Kraków is really a great place to be in, the Main Square, the buildings, the pubs, the places of interests.... they were all just very very nice. And most importantly, things there were CHEAP... they were at least of the same price as that in Singapore, and there were many things that were even cheaper as compared to that in Singapore. Not to mention that I've got some of the really good deals in this shopping centre which is like their Vivocity (but not that large though).
If time permits, I'd really want to shop for a few more days there. It's like there is a wider variety there, and it's where I could gain back my normal weight because I have no qualms about buying food to eat (since it is so cheap). Gelato-style Italian ice cream only costs S$1 per scoop there and I eat it every night. I was also very touched when I saw KFC (like finally)... Haven't seen KFC ever since I came to Europe, and I really miss it. Or rather, all of us missed it so much that we chiong-ed for it when we found a place to sit at.
Okay, enough talking... pictures time...
*Malmö Airport*
*Välkommen Ombord*
*Ben & I*
*Katowice Airport*
*the mini bus that brought us to Kraków*
*Mama's Hostel - we stayed here*
*reception desk - 24 hour functional*
*the common room of the hostel*
*the rooms*
*Back Alley of our Hostel*Around Old Town
Old Town is the main city square of Kraków and it is the heart of the city where many activities are taking place. You get to watch street performances, look at the beautiful buildings in town, hire a horse-taxi (and feel like you're Cinderella in her horse carriage), and of course chilling out in a pub with your friends at night.
It is also in Old Town that you get to visit Wawel's Castle and the various Synagogues (these are Jewish house of worship) and of course the usual churches in town.
*Night View of the Cloth Hall*
*Day View of the Cloth Hall*
*St. Mary's Basilica*
*Interior of St. Mary's - I think it's too elaborated, too much gold*
*Watch Tower*
*Main Market Square*
*Church of St. Peter and St. Paul's*
*Interior of the Church*
*The beautiful church organ*
*Horse Taxi*
*Street of Kraków*
*Wawel's Castle*
*Me in front of the entrance to the castle*
*Buildings within the Castle*The people in Poland seldom see Asians, so while we were there, everyone's eyes were glued on us. When we sat down to rest, a group of Polish kids suddenly thronged towards us to take a photo with us. When the first group was done, a second group of them rushed over! Were we the exhibits or what? HAHA... cute kids though.
*photo with the Polish kids*
*Polish food - rice with minced meat wrapped with cabbage*
*The New Jewish Cemetry - there's a monument for the all the Jewish who died in WW II*
*Inside Tempel Synagogue*
*Shopping Centre - it opens till 10pm!*
*does this shop sell very expensive clothes?*
*KFC!!! Finally!!*Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp
Click on the link above to read more about the Concentration Camp...
Quite a sad place to be in - to understand what the prisoners of the largest Nazi extermination camp went through, the number of people that were killed - it really is upsetting. Even just before reaching the place, the sky was looking gloomy and the cold wind was blowing. What an apt entry to a place where millions of people, especially Jews, who were exterminated during the Third Reich. I enjoyed the trip still because I love this kind of history thingy.
This is the Main Gate to Auschwitz Camp I - Prisoners march out of this gate everyday to go out to work like slaves for AT LEAST 12 hours before they could return, some carrying dead bodies of those who died while working. At the top, it says "Arbeit Macht Fret" which means "Work makes (one) free". But freedom was never granted to the prisoners who are treated like sub-human beings.
*Blocks of barracks*
*Blk 11 - The Death Block, enlarge picture to read wording*
*The Death Wall outside Blk 11*
*Largest public execution*
*Public Execution - the prisoners were hanged here in front of other inmates*
*Location of the Gestapo (Nazi Germany's Secret Police) Camp*
Camp Commandant, Rudolf Höss, was hanged here, where many prisoners suspected of being involved in the camp's underground resistance movement were once hanged, after the post-war trial
Crematorium - where many dead bodies were disposed off after the prisoners are mass-killed in gas chambers. I didn't take pictures of the interior as a mark of respect for the millions who died here.So far, those pictures were from Auschwitz I. A larger compound, Auschwitz II aka Birkenau, was built 3km away and housed even more prisoners. This 2nd compound is where the Selection Process took place. The Selection process is one where the fates of many who arrived were decided by Nazi doctors. Those fit for labour were kept as prisoners, whereas those deemed useless (the young, the old, women with children, pregnant women) were separated from the whole group and directed to the Gas Chambers. Children, especially twins, and single women were usually kept for medical experiments!
The Nazis lied to the people (who were supposed to die) that they were going to take a bath, and that they have to strip off their clothes and enter the gas chambers fitted with fake shower heads. Once they were all inside, the lights were turned off and Zyklon-B was poured into the chambers from chimneys. These prisoners died a slow and painful death. All their belongings were sent back to Germany to be re-used.
*The Gate*
*a wooden barrack*
*usually more than 2 prisoners had to share one bed on each deck*
Prisoners are usually allowed only to use the toilets twice each day. The toilet smells very badly but it was to the prisoners' advantage because the Nazis will not hang out around here due to the bad smell, and prisoners used the chance to exchange news.
The Nazis lied to the people (who were supposed to die) that they were going to take a bath, and that they have to strip off their clothes and enter the gas chambers fitted with fake shower heads. Once they were all inside, the lights were turned off and Zyklon-B was poured into the chambers from chimneys. These prisoners died a slow and painful death. All their belongings were sent back to Germany to be re-used.
*The Gate*
*a wooden barrack*
*usually more than 2 prisoners had to share one bed on each deck*
Prisoners are usually allowed only to use the toilets twice each day. The toilet smells very badly but it was to the prisoners' advantage because the Nazis will not hang out around here due to the bad smell, and prisoners used the chance to exchange news.
*look at the size of the compound*
*Monument*
The Nazis destroyed all of the gas chambers and crematorium in Birkenau on the last days of Auschwitz existence to erase all evidences of their mass extermination of the Jews
*the lake in which ashes of the cremated bodies are thrown into*
The weather was super chilling when we left the place. Really can't imagine how the prisoners can withstand the cold in their thin and dirty prisoner uniform... sighz...
"Wieliczka" - Salt Mine
This excavation site is really awesome. The tour took about 2 hours, bringing us down to the deepest point of 135m underground. Sculptures made from salt minerals were everywhere, and there was even a chapel known as St. Kinga's Chapel. This chapel is open also on Sundays for church sessions, and also for weddings and Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Cool huh... Check out the pictures man...
*walking underground*
*sculptures made of salt*
*Me outside St. Kinga's Chapel*
*St. Kinga's Chapel*
*Us in St. Kinga's Chapel - Zesamin, Me, Adeline, Shiping, Huimin, Ben*
*The Last Supper made from salt minerals*
This is the lift that transported us all the way up to ground level from 135m underground. It's really the miner-style elevator and it traveled at such a high speed that for a moment I thought I was on a roller coaster ride!
*i wanted to lick the salt on the wall*We bumped into those Polish kids who took photos with us at Wawel's Castle again while we were at the Salt Mine! They were all so excited at seeing us again haha... and one of the girls even changed her digital camera's memory stick to show me the picture we took at Wawel's Castle. Most probably she thought that I've forgotten who they are so she wanted to remind me with the photo. Smart girl, but well I didn't forget who they are in the first place! Haha.
We had lunch after the tour, at this Polish restaurant that was recommended to us by a Polish who is on exchange in Lund as well. 6 of us and a total of 11 plates of different food! All the other customers were like staring at us because usually one person only eats one plate of food due to the quantity of food given. But the price was too cheap and it was too good to give the various kinds of food a miss. Three Polish girls from the other table were like staring and smiling at us all the way - obviously they were waiting to see if we could finish everything! They finished their own food long ago and only left after I finished the last piece of bread on the table!
*my fried carp*
*mushroom soup in bread*
*us after a satisfying meal*
*I like this night view of the watch tower and the cloth hall and the sky*We then met this Singaporean who just completed his Masters at Birmingham University in England. All of us then went to a pub to chill out and tried some Polish Beer, which was really good, although we got a little tipsy towards the end. And it snowed! It was falling snow... not just snow lying on the ground! It was really very nice to be able to stand on the road and looking up to see falling snow.
*can see the falling snow?*
*can see the falling snow?*Hair Cutting in Kraków
Adeline and I had been dying to get our hair cut for like donkey years because it was so long already. And I'm really not accustomed to keeping such long hair. So we were like so happy when we found this Polish salon that can give us our hair cut (including hair wash) at one of the cheapest price you can find in Europe. It was like S$15 for me and slightly more than S$25 for Adeline.
But it was so hilarious because the hair dresser didn't understand English, and there was this customer having her hair done halfway who actually helped us with the translation. It was very nice of her, really appreciate her help a lot.
*the salon*Time to return to Lund
Well, the good time had to come to an end somehow.... So it is finally time to go back to Lund although none of us really felt like leaving Kraków...
*one last shot of the city street*
*IKEA sighted along the way to Katowice Airport*
That bus outside ferries us to the plane that is waiting... Adeline was so BLUR!! she didn't know that such a bus exists in some airports and she thought that we were taking a bus back to Malmö!! haha.. goodness.
*airport roads*
*boarding our plane*
*I waved to the people in the viewing gallery haha*
*It was very crowded in the plane*
*clearing customs at Malmö Sturup Airport*Anyway, something occurred and I noticed this for the very first time. When the plane touched down on the runway, everyone would cheer and clap their hands. It's like everyone is happy for one safe trip and applauding the pilots for their great wonderful plane-handling skills. It's little things like this that make one's day. Kudos to the pilots!
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