Pod Roza Hotel Krakow

... solid cultural capitals, educational institutions, etc. After WWII, that dynamic was gone. <br><br>I can't really say why that happened because there is no reason why. It is a fact. In my mind, I tend to think that the war created a sort of vacuum. With Poles only being left to themselves, they passed down a tale of history from their own point of view. Being a country of defeat, I tend to think this was a way to ensure survival - pass down your own history to your kids ...

... they were destroyed by the retreating Nazis. It was very sad to walk through the camp, and I wondered how Germany, and all of Europe, ever got over the unbearable suffering caused during the war. Six million Jews died during the Holocaust and 3/4 of Hungarian Jews were killed at Aushwitz. It is hard to come to terms with, even after 60 years.<br><br>We started the next day with the obligatory ...

... Cathedral next to the castle and the "Dragon's Den" - there's a money spinner for them - it's a cave! In the afternoon we walked around the town, including an interesting discussion with the lady at the train booking office when trying to book our seats to Prague. She thought I was crazy and vice versa, turns out she misunderstood me thinking that there were 3 travellers not 2, so when she was trying to tell me we had 2 windows and a middle seat and I was trying to ask ...

... the trip to Warsaw to go as smoothly as possible. It was already getting dark by the time we hit the road so I wasn't going to witness much entertainment looking out the window and foolishly I made the schoolboy error of forgetting to charge my ipod before leaving the hostel so the journey was in danger of feeling quite a bit longer than the scheduled 9hrs. Of the many countries ill be visiting on this trip, Poland is perhaps etched into my mind more so than any other. The first time I ...

... can see him way up in the tower - the trumpet sound carries over the entire square area. Oh, and today was quite entertaining because it's the week before studying for university finals so students here are letting loose - literally. In the market square today we witnessed young people dressed up in prison uniforms, priest uniform, drag, etc. running around the streets doing crazy innocent stunts - e.g., picking up a young gal walking along the street ...

... wives,sometimes so beautiful,ordinary,alive...) but you know it's pointless,it's already too late... ....all these rooms filled with huge amounts of suitcases,pots,shoes,glasses,prosthesis ...and baby clothes... lots of spooky places like in the basement,where they installed cells,so little and dark and cold and unsanitary...(i'm not even talking about the crematoriums...) then i went to Birkenau,it's actually ...

... the cars had to park half on the sidewalk, half in the street - either perpendicular to the curb or at an angle. This of course makes it difficult to walk down the street, so it was important to stay alert in case someone was coming or going from a parking space as you're walking by. Our second day was spent walking around Auschwitz. It was cold and rainy. We spent about 5 hours visiting the main ...

... mushrooms, or even berries or fruit for dessert. You can get them boiled or fried - delicious either way! We've also discovered (although haven't sampled) that you can buy a "pipe" of beer here, which is 3L in your very own beer tap at your table. We are thinking of bringing this idea home, but it may not comply with Australian liquor laws ...

... It was raining; at last, typical to happen when you didn't need it. Nice cellar bar, very spiritual. Buddhist painting on the walls and projections. The music got a bit loud and we moved onto another bar. Again in a cellar but this time an Irish bar, as you always find in foreign parts. We had a walk around the square, as I wanted to see it lit up at night. I was back for 11. Two beers and I had started to fall asleep. Sunday the 7th of May. The day after ...

... through the middle of a field. On either side are just rows and rows and rows and rows of barracks built to hold the human cattle as long as it was allowed life. This doesn't look like a settlement - it was merely a large scale warehouse particularly efficient at destroying its goods. I think that's enough. There's really only so much imapct that the past can have, but this evoked as much as anything could. On the way home, our bus hit a man ...