Chillin' in Krakow

After I went to Auschwitz, the weather deteriorated and I got lazy...Plus, the hostel was so comfortable!!!

Actually, I had problems when I first checked in – I was given a bed in an 8 person room when I had booked and paid for 4 (wanted a little "quieter" time after spending the past few days in a full 10 bed dorm!). Complain I did. Someone in the front desk mistakenly gave the 4-bed room to 4 Brit guys who arrived slightly ahead of me. The hostel acknowledged their error and told me they'll kick the guys out...who started bitching and moaning about how they'd just unpacked their stuff. So, being the nice person that I am (haha!), I offered a compromise – to stay in the 8-bed for one night, and move the next. They still continued bitching, which pissed me off. I just backed off and let the hostel handle it (basically, they had to move NOW). One of the more level-headed guys immediately accepted my original offer.
Aside from those Brits and the 3 completely drunk Spaniards in my dorm the first night, the people I met there were wonderful! We did a lot of chatting and Olympics-watching in the awesome common room (with enormous plasma TV!)

Not that I stayed in the whole entire day. I did manage to get some touristy things done. Such as...
Chopin concert – Since I didn't get to go to the museum in Warsaw, I was determined to get something Chopin in Krakow. The piano concert was it (although a bit pricey at 50PLN). For about 2 hours, I got to listen to a lot of Chopin music played by a 20 year old pianist. Damn, I felt so old : ( The concert was in this really small music hall, so I got to see his super-quick finger movements and all – totally awesome! I regretted giving up on my piano practices so early in my life.
Wieliczka Salt Mine – After pondering for an entire day whether to go here or not, I took the advice of my dorm mate who highly recommended this place. (Oh, and that Polish guy I met in Tallin also said that I should check it out.) Can I say that it ABSOLUTELY SUCKED?! Getting there was no problem. But once there, you need to fork over 60 PLN to join a mandatory tour. Then, you just walk through the mine, which doesn't feel like a mine at all; nothing more than an underground museum of ridiculous statues. They are made of salt, but....SO WHAT?! It was such a waste of time and money.... The only thing that was sort of cool was (1) tasting the wall (yes, salty), (2) the last supper in salt, and (3) riding the shaft elevator at the end to get out of that darn place.Wawel Hill – Krakow's castle. Not particularly of interest to me (did not want to pay entrance fee), so just walked around the area. Nice enough. There's some dragon legend that has to do with the history of Krakow, and a fire-breathing dragon statue is somewhere around the castle...but I completely forgot to look for it. Oops.