Krakow
Wednesday June 28, 2017
We're on the move again, leaving the beautiful city of Krakow and heading towards Austria. Again, I wouldn't have imagined what an amazing city Krakow is; the city centre is bustling with life and great atmosphere, there's some stunning buildings around and the riverside is super scenic.
We arrived in the late afternoon on Sunday and after dinner, we hit the town, Polish style, with the Krakow Pub Krawl. Our first bar was underground and we stocked up heavily on vodka oranges and beers, but we were too greedy and ended up having to leave some behind because we were off to the second bar.
And oh my goodness, the second bar had karaoke. I was so down. I was so excited. I chugged three tequila shots and like a boss, I Let it Go to a cheering crowd who weren't expecting that from me. It was such a buzz, everyone was belting it out with me at the end, and whether you like Frozen or not, it's such a fun song to sing. We managed to sing Lose Yourself and I Just Had Sex before we were moved to the next bar. People started dropping out here, it was past midnight. I went home around 1am, a very respectable time for an unexpectedly great night.
The next day, we had a bike tour of Krakow, with only two of our eleven-strong group failing to make it due to bad decisions from the night before. The bike tour took us to the old city wall, mostly demolished, but the moat that had protected the city has been turned into a garden, and you can see the green band of the old moat if you look at a Google map of Krakow. We continued to the university, where Nicolaus Copernicus had been a student, then to the riverside where we learned about the legend of the Krakow dragon. Further down, we visited the Jewish quarter and Schindler's factory, which helped saved thousands of Jewish lives in the Second World War.
We were all pretty tired after the bike tour so we just chilled out in the afternoon and went for dinner at a Jewish restaurant with amazing hummus. We visited a One Euro bar to cap off the night - the next day was going to be intense.
Nothing really prepares you for the horrors of Auschwitz. You've heard what happened and the number of deaths and the statistics but to see the actual buildings where these atrocities were committed, to see their belongings, the hair extracted from the bodies to make carpets and textiles, the gas chambers where Zyklon B was poured in, the railroad where the prisoners were brought in, the gates where they were sorted, the deception that the Nazis used - it's all so emotional, so raw, so disgusting. I finally understand just how bad the Holocaust is and why we must never forget these stories; we must never allow this to happen again.
One of the most poignant moments during this trip was when a mate of mine on the tour placed a piece of pounamu on one of the Jewish memorials at Auschwitz II. He had planned this since leaving his hometown in New Zealand, some 17,600km away, and unbeknownst to him, it is a Jewish custom to place rocks on graves of the deceased - hence how gravestones came to be - and this incredible gesture just brought together Maori and Jewish culture in the most beautiful way imaginable.
In the afternoon, we visited the salt mines, some 65m below ground. A massive network of tunnels through rock salt, the salt mines were a major source of income for Krakow for hundreds of years. In addition to the tunnels to extract the salt, there were also chapels and cathedrals carved into the massive caverns inside, and beautiful chandeliers made from the translucent rocks adorning the churches.
I could see myself visiting Krakow again; the food is fantastic and so affordable. My dinner last night was only $13.50NZD; drinks are also cheap. I will remember my experience at Auschwitz forever and I will never let their stories die.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:10am on Wednesday June 28, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 