Our Trip to Poland

Krakow, Poland is a place we would never have even considered visiting when we lived in the U.S. Honestly, Krakow was not a place we thought about visiting when we first moved to Europe either. Actually, it was more of an interest in visiting the Auschwitz/Birkenau Nazi German concentration camps that got us to Krakow. By the way, the name of the concentration camp was just recently voted to be renamed to make sure visitors know that the camps were set up and run by German Nazis, not Poland.

Going into this weekend we already knew it was going to be more of a serious, historical experience than an uplifting, relaxing vacation. We both studied World War II and Nazi Germany in school, and Erin took a “Hitler and the Holocaust” class in college to fulfill requirements to obtain a minor in history (for what purpose she has yet to figure out – she is by NO means a history buff in any sense of the term!). So, we found it amazing to actually be standing in and seeing in person the things we learned from textbooks, lectures, and videos. Before we went on our trip we watched some documentaries by a Holocaust “denier” whose arguments and questions were interesting and thought-provoking but not entirely convincing. It was nice to be able to investigate the things he was talking about when we visited the camps in person. It makes you think about how different countries and governments portray history…or ignore it. For instance, we learned about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust in school as kids, but we never learned that the U.S. also set up concentration camps in many mid-west and southwest states to contain Japanese Americans. We could get on our soapbox about this or explore all kinds of interesting conspiracy theories on a variety of topics, but those are subjects for another blog and they have nothing to do with our “European Adventure.” Our trip to Auschwitz is one we will remember forever.

We ended up taking a bus to Auschwitz from Krakow. It was cheap. We got there and back without getting lost or climbing onto the wrong bus. Our bus from Krakow was like a tour bus with curtains in the windows and about 60 seats. (If you are now imagining a trip in luxury you need to change the image in your head: the bus was probably from the 1970s, smelled a bit rank, and was not air-conditioned.) However, we enjoyed sitting down for the entire 1 ½ hour bus ride. The ride home was a different story. The bus that picked us up at Auschwitz was like a city bus or an airport bus: few seats, empty space in the middle for luggage, and no available seats when we got on. For the entire 1 ½ hours back to Krakow we stood. After walking around all day and the entire day before, we stood on a bus for 1 ½ hours. It was by no means pleasant, though standing offered us more direct airflow since our heads were right by the open bus windows and we got an unobstructed view of the Polish countryside. The entire trip was spent alternatively trying hard to think about things other than our feet and the time, and counting down how much time had progressed and how much longer we had to endure. By the time we got off the bus in Krakow we felt like we had conquered a test of endurance.

Krakow has the largest main square in all of Europe. The center of the city is different in that there is a park, the Planty, that circles the entire city center where the city wall used to stand. Like many other European cities, there is an abundance of cathedrals, a castle, a river, lots of shopping, and street music. Krakow boasts some really nice stained glass windows, none of which we got pictures of because most of the cathedrals do not allow pictures. Unlike the rest of Europe, the cathedrals in Krakow are still actually used as places of worship. The Polish people are all very devoted Catholics. We saw nuns and priests on almost every block the entire weekend. The late Pope John Paul II was from Krakow, by the way.

Our skills in figuring out public transportation were tested on this trip since we stayed in a rather cheap hotel – cheap not because it was old and run-down, but because it was a bit outside the main part of the city. The hotel was nice enough, except that the air-conditioning didn’t really work and it was HOT. Thankfully, there was a Tesco nearby so we bought a map with tram and bus lines on it when we arrived. The Tesco also came in handy after Erin did not sleep at all the first night because of the heat; Saturday we bought a desk fan so the next two nights were much more conducive to good sleep. (Either that or all the sun, walking around, and no sleep the first night led to utter exhaustion.)

The other highlight of the trip, besides getting to visit the concentration camps (which we suppose is a kind of “highlight” in a strange way), was the “Jazzy Lunch” we had at the Sheraton on Sunday. First of all, the hotel was air-conditioned! Secondly, it was a really big buffet-style lunch like we haven’t had since we lived in Dallas. Third, we got live jazz music and attentive waiters on top of it all. (Perhaps the waiters were a bit too attentive. There really weren’t many people partaking of the lunch for most of the time we were there, but the hotel had staffed about 30 people to wait on us. That comes to about 8 waiters per table, but it was better than no service!) We were cool, happy, and absolutely stuffed by the time we left.

Summary (in case you don’t feel like reading this incredibly long blog): Krakow - we’re glad we went, it’s cheap, it’s a challenge in public transportation know-how, the Sheraton is awesome, the Hotel Ruczaj is far away, and it’s hot in the summer.