Just a Word About Cracow

Now that I'm here, I can spoil the fun: Cracow is what I suspect maybe Prague was 20 years ago. Lots of well-preserved medieval architecture, pleasant walking spaces, plenty of beer and ice cream (90 cents a scoop) but not nearly as many tourists as the hordes on the Charles Bridge. Quaint at the center; big, public square although it lacks definition--they could use a Bernini. But this is no hole in the wall: the book says 800,000 people and they have traffic jams. There seems to be a bit of music around, but our timing was off.

Why did this jewel survive World War II, while Warsaw was reduced to rubble? I haven't really researched but my impression is that (a) the Nazis wanted to preserve it as a headquarters; and (b) at the end, they decided they needed the army worse elsewhere.

Also, lots of hilly/mountainous woodland in the outer environs. They say that westerners come over here for the hunting, but I have to wonder: if, say, a Dane comes over here and brings down, say, a woolly mammoth, how does he get it back to Copenhagen? Maybe he says it is the heart of his dear brother.