June 2007For some reason, I used to think of Poland as a gloomy place. I’m not sure why…maybe because of the bitter winter cold. But that’s part of the beauty of travel: it changes some preconceived notions you may have about a place or culture. And that’s exactly what happened in Poland.
We stayed in Krakow, the third largest city in the country, the royal capital for half a millennium and the only large Polish city whose architecture remained almost intact after WWII. The highlight of Krakow is the Old Town, centered on the Main Market Square, the largest medieval town square in Poland, and reputedly in Europe. I was surprised to find that it’s a very lively place filled with hundreds of cheerful locals, tourists and street performers, some of them amazingly good – I saw a trio of musicians playing The Four Seasons by Vivaldi…on accordions! The square is dominated by Cloth Hall, built in the 14th century as a center for cloth trade, and today still filled with stalls selling crafts and souvenirs. But to me the best are the apparently perennial festivals that turn the square into a huge open-air theatre and create a contagious upbeat atmosphere. One day, the City of Krakow Festival was on, with traditional Polish music and dance. The next day, there was a local teenage band playing Led Zeppelin, what sounded like “Stairway to Hell”. And, no, I didn’t get the song title wrong…But despite the heretical rendition, it was fun to see how much the band was into it.
Krakow is the self-proclaimed club capital of the world, claiming to have the world’s largest concentration of clubs per square mile. Far fetched as this may seem, the trick is that virtually every restaurant in town doubles as a club. You may enter a genuinely looking Italian tavern only to find out that there is a club downstairs in Egyptian décor with shishas and the whole nine yards. Wicked!
One of the landmarks of Krakow is the Wawel Castle, the seat of kings for over 500 years until the early 17th century. The castle is extremely popular, lines are long and only a limited daily number of visitors are allowed into certain parts of the castle. We managed to enter the Royal Chambers, which unfortunately feels a bit bare because the castle was repeatedly sacked by Swedes, Prussians, and finally Austrians, and the original furnishings couldn’t be recovered. Plunders aside, there is an interesting story surrounding the castle: according to a Hindu legend, Shiva threw seven magic stones towards seven parts of the world and the places hit began to radiate Shiva’s energy. One of these stones is believed to have landed at Wawel, and there are actually studies that confirm its supernatural properties. But I have to say - I didn’t feel any different…
One daytrip that almost every visitor to Krakow takes is Oświęcim. You probably never heard this name, but it was called Auschwitz during WWII. The place was chosen because it was isolated enough but already had barracks and railway tracks. Auschwitz was an extensive complex that included 3 major concentration camps – Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowice – plus 40 smaller camps. Auschwitz and Birkenau have become museums.
Auschwitz has remained mostly intact and the former prison blocks now house several exhibits, some of them showing the belongings of people who were imprisoned there. One of the most poignant is a block-long, floor to ceiling exhibit containing 2 tons of human hair. The Nazis shaved off prisoners’ hair, then sold it to the German textile industry for about $0.30/kg or $0.15/lb.
Birkenau is even more chilling because it was here that mass extermination took place. It occupies 175 hectares (425 acres) and of the original 300 buildings, less than 70 remain as the Nazis destroyed most of them when they realized they were going to lose the war. The camp was established when the Nazis came up with “the final solution” and prisoners were brought from places as far away as Oslo. Right at the unloading platform, there was a selection and those unfit for work (about 75% of arriving people) were sent for “disinfection”, as they were told. What is most chilling about Birkenau is the fact that everything was created to be a very efficient operation: the location, the layout, the way the Nazis even made money out of this (e.g., selling hair). It was an extremely well planned death factory and you can’t help but lose some faith in humanity when you see a thing like that. If there was ever ell on earth, Birkenau was certainly part of it – a monstrous place without a heart.
We stayed in Krakow, the third largest city in the country, the royal capital for half a millennium and the only large Polish city whose architecture remained almost intact after WWII. The highlight of Krakow is the Old Town, centered on the Main Market Square, the largest medieval town square in Poland, and reputedly in Europe. I was surprised to find that it’s a very lively place filled with hundreds of cheerful locals, tourists and street performers, some of them amazingly good – I saw a trio of musicians playing The Four Seasons by Vivaldi…on accordions! The square is dominated by Cloth Hall, built in the 14th century as a center for cloth trade, and today still filled with stalls selling crafts and souvenirs. But to me the best are the apparently perennial festivals that turn the square into a huge open-air theatre and create a contagious upbeat atmosphere. One day, the City of Krakow Festival was on, with traditional Polish music and dance. The next day, there was a local teenage band playing Led Zeppelin, what sounded like “Stairway to Hell”. And, no, I didn’t get the song title wrong…But despite the heretical rendition, it was fun to see how much the band was into it.
Krakow is the self-proclaimed club capital of the world, claiming to have the world’s largest concentration of clubs per square mile. Far fetched as this may seem, the trick is that virtually every restaurant in town doubles as a club. You may enter a genuinely looking Italian tavern only to find out that there is a club downstairs in Egyptian décor with shishas and the whole nine yards. Wicked!
One of the landmarks of Krakow is the Wawel Castle, the seat of kings for over 500 years until the early 17th century. The castle is extremely popular, lines are long and only a limited daily number of visitors are allowed into certain parts of the castle. We managed to enter the Royal Chambers, which unfortunately feels a bit bare because the castle was repeatedly sacked by Swedes, Prussians, and finally Austrians, and the original furnishings couldn’t be recovered. Plunders aside, there is an interesting story surrounding the castle: according to a Hindu legend, Shiva threw seven magic stones towards seven parts of the world and the places hit began to radiate Shiva’s energy. One of these stones is believed to have landed at Wawel, and there are actually studies that confirm its supernatural properties. But I have to say - I didn’t feel any different…
One daytrip that almost every visitor to Krakow takes is Oświęcim. You probably never heard this name, but it was called Auschwitz during WWII. The place was chosen because it was isolated enough but already had barracks and railway tracks. Auschwitz was an extensive complex that included 3 major concentration camps – Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowice – plus 40 smaller camps. Auschwitz and Birkenau have become museums.
Auschwitz has remained mostly intact and the former prison blocks now house several exhibits, some of them showing the belongings of people who were imprisoned there. One of the most poignant is a block-long, floor to ceiling exhibit containing 2 tons of human hair. The Nazis shaved off prisoners’ hair, then sold it to the German textile industry for about $0.30/kg or $0.15/lb.
Birkenau is even more chilling because it was here that mass extermination took place. It occupies 175 hectares (425 acres) and of the original 300 buildings, less than 70 remain as the Nazis destroyed most of them when they realized they were going to lose the war. The camp was established when the Nazis came up with “the final solution” and prisoners were brought from places as far away as Oslo. Right at the unloading platform, there was a selection and those unfit for work (about 75% of arriving people) were sent for “disinfection”, as they were told. What is most chilling about Birkenau is the fact that everything was created to be a very efficient operation: the location, the layout, the way the Nazis even made money out of this (e.g., selling hair). It was an extremely well planned death factory and you can’t help but lose some faith in humanity when you see a thing like that. If there was ever ell on earth, Birkenau was certainly part of it – a monstrous place without a heart.
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