Ryan Air. Bloody Ryan Air. We printed off our boarding pass, but we hadn't checked in online and were forced to pay a 55 euro per person check in fee. Very annoying!
Once we arrived in Poland, Krakow, we took an unbelievably cheap bus (like, South East Asia public transport cheap) to our hotel. By the way, thanks Mum and Dad for offering to pay for the Hotel. Very much appreciated. We were overjoyed to see it start to rain as we got to our room. Finally, some colder weather.
With a spring in our step, we bounced our way around the old town of Krakow. The old town is exceptionally beautiful; with colourful markets, cobblestone walking ways and a moat of forest surrounding us. However, beyond the old town, things look very different. It looks as if it's been through a war! Drab grey buildings stained with what looks like bullet holes and rubbish everywhere. After surviving quite cheaply in Norway and Sweden we decided to treat ourselves by going to a Michelin 5 star restaurant. The whole meal, including an entree, two mains and drinks cost a total of 30 euros. That sounds like amazing value, in terms of taste / money spent, but it's actually pretty bad value in terms of mass / money spent. I can't complain though, the service and food was brilliant, and they let me walk in with a stinky shirt and pants.
The next day we decided to head to Auschwitz to do some sight seeing. Fittingly it started to rain just as we entered the main area. We waited in line for an hour to get tickets and were then greeted with a very rude, impatient and blunt cashier - a pretty standard greeting in Poland, I've discovered. It was so busy today that they had a very tight schedule for organized tours every few minutes. We even worse headphones so that the tour guides wouldn't talk over each other in different languages. Auschwitz was amazing. We got to see official documents signed by the Nazi's and photos taken of the camp during set up and liberation.
What did I learn?
1) The gate at the entrance said "Arbeit macht frei" meaning "work sets you free". I wonder if this type of slogan is what motivated George Orwell's work.
2) Is early as 1940 the Germans were gassing and burning people. However the technology improved during the war to gas as much as 6000 people a day towards the end of the wary in 1944.
3) Nazi's tried destroying evidence of the gas chambers by detonating them. Only the original one still stands.
4) The myth that the showers had 11 holes (all fingers plus 1) is a lie. Instead they had these 'stones' which they would pour through slots in the ceiling. The stones would then evaporate and make everyone's lungs melt.
5) Nazi's bought in Jews from multiple countries - even Italy which was an ally at the time. Goes to show that antisemitism was pretty strong back then all around Europe. Hitler didn't invent it, he used it.
On the way back to Krakow we were in need of a bit of a pick-me-up so we went out to find some traditional food and music. We found both in an outdoor square. We tried "Zapiekanki" which is kinda like a pizza in a baguette and enjoyed some ice cream. The exchange rate made us modern day kings and queens with big pockets. We walked around aimlessly and spent money on random trinkets and snacks everywhere.
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