Another 600 km to drive to Krakow from Berlin. We were up for an early start, but in our search for some art galleries and with the universe definitely not on our side that morning, we left Berlin around half past 1 pm.
2/3 done, we stopped for late lunch/early dinner in beautiful Wroclaw and found the most amazing PIEROGI place. Yes we did eat them every day. (Later on in Krakow we were considered locals as we knew by the night of our first day there, where the 24h pierogi place was).
Poland is probably the one of the only places where you can eat out in mid-old-town and still feel it was quite cheap.
Parking on the other hand is not. It is not expensive for a few hours, but their overall system is quite bad, while needing to leave our car on one spot for several days we still needed to pay the metered parking. Another option would've been 24h guarded parking lots, which were more expensive.
In Wroclaw tho, we only needed a spot for an hour, as quite in a hurry, drove straight to old town, found a spot quickly, by what time it was, figured it's free and were wondering how there was this open space. While coming back from dinner, the first thing we saw from far away, was the sign saying a car will be towed if parked there. Thank You cops for not being at a right place at a right time for once!
While it was getting dark and I was doing 140 on a highway, the car gave us a flat tire warning. Were already prepared to change a tire at a side of the road, when luckily found a gas station, checked the tires and the pressure. everything was normal-ish. With the help of the manual figured out that "sporty way of driving" may have disturbed the system and it needed a restart. This sporty way of driving was caused by the most horrible road I've been on in a long time. When crossing the border from Germany to Poland, there was about 30+ km-s of very bumpy concrete.
Krakow:
Beers with a view. Were classy-ish with Julio and his friends at a rooftop bar.
Wieliczka Salt Mine.
The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 metres and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling granite and appears in many interesting forms. The tourist route is about 3,5 km long and we could go down to level 3. (Altogether there are 9 levels) So we basically saw about 2 % of the mines. There are statues, chapels, huge hallways and ballrooms crafted out of salt, underground lakes and rivers. It has a mystical aura and is worth the long line to get in. We also got lucky with a very sarcastically funny tour guide.
Auschwitz - Birkenau concentration camps. This is a place I wouldn't go back. My hard broke when I got there. Knowing the facts is one thing, but reading them over and over while being on the spot is another.
On a more positive note, I would definitely go back to Krakow. A city that deserves more credit and recognition. It has these good vibes as well!
Got to attend a Couchsurfing weekly meet-up in yet another country.
On our very last day we moved out from our friends apartment and got our own. Rented a place for a day and it was even prettier than I expected. Can I own it, please.
While almost out of town around 5pm Lucas innocently asked if we made it to Zakrzovek. That it's the most beautiful part of Krakows surroundings. So we had to go. No worries, that we wanted to drive more than 200 km-s.
It was a cherry on top and a beautiful conclusion. As we started driving way after 7 pm, got caught in a terrible traffic jam and saw 3 accidents on the road, we took an exit to a random town after 100 km-s and stayed the night.
In Latvia there was some kind of a protest going on, at least not on our side of the road.
On our last day we started driving at the same time with this car from a gas station in Kaunas, Lithuania. We ended up driving after him several times during the day, losing it many times, making random stops, having an hour-long dinner. And while almost at home near Tallinn, Estonia, 574 km later, this car was in front of us again.
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