Kraków, Rynek Glówny, Market Place

During our first visit to Poland, the country was still under the control of the Communist Government, and as we drove to downtown Kraków, we didn’t know which looked the most gloomy, the weather, the town, or its people. So depressing. We rarely saw people smile. We found a parking place and walked toward the city square and saw the very interesting Cathedral, and Sukiennice (The Cloth Hall), the building in the market square filled with small shops selling a variety of items. As we approached the Cathedral, we heard the famous Kraków bugle call -- the "Hejnal Mariacki" -- for the first time.

On our second visit, six years later, we found a parking place within 100 feet of where we parked the first time we were here, then walked the few blocks into the Market Place. The first store of interest was the book store. We look for copies of “Gone with the Wind” in various languages to add to Daughter Linda’s collection, and they had the three volume paperback Polish version in this store. As a matter of fact, one copy was in the window! Linda’s collection now includes the book in Polish, German, French, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Japanese, Czech, Spanish, and of course English.