Sunday May 25
Oh my! Another early morning to catch our flight, but this time I had to wake up at 3:15. I wouldn't even call it sleep, it was more of a nap. On top of waking up early, I had to pack for the trip and pack up my entire room! The University won't allow us to keep our belongings in our rooms while we are gone. So at 4:00 a.m. I am lugging a 50 lb suitcase down that awful spiral staircase. Then we had to go to the security office to get the key for the room for our bags. A security officer took us to the room, we dropped our stuff, and then we went to wait on our taxi.
He just left us outside the airport. We had no idea what to do, so we headed in. We found the check in station. We checked our one suitcase and then saw what our bags had to fit into. Of course my bag didn't fit into that tiny little bin! Luckily I was able to make it work by rearranging some things. Next we had to go through security. That took a little bit. I was the first one to go through. It beeped when I went through so they had to pat me down. Lucky me. When safely through security we stop at Starbucks for breakfast. I had a chocolate swirl. Yummy. Then there was 2 hours of waiting… and only 30 minutes of free wifi. The struggle was so real.
Finally, our time came to board the plane. It was one of those board outside. We loaded in the back of the plane. Then we discovered that we were in the absolute last row of the plane. Not bad, except that we could not lay our seats back. I slept anyways--not much, but at least I got a little.
We landed in Krakow and boarded a shuttle to take us 100 meters to the airport. It took us about 10 minutes to get that far. On the shuttle is when it hit me that we were not in Indiana anymore, or even Liverpool for that matter. Everything was in a different language. That is the point where I thought what the heck did I just do. We walked around dazed trying to find the signs to where our luggage was. We finally found our suitcase and then made our way outside the airport. We didn't know what to do so we just waked up to a taxi. He took us. We told him where we were staying and off we flew. Krakow is really pretty. Our driver was really nice. He talked to us and asked us questions. We arrived at our hostel. We asked him if he would take us to Auschwitz. He said yes. We checked into our hostel and then went back to his taxi bound for Auschwitz.
The ride was an hour long, but luckily our taxi driver was chatty and friendly. He talked about how his uncle was a prisoner at Auschwitz, Birkenau (Auschwitz II), and another concentration camp in Germany. He survived only to be killed in a drunk driver 8 years after liberation. He was hard to understand at times, but he told us several stories. He taught himself english, so I couldn't complain too much. I was entertained.
As we neared auschwitz, my inner history nerd started geeking out. This is the place that I have seen on history channel and always wanted to go. Now I am actually going to see it. I knew we were getting close when I saw old train cars and tracks. We finally arrive. I am in awe. There is a quiet and eerie tone to the place and I couldn't wait to explore it.
Our taxi driver talked to the ticket people in polish and got us on an English guided walking tour. That turned out to be 4 hours long. I didn't mind at all. Before we started the tour we grabbed a pack of chocolate wafers because we were starving.
Camera at the ready, the tour takes off. Our guide is very knowledgable and had a lot to say at each stop. I really can't even describe how neat it was to actually be there. Even though the locations were kept original, I still couldn't imagine thousands of people being there and dying there. It was a great experience.
"Work will set you free"
Their beds
Bathrooms
A portion of the gas used in the chambers
Glasses
Parts of the crippled
Their luggage with their names on it
The crematorium
Then we headed to Birkenau (Auschwitz II). This was 167 acres! It was huge. Millions of jews were executed there. This was the Women's and children's camp. This was especially eerie because the sun was shining and birds were singing, but all around us was barbed wire fences, ruins of crematoriums, and train tracks that took millions to their death. It was a great experience being able to visit both sites. I would highly recommend it if you are ever in Ploand.
The entrance to Birkenau
A train car that brought the people in
The end of the line
Up to 11 people on each level of the beds
The bathrooms. 200 people could use them at a time. They each got 5 seconds in the morning and at night.
One of the crematoriums that was burnt down
Memorials and a pond with ashes
We ended the tour back at the beginning, and our taxi driver is there waiting on us. He gave us some ideas for good restaurants and good food choices. He dropped us off in front of a restaurant.
It was so cute. The restaurant was outside in the outside of a market square. We couldn't really read anything on the menu, but I got meat dumplings. It was the best thing I have eaten so far. It took forever for bill to come and they didn't split it into 4 parts. They also didn't give us our change. I think we were just as confused as them.
We immediately went to an ice cream shop after that. I had fudge and vanilla. Two scoops because the exchange rate is amazing here. Then we found a market around town. We walked and saw dancing. I got a chocolate covered banana. Delicious. We sat outside until the sun went down. Then we made our way back to the hostel.
Let's talk about the hostel for a second. First off, it was called the Pink Panther. It was a tall skinny building. We had to climb all the way to the attic to get to our rooms. I kept hitting my head on te ceiling in our room No AC+ long pajamas (to avoid the sketchy bed) + 80 degree day= one hot night. Bit at least it was only 1 night.
It was a hot night. It took me forever to fall asleep. I woke up several times during the night, but it wasn't too bad. After I woke up, we got dressed and headed out to breakfast.
We wandered around for a while before we found something food. They had "American Breakfast". Me, starving and wanting something normal decided that would be a good option. It included pancakes, an omelet, yogurt, and cornflakes. When my plate arrived, I was less than amused. The omelet was the best thing on the plate. The pancakes tasted weird and were thick and small. I guess it was fine for breakfast.
My still water
Breakfast
We walked around and shopped until it was time to eat lunch. It took us a long time to find a place. Lets just say the meals in Poland went downhill as the trip progressed. I decided to have a hot dog with fries. Not a huge fan, but it was food.
Hot dog and fries…
Poland was great! I just wish we would have spent more time there. Our hostel was in a great location, the weather was fabulous, and so was the atmosphere. I think Krakow, Poland is a must see.
Next stop, Paris! Ta and Cheers!
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