European Journey Part 1- Poland

Audrey and I started our European travels by heading to Krakow, Poland with the main goal of taking a day to see the Auschwitz Concentration/ Death Camp. We arrived on Thursday around noon and managed to figure out how to get from the airport to the main train station, which is where our directions to our B&B start. Unfortunately, we did not have a map, and it was extraordinarily hot compared to Denmark, so we wandered around in the heat, got directions twice, and after about an hour we found it. We felt like idiots since we missed the large sign for the Globtroter Guest House. Oh well. After we checked in, we walked around the area, and went to the Main Square. It is the biggest medieval square in all

Inside the Market

  of Europe. In 2005, it took first place in an international ranking of World's Greatest Squares, so it was a pretty fun place to hang out. The original planning dates back to 1257, however the building has been renovated quite a bit over time. The square is just a great place to people watch, as there are many street performers and some breakdance shows that take place. I would say we spent the majority of our time just sitting there.

Sign to entrance "Work Sets You Free"

Friday was our big day, and reason for visiting Krakow. We took a group to to Auschwitz. The ride takes you through the Polish countryside and winds around, but after about 90 minutes we arrived. It is just an eerier place. It's hard to actually wrap your mind around what happened there, but there are pictures and displays everywhere to remind you. We had a phenomenal tour guide

Rail leading into Birkenau for selection

who was extremely knowledgeable about all the topics. Again, its really hard to try to get what happened there, but when you close your eyes, you just get chills. One of the most intriguing stories from the trip, in my opinion, was told by our guide. There was a picture of the selection--when the trains brought in new people, they would get off and be selected to head to the right or left; one side lives to work, the other hits the gas chambers. There is a picture blown up on the wall of an SS member running the selection. Our guide told us that some time ago, a man was on the tour and recognized the SS man in the picture. Turns out it was his father. Imagine finding out your father was directly involved in the selection process. It's hard to really explain everything there.

Pool built to show Red Cross things are OK

There are rooms filled with luggage, as prisoners were told they would start a new life so pack everything up, one room filled with two tons of human hair, and another with shoes, brushes, all of that stuff. It really takes it out of you to see something like that. We headed to Birkenau which is about 3km away, but it was raining, so we didn't go too deep in. We got to see where prisoners would sleep and head to the top of a guard tower. Just a wild day overall. We returned pretty wiped out and just again, walked around the square.

Saturday would be our last day in Krakow, so we decided to head up to Wawel castle, since it looked pretty cool. We got there early at 10am and just walked around a bit. It was a bit confusing as general entrance to the huge castle and cathedral is free, but you had to pay to get into certain rooms and exhibits, but nothing really was there to tell you what exactly you would be paying for, so we just enjoyed some views from the castle. From there we walked around the Kazimierz area, which is kind of like the Jewish area with a bunch of synagogues. Nothing too special. We spent the remained of our Saturday sitting in the square until we took a shuttle bus out to where we were staying Saturday night, since we would be flying out of an airport 90 minutes away, at 6:05 am. The hotel was super nice, and we slept for a little bit before waking at 4:30 to get to the airport to catch out 6 am fight into Rome.

Krakow was awesome and the Polish people were exceptional nice to us. I'll be back to talk more about Rome, but as of now, Audrey is getting ready to leave and we are going to go to some souvenir places before my practice this evening.