Wednesday, July 1

After breakfast this morning, we again boarded the bus which is starting to feel like home, and departed for Krakow (which, according to our tour guide, is pronounced "Crack-oof"). Polish is a difficult language to decipher and almost certainly to pronounce. It's probably closest to Russian, which one of our chaperons is able to translate for us. He is also our walking history book and is able to relate most of the history of the places that we are visiting. Our hired ACIS guide, Peter, is also a bottomless reservoir of knowledge about Germany, Poland, Europe and World War II. We have enjoyed many lively conversations in the evening hours about the events leading up to and Europeans' feelings about the war.

After stopping for a break, we stopped at Czestochowa, which is "the place where the country's heart beats" - the home of Our Lady the Black Madonna. 90% of Poland is Catholic and the monastery and stronghold of Jasna Gora is a principal center of Catholic life in Poland. According to the guide, only Lourdes, France and Guadeloupe, Mexico receive more pilgrims. Some of our group managed circling the alter on their knees, but it was not for the weak-kneed. The painting of the Black Madonna was beautiful, as was the adjoining cathedral. It was also very crowded as tourists and pilgrims continually flooded in through the gates.

An hour later we arrived in Krakow, which is a very beautiful, quaint city. We had dinner at 'Amadeus', a beautiful old building which has been restored. The food was some of the most excellent of the trip. Many walked to the square and into old town which is only a block away and enjoyed the very warm evening. The kids enjoyed a long evening off in small groups exploring the Old Town of Krakow.

Our hotel does not have air conditioning so we are hoping for cooler weather tomorrow, which is forcast. However, the hotel is so nicely renovated and the staff so helpful that we will enjoy our stay here anyway.