Poland

Poland is a gorgeous country, much more impressive than I expected. We docked in Gdnask, a very quaint active city in northern Poland. I spent the first day in Gdansk wandering around and seeing the sights with a couple friends.

me in Gdansk, Poland

Gdansk, Poland

Wednesday night we hopped an overnight train to Krakow. Since it was a Wednesday night the train wasn’t very busy and we were able to each lay down on our own bench and I was actually able to sleep rather well (thanks to my trusty earplugs – never leave home without them). We arrived in Krakow first thing in the morning and three of us rushed over to catch the train to Auschwitz. We spent the day in Auschwitz and the larger concentration camp called Auschwitz II. The day was filled with a mix of emotions – one minute I would feel tears in my eyes just thinking about the magnitude of evil and horrors that happened within the concentration camps and all of Europe during those years and then a bit later I would forget where I was and think I was just wondering around another historical museum. I think what amazed me the most was how well planned and thought out the Nazi’s were in their attempt to exterminate Jews, gays, and others. They went to great efforts to hide what they were doing and to make the prisoners initially think they were going someplace good. I have a couple photos of the camp here.

barbed wire fence at Auschawitz

After the long day at the concentration camps we went back to Krakow and joined our other friends at an apartment flat we rented for the night. It was in a beautiful, suburban area of town and the house was gorgeous. We didn’t quite know what to expect since we made the reservation on-line and we were so pleased. The family who owns the house lives on the top floor and rents out the first floor. We invited them down for dinner and had a fabulous time. One of our friends is from Italy and was very excited to cook us an authentic Italian meal. We were equally (if not more) excited to eat it and enjoyed it immensely. It was delicious. However, the best part was talking to our new Polish friends. The wife and two kids (aged 18 and 10) joined us for dinner and we asked them many questions about Poland, the fall of communism, and compared Polish and American life. They were very thankful about the fall of communism however, pointed out that not everyone was. In Russia we talked with many people who were not very happy about it. She said it was because if you are lazy then communism is much preferable because you will always have enough money to eat and live. However, that’s it. If you have any ambitions you can not pursue them. I imagine some of the difference between the feelings of the Russians and the Poles is that the Poles have a much better infrastructure than the Russians. The rails, the roads, the phones, everything was similar to the rest of Western Europe and very modern.

me on top of a church in Poland

The next morning we slowly woke up and after photos, goodbyes, and email exchanges with our new friends we headed into Krakow. We spent the day the wonderful city of Krakow. It’s a fun, beautiful place. I went off on my own for a bit and went to St. Mary’s Cathedral, Cloth Hall, and did some shopping. We all met up for a yummy dinner and then took the overnight train back to Gdansk. The overnight train back was not near as pleasant as they way. It was very crowded and we almost didn’t even get a seat. However, we did have to sit up most of the night and that was rather miserable. I didn’t sleep much and as soon as I got to the ship took a shower and fell asleep.

I woke up around noon in time to join three students for a trip to Sopot, a beach town that was 15 minutes by train north of Gdansk. We had a great time. We layed around on the beach and then before we left jumped on this really cool bungy-trampoline thing. We were doing flips and bouncing about 20 feet in the air. I loved it!

me flipping on the bungy-trampoline thing

I had a great time in Poland! It’s a beautiful country. The people are friendly, the streets are clean, and the food is cheap and good. I think it is still a bit of an undiscovered gem in Europe, but it won’t be for long.