Belgium Birdie: Krakow, Poland

[February 17-20]

Our trip to Poland was with a new travel group but our second trip to Eastern Europe. As expected it was very cold upon arrival, but we were bundled up with many layers! We arrived in Krakow, Poland on Thursday evening and went straight to the hostel to drop off our bags. The hostel was on the second floor of an apartment complex so it was a small hostel. There were about ten other travelers, in addition to the eight of us, that stayed there but it was by far the nicest hostel we had stayed. It had a full kitchen (with an included breakfast each morning) and large bathrooms with nice showers. With our spirits high from the great hostel we went out to eat our first Polish meal. It definitely did not disappoint either and was very inexpensive. I had sauerkraut and kielbasa and we all split pierogies. Needless to say after our first meal we all knew that it was going to be a weekend full of great eating! After our dinner we walked around the city before heading to bed and realized that Krakow is actually quite small; we were able to walk from one end of the city to the other within twenty minutes.

Friday morning we woke up early for our tour of the Aushwitz/Birkenau concentration camps. The eight of us got picked up in a bus from our hostel and watched a forty minute documentary on the “Liberation of Aushwitz” during the drive. While the movie was intense and very sad, it still did not prepare me for the tour. I honestly don’t know what to say about being in an actual concentration camp. We toured both Aushwitz I and Aushwitz II (Birkenau) and it was the most surreal and saddening experience. Everyone learns about the holocaust and the awful things that happened at these camps but it was overwhelming to actually walk through the crammed corners and gas chambers where so many innocent people lost their lives. The Birkenau camp is so much larger that I imagined - seemed to go as far as your eye could see. There is a memorial at the back of the Birkenau camp however and we all were able to take a moment there to reflect on our thoughts and pray for all those who died and the families who lost loved ones. I will never forget the experience, but would never want to go back. The tour took almost all day including the drive there and back so we just went out to dinner upon getting back to Krakow. Delicious meal round two was potato soup in a bread bowl, and of course we all split a plate of pierogies. (Couldn’t go a meal without them!)

Saturday we woke up to snow! Surprisingly we have not had any snow in Belgium yet so it was exciting to see the white dust on the roads. After enjoying the hostel free breakfast we took a free walking tour around Krakow and learned about the culture and legends about the city. One of the most famous legends is that the initial ruler “Krak” built his large castle on top of a dragon in order to capture the dragon underneath. This is how Krakow got its name and there are literally dragon stuffed animals and figures everywhere! We were freezing after the walking tour so we warmed up at the hostel for an hour or so before venturing out into the snow again to buy some souvenirs. In addition, we had a three hour tour of the salt mines at five so we wanted to grab a quick snack before since we knew that we would be having a late dinner. You guessed it… we had pierogies! We called it the “fast food pierogies” because there was a small restaurant that was open 24 hours and gave you to-go boxes of them. Laura and I both got a variety of pierogies including cheese, pork, and sauerkraut and mushroom. Even though they were in to-go boxes, the pierogies were just as yummy as our previous ones. The salt mine tour was our last adventure of the day and it was remarkable. A salt mine that had been out of service for several years was turned into a tourist attraction because the miners built so many statues and cravings all out of salt. It is hard to imagine until you see it in person, but it truly was amazing. They had one huge chapel with the Last Supper carved into the wall, as well as many other famous paintings, and a magnificent alter where church services are routinely held on Sundays and you can even get married inside the mine.

Sunday was just our travel day and we made it back to Brussels by Sunday afternoon. Another successful weekend trip and I was able to get to know another group of students better which is always fun J All in all both of our Eastern European trips have been filled with delicious foods and great times!