European Vacation

Well, I know I've been slack with updating my blog but there was just too much fun to be had in Berlin!! But I'll get to Berlin in my next blog (which won't be too long away, promise!)I didn't realise that I hadn't updated the blog for my stay in Warsaw which by now seems like a lifetime ago!

My trip from Krakow to Warsaw certainly was a lot more confusing and stressful than I thought it would be (then again, who was I kidding given the fact that I don't speak the language!) It started off innocently enough with me arriving at the train station in Krakow, wanting to buy a ticket. As I can't read Polish, I just picked one counter from a selection. I was greeted by a rather stern looking woman who spoke not a word of English. I said hello in Polish with, I admit, a little bit of pride for being able to pronounce it(pronounced jen-doo-bri, or at least that's the way I pronounce it!). I then asked for one ticket to Warsaw with the aid of hand signals. This was met by a confused look and her reply of "Warszawa?". I replied yes by furiously nodding my head and smilling. She wrote down the price of 81.00 zloty at which time I proceeded to give her my money, she muttered something which sounded as if she was coughing up a furball while simultaneously drowning. I looked at her confused and then thought that maybe I needed to give her the correct money which I proceeded to do. This again was met with the same reply only this time louder (why is it that when you don't speak the language and don't understand, they simply increase the volume? Nothing like making someone feel all the more intimidated!). She also proceeded to point somewhere in the vague direction of the platform. I then remembered that when I had taken the train from the airport I had to pay onboard so I made the comment "train?" to which she simply kept pointing to the platform, getting all the more annoyed with my lack of Polish.

So, I proceeded to board the train with the understanding that it was the custom to purchase the tickets on the train. After having finally found a seat on the crowded train I was then kicked out by a family who had reserved the seats. At this stage I was getting a little concerned about the fact that they had reserved a seat (or they simply bullied me into moving being the foreigner I am, either scenario is likely!) and I didn't even have a ticket yet. I could see myself getting arrested for fare evasion and being thrown out of the country (a little exaggerated maybe, but you never know!).

When the ticket conducter finally came around and didn't throw me off the train or give me a huge fine I was quite relieved. Yet, I'm still not sure whether it was all above board. See, when I had checked on the internet the previous night, it also said I had to pay 81.00 zloty, just like the lady at the train station. The conductor on the otherhand only charged me 50.00 zloty. After I spoke to people in the hostel, I realised that I was the only one who had been charged less by purchasing the ticket on the train.

Regardless of all the drama on the train, I had arrived but unfortunately realised that I should have visited Warsaw before visiting Krakow. I had fallen in love with Krakow but couldn't share the same feelings for Warsaw. Instead, I found Warsaw cold and lacking a certain atmosphere.

When you walk through Warsaw, you have to remember that after the second World War, 85 percent of the city was destroyed! The old town square as seen in the photo below, was reconstructed after the war based on the previous photos.

Given that fact, it is amazing to walk through the city and see these old beautiful buildings and realise that in reality, most of them aren't actually that old. The near total destruction of Warsaw was caused by four main reasons being the Nazi invasion, the retaliation by the Nazi in response to the Warsaw uprising, their further retaliation and liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto and the final street fighting before the Russian's arrived.

There are two main memorials to both uprisings. The photo below is of the memorial to the hereos of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. This uprising was fought by Jews who had been interned in the ghetto prior to its final liquidation. The memorial is situated in the middle of the suburb where the Warsaw ghetto stood and it is amazing to look around the memorial and see lots of apartment buildings which had been built after the war.

Unfortunately, as the photo might show behind the memorial, in addition to some beautifully restored buildings, Poland and especially Warsaw is also littered with rather dreary looking concrete apartment complexes. I was speaking to someone from Poland who explained that the reason why many of these buildings are so bland is the fact that due to the large scale destruction and the severe housing shortage, accomodation had to be created quickly and thus they've stayed.

The picture below is of the memorial to the Warsaw uprising. This was fought by Poles who lived outside the ghetto and also crushed by the Nazis. The sad thing is that the Russian's who were very close to Warsaw at the time and who could have aided the Poles to defeat the Nazis, for political reasons chose not to and thus the Nazis retaliated against the Polish fighters and not only killed them but destroyed so much of the city.

It is maybe this fact of history, and the Russian involvement after the war that cause most Poles, or at least residents of Warsaw, to consider the building below an eyesore! I don't consider it an ugly building as such, just a kind of building that you expect to be built in the Stalin era when it was!

All in all, I'm glad I went to Warsaw because of its history, though it wasn't a city I could really warm to! Berlin however is a totally different story but one I will have to save for another day (soon to come I promise!). It's rather too early in the morning to get into it now and I'm going to bed! So, I hope this blog has made sense, if not, it is not because of alcohol (yes, I have had some soberish days on my travels!) but rather lack of sleep!

Well I'm officially another year older. As birthday's go, it wasn't my most festive one given that I was alone in Krakow and had a cold, but neverhteless I aged another year and had a nice day regardless. To those that remembered my birthday thanks for the best wishes, to those that didn't, don't worry! No really, no hard feelings I know you'll make it up to me next year! (And to those whose birthdays I've forgotten or possibly will forget, oops,sorry!)

Krakow is a beautiful city and it's very easy to fall in love with it. On Saturday morning, I took a tour to visit a Salt Mine which is near the city. I took a tour, just like I had done to Auschwitz, as I didn't really want to try and make my own way there given my lack of Polish skills, who knows where I would have ended up! The mini bus picked me up from the hostel which was handy, at first I thought I was the first stop, it turned out that I was the only one actually taking the tour on that day so I had the entire bus to myself, it felt a little strange!

The Salt Mine is the oldest in the world though they stopped mining for salt ten years ago. To begin with you have to climb down about 300 or so stairs to reach the first level which is about 60 metres underground. The Mine is basically just a tourist attraction now and it's amazing to walk through the mine and see all the statues that, in most cases, ordinary miners have created.

The entire mine is about 2 kms by 10 kms and includes about 300 kms of passages. The tour itself only visits a small section of mine but includes some spectacular areas, including a small chapel and a huge underground church which is often called a cathedral. As the photo below shows its quite impressive, especially when you consider that the statues and wall decorations were done by three men. There is even a picture of the Last Supper made entirely from salt.

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked around Krakow as I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. It's absolutely gorgeous and there is a nice mix of history and present day. The main sqaure is very popular both during the day and night. While there also seems to be a lot of great nightlife in the old town, including bars and pubs it doesn't appear sleazy or dangerous and I had no apprehension of walking around by myself (I didn't actually check out any of the places as I've been suffering with a cold for most of the week, but everyone seemed to rave about them). Krakow must also be a shoppers paradise as there were a stack of shops ranging from small boutiques to well known outlets.

Not far from the old town is the castle which is also quite beautiful.

I don't think I can actually say a bad word about Krakow as I think it's a fantastic city! I would definately recommend anyone to visit it if they ever got the chance and if I ever get the chance again, I'll certainly come back for another visit! I did also want to upload a couple of photos which I took of the main sqare at night but unfortunately this PC doesn't allow me to upload photos from my camera so I'll include them in my next blog when I'll write about Warsaw.

After arriving in Krakow last night I took a tour this afternoon to visit Auschwitz. I was originally going to have a look around the city today and visit the camp tomorrow but I thought as I'm already spending my birthday alone, I didn't need to spend it at such a depressing place!

Auschwitz, rightfully so, will always be remembered as the worst example of how evil mankind can be. Walking around the camp is a moving and memorable experience yet a different feeling to when I visited the concentration camp at Dachau, just outside of Munich.

Dachau, the first concentration camp built by the Nazis, was commenced in 1933. Auschwitz opened in 1940 and the first prisoners were Poles. Auschwitz concentration camp is actually three seperate camps. There is Auschwitz I which contains the entrance gate pictured below stating "Arbeit macht frei" (work brings freedom)

I was surprised when I first entered this site as it didn't look anything like I imagined or the pictures I've seen. This site houses the museum and the brick barracks contain the personal remains of those who perished there. I couldn't adequatly describe the feeling when you walk through the rooms and see the 80 000 shoes, thousands of hairbrushes and toothbrushes, thousands of suitcases still with the persons name written on them and glasses and jewish prayer shalls. Most haunting though is the exhibit where you see laid out in front of you 2 of the 7 tonnes of hair that were found when the camp was liberated.

It is Auschwitz II also called Birkenau that, at least for me, is what I always thought of when I pictured Auschwitz.

When you walk through the main gate at Birkenau, the sheer size of it is haunting. Auschwitz I, held about 15 000 to 20 000 prisoners at a time and is, I believe, about 20 hectares in size. Birkenau held about 90 000 prisoners and is about 200 hectares in size. When you stand at the entrance, as far as the eye can see, all you can see is the camp. I should note also that the photo below is only half of Birkenau and doesn't include the side of the camp on the other side of the train track which crosses the camp.

Most of the wooden barracks in Birkenau, including also the crematoriums were destroyed by the nazis before they retreated. All that is left of the wooden barracks are the brick chimneys.