I've made it safely to Krakow now, after a fairly long train trip of over 7 hours. I was supposed to have 45 minutes to change trains in a place called Katowice in Poland, but the train from Vienna only arrived with 5 minutes to spare. It doesn't help that Katowice doesn't have any TV screens telling you what train departs from what platform. So I ended up running over to the main entrance of the station but not figuring out what platform it was, so I went to the first platform and there was a train leaving at the same time, but it turned out it was the wrong train (a nice Polish lady helped me figure out where to go), and the train was actually departing from the same platform that I had arrived back. A bit more running and I made the train before it left. The Katowice-Krakow train was the slowest I've been on, going about 15-20 mph most of the trip, and stopping frequently. The cities are not that far away, but it took 2 hours by train. At least that was the scheduled trip duration, as all of my other intercity trains or buses have arrived late.

The only annoying thing about Krakow was that the place I am renting a self-catering apartment from originally said they could meet me in the center of town, but recently said that I would have to go to the office to pick up the keys as they are short-staffed on Sundays. Unfortunately their office is about 15 minutes walk outside of the city center, so it was annoying with my backpack. It wasn't too bad in the end, and was through a decent neighborhood. After the long train ride, it was good to stretch my legs anyway. I originally requested a studio apartment, but they upgraded me for free to a 1 bedroom place. I even have a pull out sofabed, which doesn't help much since it is just me there. I'm gonna tell one of the guys I met in Vienna about it so he can come if he wants, as he is in Poland too, though visiting his family. I was slightly worried about security in Poland as I've heard some stories, but it seems just like everywhere else I've gone so far, so I am not worried. There are lots of policemen who drive around the tourist areas on golf carts, but I am not sure how effective those really are.

Krakow city center has a massive square, that just goes on forever. It's filled with cafes and restaurants (and many, many other tourists). It's very neat but also a bit too much. Some of the side streets seem to be a bit more favored by the locals. I had borscht soup and pierogis (little dumplings) and rice this evening. It cost about 5 pounds, which isn't dirt cheap, but seemed quite reasonable, especially as it included a glass of wine.

Yesterday I went to Schronbrunner Schloss (maybe the name is a little different) - and I explored the gardens. There is a massive zoo in it, with a baby panda. I felt sorry for the three pandas though as they were cooped up inside, despite it being nice cool weather, perfect for pandas. Most of the animals were outside, including the five polar bears, who were eating apples (a natural food for polar bears?) and playing with a ball. I got a bit annoyed at all the people though as there were tons of people and they just ignored the signs saying not to take flash photos nor bang on the windows. Luckily it started pouring it down for about 10 minutes every 20 minutes or so, which meant everyone ran away and I was able to see some of the exhibits in peace (I had an umbrella). Though when the rain stopped, everyone came out again of course. I also went to the maze and labyrinth area of the gardens, which was pretty good. The only thing I would've liked more was a bit better weather as it was cool and windy, a bit too much so for what I was wearing.

In the afternoon I was going to see a movie at the theater with an Australian guy I met, Will. However, the movie choice was pretty bad (we wanted to see the new Batman one but it doesn't come out for another two weeks in Austria apparently, though it is in Slovenia), so we just had ice cream sundaes and then went back to the hostel. At night two English women (Ali and Haley) in our room came back from their trip to Salzburg, which was a long day trip at 2.5 hours on the train, and we all hung out at the hostel bar until after it closed. It did mean I only ended up with about 5 hours of sleep last night, so I'm pretty tired.

I don't think I'll be exploring too much more of Krakow tonight given it's gotten pretty dark, so I think it's back to the flat to watch Olympic highlights then bed time. Tomorrow I am either going to Auschwitz or to explore the castle and rest of Krakow. It may be good to get Auschwitz/Birkenau over with early, given it's likely to be quite somber. The other thing I want to do one day is go to Wieliczka salt mine, a giant salt mine where the miners carved out statues and a cathedral. I've seen pictures of it on a travel documentary and it looks really neat. I think it is an UNESCO heritage site too.