Alex and I just got back from a very interesting trip to Poland. We spend two full days in Krakow exploring new places, eating new foods and visiting a grim place from history.

We got into Krakow late Friday night so we got up early Saturday morning ready to explore the city. We grabbed breakfast at a local restaurant where we had to, of course, try a Paczki. Energized from breakfast we were ready for a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter. Included were filming spots from Schindler’s List, a few synagogues, the ghetto and more. After the tour, Alex and I grabbed a drink at a cool beer garden then tried a zapiekanka (baguette with cheese and mushroom – kind of weird) before walking back through the city center to a festival. We walked around the festival for a while, listening to live polish music. Then we decided to check out the castle. We didn’t tour the castle but we walked all through the castle grounds admiring just how big it was. When it was time for dinner we headed over to a very cozy, cabiny restaurant. Alex had goulash and I had a half rack of ribs (I checked this place out on TripAdvisor beforehand and everyone suggested the ribs). I didn’t realize the ribs would be so huge! Luckily, Alex helped me make a dent in my meal. It was a tasty end to a good day.

We got up bright and early Sunday morning for our Auschwitz and Salt Mine tour. We had booked a tour ahead of time and were scheduled to be picked up at 8:30am. Our guide arrived right on time, we picked up 5 more people then headed to Auschwitz. It took us a little over an hour to get there and by the time we arrived it was already packed with people. Thousands of people visit Auschwitz everyday so we were lucky to already have a tour set up. Our tour started on the same path the prisoners walked many years ago, stopping to let it all sink in at the famous  “arbeit macht frei” sign (work sets you free) before heading through to the camp. One building we toured had collections of shoes, hairbrushes, prisoners hair, pots and pans, everyday items that people were forced to leave behind. It goes to show people really thought they were going to have a normal life when they first arrived at Auschwitz. We also walked through the “prison” (inside a prison- ironic) where many people starved to death in the basement cells. Lastly, we visited the gas chambers. As many people know, Auschwitz was a death camp. Many people died in those gas chambers. It was very surreal standing in the same room that many people were murdered in years ago. Once we finished the tour of Auschwitz we headed over to Birkenau. Another camp about a mile away that prisoners were sent to once Auschwitz got too full. When most people arrived at Birkenau they were so happy to be out of the trains (they were packed with people with no food and water) that at first many didn’t realize they were already deemed unfit to work and were being led straight to the gas chambers. The gas chambers have since been torn down and is now a pile of rubble but behind it is a small memorial for the many people whose ashes will forever remain there. The last stop of the tour was at one of the cabins the prisoners were forced to sleep in. The room was filled with bunk beds that held 4-5 people in one bed. You really got to see just how unbelievable the conditions people were forced to live in.

After that very heartbreaking experience we did something a little more fun, a salt mine tour. We started out by walking down 400 stairs to get into the mine. The first thing we noticed was that mostly everything in the mine is made out of salt rock! We walked past dozens of statues, each with a different theme, carved out of salt rock. There are even four different chapels in the mine. In the biggest and most elaborate chapel (there is a salt rock carving of The Last Supper!), they were setting up for a wedding later that night. It was a very interesting tour and luckily we got to take an elevator back up to the top. We got back to Krakow around 7:30pm. We grabbed dinner at the festival, trying out a few different kinds of pierogis, had a drink then headed to much needed bed after a very exhausting day.

Walking through both Auschwitz and Birkenau it’s just so hard to believe that something so cruel happened there. I’m glad Alex and I got to tour the camps, it’s not something fun to see but definitely necessary. I think everyone should get a chance to tour it at some point in their lives, it really makes you appreciate the life you have.

City center

Famous stairs in Schindler’s List

Beer garden

Zapiekanka

Wavel Castle

Beers on a boat

Huge rack of ribs!

Auschwitz

Birkenau

Gas chambers in ruins

Bunk beds

Salt statue

Chapel

Last supper made from salt rock

Vodka shot to end the night