Tourist trap
Today we leave Krakow for London for a one-night stay. We have the morning to kill, so I took the tram to Old Town once again, for one last look. Kim opted to read and relax in the room.
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- Town Hall Tower.
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- Town Hall Tower.
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- St Mary’s Basilica.
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- St Mary’s Basilica.
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- St Mary’s Basilica.
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- Inside St Mary’s Basilica.
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- Inside St Mary’s Basilica.
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- Around Krakow’s Old Town.
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- Around Krakow’s Old Town.
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- Around Krakow’s Old Town.
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- St Florian’s Gate; an old city gate.
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- Old city wall.
We checked out around 1220 and hopped on the tram to town where we caught the bus to the airport. It was a crowded bus ride via the suburbs and the rural areas even though the airport seems accessible by motorway.
Just before we pulled into the airport, two bus-fare controllers hopped on to check tickets and whether baggage fees had been paid for carrying them on the bus. We didn’t know that bags had to be paid for separately on the bus and were told there was a fine of PLN96 for each of us. We said we didn’t know and held out a PLN20 note, saying that’s all we had left of local currency. That seemed to finalise the matter. While we hadn’t meant it as a bribe, I must say it was a convenient win-win solution.
An English couple close to us weren’t so lucky and had to go withdraw money from the ATM for their fine. This seems like a bad way for guests to the country finish their visit. I get the feeling that it is a routine occurrence to catch out the departing tourists. It’s a different kind of a tourist trap.
The check-in queue was long. And after that, there was short wait as immigration because they had trouble finding my entry record into Poland and the stamp in my passport.
The flight to London Gatwick on the British Airways B737-400 left at 1515. We were provided with a boxed meal similar to the previous but this time I could tell the contents were from Poland. Actually, the food was better.