City of Kings

We arrived in Krakow, Poland on the 29th of April. It took us approximately one hour to find our hostel...something must have been wrong with our map. We swore we were reading it correctly!
The next day we decided to take a day trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau. An estimated 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered and thousands more suffered unthinkable horrors in the Nazi concentration camps, Auschwitz and Birkenau. At Auschwitz, smaller of the two camps, are inscribed with an ironic saying " Work will set you free.". Inside Auschwitz you get a taste what life was like for these people. As you walk past the remainders of their lives-suitcases, shoes, glasses, and kilos of women's hair-the enormous cruelty of this society begins to come into focus. After viewing this camp, we walked a 30 minute journey to Birkenau. Birkenau was built during WWII, when the Nazis developed a more brutally efficient means of killing. Little is left of this camp today due to the Nazis retreating and attempting to destroy or demolish all buildings. However, the ruins of the crematoria and gas chambers are still visible. The size of each one of these is the approximate length of a football feed. Also, at this camp there is a monument dedicated to all of the different nationalities that died due to the horrific concentration camps. Near the monument lies a pond with gray ashes-the pond was used for dumping people's ashes from the crematoria-deposited over 60 years ago. This was a very sad day for us, but an experience that we will never forget. We ask that you take a moment of silence for all of those who have been murdered and treated horribly from these Nazi concentration camps.
From the concentration camps, you must take a bus in order to return to Krakow. While waiting for over 45 minutes for the bus, we met three very delightful people, Andrew, Daga, and Mel. Andrew is from California and is studying abroad in Poland. Daga is a native of Poland. Mel is from Scotland and is also studying abroad in Poland. Once the bus finally arrives, about 25 people get onto the bus. The bus only had 16 seats. Therefore, the other 10 had to stand up. Oh yes, all 5 of us were standing. This occurred for about two hours. While on the bus, we made plans to meet the next day for a day trip to the Salt mines in Wieliczka. The tiny town of Wieliczka is home to a 700 year old salt mine. The Pious pokes carved immense underground complex of 12 chambers out of salt. The most spectacular caverns is St. Kinga's Chapel. The chapel had salt chandeliers, an altar, and relief work. This cathedral was absolutely stunning. The remainder of the day we spent hanging out with and getting to know our new friends.
On the 2nd of May, we met our friends to see the Wawel castle and the Dragon den. The Wawel Castle, one of Poland's top attractions, is an architectural masterpiece. First, we ate brunch at a restaurant located in the glorious castle. After, brunch we made our way to explore the castle. We did not actually go into the state rooms or royal chambers. However, we opted to roam the Wawel Cathedral. This cathedral once hosted the coronations and funerals of Polish monarchs. Daga explained every detail of Poland's history as we observed the cathedral. We also were able to see the tombs of all the kings of Poland. Daga also gave us a brief history lesson about each King and the attributes that made him a prosperous or bad king at their time of ruling. Then, we made our way to the underground cavern, Dragons Den. Legend has it that a Shepard left a poisoned sheep outside the cave as bait; the dragon ate it and became so thirsty that it drank it self to death at the Wisla River. After the cave, we went to a Japanese museum that explained the process and numerous techniques of making a kimono. These pieces were very detailed oriented. As a group, we went to the train station to say good-bye to our new friends and go our separate ways. We are now on our way to Warsaw, Poland.
To Andrew, Daga, and Mel- We will never forget the experience of enjoying to get to know you and exploring the city of Krakow. Hopefully, we will get to meet soon in our future journeys. Always remember, the world is your playground. Have some fun!