Easter in Poland

We got back yesterday from spending a the long Easter weekend in Krakow, Poland. We've only been to Poland one other time and that was to Gdansk. We loved Gdansk and had heard from friends and read in books that Poland was awesome. It lived up to all that and more. The people are so warm, friendly and helpful. The food was really good and surprisingly international. The history and architecture were amazing and also heartbreaking. I'll write several posts with pictures from each day. I'd say the most surprising thing to me about Poland is how religious (specifically Catholic) it is. We checked out a bunch of churches and because it was the holiday weekend they were packed. Not normal religious holiday packed, but more packed than I've ever seen a church. On Good Friday we went into a church where there were at least 8 priests hearing confessions and there was a line that was 150-200 people long waiting to whisper their sins, say their Hail Mary's, and have their souls be clean as a whistle. One of our taxi drivers said over the weekend most people would go to church on Good Friday, twice on Saturday (the morning was a mass and breakfast), on Easter, and then again on Monday.

Our hotel was right across the street from a seminary and I have never seen so many young, good looking guys in dresses in my life. I Googled the Krakow seminary later and learned that one of Poland's biggest exports is priests. Most people know that the Catholic church is very short on new priests and I learned that for every 100 working priests, Poland is training just over 22 to take their place. Compare this to Italy, which I expected to have a higher number, but they are training just half that amount, with 11 priests in training for every 100 currently ordained.

Here are some pictures of the main square which is one of the main attractions when coming to Krakow. Also, there is a picture of me with the best Cesaer salad I've had since moving to Europe. Who'd have thought I would find it in Poland!

Auschwitz-Birkenau

The number one place I wanted to go in Poland was Auschwitz. As Rick Steves' puts it in his "Why Visit Auschwitz" section "Auschwitz-Birkenau is one of the most moving sights in Europe, and certainly the most important of all the Holocaust memorials." "Auschwitz survivors and victims' families want tourists to come here and experience the scale and the monstrosity of the place to be sure that the Holocaust is always remembered- so it never happens again."

The thing that hit me hardest, (I think because I live with someone who works in manufacturing and it constantly trying to make his factories more productive) is that people could put so much thought, effort, scheming into the best way to end human life. It seemed to be a job/process they were determined to perfect. Truly powerful, haunting and overwhelming.

This is one of the gas chambers and crematoriums that the Nazi's destroyed as the Allies were approaching.

You can't really see it clearly, but this is a shot of the chimney's left standing of all the destroyed barracks. Auschwitz actually consisted of three camps - Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau and a work camp. Birkenau was built after the Nazi's were running out of room at Auschwitz I. It was designed to hold 200,000 people, but at it's height held 100,000. Here is a picture of the main gate and dividing platform. This is where it was determined if you would live a while longer, or head to the gas chamber.I also checked out the Jewish quarter of Krakow while the boys napped one afternoon. Before the war there were approximately 65,000 Jews in Krakow. After the war there were only a few thousand and today less than 100 Jews live in Krakow. Here are a couple of pictures in the old Jewish cemetery. The Nazi's bulldozed it and it has been restored as much as possible. The walls are made of broken pieces of headstones that couldn't be repaired.

Worn out on the way back to the hotel.

Detour to the hospital

Like I've said before, Luc has never been to the doctor other than routine shots and check-ups. Wild man Jack has broken his arm in Germany and now, has had his first stitches in Poland. We were waiting our turn to go into the salt mine and Jack fell down some stairs. He does this multiple times a day, so we weren't too concerned until we really looked at the cut. It was pretty deep and really bleeding. While we were trying to stop the bleeding a lady from the mine came up and took us to the first aid station. She didn't speak much English, but we did understand "ambulance." Next thing we knew we were on our way to the hospital and Jack was getting two stitches. At first I thought it was overkill, but afterwards I was really glad the cut was cleaned out, stitched up and we didn't have to worry about what we should do later on if the wound started looking nasty. The whole thing from ambulance ride to stitches cost less than $50. Pretty good deal.

Wieliczka salt mine

About 10 miles from Krakow is the Wieliczka salt mine. They have been producing salt there since the11th century. Literally everything you see in the photos is salt, from the floors to the walls and ceiling. All the sculptures (except the one of the Pope in the chapel) were carved by the workers who spent most of their lives underground. The mine has over 2000 chambers and you end up 443 feet below the surface. You go past caverns, lakes and lots of carvings. The chapel is pretty amazing and they still have services, events and weddings there. The pope visited two times and was scheduled to come again to see the salt sculpture made in his likeness, but unfortunately, he became too sick to travel. It was pretty awesome and the boys had a great time running around underground.