Krakow - Warsaw

Today we had a sleep in day, if you can call sleeping in waking up at 7 instead of 6?!  Must have been needed as we had to do wake up checks in the morning and Vic actually woke up one of the girls' rooms. Good thing because we had to be packed and ready to go. I know everyone at home is still waiting for Spring but I think I had an allergy attack this morning - eyes itchy and needed medication. 

Just so everyone at home knows - our travellers are eating really well (especially in Poland) and except for some small rooms the accommodations have also been good. We have realized that the trip is really on the home stretch and are trying to get as much out of these last few days as possible!

We started the morning with a little free time in Krakow with a little drizzle in the air.  Amazingly enough the kids still found things to purchase!!

                Center Square Shops

             Logan and Reid posing

On our way to the Salt Mine our bus driver found time for us to visit Plaszow Concentration camp. It no longer exists but a memorial still stands.  This was the first camp in the movie Schindler's List. Also on the way we were shown some other sites from the movie. The scene at the beginning where they are being recorded on lists and stating their names - they now have a memorial set up at that spot represented by steel chairs in rows. Also the bridge they walked is also marked as it connects the Jewish Quarter with the area that was the ghetto. 

   Square from movie Schindler's List

                   Plazcow Memorial

Once at the salt mine we were split into two groups. Our guide had a very droll sense of humor. We went 135 meters underground and all of it we were walking down stairs. The Salt walls were licked several times by most of the students. Not naming names but unfortunately some decided to taste the floor as well (it is also salt). No claustrophobia but we were down there for several hours. In these mines they even have a hotel underground that has 18 rooms with all regular hotel facilities. There were about 800 steps that we climbed and 380 of those were at the beginning. 

                         Salt Mines

         Working like mules/horses

   Pope John Paul II - salt (no licking)

  Miners took us back to ground level

     Group picture - USA and Canada

The drive to Warsaw was long and we arrived late. To pass the time we watched The Pianist and then lightened the mood with a little Q&A session with questions asked by the students. A little dangerous but was all in fun. Tonight - lots of cheers for a later curfew. 

Tomorrow a day spent in Warsaw known for its Amber. 

Auschwitz-Birkenau

The day was one of nervous anticipation. Today we were going to "experience the human side of history" though Auschwitz-Birkenau. The morning we had a walking tour of Krakow with our EF guide Ele. She took us to the castle in the old part of town and showed us the Cathedral. 

The town of Krakow has an attraction to dragons - they call him the Krakow Dragon. There was a statue in front of the castle that blew fire. The story went that there was once a dragon that stole young girls from town to eat them.  The King got upset and hired men to kill the dragon. They were unsuccessful until a shoemaker suggested that they fill a sheep full of sulfur. The dragon ate it and became very thirsty. He began to drink a lot of water and then blew up!!!  To which one of our American friends in the group says "oh the old sulfur in the sheep trick"!

This is also the place where Pope John Paul II had his home church.  We walked through and also saw the balcony where he addressed the people.  There still burns candles everyday in front of that balcony. 

After the short tour we had free time to explore. Many went to the chocolate factory and then tried to grab some souvenirs. We also bought some flowers for a ceremony at the memorial spot.  Joni from Boston and also brought some rocks from her beach that she wanted us to place in Auschwitz.  The tradition of placing rocks on gravesites is a Jewish tradition that was carried on from history when they placed rocks on gravesites to protect the corpses from the animals. 

Our lunch was amazing. We went to a spot down some back streets of Krakow where they served us home made tomato soup with rice, potatoe pancakes with chicken and their version of cheesecake topped with chocolate. Needless to say we are eating well in Krakow!!!  Ele has promised to book one of the better restaurants in Warsaw that serve baked perogies - our kids are excited. 

The next part of our day was spent at Auschwitz. I am not going to expand on the details of the tour but will post the pictures to speak for themselves.  Auschwitz I was the work camp and had the displays which were very moving and shocking.  We had a guide that walked us through the barracks.  The crowds were large but we managed to take in a lot. Afterward we had a 3 km drive to Birkenau which is the famous camp with the gate. This was the death camp. It was a gigantic open air museum. It caught us off guard to see the immensity of the place. After our guide showed us some more barracks and the crematorium we had a short remembrance ceremony.  At the end of the tour there was a modern structure built to honor the victims of the Holocaust.  Canadas Forein Affairs minister had just recently visited this same site. Our group laid flowers and rocks on the English marker. Victor cited a traditional prayer and sang an honor song for the group. Ending with a short group prayer by Ian from Boston and some personal time to reflect on their experience. 

Before arriving for supper we made a stop at Oskar Schindler's factory that was on Schindler's List. The factory that he started using Jewish labour then began saving them. 

Next we had an evening of Jewish music and food which is a nice way to end an emotional day. The meal was amazing and the traditional music was a great way to end a very meaningful day. 

Tomorrow the kids are excited as they get a bit of a sleep in day. We leave the hotel at 9. We are headed for Warsaw with a quick stop at the Krakow Salt Mines. 

Prague to Krakow

Today we had a long journey from Czech Republic to Poland. We left at 8:30, stopped for lunch, a couple of pit stops and we arrived at 6:30 in Krakow for supper.

Our lunch was in a restaurant designed to be like a castle. Cool environment and a nice break from sitting on the bus. 

Our supper was exciting - at least to the Canadians. We were told we were having perogies!!  We were totally looking forward to it. Our starter was a borscht type soup and then they came with a variety of perogies. Our group loved them while some of the American group were uncertain and did not like them. One thing that Lukas mentioned was that it felt as if he were eating at home. Mrs. Mcconechy must be a good cook!!!

At the hotel Sarah and Sue met some family that live in Krakow. I think they have plans to meet up tomorrow and see their house. 

Tomorrow will be a heavy day. Our morning includes a tour of Krakow - including seeing Oskar Schindler's factory. After lunch we are scheduled to be at Auschwitz. We had a group meeting to talk about what to expect and how to prepare, but will still be a difficult journey - this is the reason we travelled to this place and it is finally here. 

Prague

Today we had a full day in Prague. We started the day with a new bus driver as our original, Joro, had to go on holidays.  It also appeared to be Che day. I guess a group starts to dress alike when they spend this much time together.

We met our guide at the castle in Prague. We watched a changing of the guard ceremony before our tour started. We saw many sites of Old Prague. Lots of history in this city that our guide told us about. The architecture was amazing and the churches/synagogues were incredible. 

On Charles Bridge there were lots of artists and crafts. As well there was this statue that if you touched the certain part with your left hand you could make ax wish that would come true. Lots if wishes made - not sure what they were. 

Stopped for a lunch together before we entered the Jewish Quarter. In the 1930's Hitler and the Nazis occupied this land after taking the Sudetenland. As a result there were lots if deportations but for those who decided to stay it was ghettos and death. The Pinkas Synagogue displays the 80,000 names of the Bohemian and Moravian Holocaust victims in the walls of the synagogue. In the other room they displayed children's drawings from the Terezin concentration camp between 1942-44. Most of the children were sent to death camps after making the drawings. Out of 8,000 children only 242 survived. The pictures survived buried in a suitcase by a teacher. 

Next we saw the Old Jewish Cemetary. Today it contains 12,000 tombstones. but over 100,000 Jews are buried here because the Jews were not allowed to be buried outside the ghetto. They are buried on top of one another 10-12 layers deep. 

Interesting thing about the Jewish quarter in Prague is that it was left untouched by the Nazis. They intended to keep it preserved to show for history the end of the Jewish people and where they lived. 

The rest of the day was free time. They ventured off from town square to explore shops and maybe to buy gifts for home!

Some ventured to the Communist Museum, shopping, and a trip up a clock tower. 

Our evening was a River Dinner Cruise.

It was a very exhausting day. The weather was amazing and everyone had a great time. 

Tomorrow is a long travel day from Prague to Krakow. Another new country - Poland.