Sunday, September 25, 2005
Sun 25/09/05
We awoke today and had to race to catch a coach to Oswiecim where we would visit Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps. The only downfall of our plan to arrive there on time was we didn't factor Scott having to blow-dry his hair because Anja (the lovely girl working at the hostel) wouldn't let him leave in fear that he could catch pneumonia. She was so sweet! Also, because we only had the dodgy map of krakow from the Lonely Planet book we struggled to find the place, and we arrived just as the bus had left. Lucky for us this man was nice enough to call the bus back - the guide woman wasn't too impressed.
The day was extremely foggy, frosty and cold! I was glad I bought my winter coat. It also meant that looking out the window anytime during our 1.5 hr drive there, all we could see was fog. We did a tour of Birkenau (Auschwitz II) first where we saw the eerie remains of the camp. The barracks where the prisoners were crammed up to 10 to a bunk, all of which would eventually collapse due to the weight. We also saw the toilet block where the prisoners where only allowed to use twice a day for 5 seconds (at specified times); the selection ramp where the Nazi's would choose whether a person became a prisoner or should die in the gas chamber. I suppose the most terrifying part was walking into the gas chamber at Auschwitz I and seeing the crematorium ovens. It brought chills down my spine walking through the Auschwitz museum where we could see things like the hair from the corpses of women that they saved to make socks and carpet; there was also a display of the suitcases and belongings of the victims. It brought tears to my eyes watching scenes of the atrocities and hearing stories of children being killed and seeing their belongings. I had heard all these stories before, and I had seen them in movies, but nothing really prepared me for the reality of it being at the actual camp.
'Auschwitz I' was based in the old Polish military barracks - from the outside it looked quite an innocent camp. Inside, the thousands of people killed (not just jews) was incredible. I found the story about the priest - Maximilian Kolbe (now a saint), was the most moving. The story was told that during a roll call of the prisoners at the camp, the nazi commander was finding somebody to punish and put in the starvation cell. A lone prisoner called out "what will happen to my family if I die" which obviously made the prisoner a target. As the commander began to approach the prisoner, Father Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed himself in place of the prisoner! It was an amazing story depicting a very special man with amazing faith and courage! The Polish people now worship and treat him as an important figure of their country.
Mon 26/09/05
The next day we decided to go on a walking tour of Krakow. Although we were a little aprehensive, it was actually really quite good because our guide was a 5th year medical student who not only showed us the sites but gave us an insight into polish history and polish culture. The other bonus was that noone else showed up so we found ourselves on a private 3 hour tour of Krakow.
First we started with Warwel Castle (which actually encompasses Warwel Cathedral and Warwel Palace). Amazingly this castle was renovated and refurbished through funds volunteered by local polish people. The poles are extremely patriotic and generous. Their mentality is based on the thinking that any refurbishment or renovations to degraded buildings through time should all be restored to the original architectural specifications. This is what has kept the uniqueness of Krakow, and what has retained its beauty (completely different from Warsaw).
On top of the Sigismund Tower in the cathedral is Sigismund bell (huge) that requires 16 people to ring it. Only few people actually know how to do it, so it now only rings on special occasions. Also, for females that visit the bell, one needs to be aware that depending on which hand you touch the bell with you may either be wishing to come back to Krakow (right hand) or wishing for marriage.
Inside the cathedral is also a crypt containing the bodies of all the Polish kings that have ever reigned throughout history. It is well respected that all kings (including a woman king) be coronated and buried in this cathedral, however there was supposedly a curse that stated that no king by the name of Stanislaus would ever be buried in this cathedral. Stanislaus is a really common name (apparently) and coincidently, the two kings with this name were not able to be buried in the cathedral - not because people refused to bury them there, but because of other factors.
Behind the cathedral was a beautiful Italian palace. It was designed by a famous Italian architect employed by King Zygmunt to woo a beautiful Italian princess. It worked and inside lies the largest tapestry collection in the world.
Further along on our tour we saw Oscar Schindlers' house; the Warwel Dragon and the cave which was the home to this dragon, located directly beneath the castle; we saw several amazing churches all of different styles. Our guide mentioned that because Poland was always so behind in terms of artistic eras (renaissance, baroque, etc) they always managed to get the best architects and artists of each era. They are also an extremely religious race with over 300 churches in Krakow alone - one street we walked along had 15!
There was also mention once we reached the market square that the two towers of St Mary's church was built by two brothers - a result of a competition between the two brothers to build the tallest tower. The brother that actually won the competition was killed by his competitive brother, and thus the loser actually won. The knife used to kill the brother is still on display in the cloth hall - however we couldn't find it!
In the middle of the square was another monument to Adam Mickiewicz. During the war the nazi's demolished his statue however some women flower sellers managed to salvage his head. After the war, the statue was restored with the original head. Now those ladies (and their children) can sell flowers in the square without paying any taxes.
The statue is now traditionally used by secondary school students on the night of their ball (before their exams). It is said that if you manage to hop around the statue 6 times you will pass all your exams, only once around indicates you will fail; and any more than that indicates the number of subjects you will pass! It is an amusing tradition considering it is done in the middle of winter when it is terribly cold, and after (i would imagine) a lot of vodka.
Tue 27/09/05
We had a slow start to the morning where we walked around town again - to the Barbican, Florianska gate and a proper look at the Warwel dragon. Around lunchtime we bought a train ticket to Wieliczka where we visited the salt mines. They were amazing and to think they have lasted hundreds of years is so brilliant. Inside there were carved saints, a huge chapel and a brilliant sculpture of Pope John Paul II with amazing detail. We had to walk down 147m below sea level through winding caves and monuments displaying how the salt mines were operated using poor horses. It was quite cold and impressive. I was quite scared getting into the makeshift lifts to get back to the surface at the end of the guided tour of the mines. Oh, they also had bars made from salt down there!
We awoke today and had to race to catch a coach to Oswiecim where we would visit Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps. The only downfall of our plan to arrive there on time was we didn't factor Scott having to blow-dry his hair because Anja (the lovely girl working at the hostel) wouldn't let him leave in fear that he could catch pneumonia. She was so sweet! Also, because we only had the dodgy map of krakow from the Lonely Planet book we struggled to find the place, and we arrived just as the bus had left. Lucky for us this man was nice enough to call the bus back - the guide woman wasn't too impressed.
The day was extremely foggy, frosty and cold! I was glad I bought my winter coat. It also meant that looking out the window anytime during our 1.5 hr drive there, all we could see was fog. We did a tour of Birkenau (Auschwitz II) first where we saw the eerie remains of the camp. The barracks where the prisoners were crammed up to 10 to a bunk, all of which would eventually collapse due to the weight. We also saw the toilet block where the prisoners where only allowed to use twice a day for 5 seconds (at specified times); the selection ramp where the Nazi's would choose whether a person became a prisoner or should die in the gas chamber. I suppose the most terrifying part was walking into the gas chamber at Auschwitz I and seeing the crematorium ovens. It brought chills down my spine walking through the Auschwitz museum where we could see things like the hair from the corpses of women that they saved to make socks and carpet; there was also a display of the suitcases and belongings of the victims. It brought tears to my eyes watching scenes of the atrocities and hearing stories of children being killed and seeing their belongings. I had heard all these stories before, and I had seen them in movies, but nothing really prepared me for the reality of it being at the actual camp.
'Auschwitz I' was based in the old Polish military barracks - from the outside it looked quite an innocent camp. Inside, the thousands of people killed (not just jews) was incredible. I found the story about the priest - Maximilian Kolbe (now a saint), was the most moving. The story was told that during a roll call of the prisoners at the camp, the nazi commander was finding somebody to punish and put in the starvation cell. A lone prisoner called out "what will happen to my family if I die" which obviously made the prisoner a target. As the commander began to approach the prisoner, Father Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed himself in place of the prisoner! It was an amazing story depicting a very special man with amazing faith and courage! The Polish people now worship and treat him as an important figure of their country.
Mon 26/09/05
The next day we decided to go on a walking tour of Krakow. Although we were a little aprehensive, it was actually really quite good because our guide was a 5th year medical student who not only showed us the sites but gave us an insight into polish history and polish culture. The other bonus was that noone else showed up so we found ourselves on a private 3 hour tour of Krakow.
First we started with Warwel Castle (which actually encompasses Warwel Cathedral and Warwel Palace). Amazingly this castle was renovated and refurbished through funds volunteered by local polish people. The poles are extremely patriotic and generous. Their mentality is based on the thinking that any refurbishment or renovations to degraded buildings through time should all be restored to the original architectural specifications. This is what has kept the uniqueness of Krakow, and what has retained its beauty (completely different from Warsaw).
On top of the Sigismund Tower in the cathedral is Sigismund bell (huge) that requires 16 people to ring it. Only few people actually know how to do it, so it now only rings on special occasions. Also, for females that visit the bell, one needs to be aware that depending on which hand you touch the bell with you may either be wishing to come back to Krakow (right hand) or wishing for marriage.
Inside the cathedral is also a crypt containing the bodies of all the Polish kings that have ever reigned throughout history. It is well respected that all kings (including a woman king) be coronated and buried in this cathedral, however there was supposedly a curse that stated that no king by the name of Stanislaus would ever be buried in this cathedral. Stanislaus is a really common name (apparently) and coincidently, the two kings with this name were not able to be buried in the cathedral - not because people refused to bury them there, but because of other factors.
Behind the cathedral was a beautiful Italian palace. It was designed by a famous Italian architect employed by King Zygmunt to woo a beautiful Italian princess. It worked and inside lies the largest tapestry collection in the world.
Further along on our tour we saw Oscar Schindlers' house; the Warwel Dragon and the cave which was the home to this dragon, located directly beneath the castle; we saw several amazing churches all of different styles. Our guide mentioned that because Poland was always so behind in terms of artistic eras (renaissance, baroque, etc) they always managed to get the best architects and artists of each era. They are also an extremely religious race with over 300 churches in Krakow alone - one street we walked along had 15!
There was also mention once we reached the market square that the two towers of St Mary's church was built by two brothers - a result of a competition between the two brothers to build the tallest tower. The brother that actually won the competition was killed by his competitive brother, and thus the loser actually won. The knife used to kill the brother is still on display in the cloth hall - however we couldn't find it!
In the middle of the square was another monument to Adam Mickiewicz. During the war the nazi's demolished his statue however some women flower sellers managed to salvage his head. After the war, the statue was restored with the original head. Now those ladies (and their children) can sell flowers in the square without paying any taxes.
The statue is now traditionally used by secondary school students on the night of their ball (before their exams). It is said that if you manage to hop around the statue 6 times you will pass all your exams, only once around indicates you will fail; and any more than that indicates the number of subjects you will pass! It is an amusing tradition considering it is done in the middle of winter when it is terribly cold, and after (i would imagine) a lot of vodka.
Tue 27/09/05
We had a slow start to the morning where we walked around town again - to the Barbican, Florianska gate and a proper look at the Warwel dragon. Around lunchtime we bought a train ticket to Wieliczka where we visited the salt mines. They were amazing and to think they have lasted hundreds of years is so brilliant. Inside there were carved saints, a huge chapel and a brilliant sculpture of Pope John Paul II with amazing detail. We had to walk down 147m below sea level through winding caves and monuments displaying how the salt mines were operated using poor horses. It was quite cold and impressive. I was quite scared getting into the makeshift lifts to get back to the surface at the end of the guided tour of the mines. Oh, they also had bars made from salt down there!
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