Thursday
Last weekend I went to Poland with my program, so about 40 other college students. Even though Krakow is pretty far away, we took a bus and it took about nine hours. Due to traffic(it was a holiday weekend) and fog we were slowed down. I had to stop looking out the window because the fog was freaking me out. I kept thinking about when dad told me about this terrible fog in Orlando and cars kept crashing into each other. We arrived around 4 am and I shared a big room with bunk beds with my freinds Dan, Paul, Ariella, Shaina, Molly, Ryan, and Alina. It was hard for me to sleep on the bus so I fell asleep right away.
Friday
We ate the free breakfast at the hostel, which was bread and Nutella and had a walking tour with one of the CERGE professors. We saw the old town square which dates back to the 13th century. There is a strong Catholic influence in Poland. St. Adalbert’s Church, and St. Mary’s Basilica. In St. Mary’s Basillica trumpets play from one of its windows every hour. People play music and stand still pretending to be statues hoping people will give them change. We overlooked the Vistula River and saw a statue of a dragon breathing real fire. There is dragon stuff everywhere in Poland because this story about a boy who slayed a dragon that was terrorizing Krakow. Some of what we saw were just ruins because even though Krakow is in better shape then Warwaw, some of the destruction from Austria is still present.
For lunch we found a little place the hostel suggested and I had a big plate of boiled cabbage pirogues which were actually really good. No one spoke any English and the service was ridiculously fast, they literally brought it to your table as you ordered. I think my meal cost about 10 zloty, which is about three dollars. Everything in Poland is so cheap. It is not as beautiful as Prague but I would not be surprised if it becomes the next popular place to do a study abroad semester. After lunch I went with my friend Ari to a bar where the Unsound Music Festival was taking place. We listened to the DJ and talked. Afterwards I went back to the hostel to have dinner with my school group. The restaurant was called Chimera and I enjoyed it. But we did see a mouse in the restaurant so that was pretty gross. Also, apparently the tap water in Poland is terrible so I drank out of bottles the whole time. Afterwards, everyone hung out in the bar below the hostel and then went back to the music festival.
Saturday
We all slept in and then went out and looked at some of the stores and the outdoor market. I really like the clothes in Europe. I bought something for mom at the market. For lunch we had more pirogues.
After lunch, we had to meet up with the buses to go to Auschwitz. Two other students and I had already been. Ariella went with the March of the Living, I went before my Isreal trip with my camp and Jared had gone with his family. The general consensus was that we did not want to go again but Gina said we had to because of some liability issue. The thing about going for a second time is all the curiosity and nerves turn into anxiety and dread. I really felt sick the whole way there. At Aushwitz I was given the option to stay in a café but I decided I would try and go. I figure I am the only one from my family who has gone, and maybe this time I could try and witness for them. As I walked under the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign, I watched everyone from my program take a picture of it and I thought about how glad I was to able to have that experience of seeing the camps with my friends and other Jews. After about the second exhibit it became too hard. I stopped walking with the tour before the “Plunder” room. I still had a crystal clear picture of what the thousands of glasses, shoes and clothes the Nazi stole looked like. I did not need to see it again. Instead I just walked around the camp and did not go into any of the rooms. It had the same quiet evil I remember from four years ago. The silence in the camp is deafening. Everyone wears headphones, so even the tour guides speak in a whisper. I realized that as much as I have grown and learned the whole idea of the Shoah still boggles my mind. Right now I am taking a class called “Comprehending the Holocaust” but it has only given me more questions. Afterwards, we took a short bus ride to Birkenau but I had had enough so I stayed on the bus with Ariella. Everyone got back on the bus, and it was interesting to see people’s responses. Some were sad and I could tell others really wanted to discuss what they had seen.
We rode back to Krakow and I had dinner with my roommates Molly and Ashley, our friends Paul, Ryan and Connor, our program directors Ana and Gina and two of our professors, one of which teaches my “Comprehending the Holocaust” class. The other professor suggested this restaurant which is housed in the cellar of an old theatre and Prince Edward used to like to come. The food was good but the company was better. Ana is Czech and talked to me about her life as a teenager during the revolution and my professor told me about some of his involvement with dissent from the party and his work on the academic striking committee after the Velvet Revolution. It was really interesting. After dinner everyone was really tired from a heavy day and hung out in the hostel bar and then went to bed.
Sunday
After some more bread and nutella and logistical issues we got on the bus to go to the Wieseczka Salt Mine where we would have a guided tour. After walking down 378 stairs we got to the mine, which I guess used to be a mine but now mostly
houses bizarre salt sculpture. Many of the sculptures were of gomes. On the right you can see Da Vinci's Last Supper...in salt. So it was pretty weird but it is apparently really famous. There was also a church and large room where people have parties. The tour guide also kept telling us different records the salt mine had for different things being furthest undground.
Afterwards I got on the bus and ate a bag lunch I bought at the hostel which was disgusting and we got home around 11.
Last weekend I went to Poland with my program, so about 40 other college students. Even though Krakow is pretty far away, we took a bus and it took about nine hours. Due to traffic(it was a holiday weekend) and fog we were slowed down. I had to stop looking out the window because the fog was freaking me out. I kept thinking about when dad told me about this terrible fog in Orlando and cars kept crashing into each other. We arrived around 4 am and I shared a big room with bunk beds with my freinds Dan, Paul, Ariella, Shaina, Molly, Ryan, and Alina. It was hard for me to sleep on the bus so I fell asleep right away.
Friday
We ate the free breakfast at the hostel, which was bread and Nutella and had a walking tour with one of the CERGE professors. We saw the old town square which dates back to the 13th century. There is a strong Catholic influence in Poland. St. Adalbert’s Church, and St. Mary’s Basilica. In St. Mary’s Basillica trumpets play from one of its windows every hour. People play music and stand still pretending to be statues hoping people will give them change. We overlooked the Vistula River and saw a statue of a dragon breathing real fire. There is dragon stuff everywhere in Poland because this story about a boy who slayed a dragon that was terrorizing Krakow. Some of what we saw were just ruins because even though Krakow is in better shape then Warwaw, some of the destruction from Austria is still present.
For lunch we found a little place the hostel suggested and I had a big plate of boiled cabbage pirogues which were actually really good. No one spoke any English and the service was ridiculously fast, they literally brought it to your table as you ordered. I think my meal cost about 10 zloty, which is about three dollars. Everything in Poland is so cheap. It is not as beautiful as Prague but I would not be surprised if it becomes the next popular place to do a study abroad semester. After lunch I went with my friend Ari to a bar where the Unsound Music Festival was taking place. We listened to the DJ and talked. Afterwards I went back to the hostel to have dinner with my school group. The restaurant was called Chimera and I enjoyed it. But we did see a mouse in the restaurant so that was pretty gross. Also, apparently the tap water in Poland is terrible so I drank out of bottles the whole time. Afterwards, everyone hung out in the bar below the hostel and then went back to the music festival.
Saturday
We all slept in and then went out and looked at some of the stores and the outdoor market. I really like the clothes in Europe. I bought something for mom at the market. For lunch we had more pirogues.
After lunch, we had to meet up with the buses to go to Auschwitz. Two other students and I had already been. Ariella went with the March of the Living, I went before my Isreal trip with my camp and Jared had gone with his family. The general consensus was that we did not want to go again but Gina said we had to because of some liability issue. The thing about going for a second time is all the curiosity and nerves turn into anxiety and dread. I really felt sick the whole way there. At Aushwitz I was given the option to stay in a café but I decided I would try and go. I figure I am the only one from my family who has gone, and maybe this time I could try and witness for them. As I walked under the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign, I watched everyone from my program take a picture of it and I thought about how glad I was to able to have that experience of seeing the camps with my friends and other Jews. After about the second exhibit it became too hard. I stopped walking with the tour before the “Plunder” room. I still had a crystal clear picture of what the thousands of glasses, shoes and clothes the Nazi stole looked like. I did not need to see it again. Instead I just walked around the camp and did not go into any of the rooms. It had the same quiet evil I remember from four years ago. The silence in the camp is deafening. Everyone wears headphones, so even the tour guides speak in a whisper. I realized that as much as I have grown and learned the whole idea of the Shoah still boggles my mind. Right now I am taking a class called “Comprehending the Holocaust” but it has only given me more questions. Afterwards, we took a short bus ride to Birkenau but I had had enough so I stayed on the bus with Ariella. Everyone got back on the bus, and it was interesting to see people’s responses. Some were sad and I could tell others really wanted to discuss what they had seen.
We rode back to Krakow and I had dinner with my roommates Molly and Ashley, our friends Paul, Ryan and Connor, our program directors Ana and Gina and two of our professors, one of which teaches my “Comprehending the Holocaust” class. The other professor suggested this restaurant which is housed in the cellar of an old theatre and Prince Edward used to like to come. The food was good but the company was better. Ana is Czech and talked to me about her life as a teenager during the revolution and my professor told me about some of his involvement with dissent from the party and his work on the academic striking committee after the Velvet Revolution. It was really interesting. After dinner everyone was really tired from a heavy day and hung out in the hostel bar and then went to bed.
Sunday
After some more bread and nutella and logistical issues we got on the bus to go to the Wieseczka Salt Mine where we would have a guided tour. After walking down 378 stairs we got to the mine, which I guess used to be a mine but now mostly
houses bizarre salt sculpture. Many of the sculptures were of gomes. On the right you can see Da Vinci's Last Supper...in salt. So it was pretty weird but it is apparently really famous. There was also a church and large room where people have parties. The tour guide also kept telling us different records the salt mine had for different things being furthest undground.Afterwards I got on the bus and ate a bag lunch I bought at the hostel which was disgusting and we got home around 11.
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