Eastern Euope Wandering

Krakow, Poland
Our travel ‘style’ has shifted in the past few years and possibly due to old age or because we are a bit more seasoned on the travel front our travel ‘style’ has shifted in the past few years. Generally we would write down the hot spots, the must sees, make a plan, set a schedule and upon landing .. your off! Our style now is more like, consider where we want to go see where they are located and then pick them up between and begin wandering. This includes a lot of café sitting, people watching and of course our all time favourite, sampling the local delicacies …














Krakow is a lovely city, the centre is traffic free and a fabulous place to wander. I especially enjoyed the market square, the man musicians and the crafty stalls which were filled with wooden products – necklaces, boxes, chess boards and beads galore. They also sell lots of amber jewellery and other local crafts. There was a great ‘art wall’, numerous beautiful churches and of course great dining experiences. While Krakow is touristy, it doesn’t have the same feeling as travelling in Prague where you feel like you are going to get ripped off every second purchase you make. On the menu … sidewalk pretzel stops, borsht, lots of perogies (Costco perogies used to be one of my favorite foods!) and cabbage rolls! Yum! Warm and homey food. Steve also bought one of these …. We thought they were pastries and were pretty shock to find we’d purchased a large chunk of cheese!!



Auswitch and Birkeneau


Initially I did not wish to go to the world war II nazi concentration camps, but after reading advice from travel writers and from previous visitors we decided to check it out. It was a sobering experience and a bit surreal, still can’t quite believe how humans can be capable of something so horrible, but I guess it’s not the first time in history this has happened. What was shocking about Auswitch and Birkeneau was the size and scale of the site and to learn that the first phase of the plan was not even completed and that a second phase was planned is just a bit too much to consider. Over 1.5 million individuals… people died at this place, the majority of them Jews. The most shocking part for me was learning about the cold, calculated and detailed planning behind everything and the intention around leaving ‘nothing to waste’. One of the exhibits brought a permanent lump to my throat when we viewed it. It housed many of the items that were found when the prisoners where liberated by the soviets. Large glass cases of bleached hair, piles of suitcases with family names written on them, heaps of glasses and shoes, all sorted and made ready to be shipped back to Germany. The hair, shaved off new comers before being sent off to work or off of the dead bodies coming from the gas chambers, was cleaned, bleached and sent to Germany to be made into material and knitted into items like socks. Left feeling a bit stunned, it was not enjoyable, but definitely an important experience. The trip ended with a view of a memorial set up at Birkeneau. This inscription is engraved in marble in a multiple languages …

Zakapone
The ‘Whistler’ of Poland, a lively tourist centred town that sits at the bottom of the Tatra Mountains and serves as a gateway to hiking and skiing opportunities. The Tatra’s are part of the Carpathian mountains which straddle Poland and Slovakia. We spent one day in Zakapone and hoped to get in a few small hikes. We took the gondola up to the top, but unfortunately were met by a big white cloud that hid all the beautiful scenery. So instead of stumbling around in the fog we settled in the cafeteria for a mug of borscht! The fog never cleared and the best views we go were of the postcards in the shop! Sure looked beautiful! We spent the rest of the day poking around the small vehicle free town – there were lots of crafty market stalls and coloured beads – hurrah!


Bratislavia, Slovakia

We left Zakapone the next day as we needed to get to Bratislavia where we would fly home from. We had trouble actually finding an efficient way between Zakopane and Bratislava and managed to find a bus/train combination. By the time we got to the train, we were so happy things were working out that we hopped on the wrong train! To make things worse two girls from Ireland followed us. Oops. After much gesturing and nodding and finger pointed by some friendly locals we managed to figure ourselves out and made it to Bratislava.

Bratislava is like an old city that has just had a refresh .. a modern face lift. It’s a very small and pretty city and good for a wander. They have a castle, which is now a museum and a big UFO tower that is a restaurant. They also have the cleanest, most modern toilets I have seen for a while in Europe. It is quite touristy and the first thing you notice in Bratislava …. there are a lot of men … a lot of groups of men – mainly ones on stags! Bratislava is known for it’s beautiful women and cheap food/beer, so not to hard figure out why this occurs.