Day 11: Checking out Kraków

After spending most of the previous day at Auschwitz and the Wieliczka Salt Mine we had one day left to finish exploring Kraków.  Since we had a pretty disappointing breakfast experience at the hotel the day before, Cess suggested we find something different.  We had scouted some potential options before so this wasn't going to be a problem.

We ended up having breakfast at "Cafe Magia", a rather interesting spot.  The cafe is housed in an inner courtyard amongst 3 adjoining buildings.  This creates a rather intimate quiet atmosphere.  The food was good and quite inexpensive considering we were in the middle of Kraków's Old Town.

The major sightseeing attraction planned for this day was visiting the Royal Castle at Wawel Hill.  Since Kraków used to be Poland's capital city, the Royal Castle was of utmost importance.  We opted to visit the Royal Treasure and Armoury, the various Audience Chambers, as well as the Dragon's Den.  There are another 4 or so sections of the castle we didn't see, the biggest of those being the Private Apartments and the Cathedral.  However, with the raging heat and crowds, we opted to keep our trip to a pleasant duration and not overdo it.

We had a late lunch at "Zapiecek Pierogarnia" where surprisingly we munched on... apple and sweet cottage cheese pierogi.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening meandering around the various streets in Old Kraków.  Our final dinner in Kraków was at "Pod Baranem". It certainly lived up to the positive reviews that we had read.  All in all, a good day. And good food!

Cafe Magia:

Wawel Hill Royal Castle:

Me, doing what I'm often doing during the trip...

Kraków at night time:

Day 10: Bad Places and Close Encounters with "White Gold"

When we were planning our trip, we came across two places that we thought we should see while we were in the vicinity of Krakow: Auschwitz and Birkenau (http://www.auschwitz.org.pl), and the Wieliczka Salt Mine (http://www.kopalnia.pl). Both are UNESCO world heritage sites.

Auschwitz and Birkenau are the German names of the camps. The Polish equivalents are Oświęcim and Brzeźinka. They operated between 1940 and 1945. It was quite surreal to walk through the compound buildings and view the exhibits while being told of the horrifying details of what happened there. It was a very dark period in Europe's history.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine was opened 700 years ago. Mining operations ceased completely in 1996. Although only about 1% of the mine is open to the public, the tour takes 2 hours to complete. One of the highlights of the tour is the Chapel of St. Kinga.  Not only does it feature numerous figures and chandeliers carved out of salt, it has an active congregation with a regular church service every Sunday.

We ended our day with dinner at a local restaurant called Miód Malina (http://miodmalina.pl/). Matt was so happy with his knedle dish that he actually took a photo of it with his iphone. =) 

Auschwitz gate:

Auschwitz sign:

Auschwitz Birkenau gate, taken from within the camp where prisoner selection took place:

Auschwitz Birkenau stable remnants.  Prisoners were housed in converted stables:

Gas chamber and crematorium:

Cess doing a taste test at the Wieliczka Salt Mine:

St. Kinga's chapel at the Wieliczka Salt Mine:

Day 9: Trains and bad beer mix just fine

Today was mostly a travel day for us.  We spent the majority of the day on the train from Łódź to Kraków; Poland's first capital city.  The train ride was pretty uneventful although we were entertained by a Russian (supposed) journalist who was yelling at the train staff about the lousy air conditioning.  Imagine my surprise when she eventually ventured into our cabin and started meddling with the climate and light controls.  I needed no further invitation to leave her with a few "kind" words.

We got to the hotel at about 5:30pm, early enough to shower and run out to see a few things and grab some dinner.  Tomorrow is an early and long day.  We're spending the day at Auschwitz and the Wieliczka Salt mine.

Classic bike down the street from our hotel:

Cess having an "Okocim", not exactly an awesome beer.  However, beer standards tend to be lowered when the temperature is sufficiently high:

Main square in Kraków:

Day 8: Abandoned prison? Nah, that's my primary school...

Monday was our last full day in Łódź.  We started off the day's sightseeing by going to the textile factory district (or "Księży Młyn" in Polish).  The textile industry was the major thing going on in Łódź throughout the 19th century.  The city is apparently selling off quite a number of these abandoned factories and they are being converted into office, retail, and otherwise commercial space.  The interesting thing is that the City of Łódź retains control over all design and architectural decisions made with these properties.  This ensures that such a historical aspect of the city's growth will be retained appropriately.  I do have to say, they seem to be doing a great job with the renovations.

Next up, we went off to visit what would have appeared to be an old abandoned prison that's no longer fit to even house prisoners.  Yup, that's right... that's the impression you would get if you saw my primary school.  The building is in tatters, paint and plaster peeling off everywhere, rusty bars over many windows, etc.

We finished the day's sightseeing with a trip along Piotrkowska street; formerly the major retail street in Łódź.  With the rise of modern shopping centres, the street apparently has lost some of it's shopping glamour.  However, it still has a large variety of shops, restaurants, and cafes along it and is still quite busy.  A good portion of it is even pedestrian only!

Renovated textile factories, now housing office, retail, and commercial space for rent:

Polish automotive engineering at it's finest (from purchased Fiat plans):

Prison or school?  You guess...

Many mansions such as this line Piotrkowska street:

Day 7: Memories

Today we walked down Matt's "memory lane". We visited two of Matt's childhood neighbourhoods. His first home is quite dim in his memories as he was very young when he lived there. The second one was still quite clear in his mind. We visited the building that he live in, and also strolled around it. Matt pointed out some well-remembered landmarks: his dad's parking spot, the path to where the sandbox used to be, and the tree that he spent time climbing all over. We even spent a few moments in the church (gasp) that he had celebrated his First Communion in.

Matt's grandpa passed away in 1995. Matt was not able to say goodbye to grandpa at that time. We spent a bit of time at his gravesite today. After paying our respects, we travelled to another cemetery. The Jewish Cemetery at 40 Bracka Street is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. We saw some very impressive family vaults (many of these families are intertwined in Łódź's textile history), but also a number that were clearly vandalized and many others that were in very poor condition.

Our next destination was the Poznanski Family Mansion which now houses the Museum of Łódź. Coincidentally, the Poznanski family vault is located at the Jewish cemetery that we had visited in the morning. Much of Łódź's history is tied with the textile industry. A number of former textile factories located behind the mansion were converted into a modern shopping area called Manufaktura. We purchased some ice cream and strolled around Manufaktura until we finished our ice cream.

We finished off our day with a meal at Ania's home.

Jewish cemetery:

Museum of Łódź:

Manufaktura shopping centre:

Day 6: Goodbye Warsaw, Hello Łódź

Today is our last day in Warsaw.  We took a quick drive through another part of Warsaw that we haven't yet seen and stopped by my cousin's apartment.  Now we're starting to pack our things up to board an afternoon train to Łódź; my birthplace.  We've had a great time siteseeing and spending time with family so far, and are looking forward to doing the same in the 2nd portion of our time in Poland.

We're not really sure how much Internet access we'll have for the next 2-3 days, but we'll certainly make notes as we go along to post future updates as we can.

Neighbourhood market:

Fruit at the local market.  Poland has always had great quality berries:

Blast from the past:

View from my cousin Kuba's apartment.  Most apartments (even new ones) are low rise.  His apartment on the 7th floor is considered to be quite high up:

Update on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 3:26PM by Cess

We travelled by train from Warsaw to Łódź. The journey took about 90 minutes. Ewa and Piotr were pleasantly surprised when the train arrived at the platform in Warsaw and recognized that it was a modern, air-conditioned one. We would travel in comfort! We were met in Lodz by Ania and Gregorz. They will be our tourguides while we are in Lodz.

Day 5: A Hectic Day down a Lazy River (or two)

We started our day with a quick breakfast and then we were on our way! We arrived at Karczma Starożyn's establishment within an hour. Not only do they run a restaurant and inn, they also rent out kayaks to visitors. We hopped into their truck and drove down some back roads until we reached our drop off point to begin our kayaking adventure.

We had 2 kayaks: one for myself and Matt, the other for Ewa and Piotr. We were given some padded seats to make ourselves more comfortable during the journey. Matt and I had never done any kayaking before so we were true novices. I think we did fairly well despite our lack of experience. We probably wasted a great deal of energy by zig zagging down the river instead of taking a more direct line. Some of the challenges that we encountered included navigating around partially submerged trees and logs (we probably rammed a good number of them), getting stuck in the banks of the river numerous times, other faster and more experienced kayakers, having to paddle across a large open body of water, and portaging across 3 closed locks. 

At the third lock, we met a young man who was  travelling alone in a canoe, an American. We chatted briefly with him. It turns out he had just landed in Poland a few days ago and had planned to canoe and camp over a 4 day period. We told him where we were headed (back to Karczma Starożyn) to have our evening meal before returning to Warsaw. We then parted company and continued on our way.

We had another hour of paddling before we travelled through 2 working locks (yay! no more portaging!) before we concluded our journey. We were quite tired when we stepped out out of the kayaks for the final time today. It turns out we paddled around 20kms today. WOW. After dinner, we headed back to Warsaw. I think we will need to self-medicate later tonight. Ugh.

The amusing part: Piotr did not mention how far we would be paddling and we did not ask. 

Masurian region as seen from a kayak:

The one functioning set of locks we got to go through:

Update on Friday, July 9, 2010 at 6:45PM by Matt

For anyone who is interested, here are some details of the route we followed in the kayaks today:

• Our starting point was from the riverbank of the Czarna Hańcza river just south of a town called Dworczysko
• We followed the river southeast, near the town of Rygol and then turned west through the Mikaszewo lake
• Finally, we arrived at the entrance of the Paniewo lake, just east of Płaska.  This is where we finished up.

Day 4: Castles, Churches and Nazis, oh my!

Today we got up bright and early in order to have a leisurely breakfast before continuing on our journey north. Breakfast was a small but filling buffet of fried eggs, sausages, crepes with assorted fillings, devilled eggs, and deli meats and cheeses. We were able to pack some small sandwiches for our "second breakfast" later in the day.

After breakfast, we sped off to Malbork Castle. Piotr stopped on the other side of the river to allow Matt to take some nice pictures of the castle from a distance. We probably spent about 3 hours exploring the castle with the aid of audio guides (ipods!) and some very knowledgeable staff members throughout the castle. Malbork was built in the 1300's by the Teutonic Knights and has never been successfully defeated. The castle has been under constant renovations for quite some time. The Chapel of St. Anne suffered great destruction during WWII. It was only restored to the point that visitors were allowed entry to it in 2001. It is currently unclear if the chapel will be fully restored or if it will remain in it's current condition to show the damage that occurred during WWII. New sections of the castle are opened to the public as restorative work progresses.

Our next destination was Święta Lipka. We had a quick meal of pierogies (alas, not the bilberry filled ones that Piotr had wanted) and then hurried to attend an organ performance at the Our Lady's Church. It was a huge surprise to us that such a small town would have such a grand church. It is one of the finest examples of baroque churches in Poland. In the summer, organ recitals are given several times a day. Although they do not charge for tickets, they request donations. During the recitals, the figures on the organ become animated and move with the music! The church and recital were a very pleasant surprise for us.

Our final stop before arriving at our accommodations for the evening was a more sinister one: Hitler's headquarters in Gierloż, or "Wolf's Lair". During WWII, Hitler had a number of concrete bunkers constructed to house himself and about 2,000 people. The bunkers were camouflaged by green rooftops (moss and other plants) and were equipped with guns. He eventually returned to Germany and ordered the bunkers to be destroyed in January 1945. This lair was not discovered by the Allies while Hitler was living there.

Malbork Castle from across the river Nogat:

St. Anne's Chapel at Malbork Castle, heavily damaged during WWII:

Bunker at the "Wolf's Lair" in Gierloż:

Another bunker at the "Wolf's Lair".  All bunkers were destroyed by sappers when the Nazi regime was withdrawing from Gierloż:

Day 3: Chasing the Knights

Today we left Warsaw and headed north. Our first destination was Toruń.  Although it is notably the birth place of Copernicus, the appeal for us was the amazing architecture. Toruń was founded by the Teutonic Knights in the mid 1200's. The city still retains the original street layout and is very pedestrian friendly. There is quite a contrast between the old architecture and the modern shops that they now house on their main floors. We had a quick lunch at a quiet restaurant with an outdoor courtyard before setting out with a local guide for a 2 hour sightseeing tour. We saw the Crooked Tower, the ruins of the Castle of the Teutonic Knights (including the Latrine tower), the Church of St. James, the Town Hall, Copernicus House, and the Cathedral of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. Although there is an Old Town district and New Town district, they only differ in age by about 30 years.

Next, we drove to Chełmno. Chełmno was established around the same time as Toruń. However, Chełmno was a much smaller fortification. This tiny city boasts an almost completely preserved outer wall which measures a length of just over 2 miles. Surprisingly, there are 6 Gothic style churches within the city walls. After a hearty dinner at a local restaurant, we continued on to Kwidzyn for a very brief look at the ruins of yet another Teutonic fortification. The most interesting feature noted was the exceptionally tall latrine tower. After a few quick shots, we piled back into the car and continued to our final destination of the day: our hotel.

Matt and I have already accumulated about 400 photos. No wonder we're feeling so tired!!  Early tomorrow morning, we are off to Malbork; the largest remaining Teutonic Knight castle.

View of Toruń from across the riverbank of the Vistula river:

Teutonic Knight Castle Ruins in Toruń:

Day 2: When even new is old...

We spent the majority of today exploring Warsaw's downtown district.  We started off by taking the bus to the "New Town" (Nowe Miasto) district.  For someone who lives in North America, this name is quite ironic as most of the buildings in this district are actually quite old (200-300 years old).  We explored the district for a couple of hours, taking in the sights and sounds.  After lunch in the New Town we continued on to the... "Old Town" (Stare Miasto).  This district lies right next to New Town, and once again, we spent a good couple of hours exploring.  Some buildings (and old city walls) are several hundred years older.  In this district lies a palace which used to be the summer palace of Polish Kings.  These days, the palace is open for viewing, although occasionally there are still State events that occur there.

While not exactly a tourist destination, the next point of interest in today's trek was sentimental in nature.  My grandmother grew up in Warsaw, and we were able to see the house that she grew up in.  It was interesting to spend some time there, see the house and street, and ponder what life may have looked like at that time.

Next up, was a rather contentious place.  The "Palace of Culture" was built in Warsaw as a gift from the Soviet Union in the 1950's.  Given Poland's tenuous history with the Soviet Union there are definitely mixed feelings about this structure.  It's large, imposing, and obviously has Communist connotations, yet it has become part of Warsaw's skyline.  One thing is for sure:  the viewing terrace at the top of the Palace certainly provides interesting 360 degree views of the city.

Finally, we finished off the day visiting with my oldest cousin who lives on the outskirts of Warsaw.  It's been nearly 20 years since we have last seen each other, but it certainly seems like we can relate to one another just as well now as 20 years ago.

New Town:

Old Town:

Jasna St: