I knew very little about Krakow, Poland, before I went there. While planning my trip, I learned that it was where Oskar Schindler's factory was located that had saved 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust (in fact, much of Schindler's List was actually filmed in Krakow). I did not know that Karol Wojtyła, better known as Pope John Paul II, was Archbishop of Krakow before becoming Pope in 1977. I did not know that the history of Krakow goes back to the Stone Age and that it was already a bustling trading center in the year 965. Is that even a real year?!
This photo was taken from the top of St. Mary's Basilica, which I climbed in my endless quest to climb as many church towers and town towers as I could. While my legs got tired towards the end of my trip, the views and photo ops those towers offered me were well worth it. This photo shows Cloth Hall, the Renaissance-era market from the 1200s believed to be the world's first indoor mall. Inside, merchants from a variety of trades sell their goods in separate booths. You can find clothing, jewelry made with the famous amber of Poland, and everything in between. Some of the souvenirs I brought home for my family were purchased in Cloth Hall, basically so I could give the many "professional" shoppers in my family something from the world's first mall.
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