Krakow - The Cultural Capital of Poland
(program proposal)

DAY 1
CRACOW [D]
Group's arrival to Cracow. Meeting your guide at the Balice Airport and transfer to Forum Hotel. Check-in and time to relax. Short orientation walk through the Market Square.
Welcome dinner at a local restaurant with welcome reception.

DAY 2
CRACOW [ B, D]
CRACOW OF THE KINGS
Morning departure for half day tour of Cracow, the fascinating city and "Cultural Capital of Europe 2000". Visiting Wawel Hill with its Castle - the residence of Polish kings and the Cathedral - the coronation church. The tapestry collection of Sigismund Augustus - 138 tapestries of various size and character. Visit to the Cathedral, the place of the cult of St. Stanislaw and of Queen of Poland St. Jadwiga. It is also a true national Pantheon of Polish kings. Drive to the Old Town with the Main Market Square with magnificent houses and palaces. In the middle of the square is the Cloth Hall built before 1349, but altered in the 16th century. Inside are many shopping stalls where you can by amber, wooden works and souvenirs typical for this region. Also in the square is the magnificent extensive Gothic Church of Our Lady with the famous wooden altar created by Wit Stwosz. Visit to the Polish Art Gallery at Sukiennice - the best Polish paintings. Dinner at famous Wierzynek restaurant - in 1364, a town councillor called Nicolaus Wierzynek threw a feast for king Casimir the Great's guests who arrived for the wedding of the king's granddaughter Elizabeth. Among the invited guests were many European kings. Since that time, Wierzynek has been spoken of as a royal restaurant, known not only in Poland. The restaurant rooms, with magnificent decor, are situated on four floors. The menu contains old Polish dishes prepared according to royal and traditional cuisine recipes.

DAY 3
CRACOW [B, L]
CRACOW OPEN CITY
Visit to Collegium Maius - in the year 2000 Cracow celebrated the 600th anniversary of its Academy. One of its showrooms houses astronomical instruments used by Copernicus and also the world's first globe that carries the fragment of the American east coast. Lunch at a local restaurant in the Market Square. Afternoon at leisure and time to explore this fascinating city on your own.

DAY 4
CRACOW [B, D]
JEWISH LIFE IN CRACOW
Morning departure for Kazimierz - that part of Cracow which was till the WWII inhabited by the Jews - could serve as a model of Jewish life in the diaspora. Drive into the labyrinth of streets and alleyways - where else in the Diaspora where streets named after figures from the Old Testament - Jacob, Isaac, Joseph, Esther. Visit the famous Remuh Synagogue, named after the great Cracovian rabbis and scholar Moses Isserles and the museum of the Jewish life in Cracow at the Old Synagogue. Afternoon visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, a former Nazi concentration camp, the largest factory of death in the history of humanity and a silent witness of human tragedy. In the evening dinner with music show at Ariel - a Jewish restaurant where you can taste Jewish dishes and listen to Jewish-Ukrainian songs and sketches. This is also a place where Steven Spielberg spent most of his time while shooting film "Schindler's List".

DAY 5
CRACOW [B, L]
CRACOW'S SOUL
Following the steps of John Paul II. It is more than 20 years since Karol Wojtyła was elected the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The 20th Anniversary of the Pope was celebrated with great solemnity in Cracow. The feelings that the Pope arouses in Cracow are very special. It was here that John Paul II studied at the Jagiellonian University, worked as an unskilled worker during the Second World War, was an actor, a vicar, a bishop and a cardinal. In the late 70s the election of a Pole as Pope had a profound influence on his compatriots. The years that followed brought changes that could never have been anticipated: the Solidarity revolution, martial law, the fall of the Soviet Union, the return of democracy and the market economy There is a common belief that Poland owes its changes, to a great extent, to John Paul II. That is the reason we suggest to spend one day in Cracow following the steps of John Paul II. We can start with a half day sightseeing to visit the places connected with the Pope from Cracow such as Bishop's Palace where Karol Wojtyła used to live , St. Florian's Church where he was a vicar or beautiful Franciscan Church - his favourite praying place. In the Franciscan Church there is monumental stained-glass window made by Stanislaw Wyspiański - very famous Polish artist also lived in Cracow in times of Art Nouveau. Lunch Pod Bażantami, a typical Polish local inn, where you can taste typical Polish dishes. Continue to Częstochowa - with its Pauline's Monastery located on the hill called Jasna Góra. One of the most important places of religious worship in the Christian world, with tradition of pilgrimages that goes back to the 14th century. In the monastery's church there is a marvellous picture of Black Madonna - the most famous and adored picture of this kind in the whole country. Polish people used to say that this place is a Capital of the Kingdom of Poland.

DAY 6
CRACOW [B, D]
THE CRACOW OF OLD AND MODERN ART
Morning visit to Czartoryski Museum, the oldest historical museum and art museum in Poland, founded by Izabela Czartoryska in 1801, the wife of Price Adam Czartoryski. During the WWII a part of the collection was confiscated by the Nazis and many valuable objects have not been recovered to this day. However, Leonardo da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine" and Rembrandt's "Landscape with the Good Samaritan" returned to the Museum after the war, and are the most precious works of the Czartoryski Museum. Break for coffee and cake at Jama Michalika, a place that lives on in many stories about its history and biographies of its most famous patrons - the artists. The artists have decorated the walls of the coffee shop with paintings, drawings, caricatures as well as its stained-glass windows. Afternoon visit to professional modern art galleries: Starmach gallery that promotes the achievements of the CRACOW group, Zderzak gallery is dominated by artists of the young generation of the new expression.
Dinner at a local restaurant.

DAY 7
CRACOW [B, D]
CRACOW'S SALT PATRIMONY
Morning at leisure and lunch on your own. Afternoon visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine, the oldest salt mine in Europe. You will admire the underground world of salt lakes, galleries and chambers all carved in salt by many generations of Polish miners. Visit Wieliczka Castle Museum with unique exhibiton of salt-cellars from all over the world. Afterwards, dinner at the beautiful chamber of the Wieliczka Castle will be served.

DAY 8
CRACOW-ZAKOPANE [B, D]
Morning at leisure - time for shopping.
After lunch, on your own, departure for Zakopane, a picturesque town situated in the Tatra Mountains. After arrival check-in at your hotel. Dinner at a local restaurant.

DAY 9
ZAKOPANE [B, D]
Tour of Zakopane, capital of winter sports, beautifully sited at the foot of the Tatra Mountains in the valley between Gubałówka and Giewont. We visit the Tatra Museum with several sections dedicated to various aspects of the region. We follow the Krupówki street to reach the large stone Neo-Romanesque parish church and a much smaller old parish church - a rustic wooden construction dating from 1847 with its charming folk decorations inside a nearby old cemetery with a number of fine wooden tombs. Continue to Villa Koliba, the first of Witkiewicz's designs in the "Zakopane style" and further to Villa Atma, once the home of the famous Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. The tour also includes a visit to the Władysław Hasior Art Gallery, displaying amazing assemblages by this avantgarde artist, as well as the Jaszczurówka Chapel, possibly the greatest architectural achievement of Witkiewicz. We catch our funicular to Gubałówka Hill to admire the excellent panorama of the Tatras. Dinner at a local restaurant with folklore entertainment.

DAY 10
ZAKOPANE-CRACOW [B]
Morning drive to Cracow airport for your flight back home.