ROTARY CLUB OF DENBIGH"™S International visit to KRACKOW, May 12-15th 2016

THE TEAM - John Davies, Dilwyn Evans, Gwynfor Evans, Gwyrfai Jones, Gwynn Parry, David Roberts, Gareth Roberts, Michael Roberts, Walter Roberts, Alwyn Thomas, Brian Thomas, Gwilym Williams, Robin Williams, Peter Wykes.

The fourteen adventurous Rotarians met at 10.30 on a sunny morning at Denbigh Leisure to start our mini-bus drive to Manchester Airport for the flight to Krakow (one of the oldest cities in Poland) arriving at our Hotel Wyspianski at 18.30. With little time to spare we settled into our rooms and walked into the to the Gehanowska-Pod Sloncem basement restaurant where our pre-booked table awaited. This was a restaurant serving Polish Cuisine in cellars dating back to the middle ages – fortunately the food was fresh, varied and delicious and served by a delightful waitress. It was of course mandatory to taste the local beers and wines both here and later in the many outdoor cafe/bars surrounding the square.

Friday morning, after a modest breakfast, our Guide, Katarzyna Miszke, arrived in the Hotel foyer and led us out for a City walking tour which commenced with a walk  through the park which totally encircles the City on the line of the old city walls which have mostly been demolished by today. One fine section which still remains is at the Florian’s Gate adjacent to the Stowaki Theatre. We entered the gate and ambled down into the passed many churches and to the Cloth Hall which is a large building situated in the centre of the square and houses numerous market stalls, arcades, Gallery of Polish Art and underground Museum. We visited the University area and in particular the Collgium Maius, this Neo-Gothic structure is the oldest building within the Academy, the cloister was particularly beautiful and we watched the clock strike 11 with miniature characters circulating the clock face. Our tour continued through narrow streets and squares with their fine architecture and of note throughout the is the number of Churches, eventually reaching the southerly end of the at the Krakow Cathedral and high on the banks of the .

At 5.45 p.m. Marek Wcislo, Past President of the Rotary Club of Krakow-Wawel, called to lead us to the restaurant CK Dezerter in the old quarter – here he had arranged a table for us and four of his fellow members, including the District Governor, and we enjoyed another meal of Polish cuisine, wine and fellowship. We exchanged banners and learnt a little of their Rotary lives in , their Club was Chartered in 1997 and has 33 members meeting weekly at the Holiday Inn Hotel. When we came to leave the rain had become very heavy, some of us rushing back to the Hotel others seeking shelter en-route taking in some of the delights of the evening in . There were Rotarians from in the hotel and we presented them with our banner and received and a rather ornate and attractive lapel badge from them. And so to bed.....

Saturday morning – we had a free morning to further explore the Old Quarter individually visiting the Museum, the many churches (150 in ) or the inevitable people watching from the terrace bars around the square. The city was preparing for the Krakow Marathon to take place on Sunday so it was a hive of activity. Early afternoon we took a coach trip to the famous Salt Mines at Wieliczka 12km southeast of the city where we enjoyed an awesome but long, tiring tour underground. The salt was probably excavated as early as the 11th Century and regarded for centuries as a major natural asset of . We were guided through the vast network of passages (there are 178 miles total) and galleries deep below ground including the chapels where the miners prayed for God’s protection against accidents. There are extremely fine carvings to be seen around the Chapel walls including the altar. Fortunately, we were able to take a lift back up to ground level to avoid all the steps we had descended (1,073 feet).

Our evening meal was taken at the basement restaurant, The Chimera just off the . All our meals had been of a very good standard with excellent service and extremely good value for money. This time we returned to the hotel to find Rotarians from in residence and we exchanged greetings with them.

Sunday was an early start for our hour long coach journey to Auschwitz and Birkenau.

On return to our hotel we literally had ten minutes to spare to grab our bags and board the transport to the airport with a pleasant flight back  and home to Denbigh by 10.30 p.m.

Another successful International tour with all going to plan and timings, my thanks to my fellow Rotarians for the fun and friendship we experienced but also expanding our knowledge and International fellowship.

 Gwynn Parry