June 29, 2015: European Rail Trip: Day 5: Krakow, Poland

There are no words...

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: KRAKOW

GREETINGS FROM KRAKÓW

Today my friends we have chosen to take a tour to Auschwitz & Birkenau.  
Coming into this trip and knowing that it was on the itinerary we had expected the emotionally exhausting experience. But nothing can prepare you for being there in person.
 
With that being said, please also note that it is not suggested for the kids and it is even stated that children under the age of 12 are not recommended.
(more on this visit further down in the column)

Elisa and I had just come from having another fabulous day is Prague -

On the Train

From Letna Park in Prague

Old Town Square - Prague

Being shown around and touring like locals rather than tourists, we went to the city parks, ate at FARM, which is a great lunch spot that Elisa will be featuring in an upcoming FOODIE FRIDAY!

Being silly at FARM

We saw the BEST VIEW in Prague, strolled the neighborhood of Letna, sipped a vegan cappuccino with the warm sun caressing the skin of my bare shoulders in the lovely and relaxing patio of Love Kido, and we even spent time listening to a local "cooler than cool" DJ play he choice of tunes at the beer gardens in Stromovka Park where we watched a sweet senior couple take to the dance floor.

Cheers!

It was yet another fantastic day spent in Prague thanks to Carlos! 
We honestly couldn't have seen, tasted, or learned so much about Prague without him. But eventually we had to part ways as we were headed back to the Old Town in preparations of catching our train.

I did however manage to squeeze in a bit of strolling and shopping in old town once Elisa and I finished having a bite back at the hotels rooftop terrace restaurant - which btw has breathtaking and absolutely GORGEOUS views!

Following our busy day it was time to say good bye to Prague and head to Kraków via the night train. And we can honestly say that it wasn't terrible! Lol

We entered our little cell, oh I mean room on the train and we didn't even have room to change our minds! Such an itty bitty space, with two miniature beds (bunkbed style), a tiny closet, and tiny vanity/sink..

Luckily neither of us have claustrophobia... 

After many laughs about our situation, we finally bedded down and I slept like a baby.

The room is soooo tiny!

Waking up about an hour before arriving in Kraków we excitedly looked out the window and awaited our new destination!

Once we got to the hotel, we had a very limited amount of downtime being that we had a slight issue to deal with...

If you recall our train tickets being off by a day, this meant that our tour to Auschwitz and to the Weiliszka Salt Mine was now on day one and we had only realized as of last night that the tour guide was scheduled to pick us up at a previously reserved apartment rather than the hotel that we changed it to and are staying at, and with only had an hour to get in touch with and adjust our pick up. Ugh

To find out more read Elisa's side of the column.

Please note that the pictures that I took from Auschwitz can be very depressing - so therefore I will NOT be posting them on the Daily. 
However you will be able to find them in a future link that I will publish in case you are interested in seeing them.

Okay, I'm pooped & of course have lots to do tomorrow...so I'll be on my way!
-T

PLEASE NOTE that when ever Elisa and I are travelin' together that it is important to read both columns - otherwise there will be some gaps in the information and some stories will be incomplete.

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: KRAKOW

Last Day in Prague - First Day in Krakow

Greetings from Krakow, Poland!!!

Tanya and I arrived here early this morning after taking a sleeper train from Prague last night.   

What an adventure that was!!! The train ride from Prague to krakow was actually not that bad.  It was very tight quarters, which you can see from the pictures that Tanya posted.
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I took the bottom bunk and Tanya took the top.  After laughing quite hard after Tanya said how we had to leave the sleeper car to change our minds (one of my all-time favorite expressions!), I actually slept ok. 

Maneuvering around the room with the suitcases, and the small "bathroom" area was tough, but it was really great fun to travel this way together!!

Woke up this morning at 6AM, since we were scheduled to pull into Krakow station a little before 7AM. 

We didn't have much time to be tired, since we had to be at the hotel to be picked up by 8:30 for our tour to Aushwictz & Birkenau and the Weiliszka Salt mines.

More on those tours in a moment.  First, let me tell you about our day yesterday - our last day in Prague and our second day being shown around by Tanya's friend, Carlos, a Prague ex-pat.

Because time was tight on Saturday, Carlos met us a second day and brought us to Letna where we not only got to experience a more residential area of Prague, but we also went to two of the most lovely parks in the city, with incredible views!

Views from Letna Park in Prague

What was so great about having Carlos as our guide was how he imparted on us the "local" lifestyle of Prague.  As he said, "everyone visits the tourist sights and locations, but not everyone has a chance to see how the Czechs live."

And that was precisely what he did for us!! 
The first park we visited was Letna Park, in Prague 7, which has some of the best views of the city.  Within this park is the "Metronome", currently a popular place with the young people to hang out and drink beer.  

The Metronome is where the old statue of Stalin once stood. Now this area, represents freedom, the polar opposite from the communist era.

Within Letna Park is the Nvlany Pavillion which is a beer garden and restaurant since 1891.  From this vantage point, 8 of Prague's bridges are visible.

From here, we headed over to FARM for lunch, a wonderful restaurant that serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian offerings and even some vegan dishes!  I will be doing a Foodie Friday feature on this wonderful little eatery!

Carlos treated Tanya and I to a fabulous little dessert after lunch at Kido, which is located on one of the most picturesque blocks in Letna.  (incidentally, it had some kick-ass pistachio ice cream!).

At Farm Restaurant

Our last stop was Stromovka Park - another scenic park with lots of locals enjoying their Sunday afternoon.  Originally a hunting preserve dating back to 1300, it is now full of beer gardens, running paths, and pavilions.  There is also a local train that passes through this park.

Carlos brought us to a small bandstand area where there was a DJ and the locals were dancing.  We bought some fresh lemonade and just sat and enjoyed our surroundings. I video-taped this adorable couple!

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Stromovka Park

A funny and inappropriate little story -- yesterday we were walking around and Carlos told us we had to go to the street called Dejvice Bubenec.  Jokingly, as we were taking photos, Tanya bumped her boobs into me and I started calling her "Bubenec."  Here's a great shot of her Bubenecs.

With a train to catch at 10PM, Tanya and I said our goodbyes to Carlos and headed back to the Hotel U Prince in the Old Town (Stare Mesto).  We decided to finally make our way up to the Terrace of the hotel for a quick bite to eat and some great shots of the amazing views!!! 

On the Terrace of the U Prince Hotel in Stare Mesto (Old Town) Prague

Slirping up some Spaghetti Aglio Olio

Entrance at Auschwitz

OKAY - so back to TODAY - Our First Day in Krakow... What a lovely city!!

Now, as I had mentioned, we took an overnight train from Prague and arrived quite early.  Our day was going to be filled with touring two sites -- The Auschwitz -Birkenau Museum and The Wieliczka Salt Mine.

Our driver picked us up at 8:50Am at our hotel and along with another couple - a delightful mother and son, we drove an hour out of Krakow to the place where the two biggest NAZI concentration camps were located.

On the way, the driver played a film for us called "The Liberation of Auschwitz" which featured the filmed footage of the only living Soviet filmmaker of the liberation of these camps.  

There are no words for what was shown in this film.  The inhumanity and calculated cruelty is unimaginable.  I really cannot say anything more about this visit. It as a somber, sad and shocking experience. 

The only thought I am left with is that evil is a very hard concept to get one's thoughts around.  If the effort and passion used by the NAZIS was used for altruistic and humanitarian purposes, who knows how advanced the human race might have been from their efforts.

Memorial in Birkenau (Auschwitz 2)

Our last stop of the day was the Weiliszka Salt Mine.  BABY it's cold inside!!  This place was very cool (no pun intended), but I found the tour a bit too long.

On the Unesco List since 1978, each year it is visited by more than one million tourists from all over the world. I encourage you to click the link to read more about this salt mine which has a 700+ year history!

Statue of John Paul II carved out of salt

Tanya and I are pretty delirious at this point as we write this blog. So, I think it's time for me to go to bed - - 

See ya back here tomorrow.

-E
xoxo