Krakow and Auschtwitz, Poland

My 2 day trip to this city was an absolutely life changing, mind-boggling experience. I met the sweetest and the kindest people, had the tastiest food and saw the most emotionally moving or touching places. I am so grateful to have experienced this wonderful place with all of it's history and love. I arrived in Krakow early in the morning and I met a French person on the flight with whom I hit it off. I asked him if it was okay to travel with him and he agreed wholeheartedly. I had to go to my hosts place later that afternoon and she lived in a village accessible by train so it was quite nice to be able to visit the town of Krakow before seeing this tiny hamlet. 

My friend had rented a car in advance and so we went and picked up his car and started travelling towards the inside of the town. We visited a bunch of places and I no longer remember any of their names. By the way, Polish is one of the most challenging Latin languages to pronounce and so I remember me trying to say but butchering their words!

Anyway, Krakow, it's incredibly beautiful.

The Head

This monument is located in the stark centre of the city. It does not have eyes an is supposed to symbolise a powerless slave. I think it was a beautiful structure and the location was quite nice as well. 

The General Buildings

The historical centre is laden with out-of-the-ordinary, different styles of architecture. In fact, I have not seen this kind anywhere other than here. It was really cool to see. The bricks are mostly red and it gives an incredibly rich and smooth feeling.

The Krokow Bagel (Obwarzanek)

Krakow is the only place that has street food carts like back in India and they all sell this special regional food, this twisted braided bagel. The recipe is special because the dough has to be boiled before this is made and it was extremely cheap. The polish currency is zloty. 4 zloty is one euro and that is the very modest cost of this bagel. I was so happy to see these at every corner of the road!

Interesting Bronze structures, among other things

There are many interesting bronze monuments in the main historic centre that are so worth seeing. The architecture is very varied and if you were to take a walk within the town, just in the centre, every 2-3 minutes, you would stumble upon a stunning piece of one. CASE IN POINT:

The Holy Trinity Church

It also has really cool structures and paintings on the inside as well as the outside

St Peter and St Paul Basilica

Wawel Castle and Cathedral

This place is very enticing to look at, it is very beautiful and the features and rustic as well as modern and soft. 

The House of Hans Frank

What an abomination of a man and one of the horrible people responsible for the deaths of the jews and the poles. I will not say much more. Horrible people are horrible. 

Pierogi and other regional delights

I learnt how to make Pierogi from my host!! Here is the recipe among others! Recipes

It is a dish from Poland's communist era where stuff was scarce and hence it was necessary to use what you had to make the best stuff from it. I can attest that it is totally the best stuff. Yum. 

There was also a compound of cabbage and meat products, if you guys know the name, please put it in the comments!

Okay, I am taking a pause here from the monuments. Honestly, if you were to google the monuments, you would find them too, right? 

My experience, however, was different by the beautiful people I met, the wonderful experiences I had and the learning that happened along the way. Krakow was a journey. 

I also visited Auschtwitz, the largest concentration camp controlled by the SS in the Nazi regime. I had heard stories about the entire process, about the cruelty and inhumanity and the magnitude of deaths but nothing came close to going there, and seeing it. Seeing the belongings of the people, the babies, the women.. everyone. Realising the extent of brutality possessed by humankind. I was so shaken that I did not want to be here anymore, on a planet where hatred sprouts and flourishes so easily. It is harrowingly loathsome. The energy that I felt there, I have never felt anywhere else. The number of people, the number of stories, we cannot begin to fathom the amplitude. It is spine-chilling. 

Here are a few photos. I took them with the utmost respect in my heart, for enlightenment and never being ignorant of the malicious around me. 

The canisters of the gas used in the chambers

Belongings of some of the older victims that were confiscated by SS

One of the thousand rooms full of photos of the victims

A dorm which was usually flooded with the women to be killed next

Just a tiny glimpse of the mountains of shoes stolen from the victims and confiscated

The bags of the victims

That is heavy, I know. 

Let us stop here. 

Aditi's recommendations

• There is good and cheap food in Krakow and in Poland. Try it as much as you can.
• Please do not forget to taste polish sausages. They are really different and super yummy.
• Take the train to the further places as it is very easy to navigate and cheap. 
• Talk to the Polish people, they are very nice. 
• Make friends there. 
• Do not forget the little villages, those are the real gems of Poland. 

That's all for Krakow. Thank you for reading.