Polish Ham: Peace of mind.

Me with the head.

One of my favorite things about Krakow is the bugle call. Every hour, from the top of St. Mary's Church on the main square, a trumpet player toots a short, simple melody four times, facing north, east, south and west.

The song stops abruptly at the end. This dates back to the Tatar invasions. When the watchman on duty saw the Tatars coming, he played the song as a warning but was hit in the throat by arrow, thus why the song is cut short.

There is something about walking about Krakow and hearing the trumpet play. First, it lets me know that it's at the top of the hour. Second, it reminds me WOW! I am in Krakow. Sometimes I like to stop and watch the church when I hear the song. Depending on where you stand, you can see the mouth of the trumpet poking out of one of the little windows.

Someone should have sounded the bugle. The tourists have invaded.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, perhaps the most beautiful since I have been here. I had heard that the tourists are bad in the summer, that the square gets so filled that it's hard to walk through. Today it happened. There were swarms of people everywhere-the square, the stores, the restaurants. I walked into Cloth Hall, hoping to buy myself an amber ring, but when I saw the lines of people, the English-speaking customers, the utter chaos, I had to get out of there.

I knew it was bad when I could barely hear the bugle call over the street performer's music, the roar of the crowd, the fashion show taking place in the middle of the Rynek. I watched a group of boys in white t-shirts walking around with a promotional sign that said "Colgate." This is not the city that I love.

So I tried to get away from it all. I ducked into to the Czartoryski Museum, which is supposed to be one of the best in Krakow. To be honest, I found it very boring. I don't really like looking at old swords and armor and tapestries, and all the paintings were either very gloomy or very religious (sometimes both at the same time). The highlight was Leonardo da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine" painting.

Afterwards, I went to Camelot Café, my favorite place to eat in Krakow. This place has a nice outdoor seating area, but it's the inside I really like. With wooden floors and rustic furniture, it feels like you are at someone's home--and the food is good. I was excited to find that they were serving breakfast late, and I finally had the opportunity to eat some scrambled eggs (which I have been craving) along with a fresh baguette and coffee. I sat for a few hours, reading my book. It was a perfect afternoon. I had nowhere to go. And the tourists didn't bother me there.