18.05.09

18.05.2009

My journey continues with a 16 hour train ride from Krakow Poland to Ljubljana Slovenia. The first leg of my journey was a night train from Krakow back thru Vienna (a bit of backtracking, but that’s what happens when unplanned stops arise). I met two young travelers from Canada and they were on their first overnight train. Ann Marie and Carly were traveling to Munich and had the same connecting train. I am now on the second leg of my trip to Ljubljana (a six hour train from Vienna).

Poland was one of my favorite stops thus far (even though I had a bit of a scare). I arrived at 6am Krakow time after an 8 hour night train. The train ride was not the smoothest. Poland is not part of my rail pass; I had to but a connecting ticket for the portion of the ride that was not covered. The conductor only spoke Polish and hated Americans (I guess a polish traveler he knew lost his life due to negligence in North America so he hated us all). Fortunately for me I was in a sleeping compartment with two Polish Canadian travelers that came to my rescue. They had 40 Zloty (polish money, about 12 American dollars) to cover me until we arrived in Poland and I could access an ATM. Once we arrived and I paid them back. I then set off on my way to find my Hostel in old town square.

I started to walk thru town and got some amazing pictures of the sunrise and some great shots of the Rynek (the largest square in medieval Europe) virtually empty. I heard the Hejnal at 7am. Legend has it that during one of the 13th century Tatar raids a guard watching from the tower of the Mariacki church was the invaders approaching and blew his trumpet, only for his alarm to be cut short by an arrow thru the throat. Every hour 7 firemen now play the sombre melody (hejnal) from the same tower, halting abruptly at the point when the guard was supposed to have been hit.

When I arrived at my Hostel my room was not quite ready so I checked my huge backpack at the desk and scheduled a guided tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau for 8am. I have to admit I didn’t know what to expect in Auschwitz but after spending some time with the Roman, Juliette and their travel group I was eager to take the tour.

After another 90 minute bus ride we arrived in Auschwitz. As we were driving up the guide explained why Hitler and the Nazi’s had picked this location for their extermination camps. The area was surrounded by two rivers (which made escape more difficult) and it was a central location in Europe with existing train tracks that lead right to Birkenau, former training ground for the Polish army. All the residents in the area were forced to leave their homes and the Nazi’s began to dismantle their homes to use the bricks to build the concentration camps. The few houses they did not dismantle were used to house Hitler’s SS high officials that were stationed there. The first sign that I saw when arriving to the gates of Auschwitz was written in German and it translated to “with work comes freedom.” People arriving at Auschwitz were all promised a better life once arriving. Many even paid the Nazi’s for a plot of land and a new beginning. They were all allowed to bring 25 kilos of valuables and nothing more (that’s the same weight I brought with me) which isn’t much to start a new life with your family. The first sign something was terribly wrong had to be their travel conditions. Many of them spent two weeks on the train waiting to arrive in Auschwitz with no food or water and an estimated 15-20% died in transit. Once arriving they were all stripped of their possessions (I have pictures of rooms of suitcases, dishes, glasses, shoes and other valuable possessions that were recovered for the museum) and greeted by a Nazi doctor who separated them into groups. The first group was that of only able bodied men that were strong and fit enough to work (these men lasted a maximum of 4 months before they were sent to the gas chamber and new fresh workers were brought in), the next group was women who were set to experimentation facility (Stalin had an entire laboratory devoted to engineering a chemical that could sterilize the women (which they did discover), this laboratory had all the windows covered so no one knew what was going on in there, and the last group was shuffled right into the gas chambers. At first they buried the dead, but it wasn’t long before they realized this would not be a practical solution for disposing of this many bodies (plus they didn’t want the evidence) so a proto type stove were constructed at Auschwitz.. Stalin figured they could burn down the bodies of 6 people every 20 minutes per stove (which I have photos of). When the first testing were done the screams were so loud Stalin had to bring in several army vehicles to block the area. SS officers stood ringing large bells to block out the screams (they didn’t want any resistance, and didn’t want to frighten new arrivals). Shortly after the exterminations begun they realized that the Auschwitz facility wasn’t big enough to complete the task so Birkenau was born. Birkenau was about 10 minute bus rides (which workers were forced to walk in all weather conditions (and was one of the only chances of escape). Of the estimated 1,500,000 people from 26 European countries exterminated in Auschwitz and Birkenau only 134 people managed to escape (which meant it was virtually impossible). Anyone caught attempting to escape hung in the gallows. Not only were they hung, but everyone living in the bunk with them hung as well (sometimes this consisted of several hundred). Everyone in the camp was forced to watch them hang one by one. This took several hours and the longest demonstration was over 27 hours, in frigid winter conditions. Birkenau was the most gut wrenching place I have ever visited. Just before liberation (January 1959) Hitler and the Nazi’s knew they were loosing the war. They began to destroy evidence of the camps. For some reason they left the chimneys of the smoke stacks from the ovens. The oven chimneys stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions (and to think 6 people every 20 minutes in each). It was a beautiful day with clear skies when I was visiting, but no one during WWII ever saw day light. Dense smoke created 24 hour darkness over Auschwitz and Birkenau from all the burning bodies. One of the stories that were told was that of a survivor. He searched for months for his wife and asked everyone he came across if they had seen her. One prisoner replied, “Taste that sweet taste in the air… that’s your wife.”

We all learn about Auschwitz in school, but Birkenau was the real extermination camp and the place where the most terrible things happened. The scariest part of the tour was the brutal realization of how extremely efficient the Nazi’s were at exterminating people. They killed over 1,500,000 in less than 5 years (and I did not know nearly 1/3 of the people executed were Hungarian). Another disturbing fact is that 90% of the SS officers responsible for these horrific crimes were never prosecuted. They fled to Central and South America after the war and everr faced any consequences. I also learned that the United States and UK were informed of what was going on at Auschwitz and Birkenau during the War and did nothing to stop it. There was never one attempt to rescue the people or stop the extermination camps. We decided since it was not a military facility it wasn’t our responsibility to do anything. After experiencing the tour I didn’t feel like doing much so I went back to my room and took a nap.

After napping I felt a little better so I had some traditional Polish food (perogi & soup), then went to drink some polish Vodka. I sampled a lot of Vodka and I have to say… I love Polish vodka! Tutonka has to be my favorite polish drink (cinnamon vodka and apple juice, tastes like apple pie). I was bored of the bar so I took of walking the streets of Poland at 2am (not wise). I ventured all over the outskirts of Krakow and probably walked about 12 kilometers taking some great photos and talking to a few interesting characters. I was a bit tired and wouldn’t you know a taxi driver approached me and asked if I needed a ride (never trust a taxi that comes to you). The second bad decision I made was taking him up on his offer. Right after I got in the vehicle I knew something was not right, we were traveling in the wrong direction… away from town. He drove about 4 blocks and said, “You get out here.” I thought to myself oh shit… this isn’t good. As I exited the vehicle I saw a man rapidly approaching. Before I knew it, out came an industrial sized can of Bear mace (strong ass pepper spray) and he shot it right in my face. I lunged at him and started to wrestle the can away. The taxi driver was behind me at this point and I felt a burn in my arm. My instincts were to run so I ran into the woods (hardly able to see), and came across a giant drain pipe. I hid in the drain pipe for over an hour splashing the running stream of water in my face. It took roughly an hour before I could see again. I figured they would be gone so I ventured out of the storm drain. A few steps out of the pipe and I sunk to my thighs (just great) in a creek hidden by foliage. I climbed out of the swamp and looked for a main highway. I came across a policija (polish police) and explained what happened. Since I could not identify the guy, and didn’t have any info on the taxi, a report was not filed. I got back to my room around sunrise and slept most of the day.

I wasn’t going to let a little something like that ruin my trip (I escaped without injury and didn’t get robbed of anything) even thought admittedly I was a little shaken up. After all it was the first time I had the pleasure of being pepper sprayed (I wouldn’t recommend it). I remember worse things happening in Atlanta than a little bear spray in the face. In fact my Aflac clients of All Connect were shot at robbed at gun point while visiting headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. This type of thing happens all the time in every country. We all have our good and bad citizens. I wont judge a country or its people by one isolated incident. My opinion is if you live your life afraid, you’re not really living (and you will stress yourself to death). I also believe you can be cautious and avoid a lot of the situations I find myself in (learn from my mistakes, I am).

After waking and showering again I set off to visit the Wawel castle (within city limits) early that evening. The only part I was really excited to see was Smok- the dragon of Krakow. On the west side of the castle is the former den of the Dragon Smok. I took a spiral staircase leading down from the castle into a dark cavern. This was reputedly once the home of Smok, a dragon whose diet consisted of children, cattle, and unsuccessful knights. Krak, the legendary founder of Krakow, tricked him into eating a sheep stuffed with sulfur; to quench the burning, smok drank half the Wisla causing him to explode. Despite his unfortunate end the dragon is now the symbol of the city. I got some great pictures in his lair and it definitely looked like a place that I would live if I were a dragon.

That night I went out again with a group of polish doctors. I met a group that was all graduating from medical school in Poland. Several were coming to the states for residency, some were staying in Europe and some were headed to Canada. They showed me Poland from a local perspective, and it was much more fun than the previous night. I drank Wsciekty pies with them (that translates to dog with rabies). It’s a shot where the bottom is a red juice, the top is Polish vodka and the two layers are separated by Tabasco sauce (it resembles a polish flag), it was actually quite good and the Tabasco killed the vodka burn. After some shots at the bar we headed to frantic (a night club) and sampled a few more kinds of vodka. Frantic was literally a stones throw from my Hostel so I said my goodbyes and headed home somewhat early. I had another travel day approaching and I wanted to visit the Wieliczka Salt mines before leaving Krakow. The mines are composed of over 300 km of subterranean tunnels. We explored less that one percent of the caves, but the things we saw were breathtaking. As explained to me, salt was once more valuable than silver. It was used in food preservation and during ancient wars those armies with salt faired much better than those without. Lots of debts were paid with salt (similar to the way we use a credit card today). The salt miners were some of the wealthiest people of their time, but it was also a very dangerous job. At time of the year the mines were extremely hot and wet (and you can imagine how difficult it would be to climb a slippery salt staircase carrying blocks of salt) and if one miner slipped often times several would be taken out and plummet to their death with him. There are several preserved carvings done by the simple people of the mines and many are very impressive. They have constructed a banquet hall for parties and events in the mines as well as the deepest underground church in the world (completely made of salt from the floor to the alter) that holds roughly 12 weddings a year and a service every sunday. It would be a great place to get married. The mine is also home to the first indoor bungee jump and underground children’s hospital. The salt mine has healing powers. Our guide use to suffer from severe allergies and was a heavily medicated asthmatic. After 6 months of working in the caves his allergies were gone and he no longer requires any type of asthma medication. In fact several children with extreme asthma problems temporarily live in an underground hospital in the mine. I also went pee in the furthest underground bathroom in the world and ate chocolate from the deepest store in the world (200 km underground)… whoo hoo! One thing we didn’t get to see were the crystal caves. You have to have a special permit only granted by the president of Poland to enter. It was explained that even your breathe destroys the crystals, so special breathing gear is required to enter. Lots of famous people have visited the salt caves including 3 former popes, George Bush Sr, and Hillary Clinton just to name a few. They are the oldest operational salt mines on the world. My camera ran out of batteries about 2/3 thru the tour so I don’t have pictures of the underground salt lake, but I have lots of great pictures in the mines.

Overall it was a great experience in Krakow and I liked Poland a lot (in fact I saw a tunnel in the salt mines that was spelled similar to Drowatzky… I wonder if there is any connection to you dad).

Things to remember:

I love the bread in Europe… it’s always so fresh and good.
Don’t take free refills for granted in the states... I love free refills and Europe does not!
Never trust a taxi driver that approaches you... its trouble.

Now I’m off to Slovenia and I can’t wait for some really tropical weather!