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Poland - Pierogi, Kielbasa And A Cold
Zywiec August, 2008 |
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What we didn’t know at the time was that this particular week was the busiest time of the summer for the Polish people (‘Frei’ Week which translates into ‘free’ week, the one week in the summer when all Polish people are on vacation), so everything decent was booked, and we were left with rather poor value prospects. Heading to the next town of Ruciane-Nida, we thought we’d have a better chance of finding something, so we again hopped on a local bus and arrived at the tourist office, only to be promptly told there were no rooms available anywhere in town. We then jumped on another local bus to the village of Pisz, where they did had rooms. Unfortunately, this last town was not that attractive, and rather than waste a day there, we again got on a bus around 5:00 PM, this time to Warsaw (4 hours), the capital of Poland, where we hoped to make a further connection to the town of Krakow. Now this was
turning into a very long day, as we arrived in Warsaw, only to find out
that the overnight bus to Krakow was sold out, but we could Rather than wait around in the lobby, we thought we’d take advantage of the early hour and do some sightseeing, hoping to catch a second wind and make it through the day. That something turned out to be a day trip to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camps, about one hour by bus outside of Krakow, something I’m ambivalent about even mentioning, and even more unsure about recommending – it’s certainly not for everyone, yet from a historical and compelling perspective, something not to be missed .
Next door within
walking distance is the Birkenau concentration camp, even more shocking
in its scale, as you can see the wide expanse of barren While we were touring Auschwitz, there was an outdoor Mass being celebrated with a lovely church chorus singing songs in Polish that sweetly reverberated throughout the grounds, lending a delicate and ethereal quality to the day, as if angels were singing from on high, wishing peace and happiness on those mortals who trod where so many suffered. I’ll tell you, after leaving I was ready to change my name to Smith – the current generation of Germans would rather put this shameful event in the past and move on, but right now it’s too close, too cruel and too cowardly - shame on you Germany, you’ll always carry this stain and you rightfully are the pariah of the world.
Another worthwhile stop is the Czartoryski Museum, where you have the singular opportunity to view one of the five rare Leonardo Da Vinci’s on public display – ‘Lady with An Ermine’ – along with other impressive works of art. It’s quite remarkable that with a month, we’ve had the opportunity to see three of the five Da Vinci’s (two in the Hermitage) and now one in Krakow. Standing in front of this remarkable piece of art is indeed inspiring. Another intriguing
section is Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter of Krakow, where Polish Jews
were rounded up and executed in a local concentration Costs are high in Krakow, no doubt about it since it’s the most popular tourist attraction in the country, but it’s a great cosmopolitan attraction, and wandering the neighborhoods and soaking up the atmosphere will easily occupy you for a few days, not to mention the historical significance of a day trip to Auschwitz. The food is great, the sausage is great, the beer is great and everyone is having a grand old time in Poland. We ended up renting a small studio apartment for about $80/day for the last two nights, conveniently located 2 blocks from the train station and two blocks from old town. We probably sped through Poland too quickly - it’s quite a large country and has many attractions and sites to visit, although we’ll certainly keep it on our list to revisit. In a way, we wish Marge’s Mom could have met us here, we think she would have really loved it. From here, we had many options - head west to Prague, head south into Slovakia and Hungary, or even head further into Austria. We’ve booked an overnight train from Vienna to Rome on the 27th of August at a rather exorbitant cost of $350, so that’s our next milestone. Stay tuned for the last reaches of our fantastic trip around the world as our concluding destination may surprise you, a final stop in a town where I was ready to buy a house, a place so captivating it may end up being our favorite place - and the last shall be first.
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After
our 3 day stopover in Vilnius, we headed out for the Mauritan Lakes
District of Northern Poland, noted for thousands of lakes scalloped from
the flat plains by retreating glaciers during the last great Ice Age.
Unfortunately, our only option was an overnight bus (which continued on
to Warsaw), and we exited the bus at 3:30 AM in the little Polish
vacation village of Mikolajki. When I say little, I mean there was one
cobbled street that ran up the center of maybe 4 blocks of buildings.
Fortuitously, one of those buildings was the ‘Non Stop Bar and
Restaurant’, which true to its name, was still pouring drinks at four in
the morning. Dropping our bags, we had a cup of coffee and a bite to eat
while waiting around for things to open up so we could look around for a
place to stay. 
take the midnight express train, all well and good, except that the
express train gets into Krakow at 3:00AM in the morning. We had reserved
one night at Sheraton in Krakow, but even then we were hours away from
check-in. So, Marge and I became bums on a bench just like all the other
travelers for a couple of hours, until rousted by the police around
6:00AM, when we dragged our butts over to the hotel and dropped off our
bags. 
I
wasn’t sure what to expect, but the Auschwitz Museum is very tastefully
done despite the subject matter, and it’s kind of hard to explain, but
here goes. There are about a dozen former prison blocks that have been
converted into the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau which contain various
displays. Among the most poignant and disturbing was the building with
the various rooms filled with personal items – there was a room of combs
and brushes, another of luggage and suitcases (with names handwritten on
each piece), another pile of eyeglass, another of kettles and pots,
another of small baby shoes (particularly sad). Worst was the room a
couple hundred feet in length filled with human hair, shamelessly shaved
from the women prior to the gas chambers and woven by the Germans into
rugs and mats. Another building depicted daily life in the concentration
camp, another medical experimentation, while many walls were lined with
pictures of prisoners photographed and documented by the Germans. Every
country impacted by this concentration camp had their own dedicated
building with their own local slant on things, the most moving being the
one where they had rooms of life size pictures of families and victims
in the good times – a couple skiing, a family at a birthday party, a
group of people on a picnic – now all gone. Other countries emphasized
the more graphic – photographs of executions and hangings – very tough
and maybe best skipped through quickly. 
wind
swept land ringed by barbed wire where prisoners were crammed into leaky
wooden barracks and worked to death. From the lookout tower at the
entrance you gaze down upon the solitary deadly railroad track that was
the terminal station for so many poor souls. At any one time, there were
upwards of 200,000 prisoners here, with gas chambers killing 2,000
people at a time, their bodies lifted into the four cremation ovens
above. Much of the camp was destroyed by the retreating Nazis, although
the barbed wire runs to the horizon and brick chimney stacks stand as
silent testimonials. One million people were innocently killed on these
grounds over the course of two years – poor souls whose only misfortune
was being born Jewish, selectively and systematically culled from their
everyday lives, transported in cattle cars, separated from their loved
ones, led into gas chambers, then unceremoniously dumped into mass
burial pits or cremated. If we had a third atomic bomb, we should have
dropped it on Berlin. 
Back
at the hotel at the end of this sobering day, we showered and left to
walk around Krakow, investigating the town square and grabbing a bite to
eat. The town itself is very lovely and compact with Wawel Castle and
Cathedral dating from the 14th century snuggled gently into
the bend of the Vistula River and forming the southern anchor of the
dynamic town center. Europe’s largest town square is replete with
outdoor cafes, street merchants and lively crowds of tourists which is
lively into the late hours of the evening. While we were there, we took
the opportunity to partake in the weekend Pierogi Festival, a local
Polish delicacy which is a small dough shell stuffed with either
sauerkraut, potato, spinach or other meat products – something Marge’s
mom makes a few time a year. 
camp
as depicted in the movie Schindler’s List. Wander the streets and look
in the old synagogues, sample some authentic Jewish cooking or visit the
actual factory where the movie took place. I tried some authentic Jewish
potato pancakes, but they were no where as tasty as the ones my
grandmother used to make – freshly ground potatoes, compressed into
patties with a little onion, then baked to a crisp in hot oil. Very
historic, very authentic, very worthwhile. 
