Birkenau

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.

Krakow – Day 1 – 08/11/2018

Krakow – Day 2 – 09/11/2018

Please also read why I have started blogging

Why am I doing this?

Krakow – Day 2 – 09/11/2018

We woke up from a long first day in Krakow. We were all pretty fresh as well considering the amount of Tyskie we consumed the night before (Fantastic Beer by the way). We were all hungry though, so we showered and set off in pursuit of some breakfast.

We thought the best place to look for breakfast would be the Market Square. We looked at various menu’s of the different cafe’s and restaurants before deciding to eat at a restaurant called Gehanowska – Pod Sloncem. Although it is November, The weather was very mild and quite warm. This allowed us to sit outside and eat breakfast whilst watching the world go by. For breakfast I ordered an English breakfast (as Yorkshire people do), this consisted of : One fried egg with Grilled bacon, Fried champignones, white sausage, 2 toast and kidney beans, this costing around 30zl (£6). I had absolutely no complaints, the food was perfect and one of the best sausages I have eaten.

Whilst eating breakfast we planned the day ahead. Because we had taken the buggy ride the day before we had a good idea of the things we wanted to see. We had an hour walking around the market Square and looking in the little shops and market stalls. We then made our way over to the Bazylika Mariacka W Krakow (St Mary’s Basilica). We went to the booking shop next to the church and asked to do the tour and tower. Unfortunately the tower was fully booked up so we had to settle for entry to the church only (10zl – £2).

Saint Mary’s Basilica is a Brick Gothic church adjacent to the Main Market Square in Kraków. Built in the 14th century, its foundations date back to the early 13th century and serve as one of the best examples of Polish Gothic architecture. Standing 80 m (262 ft) tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz).

On every hour, a trumpet signal—called the Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of Saint Mary’s two towers. The plaintive tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate the famous 13th century trumpeter, who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before the Mongol attack on the city. The noon-time hejnał is heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station.

Saint Mary’s Basilica also served as an architectural model for many of the churches that were built by the Polish diaspora abroad, particularly those like Saint Michael’s and Saint John Cantius in Chicago, designed in the Polish Cathedral style.

The church is simply STUNNING. Although I am not religious or an architect, I was amazed by it. The size, the colours, the sculptures. It is simply stunning. I have visited the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona although probably more famous than St Mary’s, St Mary’s is better. All money raised from the admission fees goes to restoring the church for future generations. It was probably the best £2 I have ever spent.

When we came out of the church, we walked around looking at the buildings and square connected to the church,

We then decided to head towards the Old Jewish Quarter. We initially planned to hire bicycles for the day but decided to walk instead. To get to the Jewish Quarter on foot takes around 20 minutes. Along the way are lots of Cafe’s, restaurants & shops. We called in a few shops for a browse, Ben was still hungry (as always) so he bought a pretzel. We took a slight detour and visited the Jewish Cemetery, I say a detour, reality is we got lost (blame Ben, Mr Tom Tom himself). We arrived at the Old Jewish Quarter (Kazimierz) about an hour after setting off. Here you find an array of restaurants, bars, street stalls etc. We bought some mini ornaments and watercolour prints from one of the street stalls, all for around 15zl (£3). There is also lots of taxi’s available here, and is a stop off for the buggy tours. At the end of the square is The Old Synagogue and Museum.

The area is very peaceful and calm and a perfect place to sit outside for food and drinks. The Ariel Hotel & restaurant is where Spielberg stayed whilst filming Schindlers List.

Kazimierz – the district south of the Old Town between the Wisła River and ul. Dietla (where a tributary of the Wisła once flowed) was the centre of Jewish life in Kraków for over 500 years, before it was systematically destroyed during World War II. In the communist era it became one of Kraków’s dodgiest districts while gradually falling into disrepair. Rediscovered in the 1990s, thanks to the fall of the regime and worldwide exposure through the lens of Steven Spielberg, Kazimierz has rebounded and is today Kraków’s most exciting district – a bustling, bohemian neighbourhood packed with historical sites, atmospheric cafes and art galleries. Well-known for its associations with Schindler and Spielberg, traces of Kazimierz’s Jewish history have not only survived, but literally abound in the form of the district’s numerous synagogues and Jewish cemeteries.

We stopped and had a few beers and wine at the bar/restaurant next door to Ariel’s called Ester. This is located on Szeroka Street. They had a large selection of beers, wines, spirits and cocktails. We once again sat outside and blankets were provided for every table. They also had outdoor patio heaters to keep us warm. The staff were very pleasant and helpful with any questions we had.

Szeroka Street, which is really more a square than it is a street, represents the heart of the old Jewish district. It was around here, back in the fourteenth century that settlers first laid down their roots in the area and the sense of a medieval market place is still palpable. Two of the most important synagogues are to be found here, the Old and the Remuh, and the latter has a small cemetery attached. A number of cafes and restaurants have sprung up in recent years, and these have an emphasis on Jewish traditions. They are, undeniably, squarely aimed at tourists, but they have been done tastefully, providing a dignified and, at times, vibrant echo of a now lost world.

Szeroka is well preserved and, with its rambling roof-line and quaint merchant houses, it is a deeply evocative place.

In the northern part of the square there is a ring of maple trees. Beneath it one finds a small monument hewn from a large, unprepossessing rock. The inscription reads:

Place of meditation upon the martyrdom of 65 thousand Polish citizens of Jewish nationality from Cracow.

After a few drinks and a look around, we took a walk over the river towards the Ghetto’s and in particular to the Ghetto Heroes Square. This was another places we visited on the city Buggy tour. whilst here we did some sightseeing and spent some time at the square looking at the chairs and reading about the chemist on the corner. This was the first time on the trip that I really thought about what happened to the Jewish people during the war. It gave me (us) an overwhelming feeling of sadness. It really made us realise the horrors of what they must have gone through. (Since returning home, I am reading quite a lot about this area & what happened through the eyes of the people who were there). The Chair display is a way to make people realise, so that it never happens again.

The Chairs in Ghetto Heroes Square – When the jews were asked to leave the ghetto they were told to take their prized possessions and one small suitcase to start a new life. So most took a chair with them to have some where to sit in their new homes. That tram stop at the station next to the square is where they sent them direct to Auschwitz. The chairs are a memorial to remind people of their suffering.

It was now late afternoon and starting to get dark. We decided to get the Tram back to the Old Market Square. These are every 5 minutes or so and cost 1.90zl (£0.40p) each. Please be aware that the tickets are only valid for 4o minutes. There are no conductors that I am aware of on the tram, however there is a machine for you to insert your ticket.

We got off the tram at the Old Market Square and went for a few drinks at the Bull whilst deciding what to have for evening meal. We went to an Italian in the Old Market Square called The Spaghetti. The décor, atmosphere and service and price of the food was really good as was the food. However, the portions were pretty small and we left feeling a little hungry still. We finished the day with a couple of drinks around the square then went back to the apartment (Sober).

Day 3 is Auschwitz/Birkenau.

If you have enjoyed reading this, please read about Days 1 & 3

Krakow – Day 1 – 08/11/2018

Krakow – Day 3 -10/11/2018 – Auschwitz/Birkenau