, the Planet Room, the Bird Room with its cordovan leather walls, the Eagle Room, and the Senators' Hall.

Dinner at CKBrowar ("The Imperial and Royal Brewery"); our tables have reservation signs with Amanda's name on them---they are expecting us!  The food is surprisingly good: wonderful light schnitzel, roasted potatoes, and of course beer. A real hit are the pipes of beer with spigots for the drinkers.