What is going on in Kiev?

I think it may be a full moon. I mean it's the only thing that can explain what has happened in the last day in Kiev. I left off on my last post having a grand old time. When I left for dinner I had mentioned to the reception that my room was freezing. They sent someone to check it while I went for dinner. When I returned I was told that one of the guys had put his towels on the heater and it was blocking the heat. The room has old style radiators on the wall and there's no thermostat. So when I went up later it was warmer but still a bit chilly. Another guy in the room had turned on a space heater but it didn't add much heat. All of a sudden, in a whirlwind of hair, a man came in, nationality unknown and name forgotten. He was in shorts and leather dress shoes, no socks, and he had come from the pool, or perhaps the baths. He introduced himself, asked how long I was staying (he's been here a month already), and made a remark about how you can't really know a place in less than a month (dig at me and my short stay). My other roommate and I had been chatting so I hadn't even unpacked or sat down on my bed yet. I mentioned to the huge hairy guy that his towels had been moved by a worker because the room had been really cold and they said it was the towels blocking it. From this moment on he lost it. He went on about forbidden towels and how were they supposed to dry without the heater (like everyone else's?!?!). He was yelling at me and being abusive. I explained that it was freezing and wasn't bearable in the room earlier. I also said it wasn't me I had just asked the front desk to look into it. After a barrage of constant yelling I finally got my key and walked out. Now I don't know if I was overtired (it was almost 11 pm), or if I am just stressed out by the holidays but when I got to the reception (where they were having a party) I burst into tears. I couldn't even speak. The poor girls at reception tried to calm me down but it just had to come out before I could speak. They gave me juice when I could finally explain what had happened and that I wasn't comfortable staying in the same room. They knew exactly who I was referring to and switched me to a different room. I moved my things and returned the keys where they fed me cake and sat me down with some friendly people hanging out in the lobby. We stayed up until 1 am chatting and I went up to my nice warm room to crash.

I slept in late the next morning, the beds in this hostel are AMAZING! I ate some breakfast, hot milk in my cereal and cold toast with tea and oj.....a little weird but it worked. I needed to buy my ticket to Lviv as it's a busy time and I was unsuccessful getting them online last night. The front desk wrote me a note explaining what ticket I wanted and off I went. Now, it was around 11am and the metro was packed! I don't know where all the people were coming from! I waited patiently to get on my train and for the last guy on to move in and just as I went to step on, the doors slammed in my face....nice. I waited for the next train. Now if you start to get on the metro then people just push you from behind. I would have ended up on the metro even if I hadn't moved my feet. I stood, hand over the zipper of my purse, crammed in with nothing to hold onto. I could suddenly feel fingers on the side of my leg. We were really squished in there. I felt it a few more times and so I looked down to see a hand, facing away from its owner......I'll leave the rest to you. When I looked down, he quickly moved his hand away and I looked at the guys face, he was staring off into space. Soon after he moved his body in another direction. Creep!

I went to the train station and waited in line. After a little while I figured I was probably in the wrong line but I stayed anyways. When it was my turn I handed the cashier my note and she typed into her computer. She frowned and indicated there were no tickets. I pointed to the next date and same reaction. I must have looked really upset because she tyoed some more and then wrote down a price on a piece of paper, she added the date and time and I pulled out my money. I got a first class ticket to Lviv! Lol Later at the hostel when I told the girl who wrote me the note about it she said I was lucky because they aren't usually nice at all.

I got to Independence Square, the main area of the city, and was in awe. It was beautiful and so different than the other European cities I've been to so far. There were Christmas decorations everywhere, with rides and St Nicholas's posing for pictures (not Santa Claus, but St. Nicholas). Men with birds came around so you could hold them, and pay. I turned around and there was a man holding out his arm with 2 birds on it! I yelped and turned away quickly.....he didn't follow me. I noticed they were very aggressive. Even if you said No they would follow you around trying to get you to agree to what they were selling; pics, birds, whatever. I wandered the area which is like a mini Times Square.....or what I think it would be. There was even a hidden underground mall under the square!  I walked a little and saw the Friendship Arc, built to represent the unification of Ukraine and Russia, I saw two beautiful churches with golden domes, St. Sofia and Mikhailivsky Cathedral, and I saw the Golden Gate. The snow was deep and slushy. It was melting so some areas were huge puddles. Half the sidewalks are taped off from falling snow. Many times I heard a crash and turned and a huge pile of snow or ice had fallen from a roof. By the time I had seen all the sights my feet were soaked. When I walked I could feel water squishing up through my toes. Time to head back! At some point during my explorations I realized I loved this city, even with all the rude pushy people. The metro isn't even that bad.

I dried off at the hostel and while I was sitting in the lobby Tania from Australia sat with me. We started chatting and she's been to India, alone, and loves it. We talked and talked about it and finally decided to grab some dinner at my favourite restaurant down the street. We finished the evening at the cafe in the hostel, dealing with an extremely grumpy waiter and playing Uno with some Germans!

What a day!

Christmas!

Don't you ever wonder what happens to Christmas trees after Christmas??? :(

Budapescht

Look Ma....No hands!

Well today started out like any other....except that I got up a bit early so I would make it to the airport on time. I ate some fruit and then left to catch the metro. I had no trouble finding the shuttle from the metro to the airport and was able to get my bag through no problem. Security was a breeze and I even managed to spend every single last penny of my Hungarian money. How lucky is that!?! I waited at the gate and since it's a discount airline there's no assigned seating. You get on the plane and pick a seat! I can't even tell you what that looked like! I thought "how great is this, I'm the fourth person on so I'll get first dibs on a seat!" Ya except we were corralled onto a waiting bus where we sat waiting for it to fill. And then, finally, we started moving towards the plane. Pulling up to the doors people began shifting their weight, ready to pounce out the doors. We sat, idling, for a few minutes before circling back over towards the terminal. Ohhhhhhkay........we stopped for a moment and then drove back over to the plane. After barely even a full 4 second stop we were back circling to the terminal. Okay seriously, this was getting annoying. We pulled up to the terminal where we were told there was a technical problem that they just found. F-A-N-tastic. I mean, I wasn't in a hurry but touring around a foreign airport's tarmac in a wide open bus without supports to lean on wasn't my idea of a good time. While waiting I met Katia. A Ukrainian who is studying in Vienna. She was fascinated by my story of travelling and we chatted until we finally made it to the plane and were let off the bus.

We sat together and the time to Kiev flew by. After landing, the line ups for passports control were as slow as molasses and I figured I'd lost her as she went through the faster Ukrainian passport line. Just as I was taking out the local currency from the ATM she came up and declared she thought I'd be longer. She offered to help me find the metro station I needed to go to, which required a bus as well. And thank goodness for her. We got on the oldest bus I have ever seen and basically threw our money at the driver, while he was driving, and he passed us change, while driving. Did I mention he had to reach way behind him to access the money or pass the change? The doors were almost rusted through and the seats in the short bus were covered in tiger print seat covers. It was like no other bus ride I've taken! We finally arrived at our destination and waded through the piles of snow to get to the train station. We found the metro station next door and Katia explained exactly how to get to my stop and then took me as far as she could. She fretted about me and offered her cell number in case I got lost. She was so worried when she discovered I had no phone. She told me she would be checking on me later today through Facebook!

I made it to the metro to discover there is nothing to hang on to. So as the train gunned it away from the platform and slammed on the brakes at the next line, the only thing I had were my feet. It was so awkward. With my heavy backpack already throwing off my balance I was like one of those clown balloons that you can hit and they just bounce back at you. But then again, very good practice for India.

I got lost looking for my hostel. Seeing as no one speaks English I was feeling very alone. I managed to get some directions and did find the hostel. The staff have been so amazing and directed me to have dinner at a self serve restaurant with many options. And it was delicious. For about 6$, I had a Greek salad, perogies, and chicken over apples with cranbrry sauce! I may eat there every day. You have your choice of food and you can't beat the price! I can't wait to see Kiev tomorrow, though I could do without the snow. I caught a glimpse and it is beautiful!

Stay tuned!

I have figured out how to allow comments and I would love to hear from you!

I say Buda, you say Pest....Buda.....Pest!

Well actually it's pronounced Budapescht and it is known as the Paris of the East....or Paris may be known as the Budapest of the West....but I'm leaning towards the fist one. I arrived by train to find a chaotic train station. Because, of course, I had arrived on a Friday afternoon before Christmas. I wandered the train station searching for an ATM machine to take out some Hungarian money. And when I found it I also found a blank screen....I found a tourist information closet...ahem, I mean office and inquired about another machine. I was promptly directed behind her head and across the street.....which actually could have been either of 2 streets because they connected to form a triangle with the street of the train station. And of course it also could have been anywhere along the street so I asked again and got the same response with a hand flick behind her head. I narrowed the question down to "is it beside Burger King" and finally got an affirmative. Heading over that way I waited in line and watched as a sketchy character eyed up me and my human sized backpack....he glanced back continuously and I assumed it was the ATM I was soon going to be using that attracted him. So I turned his way and eyed him back and he hastily made his way in the opposite direction. Score one for Kirsty!

I finally arrived at my hostel to find it was beautiful! Brand spanking new and another shoeless shower! Yes! I got another room on the top floor where I dumped my stuff and headed down to check my list of places to see against my map. I met Corinna, a Filipino American with Austrian citizenship studying in Vienna. We chatted for a bit and decided to head out for some dinner. On a suggestion from the hostel reception we headed into the freezing cold night to a cafe just a few streets away. It was a cute little restaurant where you sat where you could find an empty chair. We squeezed in with two other women and each ordered achicken with curry and apples.....and it was so yummy. And almost the same dish my dad makes, one of my faves! I ordered a home made lemonade and I got a glass stuffed with fresh citrus fruit, yum! It was a great meal! We headed back to the hostel and ordered our free hostel bar drink and met Katie, also an American, who lives in Odessa, Ukraine. We chatted for a bit before each finding our way to our separate rooms.

The next morning I bought the breakfast and worked on my blog before heading out for the free walking tour. The receptionist at the hostel started to give me directions but I wasn't completely clear and realized I would have to hurry. I raced towards where I thought it would be and got nothing. I tried to follow the map but could not figure out where the meeting point was. Eventually I gave up, figuring I'd get it the next day. I went in search of some new shoes instead. After a couple of hours and some chicken Tikka I was still without a new pair of shoes so I wandered the streets of Budapest instead. I headed to Nyugati plyaudvar, a train station designed by the same architect who designed the Eiffel Tower. I enquired about train tickets to Ukraine (15 hours to Lviv and a whopping 25 hours to Kyiv). I passed people skating on a rink and stopped for a moment. I grabbed some food for breakfasts, got told off by the Hungarian Cashier for inquiring about weird numbers on the till, and grabbed some Chinese for dinner. I sure am eating some good food! On returning to the hostel I found a flight to Kyiv for under 50$, cheaper than the train, and only 1.5 hours.....SOLD!

Sunday morning dawned and I got up bright and early so I would have plenty or time to search out the walking tour. I did find it, hidden in the corner of a square in a Christmas Market. My Hungarian tour guide, whose name means Sultan like the Emperor, took us through the area around the square. We saw the first post communist statue, a little girl (who looked like a boy) sitting on a railing. It has no meaning other than it was cute. We learned about how the Hungarians sided with the wrong side in WWI and then again in WWII. They thought the Germans were going to help them get their land back from other countries who took it as punishment for the first war but were occupied instead. And then when the war was ending they waited to be rescued by the Americans only to be occupied by the Russians first. Did you know that Hungarians first descended from Mongolian people? They lost their Asian features as they brought people from other countries around them to help populate their country. Hungarian is unlike any other language; although most like Finnish it has not many common words. The language is based on root words and so the meaning of sentences are changed by adding different endings to words. For example if you are asking to buy something, like a beer, you take the word beer (sör, sounds like sure) and add a t.....sört (like shirt). Ta da! It is supposed to be one of the hardest languages to learn and yet so simple....claims the Hungarian tour guide! Lol We walked to the Chain bridge and up to Buda palace....the city is divided in two by the river. One side is Buda and the other is Pest. They were once 2 towns (3 actually because Óbuda was also joined with the other two). The views from the top of the hill by the palace were beautiful, if only it had been less cloudy. And of course it had to be the day I do a walking tour that it snows big wet flakes down on us. I was soaking wet by the end. We also saw the Fisherman's Bastion, which also has incredible views, and was named only because fishermen used to sell their fish where it was built. After seeing Mathias Church we ended the tour in the Hilton hotel, former monastery. I decided on the way back to the hostel I would stop for some food. I ate some delicious Chicken Paprikash in the Christmas Market finished with a cup of Hot Chocolate. I'm sorry, did I say Hot chocolate? I meant melted chocolate. It was so thick that it coated the spoon they gave me....wait a minute, spoon? Who needs a spoon with a drink? The Hungarians do for their Hot Chocolate. I drank the whipped creamed part but couldn't drink any more of the thick rich drink. I headed back to the hostel to dry off and got some groceries for food as the holiday in Hungary is the 24, 25, and 26.....but mostly the 24.

The next day I saw the Parliament buildings, which are amazing! The shoe memorial lining the river in front of them is lovely. I also saw Heroe's Square before deciding I needed some lunch.....uh oh. 3 pm on Christmas Eve.....nothing is open! Even McDonals's was closed! I did finally find a little place to get some Chinese food before I went back to the hostel to warm up. I made some flavourless pasta with tomato sauce and chicken for dinner (they had no spices) before hanging out with Katie and some other folks. I had woken up with a sore throat so I went up for an early bed time.

My feet have been in a lot of pain, and after a self diagnosis of a serious foot disorder I decided to take Christmas day off. Nothing was open and I needed a break. I spent the day watching movies, chatting with new friends and old friends back home. It was such a great break from a busy 3 months! Oh ya.......the 25th was the official 3 month anniversary of my trip! Time for a break! One of my new friends is from India, though he studies in Switzerland. He was a wealth of information for my upcoming trip to India in the next few weeks. We had a great time chatting about it. I had planned on maybe hitting up one of the bath houses in the city but just couldn't motivate myself to walk all the way there.....and I'm glad I didn't. My feet feel a wee bit better today.

Budapest had a great vibe, once you looked past the rough exterior of many of the buildings and saw the original beauty. I really enjoyed it and only wish it had been warmer so I could have spent more time exploring.

Off to Kiev to see the East!

Wien?? Why not!

Thankfully I started my journey to Wien (or Vienna to us English folk) with a couchette. There was a special offer and after a near sleepless night getting to Krakow I decided I needed to have a decent sleep. My fellow passenger who shared the cabin was an Austrian from Vienna who is studying Art Business in Poland. Thankfully it was just the 2 of us in the 6 person sardine can! We had a couple of coversations where she spoke German and some English and I guessed what she was saying. She was very friendly and even helped me on the U-bahn the next morning. After a restless sleep, but a sleep nontheless, I headed towards my hostel in the centre. Lucky enough to arrive in the still dark morning,  I saw twinkling lights on buildings and hanging over streets. They were great enough to let me check in at 7 but I ate breakfast and spent some time online before heading up to the room and disturbing anyone. When I finally lugged my bag to the 7 floor (also known as D for some bizarre reason) my room mate Mika from Russia was also just arriving. He was very friendly and we chatted before heading our own ways. He is living and working in Germany, near Berlin, for the next couple of years. I inquired at the front desk about walking tours and was shocked to find out they aren't allowed in Vienna! This was my way to see the city and learn its history. I couldn't believe I wouldn't have the opportunity. As I flipped through an information book about things happening in Vienna I found a section in the back about........walking tours! They don't have the free variety but they do indeed have them, but I had just missed them all! Frustrating!

I went out with my map and did the walking tour outlined on it instead. Vienna is full of a rich history of classical music, composers, and a certain psychoanalyst. The beautiful buildings guilded in gold and statues on every street corner were magnificent. But as I walked around the city I wondered if I was missing something. It wasn't the magical place I expected it to be. It was just another city in Europe....with a few more famous people than average. I continued to explore, finding christmas markets, the town hall churches, the opera, the museum quarter, Heroes Square, Heldenplatz and many others. As I tried to find my way back to the hostel later that day I walked along the Danube and enjoyed the bar boats and graffiti lined pathways. Lights started to illuminate my way and it was truly beautiful......but not any more so than oh let's say....Berlin. I'm just saying that Christmas in Wein has nothing on Christmas in Berlin, or anywhere in Germany for that matter! Speaking to Mika later, he agreed that he thought there would be more.......glamour, flash, uniqueness? No worry though because I still enjoyed walking around, I just wished I knew more history behind the buildings and sights I was seeing.

The next day I started out in Stephensplatz and wandered around the shops in an attempt to change my Polish zloti into Euros. I hadn't spent as much as I thought so I had a bit left over. The first few places were taking almost half my money and were so rude! I have over 30 zlt in coins from a bus driver and they won't take them. It's only about 10€ but that's still something! I finally went to a bank, got it changed at a slightly less highway robbery price and accepted the fate that I have a wallet full of metal! I also stopped at the post office. I had 4 stamped postcards from Prague that I forgot to send and I needed new stamps to send them from Austria. However, the price of stamps in Vienna is a whole Euro more than anywhere else! I will take my chances at sending them from Budapest! I headed to the Spanish Riding School where I bought my tickets for the next day's practice and also stopped at a tourist office where I bought a 10€ ticket to the Opera, also on the following day. I headed to Belvedere where I saw the famous painting "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt. I didn't think much of it before seeing it in person but it is breathtaking. It is truly a magnificent piece of art. I am an official fan of his work. As well as the work done by his older brother who worked with metal. I explored more of the city, following my map and walking randomly down streets. When it was finally time to turn back I got lost again. Finding myself at a Hopbahnhof, I bought my train ticket to Budapest and then headed out after a brief consultation with the map. After a longer than expected walk down the street I stopped for the map again! Heading in the wrong direction! Ugh.....I turned right and continued walking when I noticed things were looking familiar......hmmmmm. Consulting my map for the third time, I finally got my bearings, figured out where I was and made it back! Phew. It had been a bad day filled with grumpy people who were rude and unaccomodating. I really wanted to be home today....first time I considered a ticket home since I started my journey.

The only sunny day during my visit was on my birthday...which I was dreading spending alone. I had made plans so I'd be busy. I started at the Spanish riding school. It's a beautiful arena with crystal chandeliers hanging from red velvet ropes. The horses were beautiful with heavy curved necks and graceful legs. I had great seats that I sought out carefully and I relaxed to enjoy the show. I knew that every practice was different and while they didn't do much exciting it was still amazing to watch the horses. They did one move where the horse jumped straight up in the air and kicked his front and back legs straight outin frint and back. They also did another one where the horse reared and stayed on his hind legs for several moments. As beautiful as they are, they have nothing on the Hannoverians! I talked to some ladies from the US sitting beside me and they invited me to join them at a play that evening but I already had tickets to the Opera. When practice ended I went out in search of new shoes, which I desperately need. My feet are in constant pain. I found some Nike's with a huge amount of memory foam in the sole but when trying them on the memory foam was nonexistent and the attached tongue made it hard to get on so by the time my foot was in the sock was skin tight on my toes.....after asking some advice and getting some shrugs and "well you could try these" paired with a random pick, I decided to leave it and find a shoe expert instead. As I was walking around the square looking for Mozarthause I passed a man singing his heart out to the tunes playing in his headphones. A woman walking beside me caught my eye and we burst out laughing......several times. It was great! He was an older man strutting his stuff and carrying his toneless tune! And the funny thing is, even after going into a shop, I saw him again. And then when I was leaving Mozarthause (which I saw but didn't pay to go in) he was there again! My own birthday music! As I walked to the tram I smiled about the way the man "sang like nobody was listening"! My next stop was to Zentralfriedhof, the huge cemetary in Vienna. Sounds morbid but it's supposed to be really cool to see so off I went. A quick glimpse and walk through was enough. I found Bethoven's grave and then jumped on the next tram back to town where I switched lines to Hundertwasser, translated as A Hundred Waters. I ended up on a tram going the wrong direction so I got off switched and finally found my way. The buildung's architecture is meant to be really different. I got off the tram, following signs pointing the way but couldn't see anything that cool. I decided to check one more block where I found a Gaudi inspired building. No corners and lots of curves, colour, and shapes. It was in fact really cool. It was just starting to get dark and I had a few more stops to make so I found my way back to the tram. After a quick ride on the historic Tram #2, I took the U bahn to my hostel. I met a guy in my room whose next stop is Prague and he is taking my postcards to mail them! So exciting! So if you get a postcard with a czech stamp, you'll know it was yours! ;) Changing, Mika and I left for the Opera. I hadn't eaten dinner and I was going to grab something quick but realized I didn't have enough time. Instead I bought a Draniki, a hashbrown sort of snack that tasted like potato pancakes. We headed into the magnificent Opera house! It was an amazing experience to watch an Opera in the Weiner Staatsoper, but I realized I don't like opera music very much! Lol I'm still glad I went though!

Afterwards I was starving; the only place open? McDonald's! Which is fine because I really wanted something from home anyways! Our plan was to have cake after but they closed the dessert counter and wouldn't sell us anything even though we were right there! It was OK though, I don't really need cake! We walked back to the hostel and I was sort of able to Skype with mom and dad! It was a nice evening with good company.

While Vienna was beautiful and grand, it wasn't one of my favorite places. The people are rude and it's not any more special than the other amazing European cities I've been to. But of course I'm always glad to visit a new city and see what they have to offer! And the perfect ending to my visit in Vienna!?!? The big white snowflakes that fell as the train to Budapest pulled into the station!

My Day of Birth!

It was snowing on stage at the Opera!

Christmas in Wein

Vienna

Auschwitz

Today I walked where other people stood for the very last time. I stood where they last glimpsed the blue sky, and I glimpsed a tiny piece of their terror.

This morning I set out early for my trip to Auschwitz. I knew that I could not prepare myself for what I was going to see but I feel that it's important to see with your own eyes. To hear stories of Auschwitz is one thing but to experience it for yourself is completely different. After an almost 2 hour bus ride, we arrived at Auschwitz I. I bought a guide book and set out on my own. I wanted to experience alone and not as part of a tour. I followed the map and read all the signs as I went. This was so different from Sachsenhausen because the buildings are all there. I didn't take many pictures of what I saw in the buildings out of respect to those people who left them behind. All I can do is tell you what I saw. The first thing that made an impact was a giant display case of hair. Balls of matted hair were piled behind glass, an estimated 7000 kg of hair was found and on display was only about 1500 kg. The thing that struck me was when I saw a piece of blond hair that looked like a pony tail. It was very real then. I also saw displays of suitcases, hundreds of them, and each of them had a name and numbers written on them. These belonged to someone and held all the possessions they could carry, all the things they treasured most. My heart was heavy. In another room were shoes, thousands and thousands of shoes. Shoes showing how much people cared about how they looked, how they hoped they would need something nice to wear.  Shoes showing they were walked in and worn. Shoes of toddlers, of women, of men. And with them some toddler clothes. Babies can't work and were usually sent immediately to the gas chambers. A pile of hair brushes, shaving brushes and toothbrushes were next. The image that haunted me the most though were the photographs that lined the walls. Men with shaved heads and wearing striped clothing. Their eyes told it all. Some were still hopeful, others were angry, some were full of sorrow, and some had accepted their fate. The eyes were what brought tears to my eyes as these were the faces that tell the story. These beautiful people were guinea pigs and innocent souls taken because of the beliefs of one man who had the power to turn an entire race of people into leppers. Some of the soldiers working in these camps had to be evil; I don't know how they could have looked into the eyes of these grown men, let alone the eyes of women and children and not have felt remorse, or fear, or compassion. There were other faces too, some of women and children. But it was the faces of the men, the ones who are the heads of households, the protectors of families, the fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons. They were the ones who saw right into my soul. I truly feel like I left a piece of myself with them.

After seeing the first gas chamber I left to take the shuttle to Auschwitz II- Birkeneau. This site was massive. Many buildings were gone, with chimneys and foundations remaining. In some fields, ugly remnants stick up and remind us of what once was. I saw for myself the beds where they slept. While Auschwitz I was made of multi level brick buildings resembling dormitories, Auschwitz II was made of small, single story, barn like constructions. The beds were three high but the bottom bed was on the floor on cement. They were deep enough to hold 4-5 people on each of the three levels. But with little space between beds, I can't imagine the panic as it felt like being closed in. The cement pads from the bottom beds had been worn down so you could see exactly where they were used the most. Some of the buildings had actually been barns set up for 52 horses and were instead used to house up to 700 people.  I walked all the way to the back, where there is a memorial, and through the forest to a path that would take me to the ruins of the crematoriums. As I walked through old leaves and snow I could hear noises behind me. Turning there was no one there. After this happened several times I said a silent prayer to the people of the camp. And all of a sudden a rabbit darted in front of me. I nearly had a heart attack right then and there. Catching my breath I walked but I could still hear slight crunching sounds following behind me. I could even smell smoke in certain parts of the camp. And at one spot I could hear a girl laughing. I was alone. I wasn't scared though. How could a place where such devastation had occurred not have a few ghosts.

The long bus ride back to the hostel gave me time to think. I am grateful for all I have and for being able to see for myself what happened in Auschwitz. I also have the strong belief that this could never happen again. The people of the world would never allow it. So despite having a heavy heart and having left a small of it behind with the victims and their memories I am glad to have spent the day in sorrow. In rememberance.

Krakow sights

Wieliczka