Poland

Auschwitz Concentration Camps

September 15th, 2008

View of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of all Nazi concentration camps.

Day trip
I have wanted to visit to Auschwitz ever since I moved to Germany and have seen the Nazi history come to life. Auschwitz played a major role in the holocaust. We decided to do a private tour, in order to get the best experience. We took a bus from Krakow to the Concentration camp. On the way we watched a very graphic film shot by the Soviets when they liberated the camp. When we arrived at the camp we got our head sets and followed our tour guide. We toured the main camp Auschwitz I first. The camp was well maintained and very depressing. We were at Auschwitz for 2 hours, going through the barracks, administrative buildings and experiencing the horror that occurred. We finished up with Auschwitz I and headed for Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Birkenau was the main extermination site, and the largest Nazi concentration camp in Europe. Both camps are a perfect testament to German efficiency. The Nazis efficiently, registered, housed, beat, humiliated, controlled and killed hundreds of thousands people. Birkenau held over 400,000 prisoners of may backgrounds. The Jews were normally murdered right away, but the Pols and Hungarians were kept to work in the IG Farben factory or out doors. Millions people died over the 4 years the camp was in use; constructed in 1940-41 and liberated in 1944-45. It’s very difficult to describe how you feel when you are there. It’s so fascinating, intriguing and disturbing all at the same time. I’m glad I went and I think everyone should go at least once in there life.



Photos from Auschwitz II-Birkenau

Left picture: Tracks leading into the camp.
Right picture: Barracks within Birkenau.



Left picture: Bunk beds for prisoners usually slept 4 per bunk.
Right picture: Toliet facility for prisoners.


Photos from Auschwitz I Camp

Administrative buildings/prisioner holds



Left picture: Typical electric fence surrounding the camp.
Right picture: Crematoria for new arrivals.


Although Auschwitz was extreamly sad and depression it was a 4. Very interesting and a must see.

"If we don't learn about the past, how will we know if history is going to repeat itself?"

Krakow

September 14-16th, 2008

View of Karkow City.

Day 11cont.
We landed on time and found ourselves in one of the smallest airports I have ever been too. It had maybe 5 gates. Anyway we had to wait for the bus to take us to the train that would take us to the city center! We only waited for 20 minutes before the bus came. The train took us to the train station that was connected to a mall. We walked out of the mall and our hostel was right there. We checked into the Greg Tom hostel, settled in, booked our trip to Auschwitz for the next day, and then headed out. Krakow is small but nice. We went to the market square and took some pictures. We hung out around there for a while, and then went to get something to eat. We had more traditional Polish food, it was great and cheap! After dinner we met up with our Australian friends that we met in Warsaw. We just went to a bar and talked for a while, and then we all went back to our hostels.



Day 12
We had to wake up early because of our trip to Auschwitz (See above blog for details). After we got back from Auschwitz it was still fairly early. So we ventured over to the castle and explored that for a while. Then for lunch/linner we went to the mall. We ate in the food court, and then got some snacks for later, at the grocery store. We went back to the hostel and stayed there for the rest of the day. We sat in the living room and watched movie after movie. It was great. Then we ate traditional polish soup that our hostel made, for dinner. We went to our room and went to bed at 12am.

Day 13

It seems like we have been traveling for months. We are only on our 13th day and we still have 5 days left and it feels longer. I mean I’m not tired of traveling with Victoria; I am just annoyed with the weather. Traveling can be very exhausting! Anyway, once again we were on our way to the airport but this time we were headed to Prague.

Krakow was a 2.5. Smaller than Warsaw but still nice, clean and interesting.

Warsaw

September 12-14th, 2008

The "Prague" looking side of Warsaw!!!

Day 9
When we arrived in Warsaw, it was a lot colder than it was in Scandinavia. We were a little upset. Anyway, we found the bus to the city centre and got off near the hostel. We walked for about 5 minutes and found the place. We checked in and put our stuff away. We went to get some money and food. We walked down Krakowski toward city centre. We found the bank, got money out and then went to KFC for lunch. After lunch we went to this Empire State looking building, that was a museum. We wondered around in there for a while, and then went to the indoor flea market. We bought some stuff then headed back to our hostel. Back at the hostel we paid, and asked where a grocery store was. We went to the store to get our food for our stay. Back at the hostel we pretty much just sat around and talked to some Australian guys the entire time. We exchanged information and planned to meet up with them in Krakow, our next destination. We went to be after 2am.

Day 10

This was our main sight seeing day. We went to the old town part of Warsaw. It reminded me a lot of Prague. As we walked down Krakowskie Street, in the opposite direction as the day before, we passed the Kopernika statue, University of Warsaw, a church, the National Theater, and the Opera house. We arrived at Zamkowy square, where we took about a thousand pictures. While in old town we stopped and looked at a lot of souvenir shops and bought some post cards. As we continued to explore old town we saw a lot more sights like, the Royal Castle, St. John the Baptist Cathedral Basilica, Our Lady of Charity church, and the Museum of Warsaw. After seeing almost all of old town we headed across Slako-Dabrowsky Bridge. We walked for 20 minutes in sleet and wind before we made it across. Once across we saw the more residential part of Warsaw. We passed a few more churches before we found the restaurant we were looking for. Well it’s actually not a restaurant it’s a Soviet Milk Bar, and its one of the few left. It’s called Zabkowski. The food is extremely good and really cheap. Mostly pensioners and students go there. After lunch we took the tram back to old town then walked back to our hostel. We were extremely tired so we just hung around the hostel, read, did a crossword and ate dinner. We went to bed around 10pm.

Day 11

I’m glad we were able to sleep in because we were really tired. But we only slept in until 9am but it was nice. We ate breakfast, messed around online, hung out and then walked to our airport bus. We were at the airport in no time and on our way to Krakow.

Warsaw was a 3. Cleaner, safer, nicer and prettier than I expected. It has an unique mix of Prague and Kiev.

Finland

Helsinki

September 10-12th, 2008

Helsinki Cathedral, the inside is very modern and simple.

Day 7cont.

We arrived in Helsinki, I got my bag, and we went to find city transportation. We decided to take the bus and bought tickets. The total travel time was 45minutes. We took the bus to the last stop, and then took the tram to our hostel. It wasn’t the easiest thing to find but we managed. After checking in, we went out to explore the city. We took the tram back toward the city centre and got off to see Helsinki Cathedral and Senate Square. The Square houses the Government Palace, University of Helsinki and the National library of Finland. We took many picture of the square and then wondered into the Cathedral. By this time we were starving so we ate at McDonalds, again!! After lunch we headed back to the hostel stopping at the Uspenski Orthodox church, the largest Orthodox Church in Western Europe, along the way. Back at the hostel we took a nap before heading out again. We took the tram back to the city centre to go to the Museum. After that we took the tram further toward the city outskirts. We visited another church, the National Museum of Finland and the Opera House. On our way back to the tram we saw a parade of Finish football fans going to the game vs Germany. They were escorted by police, it was quite the spectacle. We went to a traditional restaurant called Zetor, which is famous in Helsinki. The inside of the restaurant reminded me a lot of Texas Roadhouse! The food was amazing and the portions were very large. After dinner we went back to the hostel and read, then went to bed.

Day 8
Victoria had planned on going to Estonia for the day, and I planned on seeing some movies. However, the ferry to take her to Tallinn got cancelled, so her plans were ruined. I was already so set on seeing movies that I decided to go anyway. Victoria went to this castle on an island instead. I went and saw, Hell Boy 2, Once, and Don’t Mess with the Zohan, all very different movies but good. I had pizza hut for lunch in between the movies. After the movies I went back to the hostel and read for a while before going to bed.


Day 9
We arrived at the airport at 11am, after leaving the hostel an hour before. We did the usual airport routine and boarded the plan. 30 minutes later, we were headed for Poland.


Finland was a 3. Prettier than Oslo but not too exciting. They do have good movie theaters though!

Sweden

Stockholm

September 8-10th, 2008

Stockholm is made up of many islands connected by one or two bridges!

Day 5cont.
We arrived in Stockholm on time and found the airport shuttle bus with ease. We bought a round trip ticket and got on the next bus. Once again the bus ride to the city centre was 40 minutes. Once the bus dropped us off we had to walk for 15 minutes before we reached our hostel. We checked into our hostel and went to buy groceries and get money out. We couldn't find a place that we could get money out so we paid for everything with the card. We changed into rain gear and made a game plan before heading out. We headed toward city hall, passing the Opera house, Royal Palace, the Riddal house and a lot of little shops along the way. We walked over to Sodermalm Area, and saw the city museum and a nice park. We walked back to the hostel, did a crossword and I finished my book. We went to bed at around 1am.


Day 6
We didn’t sleep all that well because we were in a 12 bed dorm. There were a lot of people snoring extremely loud and getting ready really early. We ate breakfast, changed and went to the city center. Stockholm doesn’t have as many sights to see, as Copenhagen, so we just walked around. We went to the main shopping district on the other island and hangout there for a while. Then we went to the Vasa Museum, which is dedicated to the Vasa ship that sank in the harbor right after it was launched in the 1600’s. The entire ship was inside this museum. They dug it up and fully restored it using 95% of the original parts. We were there for quite a while, enjoying all the ships history. After we had seen all we could, we walked back to our hostel. By then it was 4pm. We relaxed, read and then ate dinner. We left at 6pm to see Babylon AD at 7pm in the city center. After the movie we went back to the hostel, pack/organized and then went to bed.



Day 7
After a short nights sleep, we woke up, got ready and ate breakfast. We made it to the bus by 7:15 and arrived at the airport at 8:00am. We checked in, got through security, exchanged our money and boarded the plane 10 minutes later. It was perfect timing and we were on our way to Finland by 9:15am!!


Sweden was a 3. Bigger than Olso and much prettier, but I didn't like it as much as Copenhagen.

Norway

Oslo

September 6-8th, 2008

Olso Main Harbor View from Akerscastle.

Day 3cont.
We landed in Norway at 10:30am and made our way to the bus. The bus ride from the airport to the city centre was about 40 minutes. The bus dropped us off at the bus station. We walked through the mall to the train station and exited the front. We got a little lost before we actually found our hostel. Our hostel had a great location, right in the centre of the city. After we checked into our room we went to explore the city. We saw Oslo Cathedral, Parliament, the National Theatre, Oslo University, Oslo city hall, the Nobel Prize Centre, and the Royal Palace. We got something eat at a Chinese restaurant and then went back to the hostel. We read in our room for a while, chatted with our roommates and then went out again. We got some food for the rest of our stay and post cards! We did a crossword puzzle and then went to bed shortly before 11.


Day 4

We slept in longer than we had planned but it was nice. We got dressed, at breakfast and then went to the contemporary arts museum. We spent about 30 minutes walking around, enjoying the exhibits. We walked over to Akers castle and took some pictures of the view and the castle grounds. We went back to the hostel, had a snack and then packed our lunch. We took our lunches to Vigelands Parken. It was massive, very green and about the prettiest thing in Oslo. We spent about an hour there walking around looking at all the statues and ate lunch. The statues were of naked men, women and children “living life”, it was very interesting. We caught the tram back to the hostel and were in for the night. We watched a few movies, laughed with our roommates and then ate dinner. After dinner we did a crossword puzzle together and then watched a movie and fell asleep.


Day 5

We woke up at 7:30am, got dressed, ate breakfast and then went to catch the bus. We took the 8:30am bus and arrived at the airport at 9:20. We checked in, I had to check my bag because they were being jerks, and then we went through security. We exchanged our money and then boarded the plane. We were on our way to Sweden by 10:30am.


Norway was a 2.5. Olso is small and a little boring. But I hear the western side is beautiful!!!