Kraking on with Summer!

Tori’s European Escapade

Summer 2012

July

2/7 – 5/7

Krakow - Poland

Leaving Doha…

Actually embarking on my big trip proved to be a feat in itself. Over the last few months the staff at my school have been plagued by administration issues that have been confusing, trying and stressful, but I maintained a generally positive attitude by hoping I was accumulating a whole bunch of good karma that would be used during my holiday. However, when the school managed to loose about 10 staff passports (including mine) on the last day of school, forget to process the exit visas (we have to have permission to leave the country!) and not pay us the 2 months salary we were owed, the stress levels were at an all time high. Luckily I was not one of those who had to miss their flight, as my passport was found in time.

So I found myself at the airport late on the 1^st of July, with a meticulously packed suitcase and all the required documents in hand, with 300 Riyal (about 100 NZ) to my name. I saw the lovely Macarena, who taught in the classroom next to me, at the airport, which was a lovely surprise and whiled away the time until boarding by using duty free perfume and hand cream and getting a triple shot large latte to keep me going for a while. I sat next to a lovely older gentleman on the flight to Frankfurt. By lovely, I mean we exchanged a perfunctory greeting, murmured to each other about the crappy headphones you have to use; and that was it. I cannot make any statements about the guy’s personality, purely because I made no effort to get to know him, and he made none to get to know me. And that is precisely the way I like it.

At Frankfurt things got a bit intense. We were directed to line up for transfers, but after 20 minutes of no one appearing at the desks to serve us, an official mentioned that you could also be processed up the stairs. As I then only had 30 minutes until the flight left, I was beginning to sweat a bit, and legged it up the stairs. The cute German customs guy flirted with me and showed me the sneaky hidden kiwi in the pages of my passport, and asked if I had ever seen a kiwi, but as I now had only 20 minutes left this went wholly unappreciated, so despite his rather lovely bone structure I took off as soon as he relinquished my passport.

At this stage I realised that Frankfurt International Airport was put on this planet purely to mess with me as the security checkpoint was moving slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter. In the end I just had to tell one of the guards that I was about to miss my flight, and got pushed to the head of the queue. There was only one checkpoint, and they refused to process more than one person at a time – stand behind the yellow line, put your bag down, step through, get wanded and felt up, collect your bag and then it’s the next persons turn.

ZOOM off I went to Gate 38.

Of course, logically, the first gate was Gate 1 and they just went in one huge long line up to 40. Each gate was about 30m apart and even with those flat escalator thingees it took me a full 10 minutes at full trot to get to the gate. Miraculously the gate was still open despite the fact boarding should have finished 5 minutes previously, as the 4 people transferring in from my flight were not there. In the end I was the only one who made it, and I was still panting heavily and experiencing a massive surge of relief as they unloaded the other 3 peoples bags. Not sure I would have been able to get another ticket with my 300 Riyal if I had missed that one!

Arriving in Krakow…

The rest of my journey in was enjoyable and relaxed – the airport at Krakow is incredibly laid back – no customs at all, just pick up your bag and see-you-later. I did the required under-40 thing and caught the bus, stood up for the little old ladies and then the tram to the Jewish Quarter where we were staying, found the Hotel Ester with no bother and relaxed onto my luxury fold up bed.

Mum and Dad were arriving about 4 hours after me and rather than hole up in my room I went down to the lovely restaurant on the street outside the hotel and got a latte as the folk band set up their double bass and tambourine, feeling very European, and watched the street life.

Eventually my parents made their appearance and after a quick unpack and freshen up we went for a walk around the area.

General Krakow...

Unlike other parts of Poland, Krakow emerged almost wholly unscathed from WWII as it was originally settled by Germans, and the Nazi’s perceived that they were reclaiming what was rightfully theirs. As a result, the Old Town, Basilica, Castle and Jewish Quarter are all undamaged and original. To start with, we followed Dad’s direction, but eventually stumbled upon a free walking tour that we tacked onto; which was fabulous. 

The lover's padlocks on a bridge crossing the Vistula River.

It took us to see the site of the Krakow Ghetto, which has an interesting installation of metal chairs facing in the directions of serious war crimes against the Jews. Most are facing Auschwitz, (Apologies - The truth is that they are facing Płaszów, different concentration camp that used to be located just outside Kraków. Thank you to the lovely Alicja, from Free Tours - Krakow, who was just fabulous, for correcting my mistake!) but one chair was facing an alleyway that was next to an orphanage. The SS cleared out the children in the liquidation of the ghetto and took them into the alley and lined them up in rows of 5. They could kill that many at a time, with only one bullet.

Street Art by Italian street artist Blu which makes a commentary on the blind faith of the Polish to the Catholic Church.

The square of the Krakow Ghetto with the Pharmacy behind the yellow truck.

The Pharmacy owned by a Polish man that was inside the ghetto - he refused to move his business elsewhere as supplied medicine and ran a illegal correspondence service for those in the Ghetto.

The alley next to the orphanage.

Auschwitz…

The next day we departed for the concentration and death camps, and I was careful not to wear eyeliner or mascara. The original camp at Auschwitz was a concentration camp – designed for a manual labour workforce. The barracks have been converted to exhibitions to help you understand the sheer numbers of people who passed through the camp and how long they lasted alive in the conditions they had to live in. The most impacting moment for me was seeing two tonnes of human hair shaved from prisoners as they entered Auschwitz. The camp also has the only surviving gas chamber in Poland, and standing inside it was one of the heaviest experiences of my life.

The gate to Auschwitz - recognisable from a lot of the liberation videos from WWII

Confiscated eye glasses.

Burnt manuscripts

Confiscated shoes

Convicted runaways. For every escape or attempted escape, 10 others were killed before the execution of those who tried to get out.

The manor house for the SS to live in next to the fence.

Death alley. People were strung up by their wrists behind their back for hours before being executed against the wall on the right.

The entrance to the gas chamber. There was no exit.

Inside the gas chamber they could kill well over 1000 people at one time.

A gas vent.

Crematorium

Birkenau... 

Birkenau was built as sheer numbers threatened to overwhelm Auschwitz and was built as a death camp, with its sole purpose the total genocide of those inside. The gate is instantly recognisable, as you pass through and follow the tracks to what is quite literally the end. As the tracks stop at a T path, where people were pointed right to the barracks, or left to the ‘showers’. The gas chambers at Birkenau were able to fully process one and a half thousand bodies each per day, more if they were not to be cremated and there were two chambers. In an attempt to cover up their crimes, the SS bombed both chambers just before the camp was liberated, but the ruins are still clear, as is the pond used for dumping the ashes of the cremated. The most overwhelming aspect of Birkenau was the size of the camp – it went as far as I could see. 

From the end of the tracks towards the gate.

Living barracks - 3 tiered bunks with 5 or 6 to a bunk.

The 'T' path or the 'Moment of Decision'

The remains of a gas chamber. 

As far as the eye can see...

Schindler’s Factory...

The museum at Schindler’s Factory was an incredible experience, and offered insights into the lives of people in the Krakow Ghetto, going as far as having interactive floors to simulate the appalling living conditions of the people living there. Schindler has only recently been awarded the title of “Righteous Among the Nations” – that recognises acts of valour during WWII, as he was of questionable character. Before and during the start of the war, Schindler was a womaniser who was unfaithful to his wife, a famous drinker and was notoriously inept at all of his business ventures, which caused him to get involved in the profits that could be made using wartime labour, especially with the Jewish workforce, who he was required to pay with one bowl of soup a day. However, towards the end of the war, Schindler saved over 1,000 of his employees from being sent to Birkenau and funded them after the end of the war, using all of the money he made during wartime. I understand why there is a debate over his integrity, but I believe that it is incredibly honourable to re-evaluate yourself and endeavour to do the right thing, despite your past, and despite the loss you might suffer.

The original factory gate

A particularly goose-bump raising recollection that moved me a lot.

Designed to make you recoil - you came around a very sharp corner and found your way blocked by this.

Wawel Castle…

As the city is so very old, it has some real gems in the way of old buildings and architecture. The centrepiece of these is Wawel Castle. The area has some pretty great history, with people living on Wawel hill since the Palaeolithic Age 50,000 years ago. As it is the only hill in the very flat area of Krakow, it makes sense. The castle, cathedral and grounds have been the victim of the egos of so many different ruling bodies that the style of architecture is confused and complicatedly varied. The cathedral especially is so cluttered with the tombs, crypts, altars and shrines of such opulence all your senses get overwhelmed. The best bit was clambering up the bell tower, with its tiny narrow staircase that ducks under beams to see the 10 tonne bell, and to marvel at how they got it up so high.

The back gate to the castle.

The private and state living apartments.

The awesome spouting

The bell tower

The view from a guard tower - the cathedral is on the left and the apartments are on the right

Looking towards the town from the front of the castle

The Da Vinci

On display at the castle was Leonardo Da Vinci's 'Lady with the Ermine'. I studied the painting in high school and it was incredible for me to see the original. It is phenomenal how much more of an impact the painting has over a copy. It was the first time I have seen a painting masterpiece, and it was a huge experience for me. It has got me even more excited to see the State Hermitage in St Petersburg and the Louvre.


The Old Town…

At the centre of the Old Town, with the remains of the town hall is St Mary’s Basilica, which is at first underwhelming. It has two pinnacles of different design, one of which I though was just fabulous, however even with its grandness of size, it doesn’t resound much as the brick building is fairly basic. Never the less we dutifully paid our entry, and extra for me to take pictures and went inside. It was beautiful. The blue ceiling with its gold design drew your eyes straight up to the faraway ceiling, and the delicate and beautiful statues, friezes and deigns were not overdone to excess like the Wawel Cathedral.

The different pinnacles of St Mary's

The altar

The incredible ceiling

A panorama of the church over my head.

The panorama of the Market Square - I tried a new technique that fits more in, but gives it a unusual wonky feel. I like it.

From behind the church

Dad and I had a good laugh at the "Alkohole" shop which was literally a hole in the wall that you could by whisky and beer from, but it wasn't a clever play on words, just the language playing fun tricks.

Florian’s Gate is all that is left of the original town wall and it is inside the ring of greenery that surrounds the main part of the city.

Summary...

Krakow as a whole impressed me so much – the whole city has been beautifully looked after and presented, with extensive restoration of old buildings and areas and an abundance of trees and grassy squares.

The theatre

The square by our hotel

The folk band that was fun the first time, but got a bit old by the end...

An old library facade

The Jewish restaurant next to our hotel - there were 4 turtles in the fountain!

 

Waiting on the train

We have just arrived in Warsaw from train and have checked into the Sheraton, dahr-ling. Looking forward to working my way north! xx