Krakow, Poland and Auschwitz

Day 1: Travel and Polish Food!

We landed in Poland around 5:30PM! The city we visited is Krakow (Cracov, in the local language) it's the second largest city in Poland which was once the capital of Poland, and is still known as the "cultural and historic capital." When we first stepped off the plane we were pleasantly surprised to see, although we were not so happy with the 20 degree weather that greeted us! We got a little lost as first, but luckily, (Thanks Dad!) I was able to read a map and lead us to the correct hostel. The hostel was our best one so far, it was small and cozy with extremely comfortable beds and the other people staying with us were awesome - a bunch of traveling students from Spain, two traveling 24 year olds from France, a couple of 22 year olds from China and then us. The two girls that were at reception were in their twenty's and spoke very good English and told us all the best restaurants and bars to go to.
Once we settled in at the hostel we were all very excited to get going to our first big Polish meal. The first night we got Pierogi's, Gwumpkies (I don't know how to spell that!), and Cabbage with Kielbasa.

It was soo delicious. After that we went back to our hostel and hung out for the night, eager to get to bed early since our tour at Auschwitz began around 9.


Day 2: Auschwitz, More Polish Food, and a taste of Polish Vodka

Our day began early with the tour of Auschwitz. Auschwitz was intense to say the least. I don't really know how to write about it, or even to explain how it made me feel. It's something so unfathomable that it's nearly impossible for your brain to process it, even when it is right there in front of you. I guess what I did not expect was how much still remained there. They still had the piles of suitcases, childrens toys, clothing, hair, shoes, etc that the Nazi's took from the prisoners when they first came to camp. They were all there to see, in piles towering over my head, with just a thin piece of glass between me and all the belongings of the people killed there.

The thing I was most shocked by was the size of Auschwitz-Birkenau... when standing on top of the small hill that the monument for all the victims was on I looked across the concentration camp grounds, the "Blocks" which housed all the prisoners spread in each direction as far as my eyes could see. The enormity of the camp I could never sum up in words, or even show you in pictures.

I would say the hardest part for me was going into the gas chambers, which still exist un-touched from when they were last used, and then going on into the crematorium where the bodies were burnt.

We toured both camps, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). We were shown the separation point, where with the flick of a thumb a doctor decided of the people just brought into camp who was fit to work and who would immediately be sent to the gas chambers (70-75% of each train load of people would immediately be killed). Our tour guide said, two years ago, the "Doctor's" son was visiting the camp and was in her group. Upon coming to the picture of the "separation process" he fell to his knees and began balling his eyes out. His mother had moved him away and changed his last name after "The Great Patriotic War" (what they call World War II) and he never had known his fathers war crimes but had immediately recognized his picture. She also had a women just a few months ago, a Jew who survived Auschwitz who was in a picture hanging on the wall from when she was 10 years old. She pointed out each other person in the picture and told their story, only 3 of the 10 kids in the picture made it out of Auschwitz.

All that is left is ruins from the huge crematoriums because they were destroyed by the Nazi's because they wanted to try to hide what had occured here. However, you can still see the remains of the rooms, the stairs leading down to them and the chimney... also, floor plans were recovered to show exactly how these death machines worked.

At the end of a very intense tour, there was a glimpse of a strong world and some hope. We ended at the monument for all the victims..

Obviously as you can tell, Auschwitz was quite a different type of tour/trip than we are used to. It was extremely hard, and at times I can honestly say I just wanted to walk out. At times I couldn't even believe what I was seeing -- It was as if my mind wanted to let myself believe it really was all a lie. It was shocking, disturbing, and left me feeling overly emotional yet void of emotion at the same time (very hard to explain) but I will say I am glad I went.


After Auschwitz we got another amazing traditional Polish dinner (complete with Pierogis, polish bread basket filled with potato and kielbasa soup) then went out for the night with our new hostel friends!

Day 3: Walking tour of Krakow

On the third day we went on a walking tour of Krakow. We first saw the oldest Medieval Market (which is really just sort of an open ended mall of souvenir shops)

We also saw the Krakow Castle, and there I am standing in the courtyard and posing with the statue of the dragon, a part of an old polish myth about a dragon that once destroyed the city. An old shoemaker mixed together a paste and smeared it on all the livestock so when the dragon returned hungry he ate them first and became so thirsty he drank the entire river and was killed. This man, Cracov, became the first King and made his castle above the dragon's cave. That is why all around the city you can see small symbols of dragons.

Also, we got to see the church (me and the roomies posed in front of it) and the place where Pope John Paul II (who was born and studied in Krakow) stepped out onto the balcony and greeted the people. The city is very proud of him because, when the Nazis invaded Poland they sent most Poles to concentration camps and would not allow any of the remaining Poles to get an education. However, Pope John Paul secretly studied and remained practicing religion and went on to the Vatican and to become one of Krakows most famous citizens.

y

Finally, we ended the trip as delicious and full as we began it.. with yet another traditional Polish meal!

All in all it was a great weekend, I learned a lot, saw a lot of new things, got to play in the snow, see an amazing country, and obviously eat a lot of great food! However, one of my favorite parts of the weekend was coming home to Brussels and getting to Skype Grampy for his birthday! :) Seeing everyone was amazing and I hope I can skype with you all more often. Love and miss everyone!