Cracow
Oct 10 to 15
I am sitting in my cute little apartment in Cracow, drinking a Grapedruit Radler, and it is Saturday night. The last couple of days in Berlin were lowkey. I did some laundry, which seemed to take all day. Then I did some more exploring in my neighborhood. Finally I went to the Photography museum, they had an exhibit of Helmut Newton, very interesting.
The bus to Cracow was uneventful, but long, 8 hours. It rained all the way and the scenery was not all that different from driving at home, between Edmonton and Calgary. When I got here it was still raining and of course I got lost, tired, wet, hungry is not good when you are trying to concentrate on finding a place. But in the end it worked out.
On Thursday I did a trip out to Auschwicz and Birkenau. Very emotional. It felt strange to be walking where all those people were put to their death. Our tour guide was excellent, she really gave me a sense of what it was like to have been there during the war. One thing that surprised me was that Auschwitz was not that big, but that was why they built Birkenau, it was 3 times the size and just 5 minutes down the road. I felt funny about taking pictures inside the buildings so I took a few but not many. In one room they had 2 tonnes of hair that was cut off of the women, it was heartbreaking to see it, all in a pile. In another hallway there were pictures of people who died at the camp from their files, showing Birthdate, date they arrived at the camp and Death date. We went inside several buildings at Auschwitz, but only one at Birkenau. I feel as though this is something that everyone should see. I was talking to the tourguide after, and she said the first time she went she was 14, all school kids from Cracow go. She also said she thought it was easier to give the tour than receive the tour for her, because giving it she is concentrating on telling the story, when she takes the tour, she thinks about what happened much more.
The drive to and from Auschwicz was more interesting to me, than the Berlin/Cracow drive, it was a secondary highway, so we went through several towns, got to see lots of houses. There were several places that were airing their bedding on their balcony's.
Today was a bit of a lighter tour, out to the salt mine. We went 135 meters underground, they started mining there in the 1600s, so the beginning of the tour are the first mines, then as you go further down the mines get newer. It is no longer mined for salt, but miners still work their, but their job today is to keep the mine in good shape.
Really enjoying Cracow, all of the young people speak english, one of the tour guides, said they start in Kindergarten to learn it. She said now the thing is to learn several languages, especially if you work in the tourist industry.
Again it surprises me at all the things we have at home. On the highway from Berlin, it felt like every town had a KFC drive though advertised, McDonald's are everywhere, Starbucks too. In the grocery store today the chips were Lays, and in the freezer section there were McCain frozen fries.
I am sitting in my cute little apartment in Cracow, drinking a Grapedruit Radler, and it is Saturday night. The last couple of days in Berlin were lowkey. I did some laundry, which seemed to take all day. Then I did some more exploring in my neighborhood. Finally I went to the Photography museum, they had an exhibit of Helmut Newton, very interesting.
The bus to Cracow was uneventful, but long, 8 hours. It rained all the way and the scenery was not all that different from driving at home, between Edmonton and Calgary. When I got here it was still raining and of course I got lost, tired, wet, hungry is not good when you are trying to concentrate on finding a place. But in the end it worked out.
On Thursday I did a trip out to Auschwicz and Birkenau. Very emotional. It felt strange to be walking where all those people were put to their death. Our tour guide was excellent, she really gave me a sense of what it was like to have been there during the war. One thing that surprised me was that Auschwitz was not that big, but that was why they built Birkenau, it was 3 times the size and just 5 minutes down the road. I felt funny about taking pictures inside the buildings so I took a few but not many. In one room they had 2 tonnes of hair that was cut off of the women, it was heartbreaking to see it, all in a pile. In another hallway there were pictures of people who died at the camp from their files, showing Birthdate, date they arrived at the camp and Death date. We went inside several buildings at Auschwitz, but only one at Birkenau. I feel as though this is something that everyone should see. I was talking to the tourguide after, and she said the first time she went she was 14, all school kids from Cracow go. She also said she thought it was easier to give the tour than receive the tour for her, because giving it she is concentrating on telling the story, when she takes the tour, she thinks about what happened much more.
The drive to and from Auschwicz was more interesting to me, than the Berlin/Cracow drive, it was a secondary highway, so we went through several towns, got to see lots of houses. There were several places that were airing their bedding on their balcony's.
Today was a bit of a lighter tour, out to the salt mine. We went 135 meters underground, they started mining there in the 1600s, so the beginning of the tour are the first mines, then as you go further down the mines get newer. It is no longer mined for salt, but miners still work their, but their job today is to keep the mine in good shape.
Really enjoying Cracow, all of the young people speak english, one of the tour guides, said they start in Kindergarten to learn it. She said now the thing is to learn several languages, especially if you work in the tourist industry.
Again it surprises me at all the things we have at home. On the highway from Berlin, it felt like every town had a KFC drive though advertised, McDonald's are everywhere, Starbucks too. In the grocery store today the chips were Lays, and in the freezer section there were McCain frozen fries.
posted by Judith at 9:45 AM
3 Comments:
Is your place there in an older area or newer? Keep up the updates I am enjoying them.
Have you eater perogies yet?
It is in the old part of town.
I had pierogies last night for supper.
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