Fri May 24 - 10:00 (Krakow depart for Warsaw)

Our train departs at 10:00 to Warsaw. We got to the station early to make sure we could find our platform ok. To re-cap, after we got back from the salt mines, we went back to our hostel for a little rest. Then we ventured off to find the Castle and Jewish district. We walked 20 minutes south to the Jewish district. It was ok, but it was nothing spectacular. So we came back 10 minutes north to the Castle, which was equidistant between the City Center Square and the Jewish District. The Castle in Krakow was very beautiful and it had a couple statues including one of Pope JPII right inside the walls.

It was too late to go inside the Church or to take a tour, but it was very cool seeing the architecture. Also, it was on a big hill so we had a great view of city area by the river. On our way back to the city square, we got double scoops of gelato. We strolled into the City Center Square market and I bought Barbara some rose-shaped earrings made from amber.
Afterwards, Ricky and I wanted to find the Lizard King, a music venue that the tour manager of the salt mines told us about. The venue was having an album release concert Thursday night. It was about 4 or 5 blocks, from our hostel on a side street. A man told us that SoundQ, the headliner was playing around 9, but other bands were opening. It was about 18:00 so we decided to go back to the hostel to have a break. I took a quick nap. Once I woke up, Ricky and I walked back over to the Lizard King. There was a 10 Zlotych ($3.25) cover to get in and there was already an artist performing when we got there around 20:30. The club already had a good amount of people, but we found a table in the middle center of the audience. We order a .5 liter Tyskie (pilsner) and took in the club's atmosphere. There were mostly young people our age. We were glad we found a 'rock' venue since most of the restaurants that advertised 'Live Music' meant they had DJs. The first performer we saw was a man in his 20s singing and playing keys on top of pre-recorded music. The music was electronic and energetic. The next act we saw was a 4-piece rock band that played a mix of moderately rocking and slower rock songs.
Sound Q was the last band to perform. They were really good. They had a lead singer, a guitarist, a bassist/sampler, a drummer, and a chick on keyboard and synth. They played til about 23:30. In that time, Ricky and I had ordered 3 0.5 liter beers each and were at a good place. We only ate some leftover pizza for dinner so we wanted to find food, but most places closed at midnight. The only places that were open were Kabobs, a KFC, and a McDonalds. Even though I didn't think I would ever eat McD's on the trip, it was a solid decision. Needless to say, we went back to the room and fell asleep fairly quickly, knowing we had a train to catch in the morning.