We're not keeping up on this blog thing very well!

Wow it's been a whirlwind here! We've mostly been exploring the fun of Poland!

Krakow has the largest Market Square of all of Europe. We've spent most of our free time at or around Market Square. You can eat, shop, hang out, people watch, see clowns, people dressed as statues, or about anything there!

There is an area in the center of Market Square where people sell goods that they have made or 'procured'. It's called the Cloth Hall or Sukiennice I can't pronounce it :) Some of the things you can find in there are carved wood pieces (like chess sets, wind chimes, and boxes), wooden toys, handmade jewelry, and tourist tshirts. Below is a picture of the cloth hall from the inside and out. The building is quite ornate. I'm hoping that on date night tomorrow David and I will have time to get some good pictures of the details.

From Krakow, Poland

When David was in Krakow in February, he brought home a chess set for Brennan. Since then Jackson has taken an active interest in Chess. We promised he could buy one while we were here. We made that purchase on Saturday:

From Krakow, Poland

Jackson is playing chess (and other games using the chess set) daily since then. Best $8 spent so far!

Under the market square is a museum where archaeologist have excavated to learn more about the people, culture, architecture in previous generations. The museum was amazing. It was interactive. There were glass floors so you could see where they had dug. They had rebuilt the buildings that crafts people had worked in such as blacksmiths and tanner. They also demonstrated how they could move large amounts of goods using a two wheeled wagon. There was a 3d depiction of the city as it was then. There was a touch screen of skull as it had changed over the years. There was also a hallway you could walk down to see a building wall that had been excavated:

From Krakow, Poland

I think that what we like most about Market Square is that it is great for hanging out! There are a ton of great restaurants, and they have fun people to entertain! There are people that dress up like a dragon - which is the symbol for Krakow based on an old legend. They also have clowns on stilts and street dancers.

From Krakow, Poland

Jackson also fell in love with this street performer below. He was a statue - standing perfectly still. David and I asked Jackson if he was a statue or a man. Jackson walked up to the man and spoke to the man. Jackson came back to us and said he wasn't talking! I wanted to get a picture of him speaking to the statue so I asked him to go back and try again! So he did, and he dropped a coin in the man's bucket. The man suddenly came to life and started juggling. He put on a great show - dropping his pins and asking Jackson for help picking them up again - interactive and fun.

From Krakow, Poland

Next up? I'll tell you about our visit to the museum at the salt mines - it was amazing!