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Published: January 30th 2007
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Horses always work as a magnet for me!
The horses in the Square in Krakow were really beautiful; stockier than the ones on the streets of Vienna and I always had to stop for a daily pat! Hostel Life! Staying in youth hostels can be an interesting experience. We arrived in Krakow at 9pm and appeared to be the only two people who got off the train. We were approached by an old Polish man, who wanted us to come and stay at his apartment instead of going to a hostel. He reeked of alcohol and told us he was a taxi-driver. We declined his offer and so he started swearing at us. He later approached us again and when we declined a second time, he swore even more profusely at us! We walked to the hostel of our choice and booked into a 12-bed mixed dorm. I settled down to what I hoped would be a good night's rest.
One older man had gone to sleep and left his radio on, and eventually Michael got up and woke him to ask if he could turn it down. He was most apologetic and peace reigned - for a time... Another young couple in the room were asleep in the same bed, and Michael and I were sure that they were both snoring at different times during the night, (they seemed to take it in turns). I was
just dozing off when I was bitten by bed-bugs. They started on my face, then neck, then right hand and then my left hand and arm. Bed-bug bites are really itchy and I lay there for ages, scratching and tossing until about 3.30am, when I got up and went to the bathroom. There I discovered that my right eye, where I had been bitten, was very swollen and I had huge welts on my arms. I went back to the dorm, fossicked around in the dark and put peppermint foot-lotion (it was all I had) on the bites and climbed into another bed, after checking there was noone else in it! Two more people later came into the room and rustled about with plastic bags before finally climbing into bed around 4.30am. I think it was then that I finally dozed off! Of course a couple of alarms also went off at odd hours!
The hostel owners were VERY apologetic next morning and moved us into another dorm! We were moved again on our last night into a 3-bed room as the hostel had closed the dormitories. Apparently someone had been bitten by bed-bugs and they were going to
Buildings in the Square
Note the two different sized towers on the church fumigate! I wonder who that could have been?
I must add that we have really enjoyed being in hostels and have found the camaraderie of fellow travellers very refreshing. Everyone loves to share their travel stories and experiences and you can learn so much about the places you are visiting. At the moment we are in a hostel in Bucharest (yes, I'm a bit behind on my blogs!) and one of the young people here was very impressed that we were doing a trip like this. She said her parents would never undertake such a trip!
After that inauspicious start we had a great time in Krakow, which is Poland's third largest city and one of its oldest, dating from the seventh century. The city was founded by Prince Krak who, according to legend, outwitted the resident dragon which had lived in the area. (Unfortunately the Dragon's Grotto was closed so we missed him.) Krakow flourished as the medieval capital of Poland.
City Square The
Rynek Glowny is the largest medieval town square in Europe. On the first morning that Michael and I visited it, we were assailed by hordes of young people asking for donations for
Wawel Cathedral at the Castle
Nice to find some spring flowers in winter! a money-raising concert that was to be held in the square that night. It was similar to Telethon, raising money for children who had been victims of car accidents. As soon as we'd made our donation, receiving red hearts to stick on our jackets in return, we were left alone. We returned to the square that night and were entertained by Polish pop groups, who performed for the crowds. The square was packed, and at the end of the evening, there was a magnificent display of fireworks and huge flame-torches, (from machines that fuel hot-air balloons). It was very impressive and we felt quite privileged to have seen it on our first night there. I have been so impressed at how well-behaved the European crowds are at events like this one in Krakow and New Year's Eve in Vienna. There is no apparent rowdy behaviour and excessive drinking that leads to the violence that we so often experience in Australia. People of all ages mingle happily together. Hats off to the Europeans!
St Mary's Church stands in the north-east corner of the square and one is struck by the two different towers on the church. According to the guide
book that we bought the two towers were built by two brothers. One of the brothers was jealous of his brother's tower and so killed him. He then went on to build a taller tower but was overcome with guilt and later threw himself off the tower that he had built.
Wavel Hill We set off to see Wavel Castle on a Sunday and found to our surprise that there is free entry on Sundays. We were even treated to some sun when we emerged from the tour of the State Rooms an hour or so later. Wavel Hill is crowned with a castle and a cathedral. For four centuries the 14th century cathedral was the coronation and burial place of Polish royalty.
Auschwitz and Birkenau Our tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau was a very sobering experience. The Museum at Auschwitz covers 20 hectares and the one at Birkenau covers a staggering 171 hectares. The immensity of the camps is unbelievable. We entered Auschwitz under the sign 'Arbeit Macht Frei' (Work will make you Free). This was known by the inmates as 'The Gate of Death' and has become a recognised icon that symbolises Auschwitz. We were shown
Chasing dragons!
We weren´t able to get into the dragon´s den at the castle so Michael managed to get this photo of the dragon near the sign! the blocks where prisoners were kept in the most horrendous conditions and on display were innumerable pairs of shoes and the bags and suitcases that had been taken off the prisoners. They even had material on display that had been made from human hair that had been shaved off the dead bodies.
The Crematorium at Auschwitz functioned from 1940 until 1943 and each day 340 corpses were burnt. The room next to the crematorium functioned as a gas chamber; the poison Zyklon-B was introduced into the room through holes in the ceiling and several hundred people at a time could be murdered in this way. At one time there were five crematoria at the two camps that could burn 4,576 corpses a day. It beggars belief.
We also saw the Death Wall where several thousand prisoners were shot between 1941 and 1943. These were mostly Poles who were part of, or who supported, the Resistance Movement. Some prisoners who had tried to escape were kept in underground cells and sentenced to death by starvation.
The camps are surrounded by kilometers of electric-wire fences and there were cases of desperate prisoners, who were unable to bear the terrors
of the camp, throwing themselves 'on the wire', as suicide by electrocution came to be known. Our Polish guide very articulately explained everything in a matter of fact way that did justice to the horrors that were Auschwitz-Birkenau.
We have continued to stay in hostels and they have all been good! At the moment we are in Bucharest and I have four places to write about - Ljubljana in Slovenia, Zagreb in Croatia, Budapest in Hungary and now Bucharest in Romania so I have a lot of ground to cover in the next blog!
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Wendy Fowler
non-member comment
Hi
You must be having a gt time(despite the bed bugs!) All that history. Thanks for the postcard too. Makes me sooo jealous. Love to family> Miss you stacks! Wendy