Market Square
We arrived rather early in Poland and immediately loved the smaller town vibe we got from this city and I would have very much enjoyed the walk to the hostel had it not been my turn to lug the shared suitcase around town. After settling in at the hostel, we went off to explore the city. We discovered a really cool Easter market that had a ton of delicious food and beer and some interesting crafts and entertainment. We came to love this market and spent a decent chunk of our time there dedicated to exploring the different cultural aspects it had to offer. Personally, I enjoyed the wursts and pirogies (little dumplings filled with a variety of ingredients generally meat or potatoes) and spent many a Polish Zloty (the currency which so generously gave us a 1 zloty: 3 euro ratio) enjoying said foods.
Polish sausage with spicy mustard. Delicious.
PETA may take issue with this market
On Saturday, we woke up to go on the early tour of Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi concentration camps, which is about an hour outside of Krakow. On the bus ride there, they played a movie about the camp which gave us some background information and set the tone for the tour of the camp itself. We first toured Auschwitz I, the smallest of the three parts of the camp and that was an experience I will never forget. We went into the barracks where the prisoners were held and saw countless photos of the Polish political prisoners and Jews from all over Europe of all ages who were held in this camp, the majority of them having died there. Also, as the Nazis kept all of their belongings we saw rooms full of thousands upon thousands of suitcases, shoes, hairbrushes, children's toys, etc. The eeriest was seeing the thousands of pounds of hair that had been shaved off all of the prisoners upon their arrival. We also went through the gas chambers where many of those entering the gates of Auschwitz ended their journey. From there, we went to Auschwitz II- Birkenau, the largest of the Auschwitz complexes. The eeriness and immensity of this expansion is difficult to fathom and I could hardly even imagine the place as it would have been when it was in use. I cannot really put into words everything that I felt and took from this experience but I learned a lot from the visit and I think it is really important to visit these places to learn about what happened to these millions of innocent people because of racist ideals and hatred.
Entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau
Saturday night at the hostel there was a toga party complete with a mesh of a Greek-Polish feast which we decided to partake in. As per usual at hostel events, we met some very interesting people from all over including Poland, Australia, Canada, Spain, and the U.S. to name a few. We had a great night and went out with everyone to enjoy a little taste of Polish nightlife and my roommate Liz even won the best toga award!
Sunday was to be our last day in Krakow but we were taking an over night train at 11pm so we still had the whole day to enjoy the city. After going to the market again and walking to the Jewish quarter where they filmed Schindler's List, we caught the afternoon tour bus to the Salt Mines. We went down 52 flights of stairs about 2.5 miles into the mine which was less than 1% of the entire mine. The mine was actually really cool and full of statues, monuments, and even a chapel which is the largest underground chapel in the world (although how many underground chapels actually exist I am not sure) all completely made out of salt which was incredible. Luckily though, there was an elevator lift to bring us back up, unluckily it was beyond tiny and not ideal for claustrophobic people such as myself.
52 flights deep
100% made of pure salt
Taste it for yourself if you don't believe it
That night as we were leaving the hostel to head out for the train, I look over and who do I see checking in? None other than Mr. Lally, my CDH high school English teacher. Talk about a small world...
After chatting for a minute with him, we set off for our next adventure by means of a night train to Prague.
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