Poland

Amazing, absolutely brilliant. There is nothing in the world I would rather be doing right now than traveling. I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Krakow sorting out my business. The plan today is to head to Slovakia. I didn't have any intention to go to Slovakia, but got convinced by an American friend I met here to give this little rural place a go, to break up the 10 hour train ride to Budapest (next destination).
I have had an absolute blast in Krakow. My mom set me up to meet with her friends, son's roommate from college (weird connection) who is a college professor at the University of Krakow. I met with him and 2 of his friends the day I arrived in town, and then my new friend Chung has been hanging out and taking me to the cool bars in town. Last night he came and met a bunch of us in the hostel and was sort of our "tour guide" for Krakow nightlife. I went out with a few Aussies, and Britts, as well as my American friend.

I think it's hilarious that I was nervous about being lonely on this trip. so far over 2 weeks into the trip, I think I have only had one day alone, and that was because I chose to go to Wegrow, the shitty town my family is from. Every other moment of the day I have had company for everything. Solo backpack traveling may be the easiest and friendliest way to meet people in the world.

Warsaw
I arrived in Warsaw about one week ago. I won't lie, Warsaw is a shithole. At first I tried to be positive about it, but after coming to Krakow, I realize that my perception of the city was accurate. It's a giant urban sprawl, where the locals say people go to just work and nobody is happy there. Everyone walks really fast and bumps into you without saying excuse me, and there is nothing very asthetically pleasing about the majority of the city. Honestly, I found the lack of beauty of the city intriguing, as it really captures vibe of the Soviet occupation. Lots of efficient, cement buildings built into the skyline. On many of the buildings there is a layer of graffiti along the first floor. It is interesting to see.

The night I arrived I ended up going with some sketchy "Jamacians" to a regaee club. It reminded me a lot of regaee night at the Dragon's Den in New Orleans, but all white people. I knew the guys were sketchy because I kept getting different answers out of them, such as where they are from, what they are doing here, and how long they had been here. I can hold my own, so I went to the club, I had a great time, but I cut out early. In Krakow I met someone who also hung out with these guys, and they told him they were from Ethopia!!! So my spidey sense wasn't completely off.

Observations of Polish, they cannot dance for shit. I never ever claimed to be able to dance myself, but Polish people make me look like a fucking professional.

There is one pictureque part of the city, Old Town. It is the more "midevil" part, but the irony is that old town isn't really old. It was rebuilt in the 50's, after WWII leveled 85% of the city. Apparently old town was rebuilt almost exactly as it was before. It's so hard to imagine that a city as big as Warsaw was almost completely reduced to rubble.

I went sight seeing on Wednesday with two friends I made from the hostel. Sarah, an American, and Clayton, a Brazillian. We hit a ton of museums, the Warsaw Uprising museum, which deals with the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw during Nazi occupation, another one that delt with the city of Warsaw leading up to the end of WWII, and the a Chopin museum, which reminded me of an episode out of Star Trek the Next Generation. Too. much. technology. It had lcd projectors projecting pictures and music onto the wall, and books with projections where you turn the page and the computer changes the image, I couldn't help wonder why they didn't just use a book. Anyway, my favorite part of Warsaw was the Warsaw Uprising Museum. It's inspirational. Even though the Jew's didn't win that round, at least they put up a fight. We walked around and found parts of where the ghetto walls used to exist. It's basically just a part of the sidewalk now.

Wegrow Old town rebuilt

(Pronounced Vengrove) Ok, so while I was here, I HAD to go to the town my dad's side of the family is from. I mean, when the hell will I ever be back in Warsaw. Never. Even if I lived in Poland, I don't think I would ever go to Warsaw again. I took a little van bus from the Palace of Culture in Warsaw to this little, tiny town about 50 miles North East. I knew going into it that there would be nothing there, and pretty much nothing to see....but I didn't realize how right I would be. I knew that they had a small monument there to the Jewish genocide that took place within the town, but I couldn't find it. I couldn't find shit. I took a picture of one of the Catholic Churches juct because I knew that during German occupation the assholes used the stones from the Jewish Temple to build a wall around the church (not sure if this is the one). I stayed for just a couple of hours because there was nothing to do. I was starving, so after wandering for hours I found a kebab shop. They lady didn't speak English, so I did the unthinkable and just pointed at something at the menu. It ended up being kinda gross, but I ate it anyway. If you like Kebabs though, I recommend Poland. There is a kebab shop on every corner.

Krakow

This city is the place I am in love with. It's beautiful...luckily Warsaw became the capital to be destroyed in WWII, because I would be so sad if Krakow looked like a Warsaw wasteland. I have never had a moment of down time, the people are so much more friendly. I even got a ride from some Polish guys from the train station to my hostel. (it's ok mom, they were nerdy lawyer types, harmless). There is a great night life, and so much history surrounding it. Within the last couple of years I have been becoming very interested in Holocaust history, and I am in no better place in the world to be learning about it. The day after arriving I went to the Salt Mines which are 200m below ground. I felt the Salt Mines were just ok...but after went with my friend Brian to a free walking tour of Krakow around the Jewish Quarter and over to the Old Jewish Ghetto. If you ever find yourself in Europe, do the free walking tour companies, they are wonderful.




Bus stop returning from salt mines

Auschwitz is really the big deal of the area, the thing that you need to do. I didn't really learn too much new stuff regarding concentration camps, but it did hit me with the vastness of the murder and torture that took place there. You walk into a room and there is an exhibit of 40,000 pairs of shoes that were taken from the prisoners (just as an example). You just see the grand scale of the murder that took place there. Auschwitz II

1,500,000 people were killed there. I didn't get emotional there like I thought I would. It actually leaves you feeling really numb. It's hard to imagine that I had ancestors in these camps.

You know what. I feel as though I can't possibly communicate everything that I have done in this blog. It's just been so eventful. Not only sights, but thoughts, feelings, and new friends as well. I wish I could write it all, but I suppose I will have some stories that people didn't read on my blog to share face to face. 10 people had to share one level of this bed


Before I wrap this up...I'll share my current thought. The professor I was introduced to in Krakow has a transatlantic masters program in social studies here. I won't lie, Original Train car that carried 80-100 Jews into the camp

am thinking about it. I could get my masters degree here while teaching English. How amazing would that be! No decisions yet though.