June 1: Krakow

 First up today...Wawel Castle high on a hill overlooking the Vistula (Wisła) River.  The grounds are enormous, so we only saw part.

 View of Krakow from a tower of the castle.

 In the Dragon's Den!!

 Cool-looking cheeses.  We got one of course.

 We luckily happened to be here on the day of the Great Dragon Parade.  The legend is that a dragon used to live under the castle (see lair above) and terrorized the area.  A cobbler's apprentice finally defeated him and got to marry King Krakus' daughter in reward.  (Why is the king's daughter always the reward??)  These dragons were built by schoolchildren, who marched in the parade as well.

For lunch, we were invited to the home of Marian and Dorota Lewandowski.  They both are scientists at Jagiellonian University, and Mark met them the last time he was here.  They served us a most delicious, traditional Polish meal in their apartment which overlooks the river.  Wonderful people!  For dinner, pierogis!! at Mr. Vincent's Pierogis which was decorated with Van Goghs: plum, curry, spinach, and potato pierogis.  Beer for 5 złoty, which is about $1.60.  Woot!

May 30 and 31

I thought I'd try to be as good as my parents, who are on another epic bike ride (see their blog HERE), about posting some near daily pics and details about our Central Europe travels.  

But I have to include a few pics from our last stroll through Copenhagen yesterday.  It was a stunningly beautiful day....Mother Nature was good to us during our last week.  It was tough to say goodbye not only to the place, but the people, we've come to love a whole lot.

Early this morning we left and hopped over here to Krakow, Poland, a city (and country) that wears its history on every facade.  Just took a couple of walks this evening to get to know the 'hood around our AirBnB apartment and ate dinner at an up-scalish Polish restaurant that still cost less than lunch in CPH yesterday.  We are staying in the historically Jewish neighborhood of Kasimierz, whose residents were forcibly relocated to the ghetto in WWII.  Now it's a vibrant, hip place.  We are currently being serenaded by young people celebrating at the Jewish Community Center across the street.

In Cph, the Black Diamond library, the Dome of Visions, and the harbor on a beautiful night.

One of our favorite streets, the Streget, the location of our favorite bar, the Kreuzberg. 

"Our" square, Gråbrødre Torv.

Our front door and a cool bike.

One last stop at Lagkagehuset in the airport to say goodbye to these amazing folks, Andrea, Enrique, and Sofia. 

St. Mary's on the square in Krakow. 

Dinner on the square.

Inside the Cloth Hall on the square.

A stall in the Cloth Hall.

Bornholm

We were lucky enough to take a trip to Bornholm, an island south of Sweden in the Baltic Sea but still a part of Denmark.  It happened to be a beautiful weekend, too.

The cool berths in the overnight ferry we took to the island.  

 The town we stayed in, called Gudhjem, which translates as God Home.  We stayed in a youth hostel, as the trip was organized by DIS (where Mark has been teaching).

 The hostel had bikes for us to borrow, but it turned out that the island was very hilly and the bikes were very shabby.  So the biking wasn't too much fun, but Max made a friend.

 And we saw this cool old church with some Viking looking symbols.

 The rocky coastline was a big draw for the kids, who turn into mountain goats at the first boulder in order to scare the crap out of their mother.  Also, here are some stone age burial markers.

 We also had a nice forest hike to a pretty waterfall.

 We abandoned the bikes the second day and took the bus to Hammershus, a castle ruin on the north end of the island.  Max is standing watch in the guard house remains.

 You can just wander around the ruins, which are on a hill overlooking the sea.  Spectacular.

 A window with a view.

 A path down to the sea.

Of course, we are continually amused by the word "fart" in Denmark.  It most often means "speed" or "tour, " this word actually means something like "boat service."  Or maybe "boat tours?"  Oh, Danish!

Paris

Not in any great order, but I promised Paris pics!  

 On one of the bridges covered with locks.  These are becoming a problem as the bridges weren't built to support the added weight.  Some folks think they are an eyesore as well.

 Getting' creative at the Tour Eiffel.

 A cute one of the boys.

 Goofin' at the Louvre.

 We waited 2 AND A HALF HOURS to get into the Catacombs.  It was pretty creepy, but I'm not totally convinced it was worth the wait.  The kids thought so, though!  Luckily, it was a beautiful day and there was pastry close by.

On our last day, our friend David arranged a trip out of Paris to Chateau-Thierry, an area where Mark's grandfather fought in World War I.  There are a monument and a cemetery, meticulously maintained by the U.S. government.  There is also a walking tour of one of the worst battle sites, including remaining German cannons with shrapnel marks in them (see below), trenches and craters, shrapnel in the trees (now grown over), and unknown soldiers buried in the landscape.  

Near Chateau-Thierry, we also visited these amazing castle ruins.

Back in Paris, we walked through Luxembourg Gardens more than once:

We ate incredible cheese.

We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

And of course, we saw Notre Dame, one of the most amazing structures in the world.  Max's favorite was Sacre Coeur, where we happened upon evening vespers.  I almost got religion again.

 

Creepy statue in Notre Dame.

We visited a replica of the Orient Express.

We visited the Louvre, where the kids spent some time sketching in a room full of Rubens.

The Louvre is a place one might be tempted to skip because of the tourist crush, but you can find quiet nooks and crannies in the far reaches of this mammoth museum.  We spent an entire day there.  Plus we had bought a museum pass, so we sailed right past the line...that rocked.

We finished with a three course French meal at a great little place in Montparnasse called Aux Artistes.  We did much more than I can include here.  It was an amazing trip.

School play

 Max's class put on an updated version of Snow White...they did an impressive job!  And they are just so cute.  Max was the huntsman:

 Grandpa thought he looked a little like Bob Dylan.

 The Wicked Witch menacing Snow White.

 The really cute dwarves.

 The guards putting Snow White in her coffin.

A very serious guard.

We were glad Grandma and Grandpa got to see the play and the school.  The kids have really loved this school.  They're not too excited to go back to school at home.  :-(