Day Tripping: Zakopane and a tank ride.

Europe is such an interesting place. Even after the best part of 7 months here, I am still surprised by it. Right now, I am surprised by how much I love Poland. Not because I ever thought it wouldn’t be good, just that it has exceeded my expectations in so many ways. Firstly, months ago in Warswaw, a place with spirit and pluck, despite its horrendous past. Secondly in Krakow, the picturesque party town with delicious food and finally at Zakopane, a slice of alpine paradise in the south of the country.

Zakopane.

Zakopane reminded me of places I have never been. The houses were little triangles in rolling green hills, how I imagine life in The Alps is. The mountains are covered with tall pine trees, like I imagine the forests of Canada are. In short, the place is beautiful. Mountains, lakes and thick forests. Its also really, really cold. In fact its the coldest I have been since leaving on my adventure. Luckily the scenery made up for it.

A Tatra house.

My day trip to Zakopane was mostly taken up by hiking to Morskie Oko lake. I explored the town in the morning, but after I had walked up the one street that made up the town and wandered through some markets I had covered most of the town and it was time to hit the lake. Morskie Oko is set in the Tatra Mountains under a mountain that is nearly 2,500 metres tall. We took a mini-bus that whizzed out of the township and up to the Tatras. The driver really put the pedal to the metal here and I was feeling quite ill as we hit the corners at break-neck speed. Once we arrived at the national park we began the almost 2 hour walk to the lake. The hike was a mild incline all the way with lots of misty mountains, waterfalls, elk, autumn leaves and general beauty to distract me from my utter lack of fitness. Once we arrived at the lake, the heavens opened and the clouds rolled in over the photos, it was eerie and beautiful.

Morskie Oko.

Since the weather and sunset was closing in, we took a horse and carriage back down to the bottom of the mountain. Much easier.

Our ride.

After a beautiful and relaxing day, what better way to counteract it than with an adrenaline rush the very next one? The action of the story now takes place just over the border, back in Slovakia, where I went for a casual ride in an ex-military tank. I am so grateful for this trip. I do things I never thought I would. Zip-lining over canyons, para-sailing, partying in caves, eating perogies for every meal and now, riding in a tank through a muddy, hilly, steep obstacle course. Our driver was a maniacal Slovakian who delighted in our screams of terror. He would often turn around and grin just before he went down a steep hill or turn around and ask if we were alright with a look of glee on his face. The course went through forest, up and down hills, through a river and all of it was simultaneously hilarious and petrifying. My heart continued to pump long after I had returned to the bus and my memories of how much fun I had will last.

Just because I haven’t written a lot, here’s another picture of the beautiful Tatra Mountains. Isn’t it obvious why I love Poland?

I love Poland.

Krakow: it’s pronounced ‘Krak-ov’.

Krakow is vibrant, beautiful, exciting, relaxed but I was in a rush!

Town Square.

It’s been a long time between drinks, but after my first visit all the way back in June, (thanks, Schengen) I have returned to Poland to see the beautiful and highly recommended Krakow (pronounced Krak-ov). This place has the largest town square in Europe, a fun party scene, history and lovely people.

He’s everywhere!

On the way from Moravia into Poland, we stopped at infamous Nazi death camps Auchwitz and Birkenau for a tour with an employee of the museum that exists on the site. I don’t quite now how to discuss what I saw on this day. I spent most of the day near tears, walking silently and reflecting on what happened there. It is horrifying and upsetting, but strangely necessary. The day started by walking under the infamous and cruel sign over the gates ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’. Here I was already nervous about what was ahead, but I was perplexed by the people getting photos under the sign, smiling and pointing upwards. The say you would under the Eiffel Tower or another iconic tourist attraction. I had an overwhelming urge to go and yell at them, but decided against it. Maybe I am getting soft in my old age. I just found it so disrespectful. Auschwitz is a cemetery. Many of the barracks are now exhibits of the museum covering the processes the Nazis used from discrimination to liquidation of the ghettos and the so-called ‘final solution’. Walking through the rooms a lot of the personal items of the victims of the camp were on display in glass cases. Piles of suitcases, glasses, shoes and even human hair, to the roof. This was so overwhelming. It gave the statistics a face; a person owned those shoes, wore those glasses and even wrote their names on their suitcases in the hopes of having their belongings returned to them. That made the impact that much stronger. As the tour continued we walked through places I had read about in books like Elie Weisel’s ‘Night’ or Livinia Bitton-Jackson’s ‘Elli’, like the gallows, the prisons and the crematorium. I feel like my writing can’t really convey the emotions here. I’ll just say I had goosebumps and hope you understand. Auschwitz was actually in 3 parts, I was able to see two of them on this day. One, called Auschwitz I, was the concentration camp built in old Polish army barracks. The other was the Auschwitz II–Birkenau which was both a combination concentration and extermination camp. Much of Birkenau was destroyed by fleeing Nazis at the time of liberation, so much of it lies in ruin. The sheer vastness of the space is overwhelming, as is the methodical way the genocide happened. Going here was upsetting, but I think it was necessary and worthwhile to keep the memories of these people and the horrible things that happen here alive. I know it is a cliché, but we cannot forget our past, no matter how horrifying. Going here and continuing to learn about what happened is important, so hopefully there are less people taking selfies and acting disrespectfully in the future.

The railway into Auschwitz-Birkenau.

From an emotionally draining day, I arrived in lovely Krakow to explore and see the most talked about city in Poland. Krakow came highly recommended to me by several travellers whose opinions I trust, so I was looking forward to arriving. The town square was enormous and grand. It was gorgeous! Around the outside the giant tower, pretty pastel buildings, the huge ‘cloth market’ in the middle of the square and the Gothic masterpiece St Mary’s church. Every day at around midday, I bugle player performs from the tower of the church, re-enacting the death of one of his predecessors who was playing his bugle before he was shot with an arrow through the throat by some pesky Mongols. These days, the player goes to each window, plays his tune, stops suddenly and then waves to his adoring fans (like me) below the tower.

St. Mary’s

I didn’t have as much time in Krakow as I would like. It is an exciting city and unfortunately I felt like I missed out on a few things because I was rushing. Luckily I was able to get a handle on the city quite quickly on its trams which took me from one side of the city to the other. I began my first full day by visiting Oskar Schindler’s factory, to learn more about the Nazi party member who saved the lives of 1,200 Jewish factory workers. The factory has been turned into a museum, so now people can go to learn about Schindler, but mostly about how the lives of the Polish people were effected by Nazi occupation. Surprisingly, I have new seen to Spielberg film that gave Schindler his fame in the 90s, but I didn’t learn to much about him that I didn’t already know. The museum lures you in with pictures of the people saved by Schindler and the actor chosen to portray him, Liam Neeson, on its walls, but the place itself has little to do with Schindler besides residing in his factory at number 4 Lipowa street and showing a film with eye-witness accounts of working in the factory. That being said, it didn’t really matter because the museum itself is a very interesting place. The exhibitions are interactive and use lights, multimedia, sound and text to explain information. Much like its distant cousin the uprising museum in Warsaw, the place is filled with information and intricate detail. From this I can only conclude Poland knows how to museum!

The faces of the list.

One of the main draws of the town, besides its beautiful sqaure, is Wawel castle. Built in the 1300s and sitting on fortifications on top of a hill in the middle of town, it has great views of the city and has lovely gardens. The buildings of the castle are a strange mish-mash and look like they have been taken from independent buildings and just chucked together. I also hit the Jewish quarter with its grungy buildings, graffiti and delicious food.

 

Wawel Castle.

Speaking of food. I love Polish food. It is hearty, warm and delicious. I had too many delicious meals here to discuss, but the stand out was when I found a little hole in the wall that specialised in perogies, cheese and potato-filled dumplings that are wonderful, I enjoyed a beetroot soup on the side (or bascht as the locals call it) and washed it down with a cinnamon cydr. Heaven. The perfect thing for dealing with yet another pub crawl.

I also got out of the city, The Wieliczka Salt Mine sits in just outside Krakow’s metro area, but are about 30 minutes from the city. The mines have been open since the 13th century and only closed 7 years ago to become a full-time tourist attraction. We went around with a hilarious guide. A man in his 70s, with a dead-pan voice, some excellent turns of phrase and just the right amount of sarcasm. He was awesome. The salt mines were quite an experience. At one stage we were over 1000 meters down, but what we found was chapels, ballrooms, light shows, of course, gift shops. It was quite surreal. There was a replica of the last supper, carved into the salt, floor tiles and even statues of Poland’s number 1 favourite person, Pope John Paul II created from the salt in the mine. It was strange, kitsch and I’m really glad I did it.

JP II, salt edition.

I got a nice overview of Krakow on my visit, but I feel there is much more to the city that I got to see in my short time there. Looks like I’ll have to go back.

Warsaw: a scarred city.

Warsaw is rainy, recreated, tranquil, strained and quietly determined.

Old Town, rebuilt from scratch.

In the last month or so I have been spending a fair bit of time in places that have been devastated by oppression, but none of them have the impact that Poland has had on me. I think this is because I know that Warsaw has been rebuilt from the ground up after being almost completely wiped off the map in WWII. What has been rebuilt is soviet concrete blocks, ultra modern glass constructions and copies of old buildings that were destroyed. This makes for a strange mix and atmosphere.  I found Warsaw to be a lovely city, it had a fun nightlife, friendly people and delicious food, but something hung in the air here; a sort of emotional scarring that I felt all too aware of as I explored the city.

Marie Curie Museum.

Warsaw is a city of monuments. It felt like everywhere I looked there was a statue to someone who has made Poland proud. Composer Chopin has a monument in a park complete with a musical bench that plays recordings of his work. Scientists, politicians and athletes are also honored at different points around the city. But considering Warsaw’s dark past of oppression, war and occupation, the most monuments are dedicated to heroes of the Warsaw uprising that happened during 1944 when the city was under Nazi and Soviet control. There are also memorials dedicated to the suffering that has taken place within the city limits. A small marking on the pavement marks where the walls of the Jewish Ghetto used to stand and statues dedicated to victims of war dot the city. This is a bit different from the same stuff within a city like Berlin. Whereas the monuments and museums of Berlin seem to be trying to achieve atonement, the ones in Warsaw deal with grief and loss. This of course makes sense with their roles as perpetrators and victims in this era. I guess what I’m trying to convey is the emotions a viewer might feel and the tone of the information being delivered.

Tribute to Chopin.

There is little you can do to escape the scars of WWII in Warsaw; the city lives with the damage it did every day. I did not know very much about the Warsaw uprising except that it happened, so I spent a big chunk of one of my afternoons exploring the Uprising Museum. This very specific museum is dedicated to the uprising movement in Warsaw. It is a movement the people of this country are very proud of, despite its lack of success. Within the museum were countless displays over 3 levels. Stories from group members, film, photography, artifacts and even an exhibition of an artist’s work who lived during the time. As I have felt going through many of these cities affected by WWII, I struggled to fathom how it could have possibly happened. I also bought a ticket to see the digital film that has been created to show the unaware exactly what Warsaw looked like at the end of the war. When I say totally devastated, it really doesn’t match what I saw. shells of buildings, billowing smoke and areas completely flattened. I think the only way they could have improved the film is to add a small section at the start to show how their city looked before the war. The museum was very interesting, but I found the layout to be a bit haphazard and I often got lost or read things out of order. Despite this, the impact of the sacrifices these people made were not lost on me.

I found the very moving and powerful Pawiak prison was the most interesting and emotional of these attractions and monuments. Used as a political prison from as early as the 1850s, the place worked to capacity during WWII when it was used to house Nazi opponents. The prison is mostly destroyed and the remaining parts have been preserved and turned into a museum. Out the front, there is a bronze copy of a tree that sat in the prison yard; known as the silent witness, the dead tree is another monument to the sorrow that occurred here. It is covered in the names of the people who died there. Inside, poetry, artifacts and stories of people who were imprisoned. What really gets to me are the photos. In the museum there was a wall of hundreds of faces. When I look at them it overwhelms me to think of the life they led and the suffering they went through.

The names of victims hung on ‘The Silent Witness’.

But there is more to the place than the events of WWII. In the heart of the city, there is a very special reconstruction. Warsaw’s old town has been rebuilt in its original style, much to the delight of tourists and visitors to the city. The buildings are colourful and many are covered in crazy wallpaper-like patterns. the cobbled streets open up into squares where choirs gather to sing and pigeons bathe in fountains. This fairy-tale wonderland looks gorgeous, but it doesn’t feel authentic. Maybe if I had gone in not knowing it was all rebuilt it would have made a difference, but in many ways it was all a bit too perfect. Stunning to look at though.

Old Town.

We also explored Warsaw’s nightlife by heading to some bars to watch Australia’s World Cup match against Chile – much to the locals’ horror , we headed to a nightclub where confetti fell from the ceiling while you danced (very surreal) and I ate perogies, which I think are my new favourite food. They are delicious cottage cheese and potato filled dumplings covered in caramelized onion and with a dollop of sour cream. Delicious!

Warsaw is such in interesting place. It lives with its past every day, but it is a proud city that has a fun side too. Rebuilding, choosing to go on and also memorializing its heroes on the street and in museums shows a quiet determination to fight on.