Auschwitz

Krakow

I left Prague on the overnight train for Krakow. I knew it was going to be a bad night when I saw the seats of the train. The car I was in was broken into small rooms with a bench on each side, seating 8 in total, similar to a sleeper cabin. The difference with the sleeper cabin being that the seats turn into beds but in this case they are slightly padded benches. The wall is also padded as the back of the seat but is straight up and down and not a separate chair. I sat down and hoped I would get some sleep. I was lucky enough to not have anyone sit on my side so I stretched out on the bench but didn't get much sleep. At one point it looked like everyone was getting off the train, I glanced at my watch and it said 7:30! My train was arriving before 7 so I jumped up and in a panic checked my watch again.....it was only 3 am.....I was dreaming it all, except for the jumping up in a panic! Haha pretty much what the whole night was like. I soon realized we were getting closer so I sat up and tried to wake up a bit. As we drove through Krakow the sun began to rise in the distance creating a beautiful pink sky! This definitely made up for my sleepless night.

I arrived and found my way to the hostel. Helping myself to the free breakfast, I did some catch up on the blog before heading out for the free walking tour. Meeting at St. Mary's Church, where a trumpeter works 24 hour shifts to announce the hour, Jack, my Polish guide, showed us around the old town. The architecture and buildings are beautiful. And of course they have a Christmas Market in the main square.....though it doesn't come close to the German markets! I bought myself an obwarzanki, which is a giant bagel. Very yummy. I munched on this while we took a tour down narrow streets and old Roman walls (big surprise that the Romans settled here at some point!). We learned that their city was hard to conquer as it used to be surrounded by a moat. The tower at the end of the bridge had places for archers to stand and the covered bridge had 3 gates on the inside! They were serious about protecting their city! We also walked over and saw Wawel Castle. Up on a hill it's most interesting part is the many different basilicas that have been built by different kings and queens. It makes for an interesting roofline. And in the distance a giant round balloon can be seen. A tourist attraction, you can go up in the balloon and see all of Krakow! At the bottom of the hill is a statue of a dragon, which blows real flames, and represents the story of a knight who killed a dragon. Basically in order to save the princess from being sacrificed the knight fed the dragon a pig which was filled with nails, broken glass, and acidic liquid. The dragon was in so much pain from all the things in his belly that he drank up the river. Because he drank so much he exploded! The knight became a hero! Sounds very familiar! :-)

After some wandering, I went back to the hostel and met a fellow Canadian named Natasha who is living in Berlin for a year. She is a performer who plays the accordian! She was so interesting to talk to and we had so much in common, including our family background, our feelings on Spain, and love for Germany! I made some Polish perogies for dinner and stayed in the rest of the night.

The next day I headed out for the Jewish walking tour. My guide Pawel (Paul in Polish) was very interesting. He loves the Jewish culture so even though he isn't Jewish himself, he participates in many celebrations and even got himself on the front page of the newspaper during a Jewish festival last summer! We saw the Old synagogue and Kazimierz, the old Jewish district before they were expelled from their homes. Scenes from Schindler's List were filmed in this neighborhood. We then crossed over the River Wista on the Love bridge, named this way because of the locks people place there. We explored Podgórze, which was where the Jewish people of Krakow were sent to live. A wall was then built around the area, locking the Jews in. Because there were so many crammed into a small area it soon became a ghetto. In one square there are chairs scattered about, most facing one direction but some facing others. This is a memorial to the Jewish people who were sent to this neighborhood. Because they didn't have enough room for the furniture they brought with them, a lot of furniture was left in the square....now furniture remains as a reminder. Some chairs face Auschwitz, some Schindler's factory, and some the old neighborhood. Most of them face towards Israel. We saw the remaining portion of the wall that had been built around the ghetto. The Jewish architect who was forced to design the wall made it look like Jewish tombstones. He did this to give people a sign that this area was going to be like a Jewish cemetary so get out while you still can. The tour ended at schindler's factory where we learned that he saved 1100 Jews from concentration camps. We also learned that he wasn't the saint people may think, despite his act of heroism. But who is? In the windows are the pictures of some of the people saved by him. One gentleman moved to Beverly Hills and opened a leather store. He told everyone he knew about Oskar Schindler. One day an Australian writer stopped in the store and heard the story, he later wrote a book about it. A producer from Universal studios read the book and this is how it became a movie!

Next I rushed back to my hostel where I caught bus 304 to Wieliczka and the Salt Mine. I had heard it was meant to be amazing and was it ever. The tour began by climbing down 380 stairs into the ground. It wasn't too bad, the stair case wasn't too narrow and it felt very sturdy. But before we got to the bottom someone had to turn back because he was claustorphobic. Next we were taken through winding tunnels and big open rooms. There are about 4 chapels that are carved into rooms. The salt looks like marble until a light is shone on it and it turns translucent. It was breathtaking. The giant chapel is completely made of salt. Stairs, banister, chandeliers, statues, even the floor is carved to look like tiles but is salt. The miners have a strong faith because of the danger of the job and so these chapels were for them. There is a concert hall filled with white beams and a stage. At one point I was 130 meters underground. But it doesn't feel scary, the walls are enforced and most of the areas are big rooms. There weren't many tight spaces, if any. We learned that visitors have been coming to the mine since 1790! They used to give ferry rides on the lakes, which are now covered by walkways. They used to bring horses down to work for a year at a time then they would be switched out. I asked and because they used torches the horses had no sight problems and because salt is clean it doesn't affect your breathing, in fact it's good for your respiratory system. They have a clinic you can go to where you sit in a room in the mine for 4 hours a day for 17 days to help with any lung or breathing problems. So it's therapeutic! It was one of the highlights of my trip so far! I can't even begin to describe how interesting this mine was!

By the time I got back to Krakow it was after 7, and despite it being a Sunday the big mall was open! I bought my train ticket to Vienna where I got a special price for a couchette! Then I headed back for more Polish perogies for dinner. I stayed up late chatting with people before finally heading to bed!

Jewish Tour

Susie and I

Prague

I arrived in Prague after an amazing bus trip from Berlin. We had a "flight" attendant on board with free coffee, tea and hot chocolate. I found my hostel and had an amazing conversation with 2 of the people working reception. My room was an all girls dorm in the basement but was nice and clean. It was 28 beds but you couldn't tell as the bunk beds were all in alcoves. I dropped off my bag and grabbed some lunch in the hostel bar before going out to explore the city. It was already dark but I found the old town, and a beautiful Christmas Market with a real Christmas tree! I walked and found the Charles Bridge and a skating rink! I saw many beautiful buildings and at night Prague is spectacular! After several hours of getting lost in Prague I managed to find my hostel. I settled in at the bar, ordered some dinner before getting to bed for an early night.

Waking up early on Wednesday I ate an amazing all you can eat buffet breakfast at my hostel. They had eggs, sausage, potatoesm fruit, veggies, meats, cheeses, and several breads, cereal, granola, yoghurt....best breakfast I've had so far and worth every penny. Afterwards I went to the old square for the free walking tour.  I met Lauren from Minneapolis and we set out on our way. Two fellow Candians from Toronto were also on the tour and we chatted while in between sights. It's always so nice to meet fellow Canadians.... We learned about the many dictatorships that the Czech Republic has gone through, for example if you were born in 1900 you would have lived through 8 different regimes if you lived until 1990. The country had one of the best European economies after WWI before it was invaded by Hitler. But because he loved the city of Prague so much he kept the fighting away. His hope was to one day retire in Prague. The most influential part of the tour was the Jewish quarter. After the Jewish people were asked to leave, the neighborhood fell into ruins as no one wanted to live there. Finally after several decades the government started to fix it up. So even though the buildings all look old, a lot of them have been redone and almost all the insides are new. We learned about the Golem at the old new synagogue, which was a figure made of mud that a rabi would give truth to and in this case every night the golem would be given words to protect the streets of the neighborhod. In the morning the words would be taken away, except one night the rhabi forgot and the golem went crazy and the words were taken away for good. Now the golem sits in the attic of the synagogue, still protecting the Jewish neighborhood.  We also learned about the Jewish cemetary which holds 50 000 bodies in a tiny graveyard. Because the government wouldn't give the Jewish people more land for cemetaries they had to start burying the bodies on top of each other. We also learned about an amazing woman who was taken to a Concetration camp and upon seeing the devastation it was having on the kids she did secret art therapy with them. When her husband was sent to Auschwitz she volunteered to go as well so she took the 1000 peices of art from children 5-17 years old and left them in a suitcase with a friend who later buried it. Sadly, this woman died only a few weeks later hut her husband survived and later went and dug up the art which is on display at a synagogue and the Jewish museum. They estimate over 15 000 Jewish children were sent to concentration camps and less than 300 returned home (not sure if this is from the Czech Republic or in total or from Prague). This is such a sad reminder of the innocent being pursecuted.

The city is so colorful and has been though many hardships as one dictatorship or another ruled the people of Czech. The people now have only been living freely for 20 some years. I can't even imagine.

After the tour I crossed the Charles bridge and headed to Lennon Wall. This ever changing wall of graffiti is dedicated to John Lennon who many saw as a hero for his stand against communism. Spray cans of paint sit at the wall so you can add to it. On my way back I passed a courtyard with some statues. It was two men facing each other having a peeing contest. Their hips swiveled as they did this. It was so cool. I had just found Kafka's Piss statue! I walked back over the bridge, trying desperately for a neat picture but there were too many people! I wandered through the streets some more before heading to the hostel to thaw out. It was a truly freezing day. I decided to go that night to Don Giovanni put on with Marionettes. I dressed up and headed out but when I got there I found out there was no show that night. So instead I found a restaurant and ordered Czech Goulash. It was tasty but unfortunately had no veggies so I ate a meat and gravy stew in a bread bowl! I guess I at least got some protein! I wandered the Christmas market before heading in for the night. I met some American girls on school break working on a project in Europe that their private University is paying for! I sure went to the wrong school!

Thursday was a busy day! The receptionist at the hostel helped me plan my day and I bought myself a day pass for the city transportation as I wanted to traverse the city to see many things! I started with a tram ride up to the palace. I wandered around and saw a beautiful cathedral on the huge grounds of the palace. I saw the changing of the guard and a marvelous view of the city. My next stop was Petrin Hill which I walked to. They have a mini Eiffel tower and a maze of mirrors. Another beautiful view of Prague and the castle awaited me. I walked part of the way down the high hill before taking the venicular the rest of the way. Amazing! I grabbed a tram and took it to the train station where I bought my ticket to Kutna Hora (home of the bone church) for Friday as well as my ticket to Krakow. Another tram ride took me to the bottom of Vitkov Hill. I had trouble finding the way but saw the huge horse statue from the street below. I did end up finding a way up but I was running out of daylight and had much to see so I headed to my next stop....the Zizkov TV Tower and home of Kafka's Babies sculpture. I could see the tower for a long time and I knew the sculptures were of giant babies but I was surprised when I turned the corner and they were climbing the tower! There are about 10 of them all over the tower! It was quite a sight.....Moving quickly now I caught another tram back to the old town and the Jewish cemetery. But when I got there the entrance fee was astronomical and I decided not to go in. I wish now I had but it'll give me a reason to go back! I made one last stop to Vysehrad. It seemed to be an old area of town that was kept like a village. It was dark so I saw the cathedral and a great view before heading back. My feet were killing my by this point and I think I may have been limping!

That evening I met Susie, from Australia who wanted to come with me to Kutna Hora. We headed out the next morning only to find we still had an hour before the train left. Susie had just arrived so we walked to the town centre and then realized once we got there that we pretty much had to turn around and go back. As the minutes ticked by I started to realize that we were quickly running out of time. We got to the station with 2 minutes before departure..,.and we still had to find the platform! Running towards what we hoped would be the right number we raced up the stairs and hopped on the train! We sure hoped it was the right one! The time matched but the destination didn't! As luck would have it we made it on the right train! Whew! We arrived in Kutna Hora but weren't sure which stop we needed. A kind woman helped us and even gave us a ride to the Bone Church. We had both heard of this place from other people but didn't really know what to expect. The admission cost was low and when we entered it was hard to believe it was real human bones decorating the ossuary. A monk had brought with him, from a holy land, some dirt that he sprinkled in the cemetery, making it a very popular place to be buried. Soon they ran out of room and had to dig up old bones. It has to be seen in person to get the full impact. I was fascinated but also had this sense of sur realism. Why would they decorate the basement of a church with human bones! St. Barbara's cathedral was another stop in Kutna Hora so Susie and I headed that way. We were both underwhelmed with this small town which I had read was an amazing place to see. We wandered around and were about to give up when we rounded the corner and saw this amazing building. It was so detailed and huge. We both just stared and said "Wow". We went inside but the outside is much more beautiful. After a quick visit we decided to head back to Prague. After a small amount of confusion we managed to find our train.......and more than 2 hours later we arrived back in Prague.....we had hopped on the slow train! :(

We went to the old town square to watch the astronomical clock do its thing on the hour. I had heard it was pretty lame but wanted to see it for myself. We had a little laugh at the clock as it struck 7 pm and then walked back to the hostel for dinner.  Shortly after that I was on my way to the train station and Krakow. Prague was a beautiful city with lots to do and see. I enjoyed my time there and would love to see it in summer!

St. Barbara's

Kutna Hora Bone Church