Krakow:
The first full day we were in Krakow we decided to go to Auschwitz because we wanted to make sure that we made it (as we weren't sure what would be open during Easter weekend). One of the first things we saw when we got there was the famous sign stating "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Will Set You Free"-one of the biggest lies of World War Two:
I won't say too much about Auschwitz because I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable...but I'll say this: it was one of the most powerful and depressing things that I've ever seen, and I'm very glad I went. While we were all horribly sad during it, we decided afterwards that it was worth the feeling to finally see this part of history for ourselves. I didn't expect it to touch me that much, but I was moved by everything. If anyone wants more details, please ask me. Anyway, the one annoying thing about the day was that we were followed by Italians on the tour who continued to laugh and joke almost the entire time...yes people deal with sorrow in their own ways, but if you are going to joke don't do it so loudly that other people can hear you. Overall it was very disappointing and I'm sorry that our day (and other people on the tour's day) was ruined by these rude people. Anyway, one of the things that touched me the most on the tour was the memorial next to where the main gas chambers were. It had a sign in all of the languages of the people kept in the death camp (and English, even though there were no English speaking people there) that read:
Anyway, the next day we were in Krakow we decided to just relax and went on a free tour (not through New Europe sadly) which was nice to be able to see the city, but was kind of miserable because it was freezing out and rainy. It was interesting to learn that the day that we took the tour was the anniversary of John Paul II's death (the only Pope who wasn't German, Italian, or French) so there were candles and pictures of him everywhere around the city:
He was born and raised in the city of Krakow, so of course they love him and miss him dearly. Anyway, we also saw some sites where they filmed Schindler's List (as that movie takes place in Krakow) and then we decided to leave the tour as we were too miserable to stay. We went to this amazing place to eat where I got the best meal of the trip. I got a mushroom and potato soup that had a fantastic sour broth for the first course...then I ate cabbage and carrot salad, breaded chicken, and fries with apple juice to drink. Overall the meal only cost about 6 dollars (18 zloty) and was completely worth it. The next day we were there was the day before Easter so we decided to have secret Easter buddies and spend no more than 30 zloty on each other (10 dollars). It was really fun to shop for Lisa and bought her pretty awesomely fantastic things such as cookies, earrings, and a painted Easter egg. That night we watched Shutter Island in theatres because there was nothing else to do and it was a really good movie! I learned (from the Polish subtitles) that many English curse-words translate as "cholera" in Polish, so I was quite amused by that. I doubt it's pronounced the same, but still cool! Anyway, then we decided that we were way too impatient to wait for opening presents, so we opened them that night. I got wonderful presents from Katie such as:
The next day was actually Easter, but since Poland is a 96% Catholic country nothing was open...and I mean nothing. We ended up watching The Graduate in the hostel and just relaxing all day, which was fine but kind of boring...and finally it was time to go to...
Bratislava!
The first day we were in Bratislava we literally did nothing except laundry and wander around our hostel playing cards. That's how we found our Hostel (the horror movie) themed basement:
Oh Bratislava...Anyway, the next day was when we were going to Vienna, but we had the whole morning/afternoon to explore Bratislava so we saw the statue of Napoleon looking silly in front of the French Embassy (oh the irony...the Slovaks really hate that man):
The bridge that looked like it belonged in Star Trek:
And a statue of Hans Christian Anderson commemorating his visit to Bratislava many years ago:
Overall I really liked Bratislava, but the amount of time that we spend there was perfect because there wasn't a ton to do anyway. Anyway, stay tuned for Part 4...A New Hope...I mean...Vienna and Budapest.
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