Blogs from Kraków, Lesser Poland, Poland, Europe - page 8

Next on the itinerary was to make our way down Poland to the city of Krakow. The city was occupied by Nazis in World War II but they found it so beautiful and similar to Munich, so they did not destroy it. Resulting in much of the Krakow’s Medieval, Gothic and Renaissance inspired architecture being well preserved for today. The first site we visited as we entered the city was the Wieliczka Salt Mine. A salt mine may sound like a strange place for a teenage girl to visit but it was a highlight of Poland for me. Just hold on while I explain why. The mine was built in the 13th century and continued to produce salt until the 20th century. What makes the mine unique is the extravagant and extremely detailed carvings the ... read more

It is impossible to adequately put into words the experience of a visit to the Nazi extermination camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau here in southern Poland. We should all know the history, have read the books, seen film and accounts and are disgusted by the crimes that were perpetuated against the Jews in particular and others, but unless one visits this place it may remain just another page of history and nothing more. That must never happen! It was not just murder on an unimaginable scale but the ultimate in evil - unjustified assumption of superiority and hatred of one ethnic group over others executed in the most systematically horrific manner which sought not only to eliminate but to debase the Jews in particular as somehow even a sub animal species. It is simplistic to blame ... read more

If I say so myself, we managed the jet lag superbly, sleeping like babies to get up Saturday morning to bright sunshine, a simple breakfast and an exploratory stroll back into the old town. By 10 a.m. people had already began to converge on the the main square in this city of 800,000. Unlike the capital city of Warsaw, it was unscathed by the bombing of World War 11. Beautiful architecture abounded. Sitting outdoors at Castor Coffee Club having capucinno and pretzels was a cool way to begin the day as the sweet sound of a trumpet filled the air from above us. As a tradition, a beautiful melody is played from the top of the nearby St. Mary's church steeple, four times every hour as if the king of ancient times was still around to ... read more

Here are pictures from Krakow inlcuding the Jewish Quarter, Kazimierz, the former Jewish ghetto and pictures from Oscar Schindler's factory that is now a museum.... read more

Out of all the places that I have been in my life, there is one place that I never really had much desire to go to; and that is Poland. However, after spending a few days there in February, my opinion of Poland has changed a lot. I really enjoyed it. As we had been in Budapest before Krakow, we had to take the night train from Hungary to Poland. We all had these childish fantasies of staying up all night on the train playing cards and rough-housing. When we stepped into our room which was about 5 foot wide and 6.5 foot high, we realised that we were not going to be doing this. All six of us were in this tiny little room, and cramped is an understatement. We all had our luggage with ... read more