Poland and back

Last week was allotted solely for midterms, so we were pleasantly surprised when informed that all of our midterms would be complete by Wednesday afternoon, and we would have a four-day weekend. Therefore, my roommates and I took advantage of this time to travel to Poland! (Which, happily for me, was the first country I have traveled to this semester that is not on the Euro. For once, everything seemed affordable because the złoty to dollar exchange rate worked in our favor).

We left late Wednesday night via night train and arrived in Krakow at 6am Thursday. Though the accommodations were nicer than my night train to Venice (this was a true Schlafwagen with full beds, closet, and all), I slept less partially because of the hour of our arrival. Stumbled off the train with bleary eyes and found our way to our hostel. [On a side note, all the hostels in Krakow seem to have silly names—Hostel Hocus Pocus, Tutti Frutti hostel, Hostel Goodbye Lenin, etc. ^_^]

We explored the city for most of Thursday and Friday exploring the city. Krakow is one of the oldest cities of Poland and has a rich cultural history. When the country was partitioned (17th century—1919), Krakow was a part of the Austrian empire and a northern cultural center. We stayed near the Old City, only a short walk from the Main Market Square. This Marketplace is one of the largest squares in Europe. In the center of the square is the old Cloth Hall, which is now used as a marketplace with endless stalls selling Polish wares. Some noted items were hand-painted plates, chessboards, children's toys, and beautiful amber jewelry everywhere. Also on this square was a tall clock tower, from which the Hejnal Mariacki (Trumpet Signal) is played every hour on the hour. The "Taps"-like trumpet melody ends abruptly each time, keeping with the tradition to cut it short in memory of a trumpeter who was killed in battle in 1241.

After a bit of shopping, we went to Wawel Hill and climbed up to the castle. The Wawel sits on the Vistula River, overlooking the city. It was built in the 16th century and much of the structure seems to include a hodgepodge of different architectural styles, lacking symmetry. Or that was my impression. Still, I liked it a lot and would recommend a visit. We wandered around the elegant courtyards but did not enter the buildings due to the price. After climbing the winding path back down, we walked along the river and sat by the statue of the dragon. This statue marks where the legendary dragon of Krakow once lived in a cave below the castle. Every few minutes, it would surprise visitors by igniting and exhaling a burst of flame.

The other main portion of Krakow is the Jewish Quarter (or Kazimierz). This Quarter was originally a separate town that merged with the Old City. During Nazi occupation, the Quarter was emptied of its inhabitants who were all sent to the Ghettos and concentration camps. From a town that once had hundreds of thousands of Jewish residents, only in the past 10 years have Jewish Poles slowly returned to the Jewish Quarter of Krakow. We wandered past countless synagogues, and entered one of the older synagogues and the old Jewish cemetery.

Additionally, we went to the Czartoryski Museum (Krakow's art museum housing a Da Vinci and Rembrandt) and a Poster Art Gallery with an extensive collection... unfortunately, when we returned to buy something, the shop was strangely closed, locked, and dark, though the posted hours claimed that it should be open. Generally, our lesson learned from Poland was that when an opportunity arises, one should jump on it and take advantage immediately rather than hoping for a second chance. ^_^

The meals in Krakow were incredible. I ate pierogies and kielbasa to my heart's content. There were also a surprising number of Georgian restaurants, a cuisine which we enjoyed our first night. I did not get the chance to try the dessert pierogies (and if I knew a little Polish, it would have been nice to guess what some of the other non-traditional fillings there were, beyond potatoes/cheese or sauerkraut) but I loved the bakeries that seemed to be everywhere. On our last night, I used my final złotych to buy a huge collection of different cookies and pastries... and in the end, it only worked out to be about $5. mmmmm delicious!

Saturday was a more somber time; we spent the day at Auschwitz - Birkenau. It's still hard to process it all. Auschwitz (I) has been turned into a museum, which many of the old barracks converted into exhibits to memorialize and remember all the terrible crimes that happened in that place. 3 km down the road, the more extensive Birkenau is more of an outdoor experience. Many of the buildings of this larger concentration camp (the "death camp") were ruins. The old railroad tracks are still in tack, which transported millions of Jews, Poles, gypsies, homosexuals, and other prisoners directly into the heart of Birkenau. After getting off the train, they trekked only a short distance down the road to where they were told they would be given cleansing showers--the gas chambers and crematoriums. There were at least five of these buildings, one of which was destroyed and burned in 1944 by an uprising of the prisoners working there. When Nazi Germany fell in 1945, the Nazis quickly dynamited the remaining crematoriums in order to destroy the evidence. The ruins remain as they were left, as a lasting memorial to the millions that died there. It was terribly eerie to be walking on the same path that they walked, to be standing in the grounds around the crematoriums where their ashes may be mixed with the earth, and to be able to turn and leave, walking away externally completely unscathed, but internally shaken.

It was hard, but I'm glad that I was able to go. I'm glad that I was able to be with other people for this experience.


Krakow was a beautiful city, and Poland was an incredible country. I would seriously consider coming back here for an extended period.