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Published: January 6th 2011
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NZ Photo
the required NZ photo, at the Grunwald statue Hey, Josh here again.
After a good night out sampling Czech Absinth, Renton and I were’nt too keen on begin seen on the sttretts of Prague for a few days. It seemed like an excellent idea to let the city cool down for a few days, so we decided to head a cross the boarder into Poland and spend Cheistmas in Krakow
The weather report was pretty bad for the next few days, it looked like the area was in for a big dump of snow. This, combined with the fact the camper had struggled on soem of the roads in the Czech Republic ,seemed to suggest that it wuld be a good idea to park the camper up for a few days and take the train to Krakow. We arranged with the Prague campground to leave the camper there, and took the overnight train to Krakow of the night of the 22nd/23rd of December.
At this point I’ll digress a wee bit and fill in a few blanks. A few weeks back, as I was leaving Morocco, all the flights into Europe had been disrupted by two things; firstly, there had been a massive dump of snow which closed all French airports, and secondly, the Spanish Air Traffic Controllers had gone on strike demanding longer siesters, which means that all Spanish airports had also shut. So, long(er) story cut (a bit) short(er), I spent 12 hours waiting around Tangiers Airport in Morocco, followed by 12 hours waiting around Charleroi Airport in Brussels in the company of two Poles. Szczepan and Hania had been holidaying in Morocco, and were now trying to sort out travel back to Krakow. We traded contact details, in the event that a) they came to NZ, or b) we went to Poland. So when our travel plans had crystallised, I had got in touch, to let them know that we’d be in Krakow. More on that later.
We got to our hostel on the morning of the 23rd, and had enough time to throw our gear down, sort ourselves out, and then get picked up by our guide for a walking tour of Krakow. We’ve found that walking tours are the way to go when it comes to finding out about whatever place that we’re in. Our guide for this tour was excellent, she started by showing us Wawel Castle and its accompanying buildings and church, before heading down to Kazimierz (the old Jewish quarter), then the old Market Square and Cloth Hall. Krakow is very similar to the other European cities that we’ve been though; much of the town’s history is contained in an ancient central area, which is easy to find your way around. Makes a huge change from Auckland, which is neither ancient, nor easy to get around (even for those of us who live there).
We ended the tour in Saint Mary’s Basilica, in Market Square, for the midday opening of the Veit Stoss Alter. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but here is a link for those interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altarpiece_of_Veit_Stoss. Like much of what we’ve seen, there is no-way the photo can do the actual site justice.
That night Szczepan picked us up from our hostel and took us out for dinner at one of the local restaurants. The place that he took us to was primo and the recommendations he made about what were should try were dead on (that’s the truth; I’m not saying it only because he’ll be reading this).
The next morning we were picked up early from our hostel and driven out towards the Polish village of Oswiecim. Following the Nazi invasion of September 1939, this area of Silesia was incorporated into the Reich, and the spelling of many place names changed. Oswiecim was renamed Auschwitz, and was then situated inside the German border. What happened from there is well known. Our tour began at Auschwitz I, where the brick buildings used by the Polish Army in the 1930’s were taken over by the Germans and turned into a concentration camp. Above the road leading into the camp hangs a replacer of the infamous sign ‘Arbiet Macht Frei’; Work will set you free.
Much has been written on Auschwitz by people who are much more intelligent than me, and I’m not even going to try and regurgitate their words. Suffice to say this. It wasn’t until we were standing in the middle of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex, that we could grasp, in some way, how immense this process was. It is one thing to read about the subject, to know the dates, the figures, and the results. It’s quite another thing to stand there.
That night Gin and I went to Midnight Mass in St Mary’s Basilica, with instructions from Renton to ‘pass on his respects’. Poles know how to do a Mass alright. Beautiful church, good choir, good organ player, and an attitude of; go in, do the business, move on. 45 minutes from walk in to walk out. Nice one Poland.
Christmas Day dawned clear, crisp, and snowing. OK, OK, it was snowing, so it wasn’t that clear. In fact it was overcast as hell, but it was snowing, which was the main thing. So after exchanging presents (Renton got Gin some snow), we went into the Square for a look around. Szczepan and Hania had arranged to meet us in the Square at 1pm. After we had met them, they offered to take us around the Szczepan's parents place for Christmas Dinner. Very, very kind offer, and thanks must got to Szczepan’s father for the food. Roast goose, carrots, potatoes, beans, bigos (a Polish dish of cabbage and sausage), the food kept coming. We’ve been promised swan for next years Christmas, we’re looking forward to it.
The following day, we went to Hania’s relative place for Boxing Day meal. Despite not speaking the ‘International language’ on Polish (according to Hania’s grandfather), we got by just fine. Special mention must be made of Szczepan’s and Hania’s gifts to us. Wodka Zoladkowa Gorzka. Good for the stomach, so we’re told. Nice one.
So after another huge Christmas feed, Szczepan took us back into town and dropped us off at the central train station to wait for the overnight train back to Prague. When the train pulled in to the station in Krakow, we found our carriage, got settled in, and got ready to crash out. It was at things point that things got interesting.
Someone, whom shall remain nameless, decided to do a physical check, to make sure we all had our passports. At this point, someone, whom shall remain nameless, remembered something. Someone, whom.....ok, ok, you get the idea. Anyway, someone remembered that they had secured Gin and Renton’s passports safely under a mattress in the hostel. Which is where they safely remained. As we were on the train. About to leave. To cross a boarder. Into another country. Crossing an international boarder is generally frowned upon without the appropriate papers. I thought this was the funniest thing I’d ever heard. For some reason neither Gin nor Renton could appreciate the humour in the situation.
So, we got off the train and headed back to the hostel. Thankfully, whoever had cleaned the room had done a half-arsed job, and hadn’t discovered the passports, credit cards, and huge amounts of unmarked, non-sequential banknotes which remained under the mattress of the room we had vacated that morning. It was only at this point that the remaining two thirds of our expedition could begin to see a hint of humour in the situation.
So it looked like we’d get another 24 hours in Krakow. This was a good thing, as all during our stay people had been asking us if we were going to go to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. It hadn’t been on our plan, but now we had a chance to go and see it. So the following day we headed off to have a look. The salt mine had been in operation since the 13th century, and finally ceased mining operations in 1996. Over that time, a number of statues had been carved from the salt, as well as numerous chapels, as well as an entire underground church. Once again, taking photos of the Church would cost extra money, so once again, heres a link http://www.flickr.com/photos/74346810@N00/2281582398
So, a day later than planned, we made it on to the train again, and this time we were still on it when we got back to Prague, 12 hours later. And that is where I’ll hand over the narrative.......
P.S. Not many photos on this one, its taking ages to load them all
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maree
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Fantastic informative blog. shame bout photos' lol