Wednesday was a day filled with Castles, dungeons and dragons and of course, prince charming. The girls and I were joined by Owen, Ethan and their mom, Gillian today for a day of sightseeing. We started out by heading toward Wawel Hill and The Royal Castle. Of course, with 4 young children we needed to make stops for bagel/pretzel breads (not sure what exactly to call them but they are sold EVERYWHERE and are very inexpensive and quite delicious) and lots of playtime.
The Royal Castle was incredible. I definitely didn't get to read much about it seeing as the young'ns attention spans are not very long but just looking around was a memorable experience. The castle was home to three dynasties of Poland's monarchs and Wawel Hill is apparently a Mecca for every Pole. There was also a budding romance emerging today. Anemone and Ethan have declared that they are "boyfriend and girlfriend" and were holding hands all throughout the castle. It was rather precious. I just had to take some pictures. She said he was her prince...how cute.
Once we were through seeing the state rooms and courtyards on the castle grounds we made our way to the infamous dragon den. Legend has it that a dragon inhabited the cave below the castle and because it drank too much it exploded. The kids were very brave and really enjoyed exploring the cave and taking pictures with the dragon statue. Getting down into the cave was quite the adventure for me however! I had the baby buggy and Artemisia did not want to hold Gillian's hand so I had to trekk down nearly 200 very windy, narrow stairs with a folded-up baby buggy and a two-year old holding my hand. Needless to say, it was exhausting and I bumped my head and was quite stuck on more than one occassion! Once in the cave, I was very happy to experience the cool temperatures. It has been excruciatingly hot here in Krakow these past few days.
Following the castle we treated the children to some ice cream and then the girls and I went off to find a grocery store. In the grocery store, I felt like a complete imbecile. If I thought German was a difficult language well, Polish is impossible. I can't even pronounce the words so, I found myself asking for meat and cheese from the deli by saying "can i have what that lady just asked for please?" and pointing emphatically at the lady next to me. All the while hoping I was getting something the kids would like! It was quite the comical experience. To top it off, we got the checkout and there was a lineup behind us and I was trying to count money (and not understanding how much she was asking for) and there were many a grumpy "urghh's" and "ahhhhhh's" behind me and quite the disapproving face from the cashier. We were happy to be out of there after that!
We spent the afternoon reading, watching a video, snacking and relaxing before meeting back up with Yianni and Miranda for a horse and carriage ride around the square and then dinner with all of their conference friends. The carriage ride was really fun and the girls were in heaven, especially Artemisia. Miranda was even able to bargain with the horse and carriage driver and cut the cost down by 50%! I was impressed.
It was a very pleasant day and evening and I certainly feel as though I am living in a fairytale.
Many many happily ever afters to all of you,
Jenn(ifer)
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