La vida es un viaje, disfrutar de los momentos...: Poland

After missing my flight in Paris... I quickly found another, at a not so nice price, and arrived safely in Krakow for New Year's Eve. In our hostel there was a bar that had some activities for the evening and a kitchen so we could make some quick food. We took a nap and then got ready for the evening. Later we headed to the main plaza to see some fireworks and eat some delicious kielbasa.

Our hostel was in the Jewish district in town. There is so much to see and do and this area and of course much history. Luckily most of the structures survived through WWII but it wasn't built up much afterwards until more recently.

We spent one day at Auschwitz and Birkenau (Auschwitz II). There are some things in life that the more you learn the less you seem to understand. This is one of those things. It was a sobering and enriching experience; one that I will never forget. There were originally three camps but because they destroyed one to cover up evidence only two remain. Below is the entrance of the first camp.

The first camp is much smaller than the second. Birkenau is where most of the mass murder took place including 1.1 million Jews. I was not sure what to expect during the tour and it included much more than I imagined. Our tour guide was wonderful.

This wall at the end is the execution wall.

Control was so very important, the windows in both of the buildings on either side are blacked out so that the executions could not be seen to other prisoners.

You may recognize this part of Birkenau or Auschwitz II from the film Schindler's List.

Below is a picture of one of the many gas chambers that were located underground. I actually stood in the middle of this chamber and later in the crematory. Words cannot describe how you feel during a moment like this... I find even writing about this to be difficult honestly.

Much of what still exists is rubble because the Nazis wanted to cover their track. Below is another gas chamber.

Auschwitz II is twenty five times the size of Auschwitz I. Many of the structures have not withstood time but you can see all the chimneys from where they stood.

That evening we arrived back late and made some dinner at the hostel. The weather was cold and snowy. The following days we ate many Polish delicacies to help keep us warm, such as delicious Perogis filled with many things.

We visited Schindler's Factory which is now a new museum about the history of Nazis in Poland.

Singer Bar

We climbed up to Wawel Castle.

Kazimierz is the name of the district we stayed in.

The plaza at Wawel Castle and of course some coffee. I was happily surprised to know that coffee to go is popular in Poland. This is NOT the case in Spain.