Day 5: Krakow

So, I should explain that our 14 hour  train trip across the European countryside was not a complete loss. (It sounded rather bitter upon re-reading.) We met a nice couple on the Berlin-Warsaw section - he was German and she was Polish. They were really helpful for advice about Poland, and we also shared travelling advice about Canada and gained info about Polish weddings (where they were heading). We had about an hour in Warsaw due to a late train - ran through the high end shopping mall to the food court to grab food and negotiate the zloty (Polish currency) before running back to the station for our connection. Warsaw also features a huge, hulking building - the Palace of Culture and Science - just outside the train station, a facetious gift from the Soviets, and hard to miss - defining, almost obscuring, the Warsaw skyline.

In addition, we met a mother and her well-spoken son on the Warsaw - Krakow train - a relief that they spoke English as most cars were compartments and the station hadn't given us seat numbers. Compartments are squishy but the hallways leading to them are squishier, and for those of us carting packs on our backs, it means only one person can fit abreast in the passage. I apologize to those few people whom we had to squeeze by, and whom we most definitely flattened in the process. The woman was Polish-born but had married and lived in Florida for the past decade or so. Her son was the precocious one - welcomed us to the compartment with a "Come on in" (9 years old) and proceeded to tell us about his matter-of-fact look on life, his wish for a dog, and then settled back for a nap listening to Kenny G on his iPod.

Yesterday, we visited Auschwitz. I'm going to refrain from talking about it here, as I eventually stopped taking pictures while I was there. Some experiences aren't meant for idle chat on blogs and social media or photo-sharing on Instagram. Some things are meant to be experienced. If you want to go, go. There are thousands that flock everyday, so take a tour as the lines are overwhelming. That is all.


Shoot, it is midnight already. I must head to bed. We are in Zakopane, Poland and tomorrow we hike in the Tatras mountains. Time for sleep. More later. J.