THREE DAYS OF RAIN

To anyone who knows me, Krakow is no stranger to me. It is one of my favourite places in which to simply chill out. Hard to explain but the place just suits me, even with its sad wartime history it now has a kind of laid back charm with all the rather shabby streets, where you can find the friendly coffee shops in the old Kazimierz district to Wawel Castle standing high above the Vistula River. 

My route to Krakow never changes. From Pilsen to Prague and on to Cesky Tesin, all by train. After about a 20 minute walk from the czech side to the Polish part of this long partitioned town I arrive at the bus station to catch one the regular buses to Krakow. There are trains from Prague to Krakow but I think my route is quicker and cheaper. The bus costs 20 PLN and the train from Prague is about 350 Czech crowns. 

Krakow has become more and more popular over the past few years, leading to a plethora of hostels and hotels with prices for all pockets. Hostel Bookers is the site I nearly always use. The advent of internet booking has made these hostels a booming industry.

But onto this latest trip to Krakow, there is sadly little to say because it rained almost continuously for all three days. This was part of the weather system that inundated Serbia, causing massive flooding. The river in Cesky Tesin had changed to a raging beast four days after I had crossed it in dry sunny weather. 

The Atlantis Hostel is well situated between the Old Jewish district and the centre with the castle. This trip, limited by the excess of falling water, was made much more bearable by the company of interesting travellers staying there with me. I normally like to turn in quite early but this time never got to bed much before 2 am. 

So that is about it as far as this short visit goes. The afternoon as I arrived was sunny and warm but..........

The first evening before the rain came.