Why Unpaid Internships are Wrong

Why Unpaid Internships are Wrong for You and America
By A.F.Sienko

I see so many blog posts and articles on why unpaid internships are worthwhile. They list the experience, the connections, the resume building... but fundamentally, their logic amounts to "it's better than doing nothing."

This is exactly the kind of self-defeating attitude that has given us the terrible job market we have today. By embracing unpaid internships, we are only working against our own self-interest and taking paying jobs out of the market.

By taking an unpaid internship you are only making your future employment prospects worst, not better.

Now before you start comment bombing me on how your internship led to a high paying job with so-and-so, read on. While you may have had a positive experience from your specific internship, that does not change the fact that the preponderance of unpaid internships is generally an exploitive and extremely damaging practice to our nation's workforce during the worst economic crisis since the great depression.

4 Reasons Unpaid Internships are Wrong for You and America:

1. Unpaid Internships Take Real Jobs out of the Market
Face it, employers don't care if you are the next Steve Jobs or Nobel Prize Winner in your field or industry. They only care about the bottom line (profit!) - that's why they started their business in the first place. And they know that the job market sucks right now, and you have no choice but to take an unpaid internship. Just like that, they get free labor.

Employers have been gaming this system for so long, with the help of the college internship system, that a major part of their workforce is now unpaid interns. They have interns perform real jobs that otherwise paid employees would do. And if you do a job for free, why in the world would anyone pay you to do the same thing with a salary and benefits? Which brings me to the next point...

2. You Devalue Yourself and Your Skills in an Unpaid Internship
Yes, internships can give you valuable experience and skills to build your resume. There is only one problem with that: if you have a skill that an unpaid intern can do, why would anyone hire someone and pay them to perform that skill if they can get an unpaid intern to do the same thing for free? It's the very definition of a vicious cycle!

The amount of time you spend at an internship, varrying from a few weeks to about 6 months, is nowhere near the amount of time you need to develop a real, valuable industry skill. If companies trained you in such a skill, they would be wasting their resources on a worker that they know is only temporary. That's why all the important training goes to PAID workers, who are under contract to stick around. Again, it's about the bottom line.

By giving your skills out for free and working without pay, you are saying to other people that you have very little value as a worker. In fact, you are telling them that your services are worth $0. And if you take an unpaid internship after you graduate, drop that numerical value into a negative.

Talk to an HR person and tell them you did not earn a salary in your last position. No matter how impressed they were with your resume, you will immediately hear them get uncomfortable. They are thinking, whether it's fair or not, "what was so wrong with this person that they didn't even get paid for what they did?"

Think of it like building your brand. If you see a brand of clothing that sells jackets for $500 and jeans for $150, you immediately relate that brand to quality and value. That is just how our psychology works, especially in a capitalist economy. See the SAME pair of jeans for $20 and you will assume they are a cheap knockoff. The same goes for your personal brand.

3. Higher Education Destroys Students' Sense of Value
For many of you taking an unpaid internship is not an option, your university forces you to take at least one, if not two or more internships. And because most internships are unpaid, most likely you are working for free.

It's amazing how the one institution that is supposed to help you find a job does so much to make sure you won't, simply by supporting the corrupt internship system. Sure you get college credits for working in the "real world," but think about how sick that is and how negatively it affects your value as a worker and a person.

You are literally PAYING someone for the chance to work for free. Read that again: you are paying thousands of dollars in college credits to help someone's business earn a profit. This isn't slavery, it's something far worst - at least slaves were provided with some sort of compensation for their labor. You still have to pay for your transportation, housing, and bills; all for someone else's personal gain.

Also, as many students know from experience, many of these internships have little to nothing to do with the real world. The company knows you are temporary labor, and unskilled, uncredited labor at that. Most of the time they will have you pushing paper, answering emails, and doing all the tasks they don't want to pay someone $15 an hour to do.

And by forcing students to take unpaid internships, colleges and universities are basically guaranteeing a constant supply of free labor, further displacing paid jobs.

4. Unpaid Internships are Illegal
Unless your internship only involves training that doesn't benefit the employer in any way, your internship is illegal according to federal and most state laws:
http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL12-09acc.pdf

That's right, you are an illegal laborer and your employer is breaking the law! At least illegal immigrants are paid for the work they do. Unpaid internships are exploitation, pure and simple. If your employer has no respect for the law, or for you, you think they will turn around and pay you a salary and benefits? Maybe in another lifetime.

In Defense of Internships
Now you ask, what about the referrals? The networking? That great job I got after working at company XYZ?

I'm sorry to say your positive experience is the exception that proves the rule. And the more we embrace unpaid internships, the fewer positive experiences there will be. Sure a small percentage of college students will gain valuable experience that leads to full time employment, but that percentage will shrink with the tidal wave of unpaid labor flooding the market due to unpaid internships.

Now am I saying to never take an unpaid internship? Of course not! Let me tell you a little secret: I was one of those people who worked their way through an internship and eventually landed full time employment in the company.

The important thing is to be smart and only take an internship, especially unpaid, if there is a real chance it will help you with your career. And by real chance, I don't mean you will be working at a famous company where you might meet and work with a major player in your industry. That doesn't mean taking an internship were you might get one or two clips published on the company website, or even page 18D of a regional newspaper.

I'm talking about listenning to other people who interned in that company and hearing how it actually helped their career. You have to know for a fact that someone who interned there was later employed to even consider that as a possibility.

In my situation, I knew the company I was walking into was a fast growing startup that would need full time employees as it expanded. I had spoken with my employer and he made it clear I could expect a gig there if I did well. And I also had access to all the resources the company had available, normally offered to its clients for thousands of dollars. You see the difference between that and the common unpaid internship?

"I don't have a job, why not just take the internship? Opportunity won't come if I'm sitting around doing nothing."

True, but again this is a self-defeating attitude. Because people are so desperate for any opportunity, businesses know they can get away with offering unpaid internships instead of wasting money on a paid position.

Instead of thinking about what others can do for you, think about all you can do on your own. The internet has made the world a lot smaller, you don't have to rely on big business to get ahead in life!

1. Build Your Personal Brand Online
Never before, in all of human history, have we had so many opportunities to publish our work and connect with other people at almost no cost. It doesn't matter what field or industry you are in, embracing social media can help you build an audience and credibility that may lead employers to come looking for you.

Start a blog. It's free and easy. Use it to publish your clips. Comment on relevant articles in the news. If you want to be a lawyer, discuss recent court cases from the news. Even if you don't attract a lot of readers, you can use your blog or website as an online resume when going on a job interview.

2. Connect on Social Media
In the days before Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn you had to go through several layers of defenses before being able to connect with someone important in your industry. You sent faxes to nowhere. You argued with secretaries to get you on the schedule to talk to a director or manager in a major company. No more!

With the click of a mouse you can connect with these same people on social media. You will be amazed when leading professionals in your field respond to you on Twitter. And trust me, you have just as much a chance of getting a job interview from your Twitter or LinkedIn connections as pushing papers in the basement of a major corporation (perhaps more.)

3. Network IRL
You have some great opportunities to network in unpaid internships. In 90% of these internships you will be networking on a day-to-day basis with a. the person in charge of managing interns and b. the other interns. Amazing! Another 5% of internships will give you some real opportunities to work with other employees and meet some important people from your industry. A rare few will get a chance to work in the trenches, meet clients, and have their Disney fantasy of impressing a higher-up with your skill, talent, and determination to land a job come true. Get over it.

Want to network? Go out in The Real World. This may be harder in some markets than others, but for those in major metropolitan areas like New York City, this advice is gold. Save the cash you would waste traveling to your unpaid internship and use that to go to a major industry conference or expo. Have a blog or press credentials? You can go for free! In some cases you may even have a chance to help or present at a business event. Trust me, this is the #1 way to meet people in your industry who may actually hire you or have job openings for you!

The employees in your unpaid internships do not want you to succeed - after all, you will be taking their jobs. But people who go to industry events will approach you if they see you as a good fit for a position they have in mind.



Conclusion
Never take an unpaid internship, unless you are 100% certain it will actually lead to progress in your career. It's true, you don't have any real work experience until you go out into the real world, no matter how great a college you finished. But that also means you don't have the judgement or perspective to realize when you have been given a raw deal.

Until you are forced to work for minimum wage, 6 days a week, from morning until night just to pay for your rent and food - you don't realize the value of work. After experiencing something like that you begin to realize that unpaid internships, i.e. working for free, is just exploitation. If you value yourself as a person and a worker, you simply cannot accept the institution of unpaid internships as the rest of the country has.

I'm open to comments and arguments as to why I'm wrong or right, and certainly for ways we can change this system.

*Waiting Room photo by Steve Snodgrass
*DC Rally photo by SEIU International

Election 2012: The Iowa Caucus

On January 3rd registered Republicans in Iowa will get the first chance at choosing their nominee for president. There's only one problem: the person they vote for will most likely never become President of the United States.

And this is not just a GOP electability issue, but a wider symptom of an electoral system that fails to accurately represent the will of the people, on both sides of the isle.

The last few months have seen the meteoric rise and fall of several candidates; Texas governor Rick Perry, Representative Michele Bachmann, and Herman Cain were all leading in the polls before falling back into national political obscurity. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's campaign has returned from the dead and currently leads in Iowa with over 27% of the vote in most polls.

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Meanwhile former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney struggles to hold in the polls even as he is labeled the inevitable "presumed nominee" by the mainstream media.
Romney has the best chance at winning against President Obama in the general election compared to all of the other GOP candidates, polling at 40 to 48% against Obama if the election were held today. Meanwhile Gingrich would be soundly defeated 38 to 51%.

Yet the media has made a big deal of every change in the polls in the lead up to the early Republican primaries, even though these numbers represent a very small and homogeneous slice of the American public. Only 119,000 people voted in the Iowa Republican caucus four years ago. If the turnout were the same on January 3rd, that 27% Gingrich holds in Iowa would only amount to about 30,000 people. Those 30,000 registered Republicans in Iowa would have immense influence, at least momentarily, over an electoral system that eventually affects 300 million Americans.

This is at the heart of the electability issue for the GOP. These early primary voters are much more conservative than the general public, and their choice of candidate will likely be too extreme to win a general election. The primary system itself is a way of quickly pushing through a candidate that has not yet been vetted to succeed in the general election.

In 2008 senator John McCain was declared the presumptive Republican nominee by mainstream media sources such as the LA Times after winning only three out of the first seven primaries, achieving final victory in Florida. Even though no candidate earned more than 40% of the vote in any of the initial contests, with the vast majority of delegates yet to be selected, McCain clinched the election. He did so with a little over a million voters, just 0.4% of the American public.

That's because February 5th, 2008 was Super Tuesday. On Super Tuesday many more primaries occur than at any other time, including states with "winner takes all" rules like Texas. This makes the early primary states key battlegrounds that lead to an electoral steamroller on Super Tuesday which no candidate can hope to withstand.

The Republican party has tried to correct this by adding another month before the "winner takes all" states get to play, delaying the start date for those states until April 1st. The GOP is hoping to copy the primary system of the Democrats, a long process that ensured a centrist Barack Obama won the nomination in 2008.

Don't mistake my critique as partisan. The Republican primary system is just one timely example of how our democracy has failed to provide the candidates that people truly want representing them - left or right.

Learn how the Republican nomination process works.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A.F.Sienko is the son of immigrants who gained asylum in the United States after fleeing communist oppression in Poland. His parents settled in the Brooklyn projects and worked seven days a week to pay for his education.

Sienko's political life started on September 11th, 2001 when he witnessed the 9/11 terrorist attacks from his High School window. This led him to enroll in Hofstra University's School of Communication to seek a degree in journalism. At Hofstra Sienko was the founding video editor of Nassau News Live, a hyper local online news site run by journalism students.

At Nassau News Live he covered the 2008 presidential election and the 3rd presidential debate at Hofstra using the latest in webcasting and online syndication technology. At this time Sienko learned to anchor, produce, and provide live technical support using some of the latest technology available with a crack team of student journalists.

After graduating with Dean's List in 2009 Sienko joined Be The Media, an online startup that taught organizations and individuals across the globe on using new media to get their message out. Sienko worked with journalists and journalism students at hundreds of universities and organizations, including the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, the Columbia University School of Journalism, and the United Nations.

Currently Sienko works as an independent media expert specializing in the fields of online journalism, social media, and live webcasting. In 2010 he helped draft a media kit that led to an agreement with national nonprofit HomeAid to host the largest virtual event to benefit America's homeless.

"Blighted" Elmont intersection may be demolished

By Andrzej Sienko

The Argo Theater in Elmont

*NOTE* This story was originally written and published in November, 2007. See my notes below the story to find out why.

The Town of Hempstead is set to declare a central intersection in Elmont "blighted," potentially transforming the area as part of an urban renewal plan, government officials said.

A study drafted for the Hempstead Department of Planning and Economic Development declares the southwest intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road to be substandard and unsanitary. If a Jan. 22 town board hearing agrees, the current businesses may be bought out by developers, according to the commissioner of the department, Charles T. Theofan.

"The blight study is the first step for implementing the urban renewal plan," Theofan said in an interview. He said contractors would submit proposals to develop the area and offer to pay business owners for their property and to relocate. If a deal cannot be reached, the town can take the land using eminent domain, he said. Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray had spearheaded the renewal project after several community meetings in September.

The Argo Theatre, an old-style cinema constructed in 1950, dominates the disputed area. It is described by the study as “obsolete” and “awkward.” Today it houses the Elmont Discount Department Store, one of several businesses affected. They may all be demolished as part of the plan, according to Theofan.

“Pay me my money and I’m out,” said the store’s owner, who asked to be identified only as Ali. He said business had been down 15 to 20 percent over the last few years, and he welcomes relocating from the ailing local economy. A deli next door is going out of business, its owner, Roger Patel, said. He blamed a decrease in traffic. “Small businesses just can’t compete.”

The study concluded that the area is "underutilized” in what should be a thriving neighborhood intersection. The town wants a 40,000-square-foot supermarket to take the place of the Argo, filling the community’s need for a large grocery store after a local Waldbaum’s closed down several years ago. Civic organizations have tried to bring another supermarket to Elmont, unsuccessfully because of lack of space, said Sandra Smith, leader of the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development.

Smith described the intersection as a commercial center, and said the Coalition had been working for years with Saccardi & Schiff, who drafted the blight report, on ways to revitalize the area. However a Nov. 13 town board decision on the study was delayed two months after a phone call from Smith, asking for more time. “How can we decide without knowing?” she asked. She said the Coalition had not been informed where the blight study was taking place, and needed more time to talk to all parties involved.

Smith said that Elmont residents may have mixed feelings about demolishing the Argo, adding that “it’s become more than just a 99 cent store.” She said refurbishing the outside of storefronts may be enough without relocating important Elmont businesses.
Evelyn Martinaz works in one such business, a restaurant owned by her mother for eight years. She agreed that the community needs help, but said more should be done to solve crime and drug problems. “People in this neighborhood hear about these problems, and unless the families and kids are more engaged, they will leave.” She said a supermarket would help, but “a YMCA would help more.”

Theofan said the town is trying to fast track the process, so that by May 2008 officials will be ready to adopt a plan and select a developer. He said the new developers could benefit from state grants of up to $2 million to restore the area and receive tax credits for being in a special business zone.

Some current business owners said they are skeptical about how long the acquisition will take. Ram Thapa, who recently opened a retail store near the Argo, is worried about the relocation. “A new business has more expenses: new merchandise, new location…who will pay for all that?”

Thapa and others said they want to hear a good offer before deciding to move.

***

This was my first "official" journalism piece for Hofstra University's school of communication. It was first published on a site called NassauNews.org, and "lost" when the school did not renew that domain. Later it was updated and became part of a multimedia project, with an interactive HTML map of the location (I'm still looking for that).

I approached Newsday about publishing the article in print, and I thought it had a shot since no one in the community had heard about the project and it had not been written about before this point. The Newsday editor I approached said (I paraphrase) "thanks so much for the lead but we will not publish your story." Now it's up here just so I have a public record of it.

Help Me Be The Media!

Photo Tour of Krakow: Part 2

Krakow has centuries of history behind it, and describing every piece of that history that now remains would be nearly an impossible task. Still, I would like to describe a few other interesting locations in Krakow.

Road in Krakow.

Wow, it can't be... more medieval stuff!

One interesting landmark is the Kosciuszko Mound, or "Kopiec." It was built in the years of 1820-1823. Building this huge earthen mound must have been a difficult task to say the least. The local population had to carry the earth up a daunting hill using wheel-barrows, as there were no trucks or trains at the time.

The Kopiec.

Entrance to the mound.



The mound is a monument to Polish national hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who is also an American hero. He was a general who helped the United States during the Revolutionary War, before returning to Poland to fight for freedom in his homeland. On July 18th, 2007, then Senator Obama said Kosciuszko helped "win our country's independence."

Description of Kosciuszko's role in the American Revolutionary War.

Top of the mound.

The mound stood until 1998 when flooding caused it to collapse. The floods of 1997-1998 were the worst in Poland for over a century. The mound was rebuilt with modern aquaduct systems in 2002.

History of the mound.

View of Krakow from the top. A somewhat cloudy day!

Seems like a small city when walking through it, but from this view you can see Krakow stretches far in every direction. No wonder my feet hurt!

Before World War I Poland had been occupied by foreign powers for over 120 years. After a long struggle for independence it looked like the Poles would have a sovereign nation again. The Austrians, after their defeat on the Western Front, had promised to depart from Polish lands. However they took everything they could before leaving, including food, materials, and equipment. This caused a period of great poverty and famine, especially in the Krakow area.

Underground Polish resistance forces eventually organized, and walked up to the Austrian Military Barracks in Krakow (in the Podgorze area). They ordered the Austrian troops to disarm and leave, and then stopped all trains carrying stolen Polish goods. This was the first time foreign troops were peacefully disarmed in Poland, marking the beginning of Polish independence. The square below is the former site of the barracks, and there is a monument today to this historical feat.



Krakow had a large Jewish population before World War II. Poland overall had a diverse number of peoples of different faiths because it was one of the most religiously tolerant countries in all of Europe (and perhaps the world). Under the Polish constitution (the first constitution in Europe) there was a right to religious freedom. Today many synagogues still stand in Krakow's Jewish district. However this population is long gone because of the tragedies of World War II. Jewish residents were rounded up into the Krakow ghetto by German forces, and eventually sent to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Below is pictured a monument in the place where the ghetto stood.

Chairs stand here to symbolize the people lost in the Krakow ghetto.

A very old synagogue.

Finally, in the interest of journalism, I demonstrate an important Polish cultural practice. Or "How to Drink Polish Beer 101"

Photo Tour of Krakow

Krakow is a medieval city in Poland, the ancient seat of kings and the first Polish capital. It has a vast and diverse history spanning centuries. Today it is a very active university city. It has the character of a small college town, with thousands of students walking its busy streets. However it also has all the luxuries of a major metropolitan center, without ever making you feel overwhelmed.

News post in Krakow.

Outdoor market; a common sight in Polish cities.

One of the main streets.

Below is a picture of the now demolished Wawel Chocolate Factory. They used to have a lot of Christmas chocolate left over after the holidays, and would sell it at a discounted price of one Polish dollar (or zloty). This made it popular with the local students.

Demolished chocolate factory. How sad!

"Slak", or "Trail" street.

One of the busiest streets in Krakow is "Duga" or "Long" street. The medieval sidewalks here are packed with students and city residents. Interestingly, every time I passed a certain Alcohol store on this street, there was always a man falling out of it. The first day a man came out with his pants falling down, claiming "Well, I just don't have a belt!" Not sure if this is an everyday occurrence, but my cousin convinced me it was.

"Long" street... could have been a bit wider!

A Hostel, or cheap living quarters. A common sight in Krakow and other European tourist destinations.

Many buildings have ornate sculptures or other designs built on top of them to draw attention. They are also commonly used as landmarks. One such place is the "Bookstore under the Globe." Famous poets and authors come here frequently to give lectures and host discussions.

A trolley! So cool. And fun to ride.

The monument below features king Jagaila of Poland and his royal entourage. This is in memory of his victory at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. This was the largest battle of knights in medieval Europe, when the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth defeated the mighty (and feared) Teutonic Order. The Teutonic Knights were the most powerful organization in Northern Europe, and their defeat in this battle changed the course of history. Something you won't read about in most Western history books.

The "Old Town" of Krakow used to be surrounded by walls. Today only the main gate remains standing. In front of the gate is the fortress of Barbakan, a sort of "customs entrance" that everyone entering the city had to go through. It was in a very strategic location because attackers could not attack the main gate without having archers shoot upon them from Barbakan.

Barbakan.

Barbakan and the main gate. This photo shows how anyone attacking the main gate was in Barbakan's field of fire.

Barbakan.

The main gate.

The last remaining portion of the original wall.

A shot of the gate from the other side.

After going through the gate, you enter Florianska Street. This is a historical street that's centuries old. In the early 20th century it was a popular spot for students and artists, where they would drink cognac and wine. Today it has been heavily commercialized because many people and tourists walk past here to get into the center of the Old Town. It is the most expensive street in all of Poland to rent on.

Giant walking beer. Only in Poland!

Florianska leads to the main market square. This is the largest medieval market square in all of Europe. This was the playground of kings and royalty of centuries past. Most of the apartment blocks in these photographs are several hundred years old. One legend regarding the square is that a "Hejnal" or "Performer" sang here when the Tartars of Mongolia descended on Krakow. He sang so that everyone would gather in the square and defend the city. It was said that he was shot through the throat by an arrow in mid-song. Today performances in the square end abruptly as an homage to this legend.

Central marketplace building.

The shopping mall of its day!

Statue of Adam Miskiewic, famous Polish writer who wrote the national epic "Pan Taduesz." Students frequently meet here. Students also come here after their High School Prom and jump around the statue on one leg in order to get better grades on their finals.

This is the first church in Krakow and one of the first churches in all of Poland. It was built in the 10th century, the same century that Christianity came to Poland. It was rebuilt in the 17th century.

This tower used to be part of the original Town Hall that was demolished in the 19th century.

St. Mary's Basilica, located in the central square, is one of Poland's most historically and culturally signifcant churches. It was built in the 12th century in the Gothic style. Its size was immense, especially to an everyday peasant from that time. It was basically the skyscraper of its day. There is a legend surrounding the construction of the two towers of the church, with two brothers competing to build the taller tower. When one succeeded, the other killed him out of jealousy.

Massive.

Note how the left tower has shorter but more numerous sections, while the right has taller sections.

Epicly massive.

There is a local joke here that on every street in Krakow there is a church. I must disagree, because on many streets there are two or even three churches. One explanation for this is that King Kazimierz the Big frequently cheated on his wife, and was ordered by a bishop to build a church every time he did so. Considering he also built an apartment block in the main square for one of his lovers, we can see why there are so many churches and cathedrals here today!

The oldest Baroque style cathedral in Poland.

The oldest Roman style church in Poland.

Cathedral in the Podgorze area.

Many of these cathedrals were on the same street or within a minute's walking distance. But there is more to Krakow than these architectural monuments!

Medieval city without a carraige ride? No way.

Church, but in the distance!

12th century Church of All Saints used to stand here until 1835. Now Square of All Saints.

Current town hall.

Small Square.

Nunnery at the Small Square.

Skarga, priest who incited a patriotic ferver in Poles right before they lost their independence.

Wawel (Vavel) Castle is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. The hill upon which it was built was populated for centuries, possibly into the BC era. It was built as the official headquarters of the Polish kings. It was rebuilt through the centuries, and you can see these vast shifts in architectural design in many of its buildings. In one word: EPIC.

Guard tower.

Entrance to the castle.

The immense, nearly insurmountable defensive walls of the castle. The Wisla (Vistula) River is in the distance.

A look into the inner castle, where kings lived.

The royal chambers.

Some medieval ruins. Not sure what was the story here, but my theory is that hobbits lived here.

Wawel Cathedral, where kings attended mass.

Another shot of Wawel Cathedral. Kings and Polish national heroes are buried here.

Note the various patterns of architecture. The cathedral was built upon many times over the centuries.

Wawel Cathedral.

Wawel Cathedral contains a massive seven ton bell, only rung when a truly monumental event happens (such as the death of Pope John Paul II).

Standing at the gates.

Interesting design in this clock.

Hanging with my cousin and his girlfriend in the castle.;

Statue of Pope John Paul II, admired by many Poles.

This was originally part of the inner-wall, but was rebuilt into housing.

Cathedral from another angle.

There is an outside world.

I hope you have enjoyed this photo tour of Krakow, Poland! It's really an amazing place. Check back to see one more blog entry where I talk about a few other important places and events in this city.

Wisla again, an important river that runs through most of Poland.