Blown away

Words cannot even explain what Auschwitz was like yesterday. I don't think I've ever before truly grasped the vastness of the Holocaust and the absolute evil of the people behind it. Standing on the train tracks and being able to see chimneys to the left and the right of me as far as the eye can see. Not to mention seeing entire rooms full of human hair, toothbrushes, suitcases.

The museum itself was amazingly well done. What we know as Auschwitz is really 2 camps, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). Auscwitz I was quite small in comparison, and all the original brick buildings are still there. All the buildings had all different exhibits, and we could go right into the crematorium and gas chambers. You have to take a shuttle bus to Birkenau (about 3 km away) which isn't really done up as much with exhibits, but you can just see the ruins of all the barracks and the crematoriums there. (The nazi's managed to destroy most of it before liberation.) While Auschwitz I had most of the more disturbing stuff, I had a much more emotional reaction to Birkenau, just seeing how enormous it was.

One thing (of many) that really blew me away was when they were talking about confiscation of property. All the jewelry, gold, silver, and other valuables of the prisoners were confiscated and stored in big warehouses. The warehouses were called Canada, both by the Nazis and the prisoners. They called it Canada because it represented the absolute in wealth and happiness, and everyone wanted to get there. I had never heard that before, and was pretty stunned.

Yes mom, you're right, last night was spent taking my mind off the experience. Almost our entire hostel went out to Kazmierez, the old jewish quarter, where they have really funky little bars and cafes. The laid back style and cool decor is the kind of thing bars in Toronto pay designers thousands to try to create, but never quite reach. And, the best part is, beer is even cheaper than in the rest of Kracow. Like $2 for a huge glass of beer that's like 8%. At a club! Then we came back to the centre of things to a club near our hostel, and I don't even remember what time we came in. It was still dark (pretty sure), so that's a good sign.

Today I'm going with a few different people to see Wawel Castle, apparently the most important historical site in Poland (maybe besides the museum that has the Pope's old typewriter). It's about a 5 minute walk from our hostel, so that's handy.

Tomorrow I'm taking another day trip out of town to see the salt caves. UNESCO declared it one of the 10 most precious monuments in the world. It's hundred of years old, and hundreds of metres undergrond, and it's all rooms and statues carved out of the salt. Apparently it's enormous, and there's even a lake you can go on in a boat, and an entire cathedral.

I just booked 2 more nights in the hostel here. I was only supposed to be in Kracow one more night, but I can't leave this place, it's too amazing! An Irish girl I met, Jo, has tickled my fancy to head up north with her to the Baltics (Latvia and Lithuania), abandoning the plan to head south, but we'll see. I'm still going to meet Peter's family in Poprad (east-ish part of Slovakia) but I'm not sure what's happening after that.

Mom, have fun at Grandpa's birthday, and give them all my love!