Poland Part 3

Okay, so after Auschwitz we went to Krakow, the Divine Mercy Shrine, and Wadowice.  I will try to keep this post brief in the interest of time.  Essentially Krakow was just a big fun city with some interesting history and very good gelato.  Wadowice was the home town of Pope John Paul II. 

Basically our time in Krakow was spent wandering the city, taking pictures and just generally having fun.  We went on some short walking tours and saw a few sights, but honestly there wasn’t too much there in terms of terribly significant things.  Here are some pictures of Krakow, the Divine Mercy Shrine, Wadowice. 

The clock tower in Krakow’s square at night.

Wawel Cathedral in Krakow.  I think St. Hedwig’s remains are kept here, but I am not entirely certain.

These are supposedly dragon bones.  There is a legend that if the bones should ever fall or be removed from the door (still Wawel Cathedral), the world would come to an end (or something like that).

This was the palace that the Nazi Hans Frank took as his residence during the occupation of Poland.

Here we have the clock tower again, except now it is daytime.  If you look closely on the left you can see the statue of Eros’ decapitated head. Eros was the Greek god of love… In addition to being decapitated, he also didn’t have any eyes… Love is blind after all.

This is the Divine Mercy Shrine; FUS students have affectionately dubbed it “The Divine Mercy Starship.”  We had Mass here after listening to a talk about St. Faustina, and praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet in the chapel where Jesus appeared and gave St. Faustina the image of Divine Mercy.

Here is a statue of the image of Divine Mercy.  The line things coming off of Jesus’ heart are the blood and water that He poured out on the cross, symbolizing Divine Mercy.

Mary and I on our one year anniversary KFC date.  We both got new scarves!

Mary eating “popecake” in Wadowice.  “Popecake” was Pope John Paul II’s favorite dessert in case you were wondering how it got its name.

This is me, also eating popecake.

This is Pope John Paul II as a very small child (Mary says “adorable” when she sees this picture).

John Paul II’s scapular.

Various robes worn by John Paul II during his assent to the papacy.

This is the church in Wadowice where John Paul II was baptized.  He was also an altar server here.