After my two week tour of Germany and Belgium I made my way to
Krak�w, Poland to begin my studies at the Jagellonian University.
The Jagellonian is one of the oldest Universities in Europe. It
was founded by King Kazimierz in 1364.

The Wawel castel and cathedral on the Wisla River, October 1998.
Krak�w was the capitol of Poland and Wawel was the seat of Polish
power until 1596, when the capitol was moved to Warsaw. Most of
Poland's kings were crowned and buried here.

Wawel Cathedral from inside the grounds of the castle.
Wawel is an interesting mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures.

Rynek, or the town square.
The square is one of the biggest in Europe, and is a masterpiece
in urban design. It's surrounded by some of Krak�w's best restaurants
and pubs as well as some of the oldest buildings in town. One of the
great things about Krak�w is that much of the university is in or very
near the old town so the pubs and restaurants are mostly populated by
students.

Me Sylvia and Preslawa
Our bench in the square where we spent so much of our free time eating
lunch, drinking Bulgarian red wine, soaking in the sun and meeting our
friends. Another great thing about Krakow is that it was virtually
untouched by the war and is full of architectual masterpieces. Though
many of the buildings have been renovated with Neo-Classical facades,
most have pure Gothic cellars which make great atmosphere for Krakow's MANY pubs.

Zamek or The castel where some of my classes took place.
At the university I studied Polish history, language and culture
in the Polonia Institute. The institute specializes in courses for
foreigners who are interested in studying about Poland. It's a great
program and I learned a lot. Our dormatories and the rest of our
classes were in the building next door.

Jorgos my room mate and Sylvia
Our balcony where we spent the rest of our free time eating pasta,
drinking Bulgarian red wine, soaking in the sun, while listening to
Led Zeppelin and Edyta Bartosiewicz.

One of my ten English classes.
I taught English while I was in Poland for Malgozata
Tater's Word English school. It was a program for school kids
all the way up to adults.

Wieliczka.
I visited many interesting places in Poland like Wieliczka, which
is actually a salt mine. Everything you see in this picture is
carved out of salt, even the chandeliers. There are over 300 km
of tunnels carved out of pure salt. They go to a depth of 327 meters.

Auschwitz and Birkenau
The above photo is actually of Birkenau, which was
the actual concentration camp for the Auschwitz laboatories.

The Birkinau train station through which so many Poles,
Jews, Catholics, Hungarians, Czechs, Gypsies, etc... entered
but never left

The ruined castle of Ogrodzieniec
I went to see these scenic ruins with Beata who was my girlfriend
at the time. This was just one of the great experiences we had
together. We also went to see the Pope when he came to Krakow.
So when I left Krakow for home, Poland was not the only thing I
was sad to leave behind.

Girls in the traditional dress of the Carpathian mountains.
On Palm Sunday I visited Rabka, a small village south
of Krakow, famous for it's Palm Sunday celebration with a
group from the university. There were plenty of colorful
Palms and traditional clothing.

Spring time

My Favorite Web Sites

Polonia Institute

Return to
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' TOURS
JOSEMITE'S HOME PAGE
PHOTOS OF MY FRIENDS
CRONIN'S PAINTINGS
FAMILY TREE
KIM'S PAGE