Blogs from Lublin Province, Poland, Europe

The snow was still falling as we went through the morning routine of up, davening and breakfast. Don davened in the minyan whilst I made breakfast and prepared the packed lunches for the bus. Today we had another long and difficult day ahead. Our first stop was Majdanek. From the bus we saw this huge area surrounded by housing. The first question you ask yourself is “how did the local populous not know what was going on?” They could see thousands upon thousands of people walking five abreast with one suitcase from the railway into the camp. After all the railway did not run directly into the camp. We walked through the biting wind in the snow to the reception area. The next question you want to ask is “how on earth did people survive the ... read more

Today was day three of death camps. On the two hour bus ride there, we watched a movie on the uprising that took place there. It was a good movie but we were not able to finish it before we got there so we learned the fate of the characters while we were in the small museum (the movie was still good when we finished it even though we already knew the ending). Sobibor was another camp that was completely destroyed. The uprising took place on October 14, 1943. The prisoners had gotten sick of the way they were being treated and killed off so they started planning their escape. They had tried doing escapes in small numbers but they found that when this happened, people left at the camp were severely punished and large numbers ... read more

July 27 - I slept pretty well and the itchy has stopped! Yay Benadryl! I woke up at 7:45 and had breakfast and left around 8:30. I found the minibuses and the one to Zamosc was leaving just then, so the timing was great. It took 90 minutes so I was there by 10:15am or so. The town is cute, centered around a perfectly symmetrical square. I wandered around, went into the cathedral, climbed the belfry for some views, went to the museum, had pierogis for lunch at a milk bar, and then ran out of things to do. I am definately a big city girl, at least on vacation. The little towns are cute, but not exciting. I'm not the type who can sit around and drink coffees and watch the world go by, which ... read more

Dzień Dobry :) Hope everyone is doing well! So, as I mentioned in the last travel blog, yesterday we went to Ola's Mom's house for dinner. As we were in the car on the way over (it wasn't a long ride at all....5 minutes tops) Ola turns around and says to me "Gotowy jesteś na przesłuchanie, Mikołaju?" (Are you ready for the interrogation?) So I look all confused and I ask "Interrogation of what?" She tells me "Well, my mom is interested to get to meet you - I'm almost certain she's going to ask you a whole bunch of questions." So we arrive at her mom's house and sit down to the table. She brings out the best chicken soup I've ever had in my life (sorry Mom!) but before she gives us the soup ... read more

When I was writing my couchrequest to Tomasz I was in Krakow and not entirely sober. Just before I had two shots of "good night sleep" vodka with my host. But the request was successful and in few days I was in a minibus Krakow-Lublin. Going there alone gave me time to think and conclude my journey. I had been on road already around 18 days and Lublin was my last stop before coming back to Warsaw. Even though I would not say I had the "happy happy" feeling at the time of traveling, but in conclusion this road gave me different experiences and new perspectives, so once again I can say that it was success. I went to my host. First impression of Lublin - it is quite empty - the buildings are scarce and ... read more