Poland

Ok, 5 days in Poland... I planned to fly into Wroclaw (pronounced vrots-wav) and then back out of Krakow. The in between bit I hadn't decided yet. Got into Wroclaw around lunch after the now customary red eye flight. Felt really good when I landed, had been looking forward to Poland for ages.

Booked a good hostel really close to town, few other travelers around also which was nice.


Main square in Wroclaw

Perfect weather the whole time, so much nicer than London.... It seems everywhere in Europe has nicer weather than London.

Fountain in the main square


Architecture looks similar to Prague in a lot of ways.

This is heading to Cathedral Island at the North of the city... I think.
The blogs are getting much less careful with accuracy these days ;)

More locks on the bridge, common site in lots of European cities. I spent some time taking photos this time being that I now have such a nice camera.

Art students drawing on cathedrale island.


Headed back to the hostel and relaxed a bit, chatted with the crew in my room and had a read of the lonely planet before heading back out for dinner and drinks. A Canadian girl who had been in town for a few weeks recommended a kind of Polish buffet that was going on at a cafe up the road, so I got on that and was well rewarded. You just pick what you want and they charge by the weight of the plate!! SOoooooo cheap and so good, plus I could see what I was ordering which was a bonus as my Polish was slim to nil. Pierogi and salads and creamy potato stuff and more pierogi all washed down with a Pivo.

This was South of the old town where there were a lot of cool bars and pubs etcetera, went down in the arvo to have a look and found some cool places. Ciggie smoke was deadly though as it's still not banned in pubs in Poland.



A few shots from down town.


There are heaps of gnomes all over Wroclaw, hidden in different bits of the city. Here is one of them


Had a good night out at a couple of bars, went out by myself and ended up meeting some locals who took me under their wing. Legends.... cant remember any of your names though.

After a nice couple of days I hit the train with Craig, an Aussie who was also heading to Krakow and was staying in my room.

Felt great to be actually traveling again as opposed to just flying in and out of a city. The journey is sometimes one of the best bits, and its good to see some of the country inbetween where people actually live instead of just the touristy old town.

Somewhere in between Wroclaw and Krakow


Quite insudtrial once you get out of the city.


Ooooooolllld panels

Got into Krakow around dinner, knackered from the journey and the late night before.
Found my hostel, a pizza and then had an early night. The others in my new hostel were real noisy when I was trying to sleep, wish I got up now because I met them all the next night and they were all really cool.

Wawel castle

Main square in Krakow, similar to Wroclaw I guess but much much bigger.




After a pretty easy night in I got up the next day and headed out on the train to Auschwitz.
I was stubborn and decided to skip the tour and do it alone, got off at the right stop but it was a fair walk and I had no idea where I was going. The locals weren't overly helpful for a change, I guess they get fed up with tourists coming to look at the place and asking for directions.


"Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Brings Freedom" is emblazoned across the entry gates to the most notorious Nazi death camp in Oscwiecim, renamed Auschwitz by the Nazis. Of course in reality work really only brought more work and ultimately, death.

Much of the camp is still intact. Black and white images begin to portray the feeling of the place as it must have been, but in reality, on a sunny day, it's hard to comprehend what transpired here in WWII. Parts of the grounds are quite lush these days and might be almost pleasant if you weren't aware of the history here.



The obligatory audio tour was quite informative. The scope of the Nazi experiment in extermination was horrifying and to walk in the same halls and see the conditions was extremely harrowing to say the least.

This was the death wall where prisoners were lined up and shot regularly, usually after a mock trial at the hands of a Nazi jury in which the verdict was almost always guilty - death by firing squad.







This is the last remaining gas chamber that is still in tact. I found it terribly sad to walk through those doors and see the bleak, dark dungeon where so many people met an undignified and unceremonious end.



I guess some part of the history of Oswiecim is known to most people, but to visit and get some sense of scale of the Nazi agenda was truly shocking, scary and terribly saddening. Without going into the details of the medical experimentation, summary executions, beatings, humiliation and mass murder that was perpetrated on men, women and children in this place not that long ago, suffice to say it was a harrowing experience that I won't forget.

Back in Krakow that evening...


Wawel castle again


The dragon that was said to live beneath the castle.

Back in the hostel I met the rest of the crew that were staying and Gosia, who ran the place, brought out some home made Polish vodka. We hung out there for a bit before heading out into town to peep the highly rated Krakowian nightlife.

Krakow krew, Americans, Poms, Brazilian, Aussies, Gosia and me.

Paparazzi snapping the tourists, Steve and Andy getting a bit loose, me Casey and Alex in silhouette.

First bar we went to, they were all really cool, down steep stairs, hidden away in little vaulted archways.

Drew, Andy (English Wigs) and Casey

Next day I headed back to Wawel to check it out in the sunlight.


Weird weasel art installation.

Weasels again.

The hostel was in Kazimierz, the old Jewish Quarter, south of the old town.
Heaps of restaurants and pubs and stuff all centered on the Plac Nowy.



Most of us left the hostel at the same time on Sunday after a great night out in Krakow. I was so jealous of the others as they were heading on to Warsaw and Lithuania, while I was going back to work. Would've loved to just pack up and head off with them, still, had the best time, met some great friends that I hope to catch up with again somewhere and came back to London keen as mustard to plan the next escape from the Salty Chinese Dragon (Adrian and Annie).