June 15: So this morning, I overheard the plans of the roommates and decided since they had already figured out the logistics, I would go along to visit Auschwitz. I've been to the Holocaust Memorial in D.C., I've been to places like Omaha Beach, and I've heard all of the stories about the history. Nothing compares to walking through the gas chambers where millions of people were misled into believing they were going to get a shower. Nor does any of it compare to standing outside of the ovens used to dispose of over 2 million bodies.
Backing up, I hopped the bus in the morning, got to Auschwitz and was unhappily surprised to see food and souvenir kiosks outside. It seemed a bit disprespectful to me. However, I quickly went inside the compound and paid for my tour. It started with a video explaining the basics of what happened for anybody who wasn't familiar with it, then a walking tour through Auschwitz I, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the bigger of the two camps, about 3km down the road). A little factoid: they got their names from the city they're in: Oswiecim.
First step was through the gate: it read Work sets you Free. This was surrounded by electrified barbed-wire fences. We then went through many of the buildings where people were to stay, saw the beds, rooms, facilities, etc. Without too many details: the process tended to go something along the lines of people would arrive, be forced to strip down for a "shower", be gased by a chemical known as zyklon B, and be disposed of. This consisted of shaving their hair to sell as raw material for fabric, removing gold teeth, sorting all of their posessions, and then burning them. However, this took too long in the ovens, so they would make piles in the woods to get the job done more quickly. How, HOW was this kept quiet? The point about shaving their hair etc. was to explain part of what we saw. When the camp was liberated, they found tons of human hair, over a million sets of shoes and clothes, piles upon piles of eyeglasses, toothbrushes, prosthetics, etc. Basically anything that could be salvaged, was taken and stored. It was crazy to walk through the halls of these things and think that each shoe, each pair of pants, each comb belonged to someone exterminated there.
Well, it wasn't over. I then made my way over to Birkenau, which was the setting of Schindler's List, with the railroad track, etc. This was where many of the "scientific experiements" took place. They were testing poisons on children etc. Here, the process was a bit different. It was mostly the same as above, except that as soon as the people arrived on the trains (up to 8,000 per day), they were sorted into those fit for working, those worth experimenting on, and everyone else. Everyone else was killed like at the other camp. I'll stop with the gory details, but the experience was surreal to be walking in this place.
Well, then it was back on the bus to head back to Krakow and catch some sleep to get ready for the next day.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Follow the Yellow Brick Road? Poland Day 0
June 14: So what's the best way to get to Krakow? Get there any way you want, but you probably don't want to follow me. To begin with, I was running late, but wanted to get a gift for my friend who is letting me stay with her for free in Denmark later this week - so I got a box of Neuhaus chocolates.
I just made it to the train, but then the train was running a little bit late. Also, I apparently filled out my ticket wrong and had to convince the person validating them that I wasn't trying to cheat them out of 4 euros. Then, because the train was late, I missed the bus to the airport meaning I had to grab a taxi. Ugh.
All was fine with the flight until I realized that while I thought I had all of my hostel information and directions written down as I usually do (with more information than I'll ever need), I had nothing more than the hostel name... oh yea because I had forgotten my map on the floor in my room. So I'm sittting on the bus that runs between the airport and the city center with a bunch of Polish people.. and I started to get a bit nervous. All I knew was that it was going to be nearly 11 pm by the time we arrived and that my hostel was somewhere on the opposite side of Krakow from the bus station. So - I started talking. I heard some Americans and thought they might have a guidebook. They didn't, but they told me to talk to the Polish guy behind them.... the guy who spoke no english and just looked at me like I was crazy.
It turns out that while he spoke no english, he understood... because about a half hour later he handed me a telephone with his son on the other end who offered to have a friend look up the hostel and get me directions. Fabulous! Well, when we got to the bus station, they also realized that it was on the opposite end of town and insisted on giving me a ride. Well, they were nice and the son was cute so hey.. why not. ;) I ended up getting a free tour around Krakow by night and a ride to the door. I did end up saying goodbye to that box of chocolates that I bought earlier in a last ditch effort to say thank you. Anyways, I made it! And I was greeted by my roommates: 4 English and 3 Irish guys. Oy... it's going to be a long trip.
I just made it to the train, but then the train was running a little bit late. Also, I apparently filled out my ticket wrong and had to convince the person validating them that I wasn't trying to cheat them out of 4 euros. Then, because the train was late, I missed the bus to the airport meaning I had to grab a taxi. Ugh.
All was fine with the flight until I realized that while I thought I had all of my hostel information and directions written down as I usually do (with more information than I'll ever need), I had nothing more than the hostel name... oh yea because I had forgotten my map on the floor in my room. So I'm sittting on the bus that runs between the airport and the city center with a bunch of Polish people.. and I started to get a bit nervous. All I knew was that it was going to be nearly 11 pm by the time we arrived and that my hostel was somewhere on the opposite side of Krakow from the bus station. So - I started talking. I heard some Americans and thought they might have a guidebook. They didn't, but they told me to talk to the Polish guy behind them.... the guy who spoke no english and just looked at me like I was crazy.
It turns out that while he spoke no english, he understood... because about a half hour later he handed me a telephone with his son on the other end who offered to have a friend look up the hostel and get me directions. Fabulous! Well, when we got to the bus station, they also realized that it was on the opposite end of town and insisted on giving me a ride. Well, they were nice and the son was cute so hey.. why not. ;) I ended up getting a free tour around Krakow by night and a ride to the door. I did end up saying goodbye to that box of chocolates that I bought earlier in a last ditch effort to say thank you. Anyways, I made it! And I was greeted by my roommates: 4 English and 3 Irish guys. Oy... it's going to be a long trip.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Prague Calling
June 8-11: Well I finished exams and studying and am now on a last minute tour of Europe. I flew to Prague on Sunday without too many issues. The problems started after I landed. I got to the city and it turns out that my directions weren't so great. I was walking towards a castle instead of a church, and probably would have continued had I not met Alexander from Belarus. He was walking and looked as innocent as I was so I started a conversation and managed to spend 2 hours walking around lost in Prague. FINALLY I found my hostel which turned out to be in a little quaint lane off of the old main square. It was cute and quiet and perfect. I then spent the last hours of the day wandering around getting a feel for the city. The day was over, but the life at the hostel wasn't, and I met quite a few people, learned about accounting in the UAE, and learned how to play Euchre with some guys from Purdue.
In the morning, I got up and took a walking tour to see all of the different types of architecture in the city, as well as to find out a general overview of the city's history. Then it was walking around a bit more, and hanging out in the old square. They had set up some big screens to show the EuroFest 2008 soccer games, so that was fun. Later that night, my friends showed up, and we met up to go check out the Charles Bridge, where we just sat for a while taking pictures, watching boats come in, and enjoying the lights of the castle. Then... it was off to bed.
On the 10th, we spent the better part of the day touring the castle/palace and everything that it included. There was the Vitus Cathedral, the Golden Lane, the National Gallery, etc. It was beautiful and took us up until about 4 or 5 o'clock to get through everything. We decided to go visit the castle gardens, but apparently took a wrong turn and found ourselves hiking on rickity wooden planks through a mini-forest about 30 feet straight up from the road. Well, we finally made it back to civilization after about 45 minutes of wandering and decided it was time to try a Czech beer: Gambrinus. It was fabulous, even better than the Belgian beers. Then, we wandered the city some more, spend some more time at the Charles Bridge, stopped by a little music place on the river, and turned in for bed.
In the morning, I was enjoying the outskirts of the city, just wandering around people-watching, etc. Then I headed off to the airport to head back home to Brussels. Hopefully the next post will have more historical/interesting information and maybe even some pictures. Don't count on it though - my camera has decided to stop working and I don't really have the cash for another one. We'll see what I can work out.
In the morning, I got up and took a walking tour to see all of the different types of architecture in the city, as well as to find out a general overview of the city's history. Then it was walking around a bit more, and hanging out in the old square. They had set up some big screens to show the EuroFest 2008 soccer games, so that was fun. Later that night, my friends showed up, and we met up to go check out the Charles Bridge, where we just sat for a while taking pictures, watching boats come in, and enjoying the lights of the castle. Then... it was off to bed.
On the 10th, we spent the better part of the day touring the castle/palace and everything that it included. There was the Vitus Cathedral, the Golden Lane, the National Gallery, etc. It was beautiful and took us up until about 4 or 5 o'clock to get through everything. We decided to go visit the castle gardens, but apparently took a wrong turn and found ourselves hiking on rickity wooden planks through a mini-forest about 30 feet straight up from the road. Well, we finally made it back to civilization after about 45 minutes of wandering and decided it was time to try a Czech beer: Gambrinus. It was fabulous, even better than the Belgian beers. Then, we wandered the city some more, spend some more time at the Charles Bridge, stopped by a little music place on the river, and turned in for bed.
In the morning, I was enjoying the outskirts of the city, just wandering around people-watching, etc. Then I headed off to the airport to head back home to Brussels. Hopefully the next post will have more historical/interesting information and maybe even some pictures. Don't count on it though - my camera has decided to stop working and I don't really have the cash for another one. We'll see what I can work out.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Studying by the Seaside:Oostende and Bruges
So the past 2 weeks have really been filled with studying, writing papers and taking exams, but I'm nearly finished! May 21: I had to take advantage of my location. I 
have been studying in my room so much lately that I decided to take a break. There was a train in the morning that got me up to Oostende, which is Belgium's largest seaside city, by about 11. It was beautiful and definitely had a very nautical feeling. After walking around town a little bit, seeing the cathedral, and the main monuments, I took some time to relax and study on the beach. A word of caution: no matter how long it has been since you've walked along the beach, never forget that the sea can create some surprisingly large waves. Now is the time where I add in another hour of studying while I waited for my jeans to dry. :0)
have been studying in my room so much lately that I decided to take a break. There was a train in the morning that got me up to Oostende, which is Belgium's largest seaside city, by about 11. It was beautiful and definitely had a very nautical feeling. After walking around town a little bit, seeing the cathedral, and the main monuments, I took some time to relax and study on the beach. A word of caution: no matter how long it has been since you've walked along the beach, never forget that the sea can create some surprisingly large waves. Now is the time where I add in another hour of studying while I waited for my jeans to dry. :0)
Well, I didn't stay all day because I was meeting up with my bible study group in Brussels that night and I wanted to check out Bruges again. If you've been following the blog, you probably know that I went there a few months ago, when it was a bit chilly. It's like whole different place now, filled with markets, beautiful flowers, and bikes galore. I'm glad I got a chance to see it again. After walking around for a bit, it was back for another Wednesday evening in Brussels.