We descended onto Krakow for the weekend of – what turned out to be – Wianki music and Jewish Festivals. We took up an apartment in the Jewish quarter as a base for the weekend to relax and wash our muddy clothes (and faces).

Krakow was struck by a heatwave of 38 degrees Celsius that weekend and our pre-war apartment  turned into an oven. We found some pastimes, however, to relieve the diabolical heat.

First night we spent at Wianki festival – a “celebration of music”. Wianki in Polish means flower crowns and there were a lot of girls wearing them which added to the magic. We saw Fisz (Polish rapper), Swietliki and Grzegorz Turnau on 3 different stages in the old town. The atmosphere resembled that of a Notting Hill Festival.

We really had high hopes for Krakow but it somewhat disappointed us. It was very touristy and the whole city seemed geared towards that only, including the once-revered and cool Jewish Quarter. We did catch a great gig of a Yiddish music trio in the High Synagogue, though and gorged ourselves on Jewish delicacies (note: wasn’t as good as Jewish food in Kazimierz).

On Sunday we also visited Wawel – Royal Castle and a burial ground of Polish kings and onMonday visited the Salt mine in Wieliczka.

Both impressive though very busy and packed with tourists from all over the world. Most impressive was the underground cathedral cavern carved by the miners entirely out of the rock salt 100 metres underground. Yes. Really.

It was time to leave Poland and head for the Med.