Trip to Krakow
Back in November, my partner and I were invited by my father and step-mother to travel to Poland, with an aim of going to Auschwitz. It was to be a short weekend break, flying out the Friday and landing back the Sunday evening. The trip out was a bit of a rush. I had to finish at school early, dash back home and grab the other half. We made it to East Midlands airport in plenty of time and made it onto the plane.
The flight was noisy. It seems like Poland is a bit of a party destination, as their were a lot of loud, shouty people on the plane. We arrived into Krakow about an hour in front of the parentals, hung around and then left the airport for central Krakow with a pretty nice cabbie who was also going to be organising our trip to Auschwitz the following day.
Getting into Krakow was pretty magical. The Old Town is beautiful, full of gorgeous architecture, twisting streets and vibrant night life. Watching our driver navigate streets that were only just big enough for his car was an experience. The H15 Palace hotel was absolutely lovely, and we dropped our stuff off before heading out for a drink and a bite to eat. We had booked at a local Indian restaurant, which was closed, but found another one which was pretty damn good. A few drinks at a local Irish bar (always a laugh to see what they look like outside of Ireland) and we all retired for the night. We had a long day ahead.
Saturday:
We were up pretty early, had a pretty great breakfast and met the driver to take us to the Auschwitz Museum. Now, I had managed to not pack any trousers (through sheer talent) and was therefore heading to Auschwitz in lime green dungarees, but they were surprisingly appropriate for the weather. It alternated between drizzling and overcast gloom all day, which was surprisingly apt, considering our destination. We were dropped off outside the museum and shown in to meet our tour guide. Auschwitz was busy, big lines of tourists, lots of tour guides, etc. We went through, got our headsets (so the tour guide could talk normally instead of shouting) and set off.
It’s very difficult to describe the effect visiting and learning about Auschwitz and its history has. The Auschwitz museum is made up of 2 sites, Auschwitz itself and the larger Birkenau site.
Both are utterly haunting, especially accompanied by the tour guides narration of the history of the sites. The industrial style of murder, the stories of brutality and tragedy, it all contributes to a thick atmosphere and gloom over the whole experience. Each of us visiting were hit by particular details. A bunk for 5 on a floor that would flood regularly, a room full of recovered artifacts, a wall used for executions, etc. It was a haunting experience that will remain with me.
After finishing at Auschwitz, we met our driver and headed back to Krakow. We split up at the hotel, with me and the partner having a wander around Krakow Old Town itself. Exploring was very interesting. We found some nice markets, some fabulous architecture and even found a shopping centre to buy me some trousers (the dungarees were getting annoying by this point!). At 7pm, we met a tour group and walked a murder mystery tour around Krakow, fascinating stuff! Around 8pm, we met back up with the parentals and headed to Fiorentina, a Michelin star restaurant in Krakow Old Town. Needless to say, the food was particularly amazing, and we rounded the night out with some drinks.
Sunday:
We were flying back out that evening. We slept in and ventured out for some breakfast. We explored a bit further, finding some local bakeries that sold sandwiches and doughnuts (Paczki). Poland has a slightly odd fascination with pretzels, as we kept finding stands of the things. Tasty though.
We met back up for lunch at a Polish restaurant (nice thick stews with potato rosti) before saying our goodbyes and heading to the train station. We made it back to the airport in good time and waved goodby to Poland. A beautiful country that I would recommend to anyone looking for a city break.
Thank you Robert for your fantastic recap. It was wonderful to have experienced this beautiful city & once in a lifetime visit to Auschwitz with you & Nicky XX Michelle
Hotels
Restaurants:
Michelin *- Fiorentina Dom Polski
Traditional Polish – Morskie Oko
Fine Dining – Szarages
Indina – India Masala
Brunch/Lunch Fav – Gehanowska
Worth Visiting :
- Auschwitz – A harrowing experience but somewhere everyone should try visit!We booked a driver through our hotel(H15 Lux Palace) & he organised an excellent guide at Auschwitz for us.
- Krakow Main Market Square, oldest in Europe
- Krakow’s Old Town
- St. Mary’s Basilica
- Wawel Royal Castle
- National Museum
Entertainment :
