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Published: September 2nd 2012
Our first destination in Poland was Warsaw, from what we had been told our expectations were not high but we were still interested to come and check it out. The reason Warsaw is often the forgotten destination in Poland is that it was destroyed almost completely in WW2 so many of the old buildings are no longer there.
After finding our hostel from the train station (this time going the correct way first time!!) we found some food. We then did the free walking tour which gave us a good look at the city. We were pleasantly surprised with the Old City which has been rebuilt quite grandly and is nice to look at. Our guide was quite the talker, informing us on the interesting historical events of the city along with some long winded unimportant stories which in the end Aaron could not handle listening to any longer, we decide to bail and continue exploring on our own. This exploration conveniently landed us in a polish beer house where we had a huge lunch. The nightlife in Warsaw was pretty average so we settled for having a few polish beers on or balcony during the nights.
We did
not end up seeing too much else that I will talk about here in Warsaw, and we decided that three nights is probably too much time spent in Warsaw. It was nice however to take it slow for a couple of days and the extra time was well spent organising the next section of our travels.
Our next stop was Krakow which had been on our must see lists before leaving to Europe. The reason for this was Auschwitz, we did not however realise that Krakow itself was an excellent European city. Our first and third days here were spent walking around Krakow’s beautiful old town checking out the beautiful architecture and markets which were unique. We also made our way down to the arty Jewish quarter which is a must see for anyone visiting Krakow, and is not really that touristy. We ate dinner at a traditional beer house on the first night which was amazing! We got locally brewed beers and huge traditional meals for next to nothing (Mikaela especially enjoyed her Duck with roasted apples for $7) and there was also a band playing all night.
Our second day of course was spent at the
famous Auschwitz/Burkenau concentration camps. I am not going to really explain any of what we saw there basically because most people know what went on and even what we saw, but what I will say however is that this is a place that I think every person should see. It is a harsh reminder of what the human race is capable of and really put a dent in us for some time after. Just like the Berlin/Jerusalem walls I think it’s important to realise that Genocide continues to happen and that we should not stand for it. Auschwitz is a place we will never forget.
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anonymous
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Great Pictures
I remember going to those places when i was a little girl.