I took quite a few pictures of this trip on my phone, but whoopsie for me, I got a new phone for Christmas and lost all of the photos. Thank goodness I had emailed quite a few to my Dad, but I only have one of the actual city of Krakow. The rest are of Auschwitz. I decided that I am going to do two blogs about this trip. I had such fun with my dad in this city and I learned a lot, so this blog will be about our time in Krakow. We took a day trip to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps, and that trip deserves its own blog. It was a tough, sad day, and I have to write about that separately.
On our first day in Krakow we met at the airport and then took the quick trip to our apartment in the city. It was such a cute little place right in the center of the city. Funny story: my father and I are not idiots. We have both travelled all over the world and I consider us to be fairly intelligent people. But for the life of me we could not figure out how to open the door to our apartment. On our first night in Krakow we were trying to get in to the apartment and the light went off in the hallway. My dad tried to turn the light back on and instead hit the doorbell of the older woman next door. She was less than thrilled to see us. The following night it took so long to get in and we were so loud that the woman next door peeked out again at us. I believe she thought we were trying to break in to the place. I am surprised we did not get a visit from the police. Thank goodness by Saturday we had figured the door out and no authorities had to be called.
After checking in at the apartment we decided to explore Krakow, and get some lunch. Almost right away we met an American man who had overheard us talking about a lunch spot. I love meeting other Americans abroad- it's that shared camaraderie of we have the same passports, let's help each other out! Our new friend recommended a wonderful burger place for lunch (seriously, one of the best I ever had at this local Polish place) and then gave us some great dinner recommendations also. After lunch we set off for the town square, which is beautiful. Lots of old buildings, restaurants, and churches. The also had a big indoor market, and I was quite happy to buy some souvenirs for the kids. That night we went to my favorite restaurant and ate pierogi, which is Polish dumplings. They are fabulous. The following is my favorite building in Krakow, which is now where they house the indoor marketplace.
Friday was our day trip to Auschwitz and Birkenau, which I will write about later. That night we went to dinner at another great restaurant, and I had one of those tasting menu meals. I love to order food like that- you try a little bit of everything and really get a taste for the local cuisine. The make their own vodka in Poland (who knew?!) and I was anxious to try some since I live in the land of vodka. It was very good and at this restaurant one of the courses was a vodka course. See what happens when I spend the weekend away from my children- I start doing vodka shots! My dad found this particularly hilarious.
Saturday was an extremely interesting and educational day in Krakow. It was quite cold, but true to Collins form we walked all over the place. We started off in the Jewish ghetto. Do you know that during WWII the Nazi's actually constructed a wall around where the Jewish people lived and tried to seal them off from everyone else? The pictures are horrible, but what is worse is that eventually most of the residents were taken to the concentration camps. Nowadays the area is making a comeback- we found some nice restaurants, a bookstore, a very old cemetery, and some old synagogues you can visit. I grew up in New York, I have visited Israel, and I had never been to a synagogue. It was about time I went to one.
After our walk we went over to Schindler's museum. I figured this museum would be about Oskar Schindler and his role in saving over 1000 people from death at the concentration camps. The museum is actually housed in the old factory and you can see Schindler's office, but this museum is much more than that. It is dedicated to the German occupation of Krakow during WWII. This was one of the best museums I have ever been to. Everything was written in Polish and English (which was lovely), so my Dad and I spent close to 3 hours there. I honestly cannot remember the last time I was able to leisurely stroll through a museum and read almost everything there was. That does not happen when you bring 4 kids to a museum.
After visiting this museum, I have such respect for the Polish people. Their occupation by the Nazi's was brutal. The Nazi's took over this beautiful city, ate all of the food, took over houses and apartment buildings, stole artwork and other possessions from the people, and overall just terrorized the citizens. And then finally, the war was over and the Nazi's were defeated. And guess who comes? The Soviets. And there the Polish people go, putting up with those loonies for years. I found the Polish people to be so very nice and gracious. Good for them because I think I would have a lot of pent up anger towards my two neighboring counties.
As a child, I grew up learning (from my Dad) about Lech Walesa and Pope John Paul II and how they were instrumental in kicking out the communists and bringing about democracy to Poland. So, it was really neat as an adult to go to Poland and see this for myself. And can I just say that I have so loved being able to explore Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic, Romania, Poland: beautiful places like these so suffered under the Iron Curtain, and I really applaud their efforts to build up their countries. Western Europe is amazing, but if you want to try something new and give your tourist dollars to some deserving countries, try Eastern Europe. The people are lovely, they like children, the food is wonderful, and your money stretches a bit further. I only wish we had more time here so that I could explore some more cities.
I loved my weekend in Krakow- I wish I had more pictures to share. And can I just say now that I realize what a lucky lady I am that I have a dad that would meet me in Poland. I had many friends ask me before I made the trip if my dad had business in Poland. No, he just wanted to meet me there. Travelling the world is a gift I have given my children, and that love of travel came from my dad. Thank you Dad for suggesting this trip and I am so glad we made it happen. Next up- Paris!
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