We left Prague around 5pm on Thursday night and arrived in Krakow early Friday morning, around 2 am to be more precise. We then checked into our hostel and got a couple hours of sleep. Driving into Krakow at night was beautiful. I had no idea what it was going to look like and arriving to see the castle lit up was a lovely site. We were all so tired, but seeing an unexpected castle woke me right up and made me very excited to explore.
In the morning we all had breakfast and then split into four groups for a city tour. The morning was designed to show us the major sites of the city and the historical foundations of it. I knew Poland was an extremely Catholic nation, but my goodness did they have churches everywhere. I felt as we were walking around I could always see one when we were near the main square. We had the opportunity to enter the main cathedral of Poland and outside I got to take a picture with Pope John Paul II!!! Then we walked along the oldest street in the city and saw lots of churches and a museum dedicated to the life of Pope John Paul II. We ended in the main square and it was beautiful. All around us were historical buildings in an area I never could have imagined. For lunch I went to a milk bar and had what could possibly be considered the best pierogies of my entire life. They were stuffed with cottage cheese and potatoes and covered in onions, absolutely delicious. The afternoon was when things got serious after the light hearted exploratory morning. We went to the Jewish Quarter of the city and saw the old synagogues as well as many places where Schlindler's list was filmed and ended with a tour of Oskar Schlindler's factory. It was intense to say the least. Walking through the square in the Jewish Quarter we past places where many people were shot and there are now chairs all over the square. Each chair represents 1,000 lives lost from that area. It was very moving. I walked where so many have walked before, but I walk there by choice not because someone has forced me to live there. Not only that, but I walk there and I have the security of knowing that tomorrow I will still be alive. I do not walk in fear. The factory had a great exhibit about the Jews before and during the war. Sadly, it did not end with a positive note. It ended by stating Poland then entered another dictatorship, that of communism. After all of that we returned to the hostel and I found a free piano concert that was part of a piano festival in Krakow so Rachel and I decided to go and check it out. On our way there we got tremendously lost. We left forty minutes before it was meant to start and arrived thirty minutes late! However, on the way we had the opportunity to explore the town by night. A bridge we had walked over earlier that day on our way to what was once the ghetto is lit up purple at night. If we hadn't been lost I do not think we would have discovered that! The recital itself was really cool. It was a polish pianist playing on a violin harpsichord and he played what I believe was polish music. It was somewhere in between contemporary piano and classical. There was a mix of dissonance with typical, ear pleasing, chord formations. I was really glad that we went. Afterwards we found our way back near the main square on accident and ate at a nice little restaurant that gave us a 15% off coupon outside. Then we were off to bed.
Saturday morning we got up bright and early and had some breakfast. Then Rachel and I went on our own little city tour. Mostly we wandered into the main entrance of the churches in the areas to see the beauty inside. The stain glass walls and the decorations of all of them were so pretty! Each one had it's own unique charm, but there were still the strong Catholic symbols tying all of them together. At one point we accidentally walked in on an order of priests saying their morning prayers and it took us a little while of sitting in the back to notice we were the only women in the room. So we made a quick exit! Then we wandered through the main university campus and finally over to the Jewish quarter for lunch. We had some of the most delicious burgers there at a place our friend had told us about the day before. Then we boarded the bus to go to Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is really hard to describe the experiences of that afternoon. I was so shocked when I first experienced it that it was hard to get very emotional, but the more I talk about it, the more my brain processes where I was, and what I saw. For starters Auschwitz had two points that got to me. First was a room that held two tons of women's hair. The hair was all the same color because these women had been gassed. We stared at the hair of people who are dead. The second was a room dedicated to the children who were murdered. There were clothes and shoes that could have fit an infant. It just showed the violence that occurred spared no one. The museum also had photos of people after the selection process and we knew looking at them that none of those people lived more than 15 minutes after those pictures were taken and they had no idea what was coming. We then drove over to Birkenau which was the main extermination camp. It was massive. There was just row upon row of chimneys that used to be the heaters for bunks of those who worked there. What got me the most was the beauty in the surrounding area and of the weather that day. There was a rainbow in the sky as we pulled up and as the sun went down there was a red moon. The sun was shining for the rest of the time there and it was quite mild. It felt so inappropriate to be in such a somber place in such a good mood because of the weather. We stood where the selection process took place as well. I got to look down that path that people who were not selected walked as they were led to the gas chambers and told they were going to be taking a shower. Then we walked over and saw the destroyed chambers and the memorial as the sun went down. It was such a large place on such a beautiful day and yet it was a place of death; a place of suffering and death. Afterwards we drove back to Krakow and enjoyed our last night after resting for a bit and processing what we had just seen. Rachel and I found a nice restaurant where there was a free violin and guitar concert! We did really well with the free concerts.
On Sunday we drove back to Prague. We arrived back around 7 so DJ and I went home and dropped off our things before heading out to see the last night of the Prague light show! It was pretty cool. Overall it was super modern. The Charles bridge had huge projections of an eye on either end and Old Town Square had a box that played what sounded like Skrillex music and had lights that moved all over the place! From start to finish it was a great weekend, emotionally intense, but great. We'll be exploring Prague and the Czech Republic for the next couple weeks and midterms are coming up. This week we have a trip to the zoo scheduled and hopefully a visit to the town of Kutna Hora to see the Bone Chapel. Should be a great week!
Square by the castle and cathedral
Me with Pope John Paul II
Jewish Quarter
Off to the factory
Factory Entrance
Statue by the University
Entrance to Auschwitz
Train tracks into Birkenau
Memorial at the end of the tracks
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