Last weekend (Feb 12th - 15th) I took a school trip to Krakow, Poland. We left Thursday night and stayed until Sunday. It was such a great trip, powerful, but definitely something I will remember forever.
Thursday: We got into Krakow about 11:00 pm and had a shuttle take us to our hotel. We were set to stay in the Holiday Inn Krakow City Center. Very nice hotel in Krakow if anyone is interested in places to stay in Poland.
Friday: We started our day off with a three hour walking tour around the beautiful city. We walked to the neighboring castle and saw the city center. We went inside the Basilica de Santa Maria and just outside the Basilica we got to hear the bugle player play their hourly snippet outside on a tower window. We were left to have free time for lunch before having to meet at 4:00 pm to head to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. Those were so cool to experience. We had a private tour of the salt mines, going down into the ground only until the third level (which was about 400 feet). Everything in the mine was salt, a lot of it being pure sodium chloride that had developed over years and years of mining. After the salt mines we were provided a buffet dinner at our hotel of traditional Polish food. Which by the way, traditional polish food is delicious. They eat a lot of meat and potatoes, but also polish sausages and kebabs are to die for.
Saturday: We left super early in the morning to head to Oświęcim, the city in which Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) is located. Wow what a truly emotional and powerful tour we had of the world's most infamous concentration camps. It is honestly one thing to learn about places like these in your high school history class and to think that you know what it may have been like, but when you come here, it is completely different. Auschwitz I was a lot smaller than Birkenau, but still had that heavy very depressing feeling over the camp. We got to see actual Nazi documentation of the prisoners, personal belongings of those admitted to the camps and walk through one of the past operating gas chambers. I honestly could not believe it. Visiting Birkenau was something I will never forget. Witnessing the size of this place was beyond belief. The second you arrive to the main entrance, the one you see with the train tracks going in, the camp stretches as far as the eye can see. The barbed wire fencing just stretches on for miles. Just barrack after barrack. Entering the camp itself was very powerful. We walked the same path into the camp as so many prisoners of Auschwitz had done seventy years ago. It was so unbelievably sad to think of all the innocent lives that were lost here and all the injustice that took place. Inside the camp, the country of Poland dedicated a memorial for those who died at Auschwitz. There is the same plaque engraved with the same message in 26 different languages all spread throughout the memorial all representing the different languages of those who were at Auschwitz. Such a crazy thing to get to see firsthand and definitely something I will never ever forget.
Sunday: We were able to go out again in the main part of the city, do some shopping, and chill out for a bit before catching our flight back to Florence at 4:30 pm. Overall it was a fantastic weekend and Krakow is definitely one of my favorite cities now! Poland is so beautiful and the people are so nice. There is so much history to be remembered here, but so much progress that has taken place. This is a weekend I will truly never forget. Miss you guys at home and sending lots of love back to the states!
Thursday: We got into Krakow about 11:00 pm and had a shuttle take us to our hotel. We were set to stay in the Holiday Inn Krakow City Center. Very nice hotel in Krakow if anyone is interested in places to stay in Poland.
Friday: We started our day off with a three hour walking tour around the beautiful city. We walked to the neighboring castle and saw the city center. We went inside the Basilica de Santa Maria and just outside the Basilica we got to hear the bugle player play their hourly snippet outside on a tower window. We were left to have free time for lunch before having to meet at 4:00 pm to head to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. Those were so cool to experience. We had a private tour of the salt mines, going down into the ground only until the third level (which was about 400 feet). Everything in the mine was salt, a lot of it being pure sodium chloride that had developed over years and years of mining. After the salt mines we were provided a buffet dinner at our hotel of traditional Polish food. Which by the way, traditional polish food is delicious. They eat a lot of meat and potatoes, but also polish sausages and kebabs are to die for.
Saturday: We left super early in the morning to head to Oświęcim, the city in which Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) is located. Wow what a truly emotional and powerful tour we had of the world's most infamous concentration camps. It is honestly one thing to learn about places like these in your high school history class and to think that you know what it may have been like, but when you come here, it is completely different. Auschwitz I was a lot smaller than Birkenau, but still had that heavy very depressing feeling over the camp. We got to see actual Nazi documentation of the prisoners, personal belongings of those admitted to the camps and walk through one of the past operating gas chambers. I honestly could not believe it. Visiting Birkenau was something I will never forget. Witnessing the size of this place was beyond belief. The second you arrive to the main entrance, the one you see with the train tracks going in, the camp stretches as far as the eye can see. The barbed wire fencing just stretches on for miles. Just barrack after barrack. Entering the camp itself was very powerful. We walked the same path into the camp as so many prisoners of Auschwitz had done seventy years ago. It was so unbelievably sad to think of all the innocent lives that were lost here and all the injustice that took place. Inside the camp, the country of Poland dedicated a memorial for those who died at Auschwitz. There is the same plaque engraved with the same message in 26 different languages all spread throughout the memorial all representing the different languages of those who were at Auschwitz. Such a crazy thing to get to see firsthand and definitely something I will never ever forget.
Sunday: We were able to go out again in the main part of the city, do some shopping, and chill out for a bit before catching our flight back to Florence at 4:30 pm. Overall it was a fantastic weekend and Krakow is definitely one of my favorite cities now! Poland is so beautiful and the people are so nice. There is so much history to be remembered here, but so much progress that has taken place. This is a weekend I will truly never forget. Miss you guys at home and sending lots of love back to the states!
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