Where to start...Poland was AMAZING!!! I suppose I'll start from leaving Malmö....
Thursday morning I was one of the unfortunate people traveling to Poland who had to attend class for 3 hours from 9am till 12pm. Then it was a rush to get back to Sommarstaden, finish packing, have lunch and be ready to leave by 1:30pm for the airport. We were able to catch a bus to the airport from Södervan which is only about 3 minutes away with the city bus. Kim, Christina and I met all the others, about 13 of them, on the bus as they had boarded at Centralen, which was further away from us than Södervan.
Malmö airport was much bigger than I expected and quite nice. Unfortunately we couldn't buy anything duty free as you have to fly to a country that isn't a part of Europe to receive the tax free. So after checking in then spending another one and a half hours killing time before our flight we were finally able to board. The flight was not the most enjoyable I've ever had. It was such a bumpy ride and the plane was even rocking from side to side as we were taking off and landing. But we made it to Katowice safely and in one piece which was relief. Then it was a quick stop at the ATM to get some zloty before borading the bus that would take us to Krakow. The bus trip took about an hour and a half so we didn't get into Krakow until about 8:45pm. When we got there, we headed for the other hostel where all the others, except for Kim, Christina and I, were staying. That took about another 30 minutes and so we finally got to our hostel at about 9:15pm. We quickly changed, dumped our luggage and then made our way to Main Square where we were meeting the rest of the group so we could go and grab some food before calling it a night.
The restaurant they found for dinner was rather amusing. It was a western kind of restaurant where there were paintings of American Indians on animal skin hanging all around the place. The food was good and nice and cheap, which was a nice change from Sweden where everything is so expensive!!! Once we were fed, we made a quick trip via MacDonalds on the way back to our hostel because Kim decided she wanted an ice cream. So at about midnight, we finally got to pile into bed and go to sleep.
That night was definitely an interesting one. We had booked a dorm room with 12 other beds and all except for one were filled that night. 6 of the beds were occupied by a group of Spanish girls. Well....they didn't come home until about 3am and then spent an hour banging, crashing, talking, laughing...basically making as much noise as possible. After numerous shushing noices were directed at them and Kim even swore at them in Dutch and threw a bottle at them they finally climbed into bed. That wasn't it from them though unfortunately. They found it amusing to make loud snoring noices and clicking noices for about another minute or two before deciding that they needed to go to sleep.
Unfortunately that was it for them. At 8am they got up and once again making as much noise as they could, got themselves ready and packed which took them another hour. The only good thing was the fact that they were packing which meant that they would not be returning the following night...luckily for us!!! So having had an eventful night, Kim, Christina and I got up about 9am when the Spanish girls had left and got ourselves dressed and ready for a day of sight-seeing. We went for breakfast, provided by a small cafe next door to the hostel. It was an ok breakfast, nothing overly special but enough to fill the stomach for the morning!
We had decided that the best way to see everything would be to start with the castle, then head to the Old Jewish Town before heading back to Main Square to go shopping. It was a really beautiful day and I was even able to walk around with my jacket and scarf off!!!! When we got to the castle, we ran into the others who had decided to start at 9am (which was just a little too early for us) and so we joined up with them and headed to the Old Jewsih Town where we had lunch before visiting the synagogue there. After that is was back to Main Square for some shopping. The big building in the middle of the square was home to a market (kind of like the Vic Market) and so we wandered round there for a while. Once the shopping was done we decided to treat ourselves to the best hot chocolate in Europe. And it was pretty good. Imagine a chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce and that sauce poured into a cup for drinking. Very filling tho and so getting through a small cup was quite an effort. Unfortunately Poland still allows smoking in cafes and the cafe we were at was like a smoke house. It was so bad that I had to drink my hot chocolate quickly and head outside as the smoke gave me a headache and made me feel a little queezy. That night it was MacDonalds for dinner as we couldn't be bothered going anywhere and it was on our way back to the hostel. That night Kim and I stayed in while Christina headed round to Dominika's (one of the exchange students here in Malmö with me) flat, as she lives in Krakow. They then headed out to the clubs I think!!
The next morning I had to get up early as I had booked myself on the tour to go and see Auschwitz - Birkenau and I was to be picked up at 8:55am from outside the hostel. Kim joined me for breakfast which was nice and I said farewell to both her and Christina, as they were headed back to Malmö that afternoon. The trip to Auschwitz was definitely one I will remember for a very long time. The tour I'd booked with meant that we were provided with an english speaking guide for both Auschwitz I and Asuchwitz II - Birkenau. We visited Auschwitz I first as this is where we met the guide and there are all the museums located in the blocks in the camp.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
AUSCHWITZ - BIRKENAU!!!
***Please note that this entry contains some details about life in the concentration camps. This content may be disturbing and upsetting for some so please be aware of this before reading!
The first thing that really struck me about Auschwitz was the fact that it is located within a small town. I expected it to be in the middle of the country with no houses about. We were given a headset where we would be able to hear our guide. This was great as it meant we could be away from her, in the next room or looking at something else and you could still hear what she was saying. Walking through the gates the first thing you really see is the sign Arbeit Macht Frei (Work means freedom). We were then shown to Block 3 to begin the tours through the museums. Each block looks at a different aspect of the camp. The first one gave you information about how many people were put in the camp and where they came from. They also had documents that had been recovered from the German Nazis which detailed the names of the people entering the camp. The Nazis were very organised in keeping records of eveyone who entered or left/died in the camp. However over 90% of these records were destroyed when they began to lose the war. It is amazing to see these documents and the long lists of names. Often the lists were divided up into men and women. In one display case there were even train tickets from the Jews who had been transported to Auschwitz. Aparently they even made some of the Jews by their own train tickets, saying that they were being relocated to another town.
The next museum we went into showed a model of the gas chambers, as all except the small one at Auschwitz I which was transformed into a bunker, were destroyed. There was also a pile of empty tins which had once contained Cyclone B which was used to kill many thousands of Jews. One tin was enough to kill 100 people. The next museum we visited was the hardest one. It had piles of shoes (almost a whole room), glasses, brushes, pots and pans, children's shoes, prayer shalls and the most disturbing one was the room where there was a huge pile of womens hair that had been shaved off and was used to mag hair cloth (some of which they had on display). There was so much hair that is was hard to comprehend and imagine just how many people they must have come from.
Then it was on to the final museum which was Block number 11, also known as the death block. There we were shown the execution wall, where prisoners accused of crimes were shot. These prisoners slept on the floors of block 11 and out of all the people to stand trial, over 90% were found guilty and sentenced to death. This bunker was also the only bunker which had been left in the exact state as they had been when the prisoners were there, with the bunks and sleeping arrangements. There were also photos on the wall of some of the prisoners. This was aparently one method of keep track of all the people admitted to Auschwitz in the early days. However, as the numbers increased, this method became too impractical and so that's when they started to tattoo all prisoners. This block was also the one where we were taken down to the basement where there were prison cells. This was where they took prisoners for punishment. There were starvation rooms, used for when prisoners tried to escape and others in the group would be punished. The most disturbing though were the standing cells. These were tiny rooms where there was only a door that you had to crawl through. Inside, 3 - 4 people would have to stand in there, as there was no room to sit down, for the whole night and then go out and work the next day. There were also small rooms where 40 or so men would have to stand and as a result, some died from suffocation because there wasn't enough air getting into the room. (They only had one small tiny window in the wall to let air and sunlight in). In these cells was also where Cyclone B was experimented on using prisoners selected at random and prisoners from the hospital. In one of the cells, there were drawings which had been made by one of the prisoners while imprisoned.
Once we had finished there, we mde out way out of the back fence towards the crematorium. This crematorium was the only one that survived, mainly due to the fact that the Germans had transformed it into a bunker towards the end of the war. Inside you could see the room where the people were gased. There were small holes in the ceiling that were large enough just to drop the contents of the Cyclone B into. Then there was a small door leading into the room where 4 large furnaces stood. These furnaces however could only fit 3 - 4 bodies at a time, which is such a tiny number compared to the larger crematoriums at Asuchwitz II.
While outside the camp we were also shown the place where Commandant Hirsch was hanged at the end of the war for the crimes he had committed. We then passed round the outside of the camp and headed back to the main building where we were to leave our headsets and board our bus. Our next stop, Auschwitz II - Birkenau.
The strange thing I found when arriving at the camp was the close proximity of many houses. I'm not sure I'd want to live so close to such a place!! Compared to Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II was huge. There were huts as far as the eye could see. We arrived at the back gate so as to see the monument and plaque errected there at the request of the survivors, so as to be a constant reminder and warning of the horrors that occured within the camps. There were also plaques reading the same message in each language that was spoken by the prisoners of the camp.
Next we walked over to the ruins of crematorium 2 where we were shown which sections of the ruins were the certain parts of the gas chamber - which section was the change rooms, the "showers" (gas chamber) and which was the crematorium. It was rather unnerving standing so close to the place where thousands of people were murdered.
After that we walked along the track that lead us to the main gate. On the way we stopped about half way, which was where the loading dock would have been. It was here that we were shown a photo of a guard during the selection process, either pointing to the right or left and deciding the fate of each person who arrived in the camp. It was eerie that looking at the photo, you could imagine it exactly as we were standing beside the buildign where in the photo, the people selected to be taken down to the crematorium were gathered.
Finally, when we reached the front of the camp we were shown into two of the wooden huts. One was the sanitary hut where the lavatory and wash troughs were. The other was a sleeping hut, where the bunk beds lined the walls. It is hard to imagine so many people sleeping in such a small about of bed space.
I have to say that I learnt a lot on this tour, and considering my previous studying of the concentration camp through novesl read in school, it was good to be able to see the camps with my own eyes. You are not able to fully comprehend or imagine just what the camp is like until you have seen it. It is a place I definitely feel everyone should see at some point in their life...if not to remember those murdered during Hitler's reign, but to help gain an deeper understanding of our history and to ensure this can never happen again.
The first thing that really struck me about Auschwitz was the fact that it is located within a small town. I expected it to be in the middle of the country with no houses about. We were given a headset where we would be able to hear our guide. This was great as it meant we could be away from her, in the next room or looking at something else and you could still hear what she was saying. Walking through the gates the first thing you really see is the sign Arbeit Macht Frei (Work means freedom). We were then shown to Block 3 to begin the tours through the museums. Each block looks at a different aspect of the camp. The first one gave you information about how many people were put in the camp and where they came from. They also had documents that had been recovered from the German Nazis which detailed the names of the people entering the camp. The Nazis were very organised in keeping records of eveyone who entered or left/died in the camp. However over 90% of these records were destroyed when they began to lose the war. It is amazing to see these documents and the long lists of names. Often the lists were divided up into men and women. In one display case there were even train tickets from the Jews who had been transported to Auschwitz. Aparently they even made some of the Jews by their own train tickets, saying that they were being relocated to another town.
The next museum we went into showed a model of the gas chambers, as all except the small one at Auschwitz I which was transformed into a bunker, were destroyed. There was also a pile of empty tins which had once contained Cyclone B which was used to kill many thousands of Jews. One tin was enough to kill 100 people. The next museum we visited was the hardest one. It had piles of shoes (almost a whole room), glasses, brushes, pots and pans, children's shoes, prayer shalls and the most disturbing one was the room where there was a huge pile of womens hair that had been shaved off and was used to mag hair cloth (some of which they had on display). There was so much hair that is was hard to comprehend and imagine just how many people they must have come from.
Then it was on to the final museum which was Block number 11, also known as the death block. There we were shown the execution wall, where prisoners accused of crimes were shot. These prisoners slept on the floors of block 11 and out of all the people to stand trial, over 90% were found guilty and sentenced to death. This bunker was also the only bunker which had been left in the exact state as they had been when the prisoners were there, with the bunks and sleeping arrangements. There were also photos on the wall of some of the prisoners. This was aparently one method of keep track of all the people admitted to Auschwitz in the early days. However, as the numbers increased, this method became too impractical and so that's when they started to tattoo all prisoners. This block was also the one where we were taken down to the basement where there were prison cells. This was where they took prisoners for punishment. There were starvation rooms, used for when prisoners tried to escape and others in the group would be punished. The most disturbing though were the standing cells. These were tiny rooms where there was only a door that you had to crawl through. Inside, 3 - 4 people would have to stand in there, as there was no room to sit down, for the whole night and then go out and work the next day. There were also small rooms where 40 or so men would have to stand and as a result, some died from suffocation because there wasn't enough air getting into the room. (They only had one small tiny window in the wall to let air and sunlight in). In these cells was also where Cyclone B was experimented on using prisoners selected at random and prisoners from the hospital. In one of the cells, there were drawings which had been made by one of the prisoners while imprisoned.
Once we had finished there, we mde out way out of the back fence towards the crematorium. This crematorium was the only one that survived, mainly due to the fact that the Germans had transformed it into a bunker towards the end of the war. Inside you could see the room where the people were gased. There were small holes in the ceiling that were large enough just to drop the contents of the Cyclone B into. Then there was a small door leading into the room where 4 large furnaces stood. These furnaces however could only fit 3 - 4 bodies at a time, which is such a tiny number compared to the larger crematoriums at Asuchwitz II.
While outside the camp we were also shown the place where Commandant Hirsch was hanged at the end of the war for the crimes he had committed. We then passed round the outside of the camp and headed back to the main building where we were to leave our headsets and board our bus. Our next stop, Auschwitz II - Birkenau.
The strange thing I found when arriving at the camp was the close proximity of many houses. I'm not sure I'd want to live so close to such a place!! Compared to Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II was huge. There were huts as far as the eye could see. We arrived at the back gate so as to see the monument and plaque errected there at the request of the survivors, so as to be a constant reminder and warning of the horrors that occured within the camps. There were also plaques reading the same message in each language that was spoken by the prisoners of the camp.
Next we walked over to the ruins of crematorium 2 where we were shown which sections of the ruins were the certain parts of the gas chamber - which section was the change rooms, the "showers" (gas chamber) and which was the crematorium. It was rather unnerving standing so close to the place where thousands of people were murdered.
After that we walked along the track that lead us to the main gate. On the way we stopped about half way, which was where the loading dock would have been. It was here that we were shown a photo of a guard during the selection process, either pointing to the right or left and deciding the fate of each person who arrived in the camp. It was eerie that looking at the photo, you could imagine it exactly as we were standing beside the buildign where in the photo, the people selected to be taken down to the crematorium were gathered.
Finally, when we reached the front of the camp we were shown into two of the wooden huts. One was the sanitary hut where the lavatory and wash troughs were. The other was a sleeping hut, where the bunk beds lined the walls. It is hard to imagine so many people sleeping in such a small about of bed space.
I have to say that I learnt a lot on this tour, and considering my previous studying of the concentration camp through novesl read in school, it was good to be able to see the camps with my own eyes. You are not able to fully comprehend or imagine just what the camp is like until you have seen it. It is a place I definitely feel everyone should see at some point in their life...if not to remember those murdered during Hitler's reign, but to help gain an deeper understanding of our history and to ensure this can never happen again.
WIELICZKA - SALT MINE
During the Auschwitz tour, I overheard a group of American guys talking about also going on a tour to go and see the salt mine later that day. I had previously thought that I would be unable to go and see the salt mine as well and so was quite pleased to hear this. So on my return to the hostel, I went straight to the reception where I found that it wasn't too late for me to book a ticket.
At 3:45pm I was picked up from the hostel with the Americans and we headed for the salt mine. Once again we were provided with a guide on arrival to the mine who would give us a guided tour. To begin with, we had to descend into the mine and to do this meant climbing down about 381 stairs. It took us about 5 minutes to reach the bottom and as each flight of stairs was only 6 steps, I became quite dizzy walking round and round, down and down. But we made it to the bottom and the best news was that we were not going to be returning to the surface via the stairs, the had lifts for that!!!
Once in the mine we were shown down many different corridors and passages. There was even a licking wall in one area for people who did not believe that the walls, floors and ceilings were all made of salt. In the passages, we were stopped to be shown many different displays (also made from salt) of different aspects of life in the mine and how hings worked. In addition to these displays, there were numerous statues of famous people who had come and visited the mine back in the old day.
The best part of the whole tour was when we made our way into St Kinga's Chapel. This chapel is made entirely from salt and is a huge chapel under the ground. There were large chandeliers (made from salt) hanging from the roof and there were pictures on the walls, made to look like photographs made from stone. One of these pictures was of the last supper. But the best part...it was a 3D picture!! At the back of the chapel there was even a statue of the Polish Pope, John Paul.
After the chapel we were shown through more passages with more sculpture displays and on top of that, we saw the man made lakes (3 to be exact) that could be found in the mine. All these lakes of course were made using salt water and if the water wasn't salty to begin with it quickly became salty due to the salt in the walls.
There wasn't much else to see after that so we were taken to the lifts, which were another experience in themselves. Imagine a a small cage where about 9 adults could only just fit, squashed in together. That was what the lift was like. But instead of only having one cage, there were four cages on top of each other. I was in the second level which meant that I had to wait for both the 3rd and 4th levels below to be filled before we could move. At least the lift itself only took about 45 seconds because being crowded into such a small space was not the most fun I've had in my life.
It was then back to the bus when we reached the surface and back to the hostel. We arrived back around 7.30pm so I headed out to find some dinner then hit the sack as I had to get up early to catch my train to Warsaw at 8:00am the next morning.
At 3:45pm I was picked up from the hostel with the Americans and we headed for the salt mine. Once again we were provided with a guide on arrival to the mine who would give us a guided tour. To begin with, we had to descend into the mine and to do this meant climbing down about 381 stairs. It took us about 5 minutes to reach the bottom and as each flight of stairs was only 6 steps, I became quite dizzy walking round and round, down and down. But we made it to the bottom and the best news was that we were not going to be returning to the surface via the stairs, the had lifts for that!!!
Once in the mine we were shown down many different corridors and passages. There was even a licking wall in one area for people who did not believe that the walls, floors and ceilings were all made of salt. In the passages, we were stopped to be shown many different displays (also made from salt) of different aspects of life in the mine and how hings worked. In addition to these displays, there were numerous statues of famous people who had come and visited the mine back in the old day.
The best part of the whole tour was when we made our way into St Kinga's Chapel. This chapel is made entirely from salt and is a huge chapel under the ground. There were large chandeliers (made from salt) hanging from the roof and there were pictures on the walls, made to look like photographs made from stone. One of these pictures was of the last supper. But the best part...it was a 3D picture!! At the back of the chapel there was even a statue of the Polish Pope, John Paul.
After the chapel we were shown through more passages with more sculpture displays and on top of that, we saw the man made lakes (3 to be exact) that could be found in the mine. All these lakes of course were made using salt water and if the water wasn't salty to begin with it quickly became salty due to the salt in the walls.
There wasn't much else to see after that so we were taken to the lifts, which were another experience in themselves. Imagine a a small cage where about 9 adults could only just fit, squashed in together. That was what the lift was like. But instead of only having one cage, there were four cages on top of each other. I was in the second level which meant that I had to wait for both the 3rd and 4th levels below to be filled before we could move. At least the lift itself only took about 45 seconds because being crowded into such a small space was not the most fun I've had in my life.
It was then back to the bus when we reached the surface and back to the hostel. We arrived back around 7.30pm so I headed out to find some dinner then hit the sack as I had to get up early to catch my train to Warsaw at 8:00am the next morning.
WARSAW!!!
Checking out of the hostel at about 7:15am, I made my way, by foot, to the train station which was only about 10 minutes away. Managing to find which platform my train was leaving from I made my way there immediately. After standing for about half an hour in the cold on the platform with no sight of the train and not being able to understand any of the announcements being made I decided that I had better find someone who spoke both Polish and English so they could tell me why the train had not arrived. It had been due to arrive at 8:00am!!! A nice man managed to tell me that the train had been delayed about 50 minutes so instead of standing in the cold, I decided to go and find something to eat as I had left too early to be able to get breakfast from the hostel.
The train finally arrived at 8:45am. I found my seat easily enough and I have to say that the seats are very comfortable and there is lots of leg room on the Polish trains, which was nice. The train trip took about 2 and a half hours and so I arrived in Warsaw at about 11:15am. It then took me a little while to get my bearings and work out which way I had to go in order to get to my hostel. The walk was quite nice and only took me about 15 minutes. However the weather still hadn't decided to play nice and so it was cold and windy and the clouds threatened to drop rain on me at any minute. I made it to my hostel though safe and dry and checked in. Unfortunately was unable to check into my room until 3pm so tried to kill time by using the free internet. After that only managed to pass about 3o minutes and my stomach was giving me the hint that it was time for lunch, I left my bags at the hostel and head out to find food and do what little sight-seeing I could do. Being a Sunday, most of the museums and tourist attractions were closed, which severely limited my options of what to do.
I filled myself with KFC, which was the closest food store to the hostel, and planned where I would head to that afternoon. I decided to head first to see the last remaining section of the ghetto wall, then head on to the Uprising museum (the only museum open on a Sunday) and finally ending at the Old Town.
My first destination, the ghetto wall, was one that I never made it to. This was not a fault on my part at all, but rather the fault of the tour guide book I had been given which stated that the address where I would be able to find this historical piece of the wall was actually the address of an apartment block. Not deterred by this I continued on to the Uprising museum. On arrival, I began to make my way towards the ticket box before noticing a sign which stated that entry was free on Sunday (BONUS!!!). I spent about an hour wandering around the museum, looking at and reading all the different displays about the war and the uprising in Warsaw. Outside there was a wall which I believe had written on it all the names of the Polish people killed either in the war or in the Uprising. I'm going to venture a guess that it was probably the just those killed in the uprising. I could easily have spent more time there but as the daylight hours were limited and it was quite a grey day to begin with that I had best head to Old Town if I was to see it in the daylight. The idea of walking around Warsaw in the dark also didn't appeal to me either.
So it then took me over half an hour to cross to the other side of town where the Old Town was situated. As you got closer to Old Town, the buildings all seemed to become a lot grander, older and nicer looking. For the section of the town which had been completely distroyed in the war and uprising, it was amazing how well the buildings were rebuilt (aparently in exactly the same way as they were before the town was destroyed). It reminded me a lot of walking through the Old Town in Stockholm.
The Royal Palace, which unfortunately closed at 4pm on a Sunday and so which I just missed, was quite a nice looking building (I think it looked very much like all the other palaces I've seen) situated on the outskirts of the Old Town and next to the St Anne's Church. There must have been a service taking place in the church because there was a small group of people crowded outside the front door and singing could be heard wafting out the doors.
I also ventured into the Old Town to the centre square. There was a monument in the middle of the square, though I'm not too sure what it was supposed to represent. After having a bit more of a look and walking past St John's Cathedral, I started to make my way back to the hostel but seeing as it would take me over 45 minutes to walk the whole way back, I decided to walk through Ogrod Saski Park and catch the tram on the other side of the park which would take me to a block away from where I was staying.
That night I just relaxed in my room, reorganised my case ready for the flight home the next day and read my book before falling asleep at about 9pm.
The next morning I was up at about 9:30am. I had a shower, finished packing up my case and then went to breakfast. I then had about an hour to kill before I had to check out and make my way to the airport so I once again went on the internet and then headed out for a brief walk around the area near the hostel.
12pm came quickly enough and I got a cab out to the airport. The taxi however was not a very pleasant experience and the driver was obviously a smoker who liked to smoke in his cab and so when I got in it was rather difficult to breathe due to all smokey air. I did make it alive to the airport and it was such a relief to get out into the fresh air. Warsaw airport is quite a large and very beautiful airport. Unfortunately for me the airline I was flying with did not depart from Terminal 1 or 2 (found within the main building). Instead I had to head out of the main airport, walk 500 metres to this shed, which was to be where I would check in and wait for my flight. I was rather disappointed by this as there were no shops, except for one coffee and food shop, so all I could do was sit there, read my book and wait. Eventually the time came to board my flight. The flight itself was much better than the flight coming over, much, mcuh smoother, and Norwegian even use the allocated seating, which I prefer. It means there's lesspushing and shoving when getting onto the plane!
Once I got to Stockholm I then had a 4 hour wait for my connecting flight to Copenhagen so I sat, read more of my book, bought a Sudoku magazine to help keep me busy and watched the soccer on a TV in the seating area. This flight to Copenhagen was also nice, smooth and ahead of time, so I ended up arriving in Copenhagen at 9:00pm instead of 9:25pm. I then had to catch the train back to Malmö and of course half my luck, the train that was supposed to be heading to Malmö pulled in and said it was nto taking any passengers as there was something wrong with the train. So instead we had to change platforms and wait for the next train, which came about 10 minutes later.
So I made it home safe and sound, but rather tired. The worst part was not being able to look forward to a nice sleep in on Tuesday morning, instead having to get up nice and early so as to be at my school placement by 8:30am. Oh well, life goes on. I do have to admit that I'm counting down the days till Saturday, when i will be able to sleep in and spend the entire day doing absolutely nothing!!! I can't wait. If I get bored and feel like doing something productive I may even add some photos of Malmö to the blog for you to all have a look at. But other than that, that's all from me for now. Next stop....PRAGUE!!!!
Oh and if you've made it to the end of this post....CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I know it's not the lightest reading!!!
Puss och Kram
Alice
xo
The train finally arrived at 8:45am. I found my seat easily enough and I have to say that the seats are very comfortable and there is lots of leg room on the Polish trains, which was nice. The train trip took about 2 and a half hours and so I arrived in Warsaw at about 11:15am. It then took me a little while to get my bearings and work out which way I had to go in order to get to my hostel. The walk was quite nice and only took me about 15 minutes. However the weather still hadn't decided to play nice and so it was cold and windy and the clouds threatened to drop rain on me at any minute. I made it to my hostel though safe and dry and checked in. Unfortunately was unable to check into my room until 3pm so tried to kill time by using the free internet. After that only managed to pass about 3o minutes and my stomach was giving me the hint that it was time for lunch, I left my bags at the hostel and head out to find food and do what little sight-seeing I could do. Being a Sunday, most of the museums and tourist attractions were closed, which severely limited my options of what to do.
I filled myself with KFC, which was the closest food store to the hostel, and planned where I would head to that afternoon. I decided to head first to see the last remaining section of the ghetto wall, then head on to the Uprising museum (the only museum open on a Sunday) and finally ending at the Old Town.
My first destination, the ghetto wall, was one that I never made it to. This was not a fault on my part at all, but rather the fault of the tour guide book I had been given which stated that the address where I would be able to find this historical piece of the wall was actually the address of an apartment block. Not deterred by this I continued on to the Uprising museum. On arrival, I began to make my way towards the ticket box before noticing a sign which stated that entry was free on Sunday (BONUS!!!). I spent about an hour wandering around the museum, looking at and reading all the different displays about the war and the uprising in Warsaw. Outside there was a wall which I believe had written on it all the names of the Polish people killed either in the war or in the Uprising. I'm going to venture a guess that it was probably the just those killed in the uprising. I could easily have spent more time there but as the daylight hours were limited and it was quite a grey day to begin with that I had best head to Old Town if I was to see it in the daylight. The idea of walking around Warsaw in the dark also didn't appeal to me either.
So it then took me over half an hour to cross to the other side of town where the Old Town was situated. As you got closer to Old Town, the buildings all seemed to become a lot grander, older and nicer looking. For the section of the town which had been completely distroyed in the war and uprising, it was amazing how well the buildings were rebuilt (aparently in exactly the same way as they were before the town was destroyed). It reminded me a lot of walking through the Old Town in Stockholm.
The Royal Palace, which unfortunately closed at 4pm on a Sunday and so which I just missed, was quite a nice looking building (I think it looked very much like all the other palaces I've seen) situated on the outskirts of the Old Town and next to the St Anne's Church. There must have been a service taking place in the church because there was a small group of people crowded outside the front door and singing could be heard wafting out the doors.
I also ventured into the Old Town to the centre square. There was a monument in the middle of the square, though I'm not too sure what it was supposed to represent. After having a bit more of a look and walking past St John's Cathedral, I started to make my way back to the hostel but seeing as it would take me over 45 minutes to walk the whole way back, I decided to walk through Ogrod Saski Park and catch the tram on the other side of the park which would take me to a block away from where I was staying.
That night I just relaxed in my room, reorganised my case ready for the flight home the next day and read my book before falling asleep at about 9pm.
The next morning I was up at about 9:30am. I had a shower, finished packing up my case and then went to breakfast. I then had about an hour to kill before I had to check out and make my way to the airport so I once again went on the internet and then headed out for a brief walk around the area near the hostel.
12pm came quickly enough and I got a cab out to the airport. The taxi however was not a very pleasant experience and the driver was obviously a smoker who liked to smoke in his cab and so when I got in it was rather difficult to breathe due to all smokey air. I did make it alive to the airport and it was such a relief to get out into the fresh air. Warsaw airport is quite a large and very beautiful airport. Unfortunately for me the airline I was flying with did not depart from Terminal 1 or 2 (found within the main building). Instead I had to head out of the main airport, walk 500 metres to this shed, which was to be where I would check in and wait for my flight. I was rather disappointed by this as there were no shops, except for one coffee and food shop, so all I could do was sit there, read my book and wait. Eventually the time came to board my flight. The flight itself was much better than the flight coming over, much, mcuh smoother, and Norwegian even use the allocated seating, which I prefer. It means there's lesspushing and shoving when getting onto the plane!
Once I got to Stockholm I then had a 4 hour wait for my connecting flight to Copenhagen so I sat, read more of my book, bought a Sudoku magazine to help keep me busy and watched the soccer on a TV in the seating area. This flight to Copenhagen was also nice, smooth and ahead of time, so I ended up arriving in Copenhagen at 9:00pm instead of 9:25pm. I then had to catch the train back to Malmö and of course half my luck, the train that was supposed to be heading to Malmö pulled in and said it was nto taking any passengers as there was something wrong with the train. So instead we had to change platforms and wait for the next train, which came about 10 minutes later.
So I made it home safe and sound, but rather tired. The worst part was not being able to look forward to a nice sleep in on Tuesday morning, instead having to get up nice and early so as to be at my school placement by 8:30am. Oh well, life goes on. I do have to admit that I'm counting down the days till Saturday, when i will be able to sleep in and spend the entire day doing absolutely nothing!!! I can't wait. If I get bored and feel like doing something productive I may even add some photos of Malmö to the blog for you to all have a look at. But other than that, that's all from me for now. Next stop....PRAGUE!!!!
Oh and if you've made it to the end of this post....CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I know it's not the lightest reading!!!
Puss och Kram
Alice
xo
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