Eastern Europe 2015: Day 4 Krakow [[ Wawel Castle + Kazimierz, Jewish District + Galica Museum + Hero Square + Oskar Schindler's Factory]]

Woke early and headed to the train station's Piekarnia for our breakfast before making our way to the Wawel castle. This Piekarnia (aka bakery), offers a wide range of baked items and also coffee and tea. Unlike Singapore, the breads were pretty huge. I had some difficulties finishing one although it was delicious.

Wawel Castle is unexpectedly prettier and fairy tale like in real life. However, it does looked restored. Wawel castle do not really have a rich history as it was constantly being destroyed and rebuilt over the long historical years. It is a castle built mainly as the home to the different ruling royalties during the various era.

We were there slightly later than planned and were unable to get the tickets to the attractions. Queues were snake long and since there were limited slots available per day for entry into the different exhibit halls, many of the popular attractions were sold out by 10.30am.

Not getting into any attractions didn't stop us from enjoying our excursion! We had a great time strolling through the open areas and gardens, admiring the beautiful architecture and scenic surroundings. :)

Wawel Castle:
Address: Wawel 5, 31 -001 Krakow Poland

We were done with cam whoring around the castle in about two hours. Hence, if visiting the attractions, probably a full day is required for exploring Wawel castle.

Kazimierz which is often known as the Jewish Quarter was next on our to go for the day. The Kazimierz district plays a great part in Krakow history as it was occupied by the Christians and Jewish community for many centuries.

Hence, we were here purely for one reason: to visit the Galicia museum.

After walking and exploring the Jewish District while finding our way to the Galicia Museum, we unknowingly stumbled upon a white building which happened to be the museum! Honestly, the building was so normal that we might have missed it if not for Mr Kwek's kpo-ness, reading the stuff plastered to the walls!

Galicia Jewish Museum:
Dajwor 18, 31-052 Krakow, Poland

The Galicia museum was smaller than expected. In fact, puny might be the word to describe it considering it is a museum. In all honesty, we were a little disappointed at first sight. However, the puny musuem proved us wrong! Our short visit left us with much take away from the Jewish history.

Displayed in a chrological order, the photographs and the short write up of each phrase in the Jewish history was neatly depicted. Somehow, the Galicia musuem successfully teleported us back in time. Reading the short write ups and looking at the photos, we were able to feel the anguish of the Jewish then and the generations then after.

This is one musuem, me as a non-history buffer, will highly recommend! :)

After a well spent hour and a half in the musuem, we left to make our way to the Oskar Schindler's factory.

We strolled along the river and passed the Ghetto Hero Square before arriving at the Oskar Schindler's factory.

The Oskar Schindler's Factory used to be a factory that was set up by a German General (aka Oskar Schindler) to save the Jewish.  Oskar Schindler was said to be a member of the Nazi who went against all odds to save the Jewish during the Holocaust.

An enamel factory which started with a profit making agenda soon became a hide out for the Jewish. Oskar Schindler, whom came to know the suffering of the Jewish, became empathetic towards them, decided to use his factory as a disguise to save the Jewish.

On the surface, the Jewish were deployed from the concentration camp to become free labors for the factory. However, beneath the disguise, these Jewish were well fed and even protected from being executed.

To further protect his Jewish employees from raids, Oskar Schindler started giving bribes to the Nazi. Hence, Oskar Schindler is given much credit for saving the most lifes of Jewish during the Holocaust.

The Oskar Schindler's factory today showcase the history of Oskar Schindler's life, the invasion of the Nazi and the Jewish life within the factory. Although much bigger than the Galicia Museum, the history depicted within the factory was a tact messy. Perhaps, information overloaded! Still, it was a pretty good museum with much more sophisticated set up!

Oskar Schindler's Factory:
Lipowa 4, 30-702, Krakow Poland

After visiting two museums in a day, we decided to head back to Krakow main square for some leisure sight-seeing. To Mr Kwek's delight, we were greeted with a cycling event! 

We were surprised at how fast the event set up was done overnight since we were there on the previous day and there were no clues of any event taking place the next day.

Sports booth of all kind were set up around the main square. Mostly merchandises of the event were on sales. We joined the crowd to watch and cheer on the cyclists for awhile before heading off to the mall for our dinner. 

Although not knowing any cyclists, Mr Kwek was happy to be witnessing the event! Lol. Is this how guys work? 

By early evening, we were back to our favourite shopping mall for some good air conditioning facility! We had a simple dinner at the foodcourt before heading down to look for some sweet treats!

We spotted this candied nuts shop and headed in to get some nuts. I got us some brazil candied nuts to share. Surprisingly good but expensive for the 100g.  So with this, we concluded our hot and hectic day. Nothing beats heading back to our bnb and having a good cold shower!

Next, we will be visiting a concentration camp. Awesomely interesting but was one of the hottest day we experienced this summer! 

Eastern Europe 2015: Day 1 Berlin [[ Sony Center + Toppertory of Terror + Charlie Checkpoint + East Side Gallery + Museum Island + Berlin Dome + Curry wrust + Vapiano ]]Eastern Europe 2015: Day 2 Berlin [[ Reichstag + Brandenburg Gate + Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe + Unter den Linden + Gendarmen Market]]

Eastern Europe 2015 Day 3 Krakow [[ Main Square + Cloth Hall + St. Mary Church + KoKo + Galeria Mall]]
Eastern Europe 2015: Day 5 Krakow [[ Auschwit Concentration Camp ]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 6 Prague [[ Leo Express + Bredovsky Dvur + Main Square + Old Town + Charles Bridge]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 7 Prague [[Astronomical Clock Show + Old Town Hall Tower + Jewish District + Powder Tower + Manufaktura + Lokal + Kredenc]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 8 Prague [[Prague Castle + Petrin Hill]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 9 Budapest [[Market Square + Chain Bridge]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 10 Budapest [[Parliament House + Memorial of the Russian Army + St Stephan Basalica + Hero Square + Szechenyi Thermal Bath]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 11 Budapest [[Castle Hill]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 12 Berlin