Poland is where Alyssa and I decided to start a month long trip through Eastern Europe (July 2017). It's my first time to this part of the world and I've been excited to learn more about the history of the region and explore the cuisine and culture. A few quick observations after the first 36 hours or so:
This is the first time either of us have traveled with a guidebook in tow (or really ever referred to one during trip planning) and I have been so surprised as to how useful it has been. We have also both really tried to embrace spontaneity on this trip (yes, we can hear you laughing through the internet) - so having a guide in our hand as we wander has been a good compromise for our lack of usual Type A planning. Anyway, we bought this Rick Steve's Eastern Europe guidebook (2017 version) which we highly recommend! It provides the perfect amount of history and context for the countries and cities we're visiting and has self-guided walking tours you can do. There's usually 1-3 paragraphs about key landmarks which has generally satisfied my curiosity enough for me to move on / not Google more. As one last logistical note, we used booking.com for pretty much all our accommodations for this trip because it seems to be very popular in this region and most of the listings offer really flexible cancellation policies.
- There are lots of birds (including pigeons) which are unafraid of people and will fly very close to you / your food. Still hoping we will make it through un-pooped on
- Some of the above must be because we've seen several older women feeding birds in public places and around their homes. WHY?
- I love zapiekanka (basically pizza on an open-faced baguette)
- There is an unexpected number lot of ice cream (loda) stores here
- Both Warsaw and Krakow are very bike-friendly with lots of bike lanes (we even saw a tandem city bike in Warsaw!)
This is the first time either of us have traveled with a guidebook in tow (or really ever referred to one during trip planning) and I have been so surprised as to how useful it has been. We have also both really tried to embrace spontaneity on this trip (yes, we can hear you laughing through the internet) - so having a guide in our hand as we wander has been a good compromise for our lack of usual Type A planning. Anyway, we bought this Rick Steve's Eastern Europe guidebook (2017 version) which we highly recommend! It provides the perfect amount of history and context for the countries and cities we're visiting and has self-guided walking tours you can do. There's usually 1-3 paragraphs about key landmarks which has generally satisfied my curiosity enough for me to move on / not Google more. As one last logistical note, we used booking.com for pretty much all our accommodations for this trip because it seems to be very popular in this region and most of the listings offer really flexible cancellation policies.
Warsaw
Warsaw was the very first destination of our trip. We had one full day to explore and crammed a lot in while fighting some extreme jet lag on my part.
Logistics: We stayed in a studio apartment in what I think is considered "downtown" - it's a quieter, more residential area that's still very walkable to the touristy sites we went to see. It reminded me of La Condesa, which is the area we stayed in when we went to Mexico City. It was only a $5 Uber from the airport and walkable from the main train station.
We started the day in Nowy Świat which is a pretty trendy area with lots of cute shops and restaurants - very pedestrian friendly with big sidewalks. Our first stop was A. Blikle to get some pączek z różą (high risk of salivating if you click that link), aka jelly filled donuts, for breakfast because apparently they are very Polish and we obviously need to prioritize learning about local foods. We then head up the street to Croque Madame after realizing that only sugar for breakfast might not be the right fuel we needed for the amount of walking we had planned. They had pretty solid traditional breakfast options and you can sit outside on the street (they even provide blankets if needed).
After breakfast, we Ubered to The Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The building itself is breathtakingly beautiful and the exhibits are interactive and informative. It was a great way to start our trip because it provided a lot of historical context for the other things we'd see throughout Poland. You'll want to budget at least 3 hours if you want to be able to go through the whole thing. We'd recommend using the audio guide because there is SO much information that the audio guide helps you figure out what to focus your attention to. They gave us student tickets even though we didn't have an official student ID on us.
The museum is located in the area where the former Jewish Ghetto was during WWII. After wrapping up at the museum, we followed the Path of Remembrance from Ghetto Heroes Square. It brings you to the site of a bunker where about 100 courageous Jews died during the Ghetto Uprising. We then kept walking to see the old SS headquarters, remnants of the ghetto wall, and the Umschlagplatz monument. There is not a lot left to see as everything was destroyed in the postwar period, but small pieces of barbed wire still sit atop the ghetto wall.
Logistics: We stayed in a studio apartment in what I think is considered "downtown" - it's a quieter, more residential area that's still very walkable to the touristy sites we went to see. It reminded me of La Condesa, which is the area we stayed in when we went to Mexico City. It was only a $5 Uber from the airport and walkable from the main train station.
We started the day in Nowy Świat which is a pretty trendy area with lots of cute shops and restaurants - very pedestrian friendly with big sidewalks. Our first stop was A. Blikle to get some pączek z różą (high risk of salivating if you click that link), aka jelly filled donuts, for breakfast because apparently they are very Polish and we obviously need to prioritize learning about local foods. We then head up the street to Croque Madame after realizing that only sugar for breakfast might not be the right fuel we needed for the amount of walking we had planned. They had pretty solid traditional breakfast options and you can sit outside on the street (they even provide blankets if needed).
After breakfast, we Ubered to The Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The building itself is breathtakingly beautiful and the exhibits are interactive and informative. It was a great way to start our trip because it provided a lot of historical context for the other things we'd see throughout Poland. You'll want to budget at least 3 hours if you want to be able to go through the whole thing. We'd recommend using the audio guide because there is SO much information that the audio guide helps you figure out what to focus your attention to. They gave us student tickets even though we didn't have an official student ID on us.
The museum is located in the area where the former Jewish Ghetto was during WWII. After wrapping up at the museum, we followed the Path of Remembrance from Ghetto Heroes Square. It brings you to the site of a bunker where about 100 courageous Jews died during the Ghetto Uprising. We then kept walking to see the old SS headquarters, remnants of the ghetto wall, and the Umschlagplatz monument. There is not a lot left to see as everything was destroyed in the postwar period, but small pieces of barbed wire still sit atop the ghetto wall.
Ready for lunch, we walked towards New Town and stopped at Pod Samsonem for lunch - as Rick Steves promised, we had a pretty traditional meal. We tried herring (very fishy, not too bad with salt and lime but I probably wouldn't eat again), kołduny (which apparently is just the Lithuanian name for a pierogi, confusing since they also had pierogi on the menu), and some pork dish that came as a burger patty. It was nice sitting outside in the sun and is good for a quick, no-frills meal in the area. If you want something a bit more catered towards tourists, you may want to go elsewhere.
From New Town, we started south towards Old Town and the Royal Way. I'll spare you all the details, but the nice thing about Warsaw is that most of the sites you'll want to see sit along this road so you can just keep walking until you see everything! A few highlights:
From New Town, we started south towards Old Town and the Royal Way. I'll spare you all the details, but the nice thing about Warsaw is that most of the sites you'll want to see sit along this road so you can just keep walking until you see everything! A few highlights:
- The view from the observation tower in Castle Square is worth the 6 złotys (under $2 USD) - you can see the river and the more modern skyline of downtown in the distance in juxtaposition with the Old Town buildings around you
- Saxon Garden was a nice spot for a break in the shade
- There are these Chopin benches are scattered around town that play music at the press of a button (there's one in Saxon Garden and by the Copernicus monument)
|
My favorite part of the day was spending time wandering around Łazienki Park before dinner. It's a HUGE, lush park that feels like a quieter version of Central Park in NYC. Definitely walk to the Palace on the Water where you'll be greeted by many peacocks! That was unexpected and proved to be quite entertaining. And yes, since you were wondering, there was a Polish woman going around and feeding the peacocks individually. They seemed to have a special connection :) On the way out, we stopped at the Chopin monument which shows Chopin under a willow tree in the wind (which I thought looked like he was sitting under a crashing wave). Our guidebook said it was located in a rose garden, but sadly, there were no roses.
|
|
|
And since we're #basicAF, we went to Hala Koszyki for dinner. It's like Chelsea Market meets Mercado Roma. It seems like the trendiest Varsovians like to eat and drink here, so needless to say we did not fit in with the sneakers and backpack look we were rocking. A few of the more formal restaurants have outdoor seating, or you can purchase food from some of the indoor vendors and sit at communal tables. While some of the vendors close, a few are open 24/7.
The next morning, we took a (smooth, clean, comfortable) 2.5 train to Krakow. Alyssa bought tickets online - you can print out your confirmation and go straight to the platform to board. Seats have assigned numbers and there are outlets at each seat. I'm not sure if this train is usually sold out, but we took a weekday morning express train and it wasn't full, so you can probably buy a ticket directly at the station.
The next morning, we took a (smooth, clean, comfortable) 2.5 train to Krakow. Alyssa bought tickets online - you can print out your confirmation and go straight to the platform to board. Seats have assigned numbers and there are outlets at each seat. I'm not sure if this train is usually sold out, but we took a weekday morning express train and it wasn't full, so you can probably buy a ticket directly at the station.
Krakow
We spent 3.5 days in Krakow which felt perfect. You'll want to budget a day for Auschwitz (see below) and can maybe hit the key sights a different day, so if you're not accounting for any time spent hungover, you might be able to do two days but we'd suggest at least three. Krakow isn't very big, so instead of outlining our daily itineraries, I'll just give you a sense of what we'd recommend prioritizing! There is Uber in Krakow as well, but we only had used it once when we were too lazy to walk to the Jewish District at night. Otherwise, everything is very walkable.
Eat:
- Czarna Kaczka (the Black Duck) - an unreal meal that cost us $30 for two! We went all out with duck dumplings (fried), duck carpaccio, and their namesake duck entree (this was HUGE - split it). If you like duck, this is a no brainer. We had the hostel call to make a reservation for us the day before.
- Zazie Bistro - cute french cafe in Kazimierz. Casual vibe, stellar mussels, and we sat at the window for some nice people watching. Call ahead for reservations, they weren't responsive via email.
- U Babci Maliny (translates to Raspberry Grandma) - a very folksy, seemingly traditional take on Polish food. They even have an old woman that greets you as you walk in...the "grandma" haha. The Hungarian pancakes were great and come with goulash on top. Everything is huge and you can / should definitely share - each menu item will give you a sense of the serving size (if you can translate grams of food into anything meaningful). Note: the entrance is in a courtyard by a library, so you'll have to go off the main street to find it!
- Przypiecek - 24/7 pierogis that were so good we went twice. Get the meat and cabbage ones, those were my favorite (everyone else will be ordering the ruskie, traditional cottage cheese and cabbage, so you may want to try those too). The carrot and orange salad is also good and helps you pretend that you're being healthy. Some pierogis are boiled while others are fried, so if you have a preference be sure to ask as you're ordering.
- Good Lood - amazing ice cream in Kazimierz (two different locations). There's frequently a line and you'll see most people walking away with three or four scoops! The salted caramel is tasty!
- Endzior - zapiekanka vendor in Kazimierz that was recommended to us by two different Polish women. They make their bread fresh. You can split one order between two (they're about a foot long) and I would ask them to hold the ketchup sauce.
Sights:
- Main Market Square - this is the heart and soul of Old Town and you'll love how vibrant it is. Wander through Cloth Hall for souvenirs and then buy tickets for entrance to St. Mary's Church and the tower climb. It's just over 200 steps and the view is amazing, so it's worth the extra ticket and effort! They sell out of these tickets quickly so buy one in the morning and they'll let you know the time to come back (both the church and tower tickets will give you an entrance time).
- Jewish Quarter, Kazimierz - we took a free walking tour around this neighborhood on our first day (tons of companies to do this with - just note that they don't enter any buildings you may want to budget some time to do that afterwards). This area was pretty dangerous in the 90s, but since the release of Schindler's List, has become a hot spot for tourists. It's now a really trendy area with lots of bars and restaurants so it's definitely worth coming back in the evening for dinner and drinks. It could also be fun to stay in Kazimierz, which is still less busy than Old Town. Small Market Square, directly behind St. Mary's Church is also surrounded with restaurants so if you want something a little quieter, head there for lunch and people watching. We ran into a free live concert there Saturday afternoon too!
- Schindler's Factory Museum - this museum is focused on Krakow during Nazi occupation. It's really well done and informative, but the name of the museum a bit misleading as there are only a couple small exhibits about Oskar Schindler and the Schindler Jews. You may want to buy tickets in advance because there's a line for tickets most of the day and they can sell out if you come later in the afternoon.
- Wawel Hill (cathedral and castle) - Poland's most popular tourist destination! The cathedral has been rebuilt and added to overtime, so its façade is a really interesting mix of different architectural styles. The tomb of Kazimierz depicts him with a little beaver as his feet because people say he found a Poland made of wood but left one made of brick and stone. We didn't pay for any of the museums (Rick Steve didn't speak highly of them) but spent some time enjoying the view of the Vistula - check out the fire breathing dragon along the waterfront!
- Krakow was home to Pope John Paul II and has the most churches per square mile outside of Rome, so you can feel and see how strong the Polish Catholic community and culture are as you walk around town. There are a few other big churches that are worth visiting and you can also get tickets to evening musical performances in some of the churches too.
- Another random thought: While walking around the former Jewish Ghetto, I was curious about the history and origin of the word "ghetto." This NPR article is a really interesting overview of how the meaning of the word has changed over time.
|
|
Drink:
- Vodka and beer is insanely cheap in Poland, so going out to drink won't break the bank at all.
- There are some bar crawls that leave from the main square - the'yre supposed to be fun and would be an easy way to meet other travelers if you're not staying at a hostel.
- Forum Przestrzenie - this is located at an old communist department turned billboard (you'll get it when you see it). It's AWESOME. There are a couple vendors that serve drinks, food, and ice cream. You sit in outdoor lounge chairs while enjoying a view of the Vistula. Lots of big groups of Polish twenty-somethings and families with kids. From the looks of their website, they sometimes have live music and evening events too.
- Banialuka - go to this casual, local spot for $1 vodka shots and beers. They even have $2 beef tartare but that may be even more dangerous than the alcohol.
- Cafe Manekin - quiet place to get pre/post dinner drinks. Don't go with more than four people, it's pretty small.
- Pasaż Bielaka - we stumbled across this street which runs perpendicular to the main square. It's an alley filled with a bunch of bars and a lot of cool outdoor seating. Tram Bar, at the non-square end of the street looked really cool.
- Alchemia - this was one of the first bars in Kazimierz (also adjacent to all the zapiekanka vendors). It's a great place to go with people you want to be able to see and hear, but they also have a dance floor with a DJ and sometimes live music downstairs. It's supposed to be Narnia themed but aside from a closet you walk through, they might need to try a bit harder with the decorations.
- Lokal - our hostel brought us to this club. It's fairly standard, top 40 dancey - we had fun even though there was a lot of broken glass on the dance floors so be careful with sandals.
Sleep:
- We stayed Mosquito Hostel which I cannot speak more highly of. It's insanely clean, the staff are really fun and professional, and it seemed to attract an older-but-still-social crowd.
- If you're a light sleeper this is the perfect place for you. They really enforce quiet hours and after 10pm, you can only make noise in the common area that has doors to block the sound. Staff encourages everyone to head out together around 11/11:30pm, so there isn't much noise from people partying after that.
- It's located right outside the Barbican by Planty Park and is an easy walk to Old Town. Kazimierz was 30-40 minutes away on foot - the only reason I'd stay elsewhere is if I decided to stay in Kazimierz next time since we ended up going there a lot.
- There's free breakfast, dinner, and most importantly, laundry! Each night they organize some drinking games and staff members will go out with whoever wants to head into town for the night.
- We "splurged" on a private room which was well worth it for our own bathroom and a bit of extra space. There was a small coffee table and couch, it wasn't just a tiny room crammed with a double bed.
Auschwitz-Birkenau
Going to visit Auschwitz was an incredibly powerful experience. It's something you'll have to see for yourself and we're confident that everyone processes the visit differently. So instead of sharing all the details, we'll talk about a few interesting things our guide shared with us and some of our reflections.
One of the first questions we asked was: if there were so few Jews (less than 1%) in Germany, why was there such a hatred towards Jews? They didn't seem to be a threat. Our guide explained that it was important to remember that Hitler and the Nazis were building the foundation for a prosperous and powerful Aryan race. They didn't expect to lose the war, so this was step one of their journey to power.
Alyssa has visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Holocaust Museum in DC. She made a really interesting comment that, for her, those experiences were more emotional and our time at Auschwitz felt more informational or academic. We had a few conversations about this and we think that it's because the other two memorials / museums were explicitly designed to evoke emotion and encourage you to personally connect to a certain group of people. To do that, they integrate both facts and artifacts from the Holocaust (i.e., a room full of shoes), with vivid first person stories of survivors. In contrast to those places, which were very focused on people and stories, Auschwitz seemed to be a bit more sterile and lead with facts and figures. You didn't really hear the voices of those who lived or worked there (though there is one newer exhibit that does do this a bit more through the use of multimedia). Additionally, Alyssa's guide at Yad Vashem was Jewish whereas our guide was a non-Jewish PhD (there is a tiny Jewish population in Krakow - somewhere between 200-600 people compared to over 60,000 before the WWI) so his delivery and perspective was definitely that of an academic.
My primary feeling throughout the day was shock. Shock to learn that the Nazis were proud of what they were doing. They didn't destroy anything except the gas chambers, and that was only right before they knew they were going to have to retreat. Most of the photos were taken by SS guards and oftentimes you'd see them smiling or otherwise looking very relaxed. Our guide kept reinforcing the fact that Auschwitz was run incredibly efficiently with little waste. That likely contributed to our experience of things feeling sterile - you walk through many of the original old barracks and buildings. The layout was intended to dehumanize the prisoners so Nazis could continue with their assigned work without thinking about what they were doing. Things were carefully and meticulously documented. There was nothing wasted. They melted down precious metals from teeth and even sold prisoners' hair to textile companies in order to make fabric. It is a stark reminder that people can be convinced to do the most atrocious things, especially with strong propaganda and group think.
We hadn't realized the sheer scale of everything until we were there walking through each site. In movies, you're made to think that Aushwitz is one big camp. But in reality, there were three main areas: Auschwitz I (with the "work will set you free" sign; former Polish army barracks), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the largest site built to house more laborers), and Auschwitz III (closer to factories where prisoners would work). We visited Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. If you have time, we recommend walking around the perimeter of that camp. It really makes you see how big this was. We were also struck by how green and lush the area was. Our guide said that during the Holocaust, there was no grass because people ate everything they could.
There were other extermination centers throughout Poland. What sets Auschwitz apart is that it housed prisoners in order to use them for their labor (both within the camp and outside the camp, sometimes for private companies as contractors). It took longer to uncover and get an understanding of what happened at the other sites because people were brought straight to their deaths (and there were therefore fewer barracks since there were no laborers living there). There are survivors of Auschwitz that lived to tell the tale of the atrocities that occurred there.
One of the first questions we asked was: if there were so few Jews (less than 1%) in Germany, why was there such a hatred towards Jews? They didn't seem to be a threat. Our guide explained that it was important to remember that Hitler and the Nazis were building the foundation for a prosperous and powerful Aryan race. They didn't expect to lose the war, so this was step one of their journey to power.
- Hitler wanted to identify a common enemy in order to unite the rest of the German population. In Germany, Jews were very well assimilated and didn't look or sound as different as they might have in countries like Poland where there was a bigger Sephardic Jewish population. So it wasn't clear what the true number was (many Germans didn't know that they were such a small part of the population) and the Nazis were able to sow fear by speaking about backstabbing neighbors and traitors living among them (blamed WWI loss on these turncoats too).
- Nazi Germany was founded on the idea that the Aryan race was a superior race, which did not include Jews
- Nazi Germany was socialist and the Jews had done really well under capitalism, so were visible examples of how people could thrive under capitalsm
Alyssa has visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Holocaust Museum in DC. She made a really interesting comment that, for her, those experiences were more emotional and our time at Auschwitz felt more informational or academic. We had a few conversations about this and we think that it's because the other two memorials / museums were explicitly designed to evoke emotion and encourage you to personally connect to a certain group of people. To do that, they integrate both facts and artifacts from the Holocaust (i.e., a room full of shoes), with vivid first person stories of survivors. In contrast to those places, which were very focused on people and stories, Auschwitz seemed to be a bit more sterile and lead with facts and figures. You didn't really hear the voices of those who lived or worked there (though there is one newer exhibit that does do this a bit more through the use of multimedia). Additionally, Alyssa's guide at Yad Vashem was Jewish whereas our guide was a non-Jewish PhD (there is a tiny Jewish population in Krakow - somewhere between 200-600 people compared to over 60,000 before the WWI) so his delivery and perspective was definitely that of an academic.
My primary feeling throughout the day was shock. Shock to learn that the Nazis were proud of what they were doing. They didn't destroy anything except the gas chambers, and that was only right before they knew they were going to have to retreat. Most of the photos were taken by SS guards and oftentimes you'd see them smiling or otherwise looking very relaxed. Our guide kept reinforcing the fact that Auschwitz was run incredibly efficiently with little waste. That likely contributed to our experience of things feeling sterile - you walk through many of the original old barracks and buildings. The layout was intended to dehumanize the prisoners so Nazis could continue with their assigned work without thinking about what they were doing. Things were carefully and meticulously documented. There was nothing wasted. They melted down precious metals from teeth and even sold prisoners' hair to textile companies in order to make fabric. It is a stark reminder that people can be convinced to do the most atrocious things, especially with strong propaganda and group think.
We hadn't realized the sheer scale of everything until we were there walking through each site. In movies, you're made to think that Aushwitz is one big camp. But in reality, there were three main areas: Auschwitz I (with the "work will set you free" sign; former Polish army barracks), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the largest site built to house more laborers), and Auschwitz III (closer to factories where prisoners would work). We visited Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. If you have time, we recommend walking around the perimeter of that camp. It really makes you see how big this was. We were also struck by how green and lush the area was. Our guide said that during the Holocaust, there was no grass because people ate everything they could.
There were other extermination centers throughout Poland. What sets Auschwitz apart is that it housed prisoners in order to use them for their labor (both within the camp and outside the camp, sometimes for private companies as contractors). It took longer to uncover and get an understanding of what happened at the other sites because people were brought straight to their deaths (and there were therefore fewer barracks since there were no laborers living there). There are survivors of Auschwitz that lived to tell the tale of the atrocities that occurred there.
Logistics: After hearing some mixed reviews from friends who went with larger tour groups, we decided to spend the extra money and hire a private guide. This allowed us to ask a lot of questions and go at our own pace, so if your budget allows, we'd recommend going this route.
- Alyssa emailed the program manager at the local JCC - www.jcckrakow.org
- The JCC set us up with Jerzy, our awesome guide - [email protected] ($350 for the day, includes transport