Krakow

Day One December 27:
We arrived early in Krakow and took the bus to our apartment to meet our host and get the key. Our host was kind enough to let us check in right after we arrived, which was nice because we were able to shower and have some breakfast before heading out to explore. I had heard about a free walking tour in Krakow through Trip Advisor, and since we enjoyed our free walking tour of Prague so much we decided to try it out in Krakow too. The tour was about 3 hours and gave us a great overview of Krakow. It was perfect because our stay in Krakow wasn't very long and this gave us the "quick" tour of everything.

I didn't know much about Krakow's history, so I was surprised to learn about its castle and royalty. Krakow is also famous for its dragon tale. Apparently, Krakow used to have a dragon that lived on its hill. The dragon would terrorize the town and especially liked to eat young maidens. The town would sacrifice a young girl once a month, until there were no more girls to sacrifice except the king's daughter. The king wanted to stop the dragon and did not want to sacrifice his daughter, so he offered his daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who could defeat the dragon. Many tried and failed until finally the cobbler's apprentice came up with the idea to stuff a lamb with sulphur and put it out for the dragon. The dragon ate the lamb and then became very thirsty. He drank and drank from the river, but no amount of water could quench his thirst and he drank so much water that he eventually swelled up and exploded. The cobbler's apprentice succeeded in killing the dragon and was able to marry the kings daughter. The people of Krakow love their dragon story and we found many booths selling dragon souvenirs. They even have a bone from the dragon hanging up on the castle grounds (although some people say it's really a prehistoric whale bone).

Dave and I enjoyed the tour and we spent the rest of the day exploring the castle in more detail and heading into some of the churches that we had learned about.

St.Mary's Basilica in the town centre. Every hour a trumpet player comes out and plays a melody. Traditionally it was played to alarm citizens when he saw a fire or the enemy approaching. For this reason, the trumpeter today is a fireman.

This is one of the oldest malls. Today it has stalls selling various souvenirs and items. It used to have sellers of fabrics and furs a long time ago.

This knife is hanging in the oldest mall. It is to symbolize the punishment for stealing. Can you guess??

Part of the original city walls

City walls

Gate into the city

This is a piece of art located in the town centre. Our tour guide told us it is a popular meeting point for the people of Krakow. If you have to meet someone you simply say, "I'll meet you at the giant head."

The most famous window in Krakow. Pope John Paul II greeted the people of Krakow from this window. The people of Krakow love John Paul II and are very proud he is Polish.

The climb up to Wawel Castle

Wawel Cathedral

The "dragon's bone" hanging in front of Wawel Cathedral's entrance

The fire breathing dragon

Dave made me climb things again. Inside the bell tower (you do NOT have permission to start calling me the Hunch Back)

View from the castle grounds

Inside the palace grounds

After touring around Krakow all day we decided to warm up and get some traditional Polish food for dinner. We tried out a little restaurant just outside the main square called Chata. Again, we found everything to be really cheap in Krakow. The food was very inexpensive and so was the beer. We enjoyed a dinner with appetizers, main, dessert and beer for about 30 euros total. It was delicious.

Inside the restaurant. It had a cool atmosphere, sort of like a chalet.

Polish beer

Zurek soup: this is a sour rye soup with a half of a sausage and potatoes in it. It sounds weird, but it was so delicious.

My cabbage roll with potatoes

Dave's chicken skewer with fries and coleslaw (every vegetable we encountered on our trip was pickled)

Apple cake

After filling up on dinner we headed over to check out this giant mall near the train station where we bought a few Polish beers to try over our stay. We headed home pretty early to get a good nights sleep as we were getting up early the next day to catch the bus to Auschwitz.

Day Two December 28:
Auschwitz is only about 90 minutes away from Krakow, so Dave and I wanted to make sure that we made an effort to visit while we were so close. We woke up early and were able to get the last two seats on the early bus out to Auschwitz. I'm glad we got lucky and had seats, because the driver let a few extra people on the bus and they ended up having to stand for the whole 90 minute bus ride, yikes! The bus brought us right to the entrance to Auschwitz and we were able to sign up for the first English led guided tour of the day. The camp provides tour guides right on site and for a small fee you get a guided tour that includes the camp at Auschwitz I and also at the neighbouring camp of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, with a shuttle bus that takes you between the two camps. The tour was well worth it and I definitely recommend it. Our guide was very good and was able to tell many stories about the camps that we wouldn't have known if we were doing the tour on our own. The tour took several hours but it went by so fast. I'm glad we went early and were able to spend the day there. It was quite busy as we were coming back from our tour, so busy you could barely walk in the visitor's centre. It was good to go early and avoid most of the big crowds.

It's hard to explain Auschwitz. Being there was very moving and very, very sad. Approximately 1.3 million people were killed at the two camps. It's hard to wrap your head around such a huge number, but when you are at the camp and you see the artifacts and the pictures, it makes it very real. It was quite a moving day. The thing that really hit home to me was when we entered a room that contained a giant pile of human hair. It had braids and locks of all this different coloured hair, in a huge mountain. We were not allowed to take pictures in this room, out of respect. But, it was one of the most shocking rooms for me, thinking about all the people the hair had come from and thinking how they were stripped of not only all their belongings upon getting to the camp, but even their own hair. The Nazi's would reuse all the prisoner's belongings, including this hair. They would use it as stuffing for mattresses and pillows. They even had a blanket that had been weaved with human hair. It was shocking and very sad thinking about how these people were coming to the camps thinking they were going to start a new life and instead were robbed of everything they owned, and eventually their own lives. It was very sad.

Entrance into the Auschwitz I "work will set you free" sign. This is a replica, the original sign was stolen and eventually recovered, but the replica remains in its place.

These brick buildings were originally military barracks before being used for the prisoners. Though made of brick, they were definitely not comfortable.

Barbed wire around the camp

During roll call the soldier leading it would wait in this booth because it took so long and it would get too cold. Meanwhile, the prisoners were forced to wait outdoors for hours in very little clothing for roll call to be done.

The bunks the prisoners had to sleep in. There would be several prisoners per bunk, it was very crowded and uncomfortable.

 Thinking they were starting a new life, many prisoners packed what they thought they would need, including kitchenware. Items stolen from the prisoners were kept in a building by the Nazis for use by the German people. The prisoners called this building "Canada" because it was the land of plenty and had all their belongings that they needed to survive.

Some of the suitcases stolen from the prisoners.

The suitcases had the names of the prisoners on them and their ages. This girl was only 2 years old. Upon arrival at the camp she would be immediately sent to the gas chambers.

Some of the shoes that the prisoners packed and that were taken by the Nazis upon their arrival. There were all sorts of shoe varieties from sandles to fancy high heels. It was clear the prisoners had no idea what was to come when they were packing for their "new life."

Crematorium at Auschwitz I

Inside the crematorium

The train track and camp entrance at Auschwitz II Birkenau. This track was extended from the city track into Birkenau for the sole purpose of transporting prisoners into the camp. It ended at the camp and trains would have to back out the way they came.

This picture of prisoners getting off the train was taken in this same spot. In the background you can see the roof of the same building. Upon getting off the train, if they survived the ride, they would be divided into two groups of men and women and children. Most women and children were sent immediately to the gas chambers because they couldn't work. The doctor would decide the fate of the rest, old and weak would be sent to the gas chambers and those strong enough would be put to work until they eventually died. People did not last very long here.

The kitchen. Prisoners did not get much food, barely enough to survive. Many of them would starve.

One of the wooden barracks. Most of these are not standing any more, except for their foundations.

Crowded bunks.

An example of the toilets they had to use. They only could go to the bathroom about twice a day and there were not enough toilets for all the prisoners.

A memorial to the victims

The rubble of the gas chambers and crematorium. The Nazis burned it down in an effort to hide the murders they committed.

A monument to those that were killed at Birkenau and the ashes that are hidden in the water behind and in many areas of the camp

View from the tower at the entrance

Another view of some of the barracks from the tower. The grounds are quite large so this only shows a small amount of it.

It was a very moving day. We managed to get the last two seats on the bus again for the ride home. It was nice to have some quiet time on the bus to think about the days events and what we had seen.

That night we decided to go for dinner with somewhere with a bit of a fun atmosphere to cheer us up. We had read about the restaurant Pod Wawelem and decided to give it a try. It had very big portion sizes and the food was very good. At the end of our meal they gave us a free shot of cherry vodka, it tasted like a red sucker and was dangerously good. Just as we were leaving a little band of three started to play accordian and sing, it seemed like the fun was starting for the evening, but we were pretty tired from our day so we headed home.

Inside the restaurant, kind of a beer hall atmosphere

Polish beer!

Lamb sausages with coleslaw and fries

Wiener Schnitzel (giant!)

Yummy potato salad, it had a more vinegary sauce and was very tasty

Free cherry vodka shots.

Dave found this in the men's room. A sink for vomiting? I guess if you have too much beer or food??

The band

Day Three December 29:
We had to check out of our apartment in the morning, as our host had another guest coming to stay. It wasn't a problem though because we were able to store our bags in a locker at the train station and were free to explore Krakow for a final day. The same company that did our walking tour of Krakow on our first day also ran a free walking tour of the Jewish district and we decided it would a good way to end our trip in Krakow and to learn more about the Jewish culture in Krakow, especially after our trip the previous day to Auschwitz.

Old synagogue, now a museum

Our guide called this area "Broadway"

Jewish cemetary

Centre of Jewish town, a market is held here

This is where a scene from Schindler's List was filmed where the Nazis are raiding the Jewish homes and dumping their belongings from the balcony.

Here is the stair case where a scene happened from the movie where a young girl and her mother hide from Nazis with the help of their friend, who is working for the Nazis. This is based on a true story, and these are the real stairs.

Bridge crossing over to the Jewish ghetto area of town

Memorial to the Jewish people. It represents the belongings taken from them.

Old walls of the Jewish Ghetto

Schindler's factory museum.

After the tour we decided to go for some Polish treats and try out a few pubs that our tour guide had recommended. 

Pierogi! They had so many flavours. We went with a meat filled one and a cheese, bacon, and potato filled one. They were so so good! They even had sweet ones with apple and berry fillings, but we wanted to save room for our next snack later that night.

Zapiekanka! This is a traditional polish treat that they serve at the market. There are several stands right beside each other selling the same thing and all competing for business. It is half a baguette topped with cheese and mushrooms and then any other topping you can think of. It is all topped off with some ketchup. I got the diavlo with had cheese, mushroom , bacon, salami, and pickles, and of course ketchup topping. It sounds gross but it was surprisingly tasty. It was HUGE though and I could barely eat half. Our tour guide told us that these have saved him in the wee hours of the morning after a long night at the bar haha.

Dave with his Zapiekanka.

Dave got cheese, mushroom and sausage.

Dave and I taking a selfy in the mirror at the Singer pub. The pub has Singer sewing machines as tables. It was neat. It also had a nice warm fire and we snagged a seat right in front of it to warm up and enjoy a beer.

The table at Singer

This is the second pub on our little "crawl" it's called Alchemia and it had a Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe theme.

Inside the bathroom behind one of the doors was a random brick wall

This was the "wardrobe" that was a door to the second half of the bar. On the other side the bar was all white. It was the smoking section, so we didn't go in.

 After visiting the pubs, it was time to start heading over to the train station for our second night train experience to Vienna. We picked up our packs and got on the train for the last stop on our visit. Next up New Year's in Vienna!

Until next time...

Au Revoir