Poland

June 8th - June 11th: Poland!!!

Poland was so amazing! Probably my favorite location so far! This is the view from the center of Old Town Square. We went to Sunday mass in Polish at the big cathedral on the right.

St. Faustina, Pray for Us!

My favorite food ever: Pierogi! (Polish dumplings consisting of mashed potato, onion and cheese in dough.) Usually I make them at home with my mom  from a family recipe and we freeze them to save for special holidays, but here they're extremely common and cheap! My dad and I tried them at about 7 different restaurants in search of the best pierogi in Krakow. There were definitely some good ones!

The gates of Schindler's Factory which has been transformed into an extensive exhibition about the effects of Nazism and Communism in Poland.

Along similar lines, we took a tour of Nowa Huta, an experimental city established by the communists in an effort to create a "perfect city" based on the ideals of socialism. Though they eventually gave up their efforts and moved out, nearly all of the original buildings and design styles are still in place. It was a little eerie to see because everything seemed just a tiny bit "off". The buildings were very stark in their colors and appearance. Everything seemed a little too generic. In a way I felt like we were in one of the districts of Panem. (Hunger Games)

WWII Tank on display in Nowa Huta

There is one Catholic church in Nowa Huta which was installed toward the end of the communist reign in that area. This is one of the many monuments dedicated to Pope John Paul II in honor of his efforts to free the citizens from communist control. He his very loved all throughout Poland, especially Krakow as he was once their bishop!

Inside the prison yard of Auschwitz

This is the room in which they administered the lethal injections to some of the prisoners of the concentration camp. I bought a book called "I Was Doctor Mengele's Assistant" in which one of the main physicians of Auschwitz (who was a prisoner himself) recounts the stories of some of the terrible things that went on inside the camp, specifically from a medical view. Its insane and horrible. 

Here is a memorial dedicated to St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest and martyr who gave his life to save another man at Auschwitz. This is the cell in which he died.

This is Birkenau, aka "Auschwitz II". This camp was classified as an "extermination camp" rather than a "concentration camp" because all prisoners sent there were killed with no exceptions.  It is an incredibly huge camp with rows of barracks as far as the eye can see. 

Interior of one of the barracks of Birkenau

After the war had ended, some of the barracks were disassembled so the wood could be used to rebuild the city. All that remains in their place are the foundations and chimneys. To gain some perspective of how massive this camp was, the chimneys seen here represent only about 1/5 of the total barracks. 

Stormy night in Krakow

It was heartbreaking to visit the concentration camps, but overall we had a truly great time visiting Poland!  I'm writing this entry as we sit in a train station in Katowice awaiting our connection to Budapest, the next stop on our journey. Off to Hungary!