Greetings from Krakow

Well, I've finally made it here.

Went to check out KS Cracovia's ground this afternoon. There's not much to see but I paid a visit to the club shop. Didn't have time to get to Wisla Krakow's ground (yet) as I headed over to the Oscar Schindler Factory museum.

HAve drunk too many cheap pints of Tyskie and Warka (£1.25 a pint!) and have now found a craft ale bar called Strefa Piwa Pub on a road called Josef in the old Jewish quarter.

My plan for going to see St Pauli in Hamburg has gone pear shaped, but more of that later.

I'm just about surviving after only 3 hours sleep last night, but I've got an earlier start than planned tomorrow, but more of that later too!

P.S wish I could post photos on this stupid forum!  

Hope you're enjoying Krakow, it's a lovely city. If you get the chance, do try to get to a match. I see Cracovia are at home on Saturday pm ko 2.30. It was a great atmosphere when I went , despite the basic facilities. A bit like going to the Den in the 70s!

Went to Auschwitz-Birkenau yesterday. We'll worth the trip, but very sad.

Didn't get to Wisla Krakow's ground.

Can't believe how cheap Krakow was - I kept on thinking I was getting ripped off but did my sums wrong! Had a nice meal in a restaurant of pierogi that only cost about £5, and I went to a bar where I got a glass of Warka beer and a vodka for £1.75.

Had a long train journey today - Krakow to Warsaw and then Warsaw to Berlin. Both trains had a buffet car that sold Zywiec which helped to kill a bit of time!

Was contemplating going to see Hertha v Dortmund tomorrow at the Olympic Stadium, but I have a better plan! ;-)

Matt_1376 wrote:Went to Auschwitz-Birkenau yesterday. We'll worth the trip, but very sad.

Yes, a very harrowing place but a necessary reminder to everyone of what man is capable of. The only downside of my visit was the sight of fast food joints near the entrance!

A pity you didn't get to Wisla's ground. Far more upmarket than Cracovia's, but on a wonderful tram ride through the suburbs.

Do enjoy Berlin. If you get the chance, do visit the museum dedicated to the 1936 Olympics. You can stand on the balcony where Hitler delivered his infamous speech and get a great view of the imposing Olympic Stadium, just down the hill.

I headed off to Kopunick this morning where FC Union are based. Took me a while to find the club shop in the shopping arcade by the S-Bahn station, but eventually found it and bought a FC Union baseball cap.

By the way, I've been wearing my new Bath City baseball cap ever since I landed in Krakow, and it hasn't raised an eyebrow.

I set off to find the FC Union ground in the forest (I think Hacksaw has been to a game there!), but then I took a wrong turn and got completely lost. I remembered that my daily Tageskarte for zones A and B was also valid on the trams, so I caught one, but it went in the opposite direction of the ground and I ended up at Kopunick Rathuis in the old town.

I ended up in a bar and then decided to head back to the centre of Berlin. The S-Bahn was full of Hertha and Dortmund supporters going to the last game of the season at the Olympic Stadium. I decided not to follow them and instead checked out the Treptower Park by the Spree, and a bit further up, the only surviving watch tower from the Berlin Wall in Schlesischeur Busch.

Then I ended up going to the tourist traps of Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag again (I was here 2 years ago) then I went to my favourite beer garden in the Tiergarten and saw the Dortmund team coach parked up outside a Novotel by the S-Bahn station.


Hamburg tomorrow....

Forgot to mention the very moving museum dedicated to the Holocaust in central Berlin - we'd had a long day sight seeing and popped in for what we assumed would be just a few minutes. We were still in there 3 hours later...

Hamburg was interesting, mainly because the hotel which I booked with 9 months ago weren't expecting me! But I eventually got in, even though they doubled the rate to €50!

My friend from Meldorf couldn't meet up, and the St Pauli match I was originally planned on going to had sold out. So I headed to St Pauli anyway and found a bar off the Reeperbahn that was showing the game on TV. After watching a 2-2 draw, and paying €9 for 3 bottles of Becks (Hamburg is actually more expensive than Berlin!) I caught the S Bahn down to the harbour and went to Miniatur Wunderland (Google it and watch the vids on YouTube - Powell, you would love this place!).

Then I discovered by accident the Groninger Privatbrauerei on Willy Brandt Stra. and had a couple of beers brewed on the premises!

To be continued with....

...a 8 hour train journey from Hamburg to Rotterdam, via Amsterdam. ;-)