DIARY OF AN ADVENTURER: DO I LOOK POLISH TO YOU

Poland has always fascinated me for some reason which I am not entirely sure of. It could stem from reading the Silver Sword in primary school, a book about A Polish Man who was sent to a Concentration Camp during World War Two. Anyway, I had been wanting to go to Poland for a very long time. To my surprise, during my adventure I was asked on more than one occasion by other travellers if I spoke English and if I could give them directions. I bet they got a major shock when I replied in my kiwi accent!

Ellie and I arrived from Prague on an overnight train into Krakow at about 8am. We hadn't managed to sleep a lot on the narrow train beds so we spent the morning relaxing in our own apartment which cost us about $50NZD each for 4 nights. Poland is unbelievably cheap! It was nice to have a room with just the two of us and not have to worry about what we could catch in the communal showers, rude people snoring and/or coming in late at night and walking us up.

Feeling refreshed and awake, we spent the afternoon taking part in a free walking tour of the city. The town square, which is one of the largest medieval town squares in Europe, contains St Mary's Basilica and an Old Market Hall running through the middle. The walking tour took us to St Florians Gate, one of the old entrances into the walled Old Town City Centre. The walls go right around the old city and meet at Wawel Castle in the south. The tour took us along one side of the city, through the university district, and finished at the Castle. As this was where the tour ended, we decided to go and check out the Castle, which is now one of Polands Art Museums.

On Day Two we did a walking tour all about the Jewish presence in Krakow. The Jews, who had been expelled from countries all around Europe, had managed to move to Poland where they were all welcomed. By the end of the 1930s, the Jewish community of Kraków consisted of about 25% of the city’s total population. This community was almost totally destroyed during the Second World War however.

On the tour we learnt all about the liquidation and how the Jews were treated during World War Two. We walked through the former Jewish Ghetto and saw the Ghetto Square. This square now has some empty chairs, to signify and replicate the liquidation of the ghetto. The tour finished at Schindlers Factory where there was lots of pictures and information about life in Poland during WWII.

The All Blacks were playing South Africa that afternoon so Ellie and I found a pub to watch the match in. We happened to sit with an older kiwi couple who were on holiday too and we all watched the game together.

The next day we took part in a guided tour of Auschwitz. There is a total of three Concentration Camps, Auschwitz I (the Original Camp), Auschwitz II – Birkenau (a combination of Concentration and Extermination Camps), Auschwitz III – Monowitz (a Labor Camp and the largest Death Camp used by the Nazi's during WWII). Most of the buildings, especially those at Auschwitz II and III were destroyed by the Nazi's, when they realised they had been discovered. They burnt the buildings to try to cover up the enormity of what they were doing.

Many of the original buildings that are left have been turned into museums. They share the truth about what really happened here and display a lot of personal items and photographs. Being there and understanding what some of these people were put through made the whole thing seem so much more real. The one thing I struggled to comprehend the most is the fact that this didn't happen very long ago. It was only in the 1930s, less than 100 years ago.

On the last day I took a day trip on my own and went on the train to Warsaw. I think it must be the book that had me so interested in Poland as Warsaw was the place I had heard of and was more interesting in visiting, despite Krakow being the Capital City. I did a couple of walking tours as a way of orientating myself and learning about the incredible Polish History. The whole central city of Warsaw was destroyed during the WWII bombings and has been rebuilt to replicate how it originally looked, but you are not able to tell that it has been redone.

On one of the tours I visited the Old Jewish Ghetto from WWII where there are markings in the pavement showing where the wall used to be. The district is residentual now, with no obvious traces of its former days. I also saw the Barbican Fort outside the Town Wall, similar to the one in Krakow, used during war times.

I went inside the Royal Palace which was burned and looted by the Nazi Germans following the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and almost completely destroyed in 1944 after the failed Warsaw Uprising. The Castle was completely rebuilt and reconstructed from 1971-1984 and is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Marie Currie museum is also in Warsaw, which is in the home that she was brought up in. There is an old legend about a a mermaid who protects the city and her statue is in the Old Market Square. I saw the palm tree, a work of art created to add some sunny cheer to the city.

On our last day in Poland, Ellie and I wanted to climb to a high point and have a look out over the city. We ended up at a super fancy resturant where we drank beers in the sun with a great view of the castle. After a few too many beers, we wandered back along the river where Ellie ended up playing chess with some local men who could not speak any English. It must be a great life to live, without a care in the world. We then had to head back for our bags and to the train station for our overnight train to Budapest.

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

I hope this has inspired you.

LARISSAJODEE x

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