We woke up pretty early and feeling fresh. We thought we might need to. Today is Auschwitz/Birkenau visit day.
This was the bit of the trip I was most looking forward to and was the first thing I mentioned when deciding to go to Krakow. I have always had an interest in WW2 and it was a place I had always wanted to visit. I also have an interest and have previously Visited Robben Island in South Africa & Lemon Tree Prison in Vietnam. It couldn’t be any worse than them could it?
We chose to have a walk to the bus pick up point. This was about a 10-15 minute walk from the Old Market Square. The Pick up point was across from the Sheraton Grand Hotel on the River. We were to be picked up at 9am. It was a nice steady walk (flat ground) and we called for breakfast en-route. We also called into a mini-market and bought a sandwich, crisps and bottled pop (soda) to have for our lunch.
We booked a fully guided trip prior to going through TripAdvisor for £29. We didn’t see it any cheaper when we were in Krakow, so book it early at home if you can.
We got to the pick up point at around 8:50am and showed the driver our e-ticket. He scanned the bar code and let us on. He informed us that he expected to leave at around 9:10am due to 2 people informing him that they were running a little late.
The coach set off at around 9:10 as planned and the tour guide started giving us the welcoming information. He spoke very good English. (At the pick up point, there was coaches for speakers of other languages as well). He informed us of what to do when we arrived and passed us out tour sticker. This is to stick on your coat with the tour number on it, this is to keep everyone together.
The tour guide then played a video of Auschwitz. This was the footage collected by a Russian soldier during the liberation of Auschwitz/Birkenau and footage collected by the Red Army in the days, weeks & months afterwards. This gave you a little history of the camp and the time afterwards. At times the footage was pretty gruesome, however it put you in the frame of mind you needed to be in when you arrived. It kind of prepared you for what to expect. The video lasted about an hour, the coach ride was about 75-90 minutes. Shortly after the video finished, we arived at Auschwitz. If you do not wish to view the video, there is some pretty impressive buildings and countryside to look at through the coach window.
We arrived and I was somewhat surprised. You see photo’s and video’s of the tours on the internet and it seems a little sombre and quiet. It is quite the opposite. It is like the entrance to a theme park. Hundreds and hundreds of people stood around joyfully chatting, eating food from burger vans, smoking etc. You then join a massive queue to get your commentary earpiece before you are frogmarched to the main gate by the tour guide. He then informs you that we have to stay together, listen to him and keep up with him as we have a tight schedule to stick to. The guide was very friendly, approachable and had lots of knowledge by the way. I appreciate he has a schedule to stick to..
Our guide to the left and the rest of our group. Arbeit Macht Frei – Work sets you free. The famous entrance gate into Auschwitz.
The weather was very misty in the morning for the Auschwitz leg of the tour and added to the eeriness & quietness of the camp. We walked through the camp and visited the various buildings within the camp. In the various buildings there are several displays and collections, these include the prisoners shoes, suitcases, documents, transfer papers, prisoners HAIR, Zyklon B cannisters plus many other things. You also visit the wall of death, the area where public hangings were carried out, the gallows where the Camp Commandant was hanged and the tour finishes at the gas chamber and crematorium.
I think everyone is aware of everything that happened at Auschwitz and I feel there is nothing I can add to it. I think it is a place that everyone needs to visit in their lifetime to fully appreciate what actually happened here and the scale of it.
We then handed our earpieces in to the staff and went back to the coach. We were given about 45 minutes to eat our lunch before we got back to the coach for the 5 minute journey to Birkenau. Please note: We were allowed to eat our food on the coach.
I found the visit to Auschwitz very interesting, However, I did not enjoy the trip. I know people will say you shouldn’t enjoy a trip to a former concentration camp, what I mean is I didn’t like the tour. You couldn’t look at the displays properly, you couldn’t get close enough to the information boards to read them, you didn’t get enough time to read them and look at the displays, it was VERY VERY rushed. You had the group behind you pushing you out of the way as well as several tour groups looking at the same things at the same time. This meant multiple tour guides explaining things in many languages, lots of people talking etc. Some of the displays I can’t even remember seeing. It was a case of get as many people through as quickly as possible. We went on the remembrance weekend (UK Remembrance) (Polish Freedom weekend), maybe this played a part in the numbers visiting? I don’t know. maybe people can let me know if it is always like this? It would have been nice to have a stroll through at my own pace and fully take in what I was viewing and reading.
The souvenir shops and cafe are very busy and the queue for the toilets is about 10 mins. If you can wait, go to the toilets at Birkenau.
As you can see on the photo below, the queues were the same for every building and inside the buildings.
We then moved on to Birkenau. As soon as you arrive you realise the vast size of the camp. It is absolutely huge. The mist had cleared at this stage and we had bright blue sky. We still couldn’t see the other side of the camp due to its vastness. We got off the coach and walked 100 yards to the Gates of Death. This is where the trains would pass through on the way in in.
In Birkenau, our guide was much more relaxed and the pace slowed. This maybe because of the openness of the camp. We walked along the train tracks to where the prisoners would get off and be selected for work or death. Our guide was encouraging questions and talking with individuals alot more. Whilst we followed the guide, it was very much at our own pace. You could take in what happened here a lot more and be alone with your thoughts. It is true what they say about Birkenau, you never see and birds and it is deathly quiet. You trulycan’t imagine what it must have been like to be here. It is very sombre experience.
We spent some time at the infamous Krema 2 (crematorium 2) and then walked to the Barrack of Death. This is the barrack where they put the ill to die. They would just leave them there to starve. Many of them would be dead in a few days. This concluded the tour. We then had a group get together with the tour guide for questions and discussion before leaving the camp. There is souvenir shops and a cafe at Birkenau, this is much quieter than Auschwitz.
I called to the souvenir shop and bought a nice post card set for about £1.50. I looked at some of the books but decided to buy them when I got home. I have since bought 2 of the books I looked at, on Amazon for the same price, if not less. The two below are a very good read.
We then returned to the coach for our Journey back to Krakow. Once again this took about 75 minutes. The driver dropped people off at 4 different locations. He dropped us off next to the Old Market Square.
Evening
We went back to the apartment to shower and change before going for a meal we had booked. It was my birthday the following day, so Ben (TomTom) and Charlotte (Carol) suggested we did something nice. Well, it started nice then turned into typical beer related fun.
We booked a table at a restaurant just outside the Square called Restauracja Padre. The restaurant was beautiful, the sevice was excellent & the food was stunnning. The 4 of us had 3 courses each along with 2-3 beers/wines each. The total cost was around £100. I have since recommended it to friends who have visited and they have all been here and loved it. I can’t praise the restaurant enough.
We finished the evening firstly in the Jewish Quarter and went in a lovely preserved bar/restaurant called Chajim Kohan. This is a group of shops/bars that have been preserved to look exactly the same as they did when the Jews were evicted to the ghetto’s.
We visited some of the local bars in the area before heading back to the Market Square for Boxing and more drinks.
Summary
This is the end of my first blog. It has taken a while, but I got there in the end. I have now covered my 3 days in Krakow. The next day, I just went to the airport, then home. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Krakow and it is a stunning place to visit.
If you have read my blog, please like my pages. I am considering writing a blog for all the other places I have visited? Do you think I should?
I have some other trips for this year too, Notably South Africa again. I will continue blogging on future travel.
If this is the first page of mine you have read, please visit days 1 & 2.
Please also read why I have started blogging
Boe’s Travels 