Poznan.This was our first stop in Poland because Sarah's ancestors are from here. It's the fifth largest city in Poland. Which pretty much means it's Tauranga.
We only spent one night here, because in truth, there ain't much to do in Poznan. We had a lot of trouble trying to find our hotel when we arrived. Mostly because it wasn't actually a hotel, it was an art gallery. Turns out the owner has converted a couple of rooms in the gallery, to make some extra cash. For a while I was certain we were going to be murdered in our sleep, but it was actually an okay place to stay in the end. Albeit with some bad art work on the walls.
Just like a real hotel.
The Old Town Square was the best part of Poznan. The buildings are all happily painted and bar after bar line the cobblestone streets. We got a really delicious dinner at one of the local pubs, and some slightly less delicious, but very Polish dumplings. They call them pierogi. The meat ones taste a bit like dog food. Those were my favourites.
The next day we trained to Krakow, and 8 hour train trip that saw us befriend a very cute Spanish couple, and maybe send them to the wrong destination (whoops) and almost get into a fight with a couple of train conductors.
All in all, smooth sailing, and to be honest, I was just happy to have survived the night. Farewell Poznan, I will never see you again.
Next stop Krakow. Or as I've come to know her, Crack-Whore. To be honest, she's not so dissimilar from one. She's grey. She's dirty. She's falling apart.
It's almost like WWII only just ended. Unlike Poznan, the buildings here are dirty, blackened and seem like they've just been bombed. They're decrepit with missing chunks of concrete. Grey concrete. Because the paint wore off a long time ago, and it seems no one can be bothered repainting. I think communism did little for Krakow, except maintain a level of poorness that it struggles to recover from.
We discovered, when we did the Wieliczka Salt Mine tour, that Poland was once rich, very rich. Not from gold, or diamonds, or anything pretty & beautiful like that. No, Poland was rich from salt. You heard me. And if you've ever been into an underground salt mine, you'll know it's grey. And cold. Like concrete.
Makes sense really.
We also visited the 2 closest concentration camps to Krakow, and also quite possibly, the 2 worst of the Holocaust. Auschwitz & Birkenau. The first thing that hit me, shocked me, about Auschwitz when we arrived, was that it looked more like a holiday camp than a concentration camp. The row upon row of brick & tile barracks surrounded by cobblestone streets and lush lawns and tree's, disguise the horror of what went on here. In truth, the God-awful fucked up shit that happened here, made me ashamed to be part of the human race. We can be evil creatures sometimes.
Birkenau was similar, like a huge township of Stepford barracks, yet Birkenau was worse than Auschwitz for the sheer number of people killed here. Our tour lasted 6 hours, by the end of which, I was starting to feel pretty sick. It started raining as we were leaving, which seemed apt. Like the sky was crying over the place where so many people lost their lives.
But it wasn't all doom & gloom in Krakow. One of the things that made me laugh a lot, on a daily basis, was the huge number of middle aged men who wore high waisted jeans. They yanked them up so high, with tee shirts tucked in, that it didn't leave a lot to the imagination. It was awful, like a car crash. I couldn't bare to look, but couldn't look away.
Horrible.
Also, if you ever feel like a refreshing apple juice in Poland, whatever you do, DO NOT BUY ONE. Why I hear you ask? Sure, apple juice seems innocent enough, until you take a swig and realise that it's common here to have mint in apple juice. It basically tastes like apple toothpaste in a bottle.
Horrible.
Also, they drink beer here with straws. With straws! My beer kept arriving with straws, and I kept whipping them out. I was even asked if I wanted fruit syrup added to my beer!
Horrible.
And that's not the meanest thing they do to beer here. If you want, you can get a hot beer. That's right, you heard me. Boiled beer.
No thanks Poland, that's all yours. With a straw.
We only spent one night here, because in truth, there ain't much to do in Poznan. We had a lot of trouble trying to find our hotel when we arrived. Mostly because it wasn't actually a hotel, it was an art gallery. Turns out the owner has converted a couple of rooms in the gallery, to make some extra cash. For a while I was certain we were going to be murdered in our sleep, but it was actually an okay place to stay in the end. Albeit with some bad art work on the walls.
Just like a real hotel.
The Old Town Square was the best part of Poznan. The buildings are all happily painted and bar after bar line the cobblestone streets. We got a really delicious dinner at one of the local pubs, and some slightly less delicious, but very Polish dumplings. They call them pierogi. The meat ones taste a bit like dog food. Those were my favourites.
The next day we trained to Krakow, and 8 hour train trip that saw us befriend a very cute Spanish couple, and maybe send them to the wrong destination (whoops) and almost get into a fight with a couple of train conductors.
All in all, smooth sailing, and to be honest, I was just happy to have survived the night. Farewell Poznan, I will never see you again.
Next stop Krakow. Or as I've come to know her, Crack-Whore. To be honest, she's not so dissimilar from one. She's grey. She's dirty. She's falling apart.
It's almost like WWII only just ended. Unlike Poznan, the buildings here are dirty, blackened and seem like they've just been bombed. They're decrepit with missing chunks of concrete. Grey concrete. Because the paint wore off a long time ago, and it seems no one can be bothered repainting. I think communism did little for Krakow, except maintain a level of poorness that it struggles to recover from.
We discovered, when we did the Wieliczka Salt Mine tour, that Poland was once rich, very rich. Not from gold, or diamonds, or anything pretty & beautiful like that. No, Poland was rich from salt. You heard me. And if you've ever been into an underground salt mine, you'll know it's grey. And cold. Like concrete.
Makes sense really.
We also visited the 2 closest concentration camps to Krakow, and also quite possibly, the 2 worst of the Holocaust. Auschwitz & Birkenau. The first thing that hit me, shocked me, about Auschwitz when we arrived, was that it looked more like a holiday camp than a concentration camp. The row upon row of brick & tile barracks surrounded by cobblestone streets and lush lawns and tree's, disguise the horror of what went on here. In truth, the God-awful fucked up shit that happened here, made me ashamed to be part of the human race. We can be evil creatures sometimes.
Birkenau was similar, like a huge township of Stepford barracks, yet Birkenau was worse than Auschwitz for the sheer number of people killed here. Our tour lasted 6 hours, by the end of which, I was starting to feel pretty sick. It started raining as we were leaving, which seemed apt. Like the sky was crying over the place where so many people lost their lives.
But it wasn't all doom & gloom in Krakow. One of the things that made me laugh a lot, on a daily basis, was the huge number of middle aged men who wore high waisted jeans. They yanked them up so high, with tee shirts tucked in, that it didn't leave a lot to the imagination. It was awful, like a car crash. I couldn't bare to look, but couldn't look away.
Horrible.
Also, if you ever feel like a refreshing apple juice in Poland, whatever you do, DO NOT BUY ONE. Why I hear you ask? Sure, apple juice seems innocent enough, until you take a swig and realise that it's common here to have mint in apple juice. It basically tastes like apple toothpaste in a bottle.
Horrible.
Also, they drink beer here with straws. With straws! My beer kept arriving with straws, and I kept whipping them out. I was even asked if I wanted fruit syrup added to my beer!
Horrible.
And that's not the meanest thing they do to beer here. If you want, you can get a hot beer. That's right, you heard me. Boiled beer.
No thanks Poland, that's all yours. With a straw.
