"Arbeit Macht Frei"
Work Will Set You Free
The sign above the gates of Auschwitz I. Ironic and morbid to say the least.
I'm not going to talk about Auschwitz except to say three things:
1. There will not be any pictures ever posted of our trip there. I took my camera with me, and then just felt too wrong about taking any pictures. I actually felt strange watching other people take pictures. Like, "Oooh, thousands of people were executed against this wall...lets remember it in personnal photographic digital history for ever!" Gross.
2. I think alot of healing has happened at Auschwitz. I'm not going to downplay it, there were definitely some parts of it that sobered me. The crimes against humanity made tangible. But for the most part, I think the fact that so many people have been there since 1945 bringing peace, mourning, love and healing, that alot of the negative imprinting has been washed away.
3. I learned that I am able to pray. Nick, I said one for your family.
That's all I'm going to say about Auschwitz. If you really want to know what the experience was like, then go there. I think it's a pretty personnal thing. Kaare and I pretty much didn't talk to eachother the entire time we were there.
Moving on to happier things...
Well...longer things. Longer, like our trip to Vilnius, Lithuania. We went to the train station in Krakow, only to find that we had to take a four hour train to Warsaw. And then a TEN HOUR BUS RIDE from Warsaw to Vilnius. The next day. At 11pm. Yup. 11pm. We get into Vilnius at 9am on Nov 8th. So much balls.
The plus side is that our hostel in Warsaw is awesome. As soon as we got checked into the hostel, we decided to go out for kebabs. Remember kebabs? Oh God...so much greatness. Anyways, on our way out we asked some people at the front communal area if they knew of a place to get a good kebab. This launched a ten minute debate between a balding English ex-pat and a special ops-looking Texan grad student. Apparently, we have some kebab experts in the house. Represent.
This in turn led to another debate about whether or not Polish cab drivers try to scam you. Mr. English funny guy is completely convinced that they do. Our American political science major thinks that they don't. This could be because he is one scary looking mother fucker. No joke. Bigger than Kaare and I combined, covered in tatoos and smart enough to stop a speeding train using his oversized brain power. The guy is a combination of those crazy war journalists (you should hear his stories) and Doogie Howser. If Doogie Howser was interested in political terrorism in refugee camps. He reminded me of just how little I know about the world.
Back to the main point: Kebabs. Oh Lordy...kebabs. They sent us down the street about a block. There we found a four foot tall, two foot wide, rotating stack of chicken meat. The girl there was slicing it off with what appeared to be a saber. And they were the best kebabs we've had so far. I'm still full two hours later. Although, we hear that the best kebabs anywhere are in Istanbul. Kaare and I have decided to do the 2007/2008 kebab world tour. We will be making a travel guide to the best kebabs in Europe, based on a very scientific rating system. Our stomachs.
Th-th-th-that's all for now folks!
Traveller tip of the day: book your hostel in advance! If you do not do this, you will end up wandering the streets of Warsaw, in the freezing rain, 22kg packs on your back, not even able to smoke because you're so cold, getting turned down at every hostel you can possibly find on the map. I don't care if you're in India. If you don't book in advance, this will be your fate. Warsaw, rain, wandering.
Quote of the day:
Scene: after kebabs, we decide to go out to find some beer to bring back to the hostel.
Angie (asking people at the front entrance): Do you guys know where we can find a liquor store?
Polish guy with a huge beard and smurf toque: This must be your first time to Poland.
Kaare (laughing): Haha, no no no. We know that there must be tons of liquor stores around here, we're just looking for the closest one.
Giant Polish Smurf: Poland IS a liquor store.
I like this country.
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5 comments:
Bigger than Kaare and you combined? Darlin, that ain't saying much.
All this talk of kebabs is making me tres jealous. Here's what I want you to do:
1. Go to Istanbul.
2. Sample various Kebabs, finding the most glorious Kebab of all time.
3. Buy 3 of said Kebabs.
4. You now have three Kebabs. Eat one of these lovely little feasts and give another to our friend Kaare.
5. This is the most important part. SEND THE REMAINING DELICIOUS PIECE OF EUROPEAN MEAT SNACK TO 201-2360 BARON ROAD, KELOWNA, BC.
6. It is imperative that you do this immediately.
Thank you. That is all.
mission accepted...one problem though. Kebabs are as unstable as a ruptured nuclear fission core. They only last about 2 minutes, during which time you must devore the entire thing (sometimes omitting chewing, a dangerous but necessary activity) or it will melt down to an unidentifiable mound of slop in your hand. Sloppy kebabs instill a sense of foreign hatred in some cultures and may then result in your impromptu execution by means of plastic forks.
I guess what I'm really saying is...sorry chuck, no kebab for you.
What is the vegetarian limits in Poland? I don't imagine there being many veggie kebabs...but I'm hoping..wishing.
I really respect how you visited Auschwitz. That's how I felt when I visited the Killing Fields in Cambodia. I took no photos, and was horrified as people were snapping snapshots of the empty pits/fields as if it was disney land; meanwhile tripping over bits of bone.
Tourists are nauseating.
http://holocaustforgotten.com/eugene.htm
Hey beautiful,
keep posting, your posts are like crack to me (except they won't make my arm all scary and scarred).
I've been reading on this subject a lot. Like, more than a lot, like, obsessive a lot. Which feels good.
Anyways, read the link. it'll take 10mins.
Loves.
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