Want to know a scary statistic? Before the Holocaust, over 68,000 Jews lived in Kraków. Know how many live here now? 120...
Sorry I'm behind on posting. I've been making my way down Croatia and Montenegro, and I'm waiting for my flight to Belgrade, Serbia. I'm surrounded by lots of Ukrainians and Russians here, because apparently Montenegro and Russia have strong ties.
Can't believe there's only 2 weeks left in this crazy adventure? I have a lot to catch you up on! I arrive into Athens this afternoon, then in a couple days will be headed out to the islands.
Anyways, Poland! I took my first overnight train from Vienna to Kraków, which wasn't as unpleasant as I thought, as I shared a compartment with 3 crazy American college guys who were studying abroad. We immediately went to bed, as we left around 10, and were due to get in around 8 AM for a full day.
I slept on and off, as the train and wind rattled outside, but it was surprisingly a lot of fun. If you haven't taken a sleeper train, they're a great way to save on accommodation for a night.
We arrived bright and early into Kraków, where I ended up doing a free 2 hour walking tour of the city and castle grounds by one of the best tour guides I've ever had, who had us laughing the entire time, especially when he admitted "I'm sorry that my language sounds like a broken radio". The town square, castle, and St. George's "dragon" who actually spouts fire every couple minutes, were fun to explore.
During the tour, I met a new travel buddy, and while I was planning on going to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp the following day, I learnt that the camp has free entry after 3 PM when the manic crowds have died down. So, for a whopping 4 Euros, I went to Auschwitz, and hardly anyone was there, which actually added to the haunted atmosphere it gave off.
Auschwitz wasn't fun. It wasn't pleasant. It gave me the creeps, and made me cry at one point when I saw the giant wall of human hair that had been resurrected. Before someone was sent to a gas chamber, they were stripped of all their clothes and hair, and looking at the leftover suitcases, children's toys and glasses prisoners had left behind before their death was too much to handle. But it was worth every minute. I learnt that over 1.1 million Jews, Poles, and various minorities were slaughtered here by Nazi forces. The crazy part is, when you walk through one of the camps, you would never know it was a concentration camp. It looked like a charming little neighborhood filled with brick houses, and beautiful trees, with paved paths. That is, until you walk under the infamous sign in German "Arbeit macht frei", "Work makes free", the bullshit line the Nazi's fed to prisoners, proclaiming that if they worked hard enough, they'd be freed. Which, of course, was never their intention.
Despite it being a heavy day, I would encourage everyone to visit this historic place as a way to honor the victims of the Holocaust.
I eagerly hopped on a bus back to Kraków, and spent the following day exploring a salt mine. It was ok; it had a gorgeous underground cathedral and lake, which was the highlight for me. The van dropped me off in the Jewish Quarter/ghetto, where I hopped onto another free walking tour where I learnt about the dark history of the city during Nazi occupation, and saw scenes from where Schindler's List was shot. The guide admitted that Stephen Spielberg helped bring tourism to the city upon the groundbreaking film.
However, the highlight of Kraków for me was visiting Schindler's factory museum, which basically takes you through Kraków before, during, and after the Holocaust, and how the Nazis changed everything. I learnt more there than anywhere else in Poland. If you ever go to Kraków, don't miss this place. It was my favorite thing I did while there.
Beyond the history of the city, Kraków was an incredible place to explore, however, I'd had my fill of Eastern Europe and was anxious to get down to sunshine and beaches. I hopped on a flight down to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, where you can read more in my blog post above.
Happy travels and pierogis! (Amazing Polish dish you gotta try, it's like stuffed pasta).
Katie
