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Been gone from the board for a while being busy at work then spending 18 days in Poland.

The conclusion, everyone should visit Krakow. Phenomenal city with 1000 year old Wawel Castle and Cathedral set high on a hill overlooking the city. Lots of history and charm. Just thought you all should know.

Did I miss anything big?

only that stag changed his avitar and then blamed me, league and C-B-C for the whole thing...........

Any pictures?..........

I'll try to get some up this weekend. I have some pretty good ones.

Spent a month in Krakow a little over a year ago (thru the holidays). My wife and I are going to plan another trip there soon. Did you go to Zakopane? (the beutiful European ski-resort city-right on the Poland-Czech boarder). Did you see the Auswich camps?
I really enjoyed it there. Took me 4-5 days to get used to the 7 hour time difference. I tried to go to sleep at 11:00pm the first several nights. For me it was 4:00 afternoon-and I'm trying to go to sleep for the night. I ended up staring at the ceiling for hours in bed.
Won't be around too much for the next week, but I'd like to hear about your experience.

I'd love to visit Europe, staying away from the "usual" - Paris, Rome, London, etc. I'd rather take a trip seeing places like Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Belgrade, Prague, etc. I know they get some tourism, but not as much as the normal stops most "Americans" visit. I'd also like to visit Normandy and pay my respects. When I travel, I enjoy getting off the beaten path, meeting the locals, eating where they eat, getting the region's real flavor.

I had a blast while stationed in Korea, and while in the Phillipines. And as a youngster in South Africa we took several trips throughout the country to try to absorb as much as possible.

Thanks, DCGolfFreak for bringing back the memories and the urge to see other parts of the world!

I didn't make it down to Zakopane. My wife is Polish though, so we'll be making a trip almost annually. Rather than trying to see it all this trip we thought we would do one piece at a time. Zakopane is on our list, we just didn't make it this time.

I did go to Auschwitz and Birkenau. Aushwitz is much smaller than I thought it would be, but Birkenau was huge. Very sad, and very frightening.

We also took a brief trip over to see Wieliczka Salt Mine, which was a pretty unique site. Its an old salt mine that they have carved into a work of art, including a huge chapel.

Wawel Castle is definitely the highlight though.

Krakow was a wonderful, little city. It gets its fair share of tourism, but not to the extent that you would see in a Rome or Paris.

Normandy is quite a place, hopefully you'll make it over. I got to see it on a trip a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The cemetary is a somber place, but is kept in pristine condition, a fitting tribute to our Heroes of years past. I recommend staying in the town of Bayeux, which was the first city liberated by the push into Normandy. You can also check out the famous Bayeux Tapestry while you're there.

Where did you go in South Africa? I loved Cape Town and the area along the N2. Did you make it up to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls?

I'll keep the travel tips in mind!

We actually lived in S.A. for 18 months, about 400km NE of Johannesburg, in a small town called Phalaborwa. This was back in 1975-77, so in some ways it was a different country than it is now. But we were just a couple of km from Kruger National Park, and we took trips into the park almost every other weekend. We also motored down to Cape Town, visiting the Kimberly diamond mines along the way, then back up along the coast to Durban, up to Swaziland, and back up through the Transvaal. We never made it north to the Falls. There are a lot of natural wonders in S.A. - so much to see and so little time!

If I ever aquire the means, I'd love to return to S.A. and take my children. It's definitely someplace everyone should experience, if possible!

I spent a month in South Africa traveling after I graduated from School. My Uncle had lived in Sandton, right outside of Jo-burg. I was actually in Johannesburg when Thabo Mbeki was elected to replace Mandela. I got up to Kruger for a Safari and stopped by and played Sun City while I was in the area too. South Africa was a great place.

OK all, the pics are up of my time in Krakow. Hope you all enjoy them. This is my first time posting images, so sorry if I did something wrong and no one can see them.

Your pictures are really good! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

My wife is Polish also. We went to Krakow, Poland to spend time with her family and friends. Wawel Castle was a treasure to see. And yes, we went to the Wieliczka salt mines. We took video of much of the tour. I couldn't resist "tasting" the walls.
We went to a traditional Polish wedding of her first cousin in a very old church in Rzezov- 2 hours east of krakow and spent the weekend there.

Everywhere I went-Vodka. Was it the same with you? We went to dinner at many of her friends residences, and they always put a bottle or two on the table. We would have to drink it straight out of shot glasses. They never use ice - nor do they mix it with anything. Did you notice how hard it is to get ice in Poland! When I got back to the States, I was immune to the effects. I'm off it now.

Definitely get to Zakopane on your next visit. Get a hotel room right on the streets for the weekend. It's loaded with restaurants, shops, and merchants.
I'm looking forward to all the things to do at Market Square on our next visit.

Where did you stay? We stayed way up in the mountains- with the Highlanders.

Awesome city! Kick's Prague's behind, in my opinion.

We'll make it up to Zakopane. Maybe not the next trip (we might go to Warsaw), but we'll make it there. I actually wouldn't mind moving to Krakow and have mentioned it to my wife. We may toss the idea around later this year.

I drank a little Vodka, but not a whole lot. My mother-in-law is fond of Raspberry Liqueur, so we drank a lot of that. Her Grandmother made her own wine, so we drank that too. A lot of the neighbors and family wanted to try Bourbon though (I'm a Kentucky boy and brought some as a gift), so we drank that. And tea. A lot of tea.

There is no ice in Europe, I knew that going in. I'm pretty use to drinking things without ice though, so it wasn't a big bother. Her family was nice enough to get a couple ice trays for me, since they knew I liked ice.

In Krakow we rented an apartment for a few days right of the Planty. It was a few minutes walk to Market Square and about 10 minutes to Wawel. Definitely the way to go, much cheaper than getting a hotel.