The ride there was insane. People were partying in the hallway, and even some of our program directors participated. There were people singing songs like “Ain’t No Mountain (High Enough)” and from artists like Backstreet Boys. It was pretty fun but a little too wild when we needed sleep to go to Auschwitz and Birkenau in the morning. But I managed to get some shut eye, so it was all good, just rather difficult.
We arrived in Krakow at 6:50 in the morning, a lot earlier than I’ve been up in a while. After exiting the train we hopped on a bus to our hotel called Hotel Petrus so we could drop off our stuff and get breakfast before heading to the concentration camps. The breakfast was pretty good and standard for European hotels. I don’t know if I’ve described one before but it includes ham, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, and bread for whatever kind of sandwich you want to make with those ingredients; eggs, bacon, cereal, yogurt for the basics; and unique to this particular breakfast, mini hot dogs. You better believe I tried a little bit of everything for the two mornings we were there.
After eating and cleaning up a bit we got back on the bus and headed to the camps. It was about an hour and a half drive, so many took advantage of the time and slept some more, and I read Harry Potter (I know, I’m such a dork).
We got to Auschwitz around 10:30am and then started our tour. It was really intense seeing this place where so many people met their death. We watched a video from when the camp was liberated and it’s pretty disgusting to see images of what the Nazi’s did. It’s indescribable. So that was a bit of a wake-up call and then we began touring the camp. We saw Block 10 which was considered the death block, where people were punished and tested upon by “doctors” and we saw the leftover collections of human hair, shoes, combs, toothbrushes, and other things the Nazi’s couldn’t destroy before the camp was liberated. We also got to see the wall where people were shot for petty offenses like giving someone a bit of their food, the first crematorium at Auschwitz that was later deemed too small because it couldn’t gas enough people at once. Basically it was just such an eye-opener to all the pain these people went through and just made it so more real.
After touring Auschwitz we took the bus 5 minutes down the road to the Birkenau part of the camp, where more of the gassings took place. Many of the buildings had been burnt down and destroyed, by the Nazi’s and some by the victims who rebelled. We were able to go inside one wash house, where there were just holes in the ground that people would use the bathroom into. Apparently the design of the buildings came from a barn that was made to hold 52 horses, but instead at the camp it housed people, and probably with worse conditions. The sleeping building we saw was filled with bunk beds for three people with just boards that the prisoners had to sleep on. It’s so sad to see what these people had to go through and to know that they arrived in the rail car thinking they were moving to a different location only to be imprisoned and stripped of all their belongings, only to be treated worse than cattle.
But after that intense experience, we headed back to our hotel and had some free time. Kayla, Renata, Maja, Amanda, Nicole, Kate, and I took this opportunity to fill our stomachs and had some really delicious pizza at a place down the road. And I didn’t think it was possible for any place to be cheaper than the Czech Republic but I think Poland was. Kayla and I shared a HUGE pizza and we each got a thing of juice and our total combined was about $9 US. Talk about crazy! A large pizza at Domino’s would be about $5 more than that alone. But the pizza did its job and satisfied our hunger. We went back to the hotel and napped for a little bit then headed to the city center to check out the town.
We arrived in their Old Town Square and it was ridiculously large, apparently the largest in Eastern Europe. We just walked around a bit and went into a pub that looked pretty cool and hung out there for a bit, talking. We decided Krakow is a really cool city and found ourselves wishing we had more time, but another day awaited to experience it so we took a cab back to the hotel and went to bed.
Sunday we woke up around 9am and had breakfast then chilled until around noon when we took the bus back to the city center. Once there we took a tour of the castle which was built in the 1300s and has survived many wars and invasions. I believe our guide said that two days prior to WWII the royal family sent their tapestries and treasures to Canada for safekeeping. Pretty crazy, but I guess it was worth it and helped preserve the decorations for the castle (tapestries were EVERYWHERE because they helped keep the castle warm with its cold stone walls and floors).
After the castle tour we took a tour of the Church of Saint Mary’s that was attached to the castle. It was so beautiful, with lots of blues and reds and a huge altar for services. Apparently it is the chapel where all of the kings and queens were coroneted and legend says that if you aren’t coroneted in this place that the monarch would die from unnatural causes and end their reign early and for the two that were not coroneted in the church the legend was applicable as they both met an early demise.
After this tour we had some time to get a little something to eat then we headed to the Old Town and to a church there. It was again quite impressive and I have some good pictures from it (pictures in the other church were not allowed). Then we were let go for some free time and I found myself trying to get rid of my zloty (Polish money). I took out 100 zt which is about $30 US and I hardly spent any of it so I just “had” to do some souvenir shopping, haha. Of course, after that I was able to use most of the zloty I had left, saving enough for a cab home.
After souvenir shopping, we decided we wanted to find the carnival we had seen as we crossed the Danube into the Old Town so we walked towards it and were really excited about getting to ride some rides. This is where I was happy I had conserved some zloty because I was able to use it to ride the swings and the Ferris wheel. Apparently, the rules and regulations are not the same in Europe because those swings went pretty darn fast and I feel for a lot longer than those found in our amusement parks. Also, our Ferris wheel ride was livened by the fact that an old man spinned us around as we came around the bottom, making us quite dizzy, but it was fun. After spending our remaining zloty on that we decided to walk back to our hotel since it wasn’t too far.
Upon getting back to the hotel, we grabbed our things and hopped back on the bus, only to go back to the city for dinner. We had a typical Polish dinner, which you know I polished off =) We started with 4 types of slaw, some pickles, and bread with two types of spread: one that I’m hoping was butter with some garlic and the other, I now know, was lard. Thank goodness, I stayed away from the chunks in what I thought was a potato spread. Others were not so lucky… then we had mushroom soup which was pretty good then came the main course which was composed of schnitzel, potato pancakes, and pasta shells filled with what I think was sauerkraut with soy sauce (at least that’s what it tasted like) and another with potatoes. They love their starches in Central and Eastern Europe, but I’m not complaining.
After dinner we walked to the train station and were off! The ride back was a lot less wild and we were able to get a good amount of sleep. I read some more Harry Potter and then dozed off, although it still didn’t seem like enough sleep when 6:30 came around and we were woken up again. But thankfully, I was able to fall back asleep when we got home.
Well, that was our trip to Poland. It seems crazy that I only have two weeks left in Prague. These past months have flown by! But I’ll be happy to be home soon and see my parents and my friends and Elmo. It’s somewhat sad but I’m spending half of my last weekend in Budapest, but I’m excited about making it there. And that should be some more good times and beautiful pictures so I’m pumped. Then the 21st I leave Prague for England and hopefully Ireland and then June 3rd I’ll be home. I know you are all looking forward to it but are probably also sad you won’t be able to live vicariously through me anymore =) But it’s been fun! But now that this post has reached epic proportions, I suppose I will stop and give you some pictures from our trip. Until next time! Miss y’all! Ciao!
the plaform sign outside our train, Kayla on the train, Emily and I outside of Aushcwitz
Brigid, Sarah, and Nicole waiting for our tour to begin, the sign meaning "Work makes you free" that tops the entrance to the camp and unfortunately for those entering it lied, a look at the barbed wire-electricity powered fence
some of the buildings in the camp, shutters on the window because women weren't allowed to watch executions at the wall, the shooting wall
an entrance to one of the blocks, a guard tower for the fence, place where those trying to escape or believed to be helping people escape were hanged
more barbed wire, the gallows where the head gestapo of the camp was hanged, the first crematorium (that was deemed too small)
sign upon our entrance, the train tracks leading into the Birkenau camp, a guard tower
inside the barracks of Birkenau, a better view of the train tracks, the streets of Krakow
a little drawing of Krakow; Maja, Renata, Kayla, me, and Brigid in the pub; a picture of what your options are at pubs in Poland - huge tubes of beer
the castle
more shots of the castle, and a hot air balloon that soared over the city
a church near the square, the streets during the day (apparently there was some kind of holiday on Sunday)
a beggar man surrounded by Polish dressed children, buildings in the square
inside the church
the indoor souvenir stands, the carnival
space cars!, the one we eventually ended up at, me on the swings
views of the carnival grounds, a view across the river into the castle district
a view from the ferris wheel, Anna laughing after our adventure of spinning really fast while at great heights
the hot air balloon again, and the ferris wheel
