First day with the tour group. In the morning we visited the Wawel castle and cathedral, the home of the kings of Poland. The last few kings of Poland were actually elected by the noblemen. As the Kong’s power was usurped, Poland became unstable and was overrun by Austria, Germany and Russia in 1795. Poland was not a separate country again until after WWI. After, we visited the Collegium Maius, one of Europe’s oldest universities and where Nicolaus Copernicus studied. The first pictures were taken during the walk to the castle and on the grounds of the castle.

In the afternoon Reggie and I went off by ourselves to the Jewish quarter. We were able to visit three synagogues and one cemetery. The first two synagogues are still active. The cemetery was beautiful and peaceful. We also walked across the river to Schindler’s factory which is currently a museum about WWII. The pictures are of the cemetery, the synagogues, the factory and one of me sitting on the Jan Karski Memorial Bench.