Krakow is a beautiful old city with the largest public square in Europe that includes a year-round flower market. The moat has been filled in and is now a park that circles the city and you can see a fire breathing dragon too! The Wawel castle and cathedral grounds have a statue of their national hero Kosciuszko. He was the co-founder of West Point and has additional interesting ties to the US. Poland is 99% Catholic and have lots of churches to prove it. The painter Stanisław Wyspiański has decorated several churches in a very unique art nuevo style. Pope John Paul II was born very close to here and Copernicus attended Jagiellonian University that has been here since 1364. Poland was partitioned for 125 years and was re-established as a country on Nov 11 after WWI was over. Unlike Warsaw, Krakow was not structurally damaged during WWII, but the people suffered greatly under Stalin from 1945-1952. Poland was under Communist rule until 1989 when Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement challenged the Soviets to regain their freedom. Poland is a member of the European Union, but retains their zloty currency until which time their economy is strong enough to withstand the introduction of the Euro. See pictures of Krakow here.
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