Once upon a time their was a dragon. This nasty beast lived in the caves below Wawel Hill. He had a hunger for sheep and young maidens. The legend is that the village ran out of both sheep and virgins and the King promised his young daughter to the hero who could vanquish the beast. Wave upon wave of brave knights perished at the dragons fiery breath. One lowly cobbler, named Krak, tricked the dragon by stuffing a sheep full with Sulphur – which ignited inside the dragons stomach. Krak, of course, married the Kings daughter, became King and built his castle on the dragons lair. The towns people continued to build a larger town around the new King and named the town —- Krakow — after their savior.
During our visit we also took a day tour to Auschwitz. The concentration camp, over 70 years later, is still a chilling site. It is a reminder of the worst thing man can do to one another. As they shared with us during our tour, keeping the history of what happened at that site be passed along to future generations and the memories of all those who perished be never forgotten.
After seeing the worst that mankind can do – We visited the Wieliczka salt mines to see some spectacular achievements of both engineering and art.
Leaving Krakow – we are heading south to Austria and Slovakia.