We woke up bright and early to do a few last minute things in Kiev before heading to the airport for our early afternoon flight. We once again hit up our friends at McDonald's (it would be rude to leave without saying bye). Then Dad and I helped Julie exchange all of her Ukranian money into US dollars. We all also got to briefly meet her roommate, Dan.
After taking care of our errands we headed off to the airport and took a plane from Kiev to Warsaw, Poland where we had a short layover. Then we took another flight from Warsaw to Krakow. We almost missed our flight and got scolded by airport personnel. That is how we roll.
We arrived in Krakow in the evening and were tired. It turns out that some of us (*cough* me) were outrageously out of shape and hoofing it all over a city for 2 days was wearing us down. I have skipped over a lot of humorous stories demonstrating our lack of travel prowess but one of my favorites from the trip occurred on our cab ride from the airport to our hotel between my Dad and the cab driver. It went like this:
Papa B: Do you speak English?
Cabdriver: A little bit.
Papa B: That’s okay because I don’t speak much Polish. I only know one word – “Dobry” (which sounds kind of like dob-ja). It means “thank you.”
Cabdriver: Actually that means “good.”Worldliness: fail. This is just one of a million reasons I love the fam so much.
We played our first evening in Krakow pretty low key. Julie had been to Krakow before on one of her breaks between class sessions and had gone to a restaurant that she loved because you could get beer and add in flavoring. I think this directly contributed to the fact she could not remember where on earth it was or how to get there. Thanks to the iPad, we discovered it was called Dynia and we located it.
Julie & Dad. Looking dobry, guys.
Caddy, Matt & I
The food was delicious and our waitress was awesome. It was a perfect way to unwind and rest up for the following day.
Hotel time:
Julie is strong?
Saski Hotel's best. Luckily, this was the biggest European hotel room I've ever seen because we spent a good chunk of time in this space... more on that in Day 5.
Good to know!
Day 4 (May 5th)
This is the day that we went to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Multiple years in school we did a big lesson on the Holocaust and World War II. Unlike another subject we learned about each year (ahem- Space)… the Holocaust has always interested me. It’s just amazing to me that humans can behave the way that they did during this tragedy and it’s a humbling reminder to always think for yourself and to never lose sight of compassion or reality. I have wanted to go visit a concentration camp since I was a freshman in high school and I was glad to finally be getting the opportunity to do so.
As with many things this vacation – getting the 5 of us to Auschwitz was no easy task despite that fact that we already had reservations and tickets. In order to confirm our reservations we were supposed to call 24 hours in advance to check in and have them pick us up from our hotel. We were in and out of airports and none of us have international phone plans (please see my May phone bill from AT&T for reference) so we didn’t quite get that done. We read on our tickets that they would definitely do a pick up from a different hotel so we hightailed it over there in the rain only to find ourselves umbrella-less and hanging out in a foreign hotel lobby in close quarters with a lady selling amber jewelry for about an hour. During this waiting time we decided to invest in umbrellas for the remainder of the day. Somehow we went from 2 umbrellas to 6 during this time frame (there are 5 of us). Never a dull moment.
We successfully made it on to the bus. After about an hour or so ride out of town, we found ourselves in Auschwitz. Auschwitz, as you might imagine, is a huge tourist attraction. Up to 2500 or so people visit each day and about 1,000,000 people visit each year. We were assigned a guide who spoke excellent English and given a headset so we could clearly hear him over the other groups touring. He showed us around the grounds and told us stories about the camp and what happened in each area. It was incredibly surreal to be walking around an area I’ve seen represented in so many movies and stories for so many years.
Entrance to Auschwitz. "Work will make you free."
We were led through the barracks buildings, which all remain intact, many of which have been set up to tell the story of a different aspect of camp life. The most memorable barracks for me were the ones that depicted the volume of belongings stolen by the SS soldiers working at the camps. When people were brought in, they were stripped of all of the worldly possessions they had brought with them. This included shoes, glasses, pots and pans, luggage, etc. All of these items were moved to various warehouses which the prisoners referred to as “Canada Warehouses.” (They considered Canada to be a land of wealth and endless possibility). Seeing the number of shoes recovered from just ONE of the warehouses will make your stomach turnover. It’s an unmistakable indicator of just how many people were subject to life (and sadly death) in Auschwitz and Birkenau. It was the most astounding thing I’ve ever seen.
The Kitchen at Auschwitz
Barracks. Unfortunately you couldn't take pictures inside of these.
Guard Tower and barbed wire fencing
Block 11, deemed the Death Block. The "courtroom" where prisoners' punishments for various offenses (asking for more food, passing out during their 16 hour work days, etc) was located here. Additionally, all confinement and holding cells were located in this block. It was known as the Death Block because anyone sent here would likely die in their cell or be shot at the execution wall just ouside of this building.
Courtyard just to the left of Block 11 which held the execution wall
The execution wall
One of the things that the visit taught me, that I didn’t absorb in school, was what lengths the Germans were going to in order to cover up what was really happening at Auschwitz and Birkenau. Our guide showed us reproductions of pictures taken by the SS to document what was happening there and each one meticulously left out any signs of violence, death or even unhappiness in the camp. All the images you have seen that demonstrate any evidence to the contrary were illegal pictures taken by either rogue soldiers or survivors. The arrogance and confidence required to think you can cover something of that magnitude up is beyond my comprehension.
The only remaining crematorium at Auschwitz or Birkenau. The rest were destroyed by the Germans in order to eliminate evidence of what was really taking place. This was also the smallest of the 5 crematoriums.
After the war one of the heads of camp who was caught and brought to justice was hung here. This is located right outside the beautiful house the camp head lived in which is just outside of the barbed wire fence border of camp.
After an hour and 15 minutes or so at Auschwitz, we hopped back on the bus and they took us over to Birkenau. Birkenau was a FAR bigger camp that was about 15 or 20 minutes away. Auschwitz was a work camp… that is to say many people lived there and left to work at nearby factories, warehouses, etc each day. From what I can tell Birkenau was just a death camp. Birkenau made Auschwitz look like an all inclusive vacation. It was in the middle of nowhere and when we were there, in MAY mind you, the wind was whipping through camp so strongly that it made being there miserable. I shudder at the thought of being there in the middle of January, in the snow, without proper clothing. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.
Train track entrance through the middle of Birkenau where prisoners arrived. This is also where the selection process took place.
Looking in on a very small fraction of Birkenau from the outside
Living quarters. 6 - 8 people would sleep on each level. It was so crowded they would have to sleep toe to face. The roof was open so the prisoners were exposed to all the elements - heat, rain, snow, cold and bugs.
We didn’t spend long at Birkenau because it was very cold and muddy. The weather was befitting of the day. After Birkenau we headed back to Krakow.
We ate dinner at a traditional Polish restaurant my Dad found (thanks again iPad!). The food was delicious. Julie, Mom and Matt were adventurous and tried some traditional meat filled dumplings. They each let me try them and I approved. I was less adventurous (are you shocked?!) and had some sundried tomato stuffed chicken that was incredible.
After dinner and the day’s events, we were exhausted and not feeling up to doing much else. We went back to the hotel and crashed.
Despite the fact that visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau was a depressing, somber experience- I am so very thankful that we did it. It’s a powerful reminder of where the world has been and where it can never return. I highly recommend it to anyone headed to Krakow. This was truly a day and experience I will never forget.
Day 5 (May 6th)
We woke up on May 6th to CNN overload on the situation in Athens. On any other day I would have found this interesting, but on this particular day I found it heartbreaking because we were supposed to hop on a plane there in less than 24 hours. In case you missed it, in the wake of the financial collapse in Greece and the announcement of a proposed bailout that would cut pensions for some employees in Greece, there was a huge fallout. In Athens several citizens rioted in the street, 3 people were killed and the police used teargas in an attempt to thwart the rioting. This all took place uncomfortably close to the hotel that we had booked. To boot, all flights for May 6th to Athens were cancelled.
Based on the aforementioned facts, we determined that this was probably not the place for 5 conspicuous tourists toting cameras and electronics galore. In case you had not gathered from the previous posts – blending in was not our strong suit. We immediately mobilized and started wading through the rain on a quest to make new travel arrangements. Said quest led us to 3 different travel agencies to no avail and eventually the offices of LOT airlines only to learn that we couldn’t get a refund until our flight was actually cancelled.
Diligently searching for a travel agency
Mary? Mary Poppins, is that you?
LOT Airlines - where are you?
So we headed back to the hotel and set up shop in the restaurant downstairs with every wi-fi capable device we had (2 iPhones, 1 blackberry, 1 iPad and 1 laptop) to determine where to go next. At this point we knew Athens was out of the question.
Julie and I, ever helpful, recognized that everyone was stressed and started ordering people drinks. I would like to say it was after noon, but it probably wasn’t. The waitress came over periodically and asked, “so where are you going now?” It changed every few minutes. We discussed several possibilities and eventually decided on – drumroll – Cairo!
Picking a drink for Mom
We then got booted from the restaurant because they closed between lunch and dinner and we took our party planning up to our room. That is right – 5 people, one European hotel room for 3 hours. What happened in that room (yelling and grumpiness) will stay in that room. Mom and Dad were awesome and took care of cancelling our previous flight and finding/booking an awesome hotel in Cairo.
By the time this was all over it was about 3:00 pm. Being the good tourists we were, we decided to go ahead and forge on to see what more we could of Krakow before we left for Cairo the next day. First stop: Subway. As in the sandwiches not the transportation. Hey, travel-planning can make one very hungry and we didn’t want to waste more sight-seeing time.
After some much-needed grub we secured a little golf cart tour that Julie assured us was an acceptable way to see the city. I was having a hard time following the tape recorded guide but luckily Julie remembered and could point out what most things were.
Happy Gilmores
Me & Bee
The golf cart took us through the Jewish Ghetto and by Schindler’s Factory. One especially memorable moment of this tour, for both us and Krakovians, was when my Dad hopped out of the cart to take a picture, stood in the middle of an intersection and held up traffic because he insisted on taking a picture of our golf cart driver. There was no shortage of honking.
Clock Tower in Rynek Glowny (Grand Square)
I am genuinely at a loss as to what this is. Feel free to do your own research. :c)
St. Florian's gate. I believe this was an old gate to the city.
Wawel Castle
The High Synagogue, one of the oldest in the city
A rock in Kazimierz that I believe commemorates filming Schindlers list there but I could have completely misunderstood that tour guide tape.
Vistula River
Podgorze Ghetto Heroes Memorial. This is a memorial to the Jews murdered from Podgorze ghetto. Podgorze was the ghetto where all the city's Jewish citizens were forced to live before they were all sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942 or 1943.
Sign for Schindler's Factory
Schindler's Factory. Sadly, you can't get any view of it better than this.
After the tour we set off in search of the New Jewish cemetery that Julie had seen on her tour of the city that she said was cool. We eventually found it after a nice jaunt across the whole city. The cemetery was unfortunately closed but you could see through the gates that it was beautiful. Several gravestones were destroyed during the war and they took the remaining pieces and made a wall in the New cemetery.
New Jewish Cemetary. You can see the gravestone wall in the middle of the shot.
We then ate dinner at a cute sidewalk restaurant on the square. We got to do some awesome people watching and to hear the famous Krakow trumpeter. He apparently plays the trumpet every hour. Bonus: my pasta was excellent. Next we headed home to pack and get some rest.
Sidewalk cafe Caddy & JJ
Julie & I with Grand Square in the background
I really loved Krakow too. I wish the weather had been better, but I certainly won't hold that against it. It felt a lot like most Western European cities. The city square in the middle was adorable. As I mentioned above, I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to go to Auschwitz-Birkenau. I would recommend Krakow to anyone headed to Poland.
