The last of Krakow 7/17

Sunday didn’t just continue to rain like on Saturday, but it decided to pour instead. As we planned on doing the Jewish quarters tour that morning, this wasn’t exactly “welcomed.” Thankfully one of the girlfriends I was traveling with was sweet enough to share her umbrella with me, so we both sacrificed an arm to the rain vs one of us being completely drenched. I can say, after the day outside in the rain, nothing was as welcomed as going back to the hostel for an hour or so to warm up, dry off, and have a cup of tea! 

Street performers sheltering from the rain...maybe they need to simply invest in waterproof makeup?

• What does Natalie Portman and the Warner Brothers have in common? 
• They are all Polish Jews (via linage at least)
• In fact, most Jews have Polish roots 

The famous backdrop of Shindler's List 

• Polish King (Henry III) even allowed the Jewish population to form their own Jewish Parliament within the general parliament to give them their own autonomy (~1574 I believe)
• This increased the population of Jews living in Poland as they were given many more rights here
• Up to 80% of Jews lived in Poland at one point
• 89% of the Polish Jews died in the Holocaust

Bema of Synagoga Izaaka, one of the seven synagogues in Krakow which is the larges concentration of synagogues in all of Europe

• 23% of Nobel prize winners are Jewish
• Many attribute this to a lifetime of learning to overcome opposition and others point out the Jewish value of learning. For hundreds of years when Jewish quarters acted independently (Jews and non-jews couldn’t mix for business, leisure, or education), Jews had an extremely high literacy rate as it was mandatory for men to study the torah. In other words, the practice of having "schools" and the importance of a lifetime of learning seems to have dated back in the Jewish religion for much longer than in many other groups around the world. 
• According to our guide: The 5 books of Moses is “a better version of the Games of Thrones and actually has more killings” 

Another story from our guide: "Lovers lock bridge- lovers put a lock on the bridge and throw away the key into the river. Thus eternal love will ensue. But apparently, some lovers should have invested in a COMBINATION LOCK as a safer bet. (Note the forceful removal of the wire that probably contained a love lock for a former lover...)"

Zapiekanka (traditional Polish)- way too big for 1! Baguette with cheese and mushrooms and ketchup on top. Literally paid a total of 4.5 zloty (1.5 each) for this giant, filling lunch! (~4 zloty to 1 USD)

This pretty much sums up my weekend. Beyond this was a little souvenir shopping and then the train back to Warsaw! These were the cutest passengers on the train back though :)