So, here's the deal.
AIFS took us on an 8 hour bus ride to Krakow, Poland over the weekend. It was brutal ride, but I had my ipod, kindle, and friends to keep me company! We got into Krakow at about 6 pm, and then we went out to the town square, which was HUGE. Like, seriously gigantic. I didn't expect it to be that big and beautiful. That evening, some girls and I went out to a mexican place that was so aptly called, "The Mexican" for dinner and margaritas. However, there was a problem in the kitchen and our food took FOREVER getting out so that sucked. Oh, and the worst part was that the drinks were weak. Oh well. No biggie, I mean, we're still in Europe. Can't complain too much.
The next morning, we got up and went on a little walking tour of Krakow with our genius tour guide who on the first day told us "You won't be able to pronounce my name, so just call me Z". So, Z it is then. Anyway, this man knows everything about everything. So we went on a little tour or Krakow and it was really nice. The square is huge, the market is AWESOME, the streets are cool. It's basically the only city that I like as much as Prague, which was unexpected. After that tour, we went to lunch and got some Pierogi, which are traditional Polish food I guess. I got meat ones, and they were delicious. After lunch, we went on another tour of the Jewish section of town (I won't even try and spell the name because I'll butcher it). The Jewish section is supposed to be there all the artists and stuff life now. It was interesting to me, though, that the Jewish population in Krakow is at about 150 people total, and the feeling there is very anti-Semitic. I couldn't understand that or wrap my head around it. Anyway, that section of town was really cool and I would have loved to stay there longer or go back, but we only really had 1 day in Krakow and there just wasn't time. Damn. So after this, we went back to the hotel for a little rest, then went out and got some street food for dinner. Pizza! So cheap, so easy, and so delicious.
The following morning, we went where we all were dreading. Well, not dreading, but certainly not looking forward to. Auschwitz I and II- Birchenau. These places were incredibly powerful and moving. I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to take pictures there. On one hand, it's a place where a lot of horrible things have happened, and I'm not sure I want to be the one to share that with the world. On the other hand, I feel so strongly that everyone should have to see this in their life, and knowing that most people I know won't ever get the chance or the desire, I opted to take pictures. Also, I wanted to remember how it made me feel. This might seem like a very weird thing to say, but because it was so emotional and rough, it made me appreciate my life immensely more. We all run around and have our "bad days" and whine and moan about stupid things, and the struggles in our life aren't even remotely comparable to the things that happened to those people. I wanted to remember to be grateful for my opportunities, and to not take them for granted anymore. So, this is why I took them and posted them on Facebook. I know that not very many people read my blog, so I want people to be able to see them that want to feel the way I felt about it. You'll never understand it until you go there, but at least they're trying. I'm not going to post any pictures of it on here, however. I'm moving them to their own album on Facebook (just haven't done it yet, whoops) and they can be seen there if you want.
Vienna next weekend.
AIFS took us on an 8 hour bus ride to Krakow, Poland over the weekend. It was brutal ride, but I had my ipod, kindle, and friends to keep me company! We got into Krakow at about 6 pm, and then we went out to the town square, which was HUGE. Like, seriously gigantic. I didn't expect it to be that big and beautiful. That evening, some girls and I went out to a mexican place that was so aptly called, "The Mexican" for dinner and margaritas. However, there was a problem in the kitchen and our food took FOREVER getting out so that sucked. Oh, and the worst part was that the drinks were weak. Oh well. No biggie, I mean, we're still in Europe. Can't complain too much.
The next morning, we got up and went on a little walking tour of Krakow with our genius tour guide who on the first day told us "You won't be able to pronounce my name, so just call me Z". So, Z it is then. Anyway, this man knows everything about everything. So we went on a little tour or Krakow and it was really nice. The square is huge, the market is AWESOME, the streets are cool. It's basically the only city that I like as much as Prague, which was unexpected. After that tour, we went to lunch and got some Pierogi, which are traditional Polish food I guess. I got meat ones, and they were delicious. After lunch, we went on another tour of the Jewish section of town (I won't even try and spell the name because I'll butcher it). The Jewish section is supposed to be there all the artists and stuff life now. It was interesting to me, though, that the Jewish population in Krakow is at about 150 people total, and the feeling there is very anti-Semitic. I couldn't understand that or wrap my head around it. Anyway, that section of town was really cool and I would have loved to stay there longer or go back, but we only really had 1 day in Krakow and there just wasn't time. Damn. So after this, we went back to the hotel for a little rest, then went out and got some street food for dinner. Pizza! So cheap, so easy, and so delicious.
The following morning, we went where we all were dreading. Well, not dreading, but certainly not looking forward to. Auschwitz I and II- Birchenau. These places were incredibly powerful and moving. I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to take pictures there. On one hand, it's a place where a lot of horrible things have happened, and I'm not sure I want to be the one to share that with the world. On the other hand, I feel so strongly that everyone should have to see this in their life, and knowing that most people I know won't ever get the chance or the desire, I opted to take pictures. Also, I wanted to remember how it made me feel. This might seem like a very weird thing to say, but because it was so emotional and rough, it made me appreciate my life immensely more. We all run around and have our "bad days" and whine and moan about stupid things, and the struggles in our life aren't even remotely comparable to the things that happened to those people. I wanted to remember to be grateful for my opportunities, and to not take them for granted anymore. So, this is why I took them and posted them on Facebook. I know that not very many people read my blog, so I want people to be able to see them that want to feel the way I felt about it. You'll never understand it until you go there, but at least they're trying. I'm not going to post any pictures of it on here, however. I'm moving them to their own album on Facebook (just haven't done it yet, whoops) and they can be seen there if you want.
Vienna next weekend.
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