Krakow: Return to the Motherland

After leaving Prague and Cesky Krumlov we took a nigh-train to Krakow Poland.  This was hugely important to Jeffrey as his father's side of the family is 100% Polish with his grandparents coming arriving in the US at a very young age.  Those Polish roots had manifested themselves in cultural traditions such as polish dancing (in polish costume), polish food such as Kielbsa and of course Polish jokes.  Whether it was a romanticism or a sub-conscious drive - Jeffrey did feel connected to Poland and the people there.

Night-Train Night Pain

We took the overnight train from Prague to Krakow.
The Good:

• Train stations are close to the city centers making transport easy
• Sleeping in the train overnight eliminated the cost of a hotel/guesthouse room
• Train travel is relatively authentic

The Bad:

• The tickets from Krakow to Budapest, which we had to book last minute, were expensive
• The bed mattresses were pretty firm
• There wasn't a whole lot of space at the top

Good thing we are both small.

The Ugly:

• We had noisy/obnoxious passengers in our car twice.  First it was two male UK college students who gossiped and complained like spoiled brats.  The second time was three french girls who had a picnic complete with stinky food and loud conversation while we were trying to sleep.
• Temperature control was non-existent making it very hot at the top.

It was survivable and definitely not the worst experience of the trip.  I think I might even recommend it to others if they have a decent pain tolerance and a talent for heavy sleeping.

Once we arrived in Krakow we walked from the train station to our hostel to drop our bags off.  We came across a rather unique scene; groups of folks were marching together singing and carrying banners.  Because of our lack of Polish language skills it was difficult for us to understand.  We tried to use context clues.  One being the high proportion of clergy (priests and nuns) in the procession.  Another being the continuous flow of people and rather up-beat spirit.  

I joked with Megan that in order to figure out what the parade was for, we could follow it to its termination.  Boy was that a bad idea.  We ended up learning that the procession was a pilgrimage to the shrine of Jasna Gora that just started and would last for 10 days and 120 kms.  Safe to say that would of altered our vacation plans a bit.

Instead of walking to Jasna Gora we grabbed a quick breakfast at a local cafe.  It wasn't fancy by any means but filled the void and gave us some energy ahead of our walking tour and museum plans.

No frills Polish Breakfast.

Main Market Square in Krakow

Our sightseeing began at the Main Market Square.  It's the largest medieval town square in Europe.  It's a UNESCO heritage site and the surrounding buildings still have their medieval architecture roots.  In old times the parents would bring their daughters of age into the square and past the cafes in hopes they catch the eye of a young bachelor.  Today there are still many restaurants and cafes where locals and tourists can enjoy the scenery. 

In front of the massive and beautiful Cloth Hall

One of the really cool buildings was the Cloth Hall.  It was the center of trade in Krakow which put itself on the map as a trading town and key stop-off on trade routes through Europe.  In the past exotic spices, foods, and metals were sold there, now its just mainly cheesy souvenirs.  I'm not going to complain too much as I bought both a hat and shirt (fulfilling my polish pride).

Another beautiful building on the Main square is St. Mary's Basilica with two rising towers.  Every hour a trumpeter emerges to play a tune to tell the town everything is alright.  The trumpeter abruptly ends the song mid-note to comemorate a trumpeter that was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm of invading Mongol attack.

St. May's Basilica

The Basilica is very beautiful inside as well.  We dropped in and sad a few prayers and paid respects.  On the outside of the basilica are a number of beautiful memorials including this one of Pope John Paul II (a former archbishop and student of Krakow).

The Town Hall Tower is also a cool site.  It was attached to a complete town hall building but part of it was demolished in efforts to open things up.  Now just the tower remains and it is beginning to lean as it wasn't meant to standalone.

Last picture with dopey me in it for a while.  I promise.

Nice Classical Architecture

We caught a nice walking tour around town and saw these sites as well as the Krakow campus (a very old university) and the Wawel Castle complex.  The Wawel castle was the seat of the Polish empire.  It is composed of the King's residence, many administrative buildings, and beautiful religious buildings.  The Castle towers over the town and is a great spot for views.

Back view of the Castle.

During our walk through town we saw the Opera house.  It looked especially neat at night.

Hostel & Partying

We stayed at Tom and Greg's Beer Hostel.  True story: Tom and Greg's Party Hostel was sold out so we had to settle for the Beer Hostel.  Here we experienced the best and worst of hostel life.  On the good side we met a lot of social people and had no problem making friends.  Every night the hostel hosted drinking events such as Sangria night and a Pub Crawl.  Our first night we took it easy because we were going for some heavy sightseeing the next day at Auschwitz the next day.  Our plans to get a good night sleep were thwarted by hostel shenanigans.  At 4am a drunk belligerent hotel guest pounded on our door for 30 minutes to be let in.  Eventually he realized he was at the wrong room and then passed out on the couch.  Those thirty minutes were painful and awkward.  The next evening we decided to partake in the Pub Crawl to get a heavier night's sleep.  Don't worry we were safe and sound.  The bar and club scene in Krakow is outstanding.

Now that is a Sangria night!

Polish Ethnography Museum

The Polish Ethnography Museum was a hoot.  Maybe not quite as entertaining as the KGB Museum in Prague but just as fascinating.  It's density of artifacts and facts was impeccable.  Each exhibit came with a 10 page report on the thorough history of life in Poland.  For example we spent half an hour learning about early agriculture methods including honey farming.  The museum was more anthropology and less entertainment.  Not for the faint of heart.

Hey Look a Bear - Nope it's a Beehive!

The Polish traditional costumes were particularly cool.  They had over 30 and they traced the differences based on region, class and time period.

Polish Food

I like Polish food but I understand that I'm biased being 50% Polish.  When I told my Italian friend that we enjoyed the food in Poland he said "you must be kidding me.  Even American food is better than Polish food."  (ouch)  I tried my hardest to sell Megan on Polish food and we had a few feasts.  We searched out the best in Kielbasa and Pieorgies - Polish Musts.  At Pierogi Vincent we even tried blueberry pierogis (they had over 30 varieties which you can see at their website http://pierozkiuvincenta.pl/menu).  We also tried a few different foods too.

Golabki - cabbage stuffed with ground beef - tasty sauce

Herring

Home of Pope John Paul II

One of the most famous Krakow residents was Pope John Paul II.  He was a student at the local university and he later became the Archbishop of Krakow.  There is a museum where you can visit where he lived and see some of his artifacts.  There was a variety of stuff like the kayak he owned as a young man, a set of skis, many church outfits and gifts he was given by world leaders.  It was moving and inspiring seeing pictures of him throughout his life.  It made me very proud to be Polish.

Krakow was great.  We enjoyed our short stay and would definitely recommend it to others.

Reflections on our visit to Auschwitz

Note: The Holocaust is a very difficult subject yet one I believe needs to be talked about lest we forget.  I spent extra time thinking about how to write about this in the most sensitive and accurate manner.  I hope you learn a little bit from it and feel inspired to visit yourself.

While in Krakow we decided to visit Auschwitz - one of the most infamous Nazi concentration/extermination camps.   1.1M people died there, more then all the British and US losses in the second world war.  As global citizens we thought necessary to visit this dark piece of history.  It was a time for reflecting on history, morality, and humanity.  The camp is in the Polish country side, not far from Krakow.  The area would be scenic if it weren't for the knowledge of the evil done there.

Our tour was audio-guided by a highly trained expert.  She provided insightful commentary and answered our questions.  There are multiple components to the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex.  The first is the older camp which now houses the museum and artifacts.  As you walk to it you see the infamous sign with the cruel lie "Work Makes You Free":

We then walked through the camp.  It was an eiry chilling experience made more ominous by the overcast skys and drizzle.  Survivors of Asuchwitz (their weren't many) say the place is almost the same as it was then except there was no grass just mud.

Barbed wire and train tracks.

Auschwitz was at the center of many railroads.  This was planned and indicative of the ruthless efficiency in which the Holocaust was conducted.  The brick buildings were former barracks that were turned into pseudo prisons.  We saw the places where thousands were tortured, experimented on, and executed.

The museum exhibits were instrumental in connecting the empty physical site with the actual human impact.  Most chilling were the leftover relics.  Their presence shows the crimes, their quantity shows the magnitude, and their categorization shows the evil calculation.

Pots and pans of the victims.  Most brought their closest possessions unaware of their future fate.

The luggage of the victims with names of real people.

Recreation of the operation of the large gas chambers.

After the exhibits we walked to the first crematorium.  It is still physically present and it provides chilling evidence to the crimes there.  As the war turned against Nazi Germany they increased the pace at which they executed their crimes.  This involved the construction of 4 large crematoriums and around 100 barracks.  The living conditions in the barracks were designed to provide a horrible experience.  We toured a recreation of one of those barracks.

As the Soviet army approached in 1944 the Nazis began destroying evidence of the camp.  They burned and destroyed records and demolished the crematoria and many of the barracks.  Below is the wreckage of one of the large crematoria.  Even so there is plenty of evidence of the evil there.

The visit to Auschwitz was extremely powerful.  Its a somber experience that creates more questions the answers.  To me it is a reminder to never lose our humanity and to appreciate the freedoms we do have.  To me it is also a reminder to fight for others and to stand up against tyranny.  We all have obligations to look after and take care of each other.  And we all have moral obligations to promote peace, understanding and diversity.

Auschwitz Memorial

If you are interested in learning more about the history of Auschwitz the wikipedia page is comprehensive and consistent with what we learned during our tour.  The BBC has also produced a solid documentary on Auschwitz which can be seen via Netflix.