"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.
Showing posts with label Auschwitz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Auschwitz. Show all posts
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Sunday, 4 November 2007
Krakow, Poland
Absinthe party at the fly honey warehouse!!!
That's right, I said absinthe. The real stuff. The wormwood content being measured in mg/L. We were drinking 30mg/L last night. It was called Mr. Jekyll. I love my life. This blog is going to be as disjointed as our night was.
The absinthe den that our hostel is situated next door to:
I don't even know what it's called. The decor is late 1800's Victorian era. Smoke filled. Dim lighting. Chandeliers that only partially work. Playing 30's jazz music. Nana-style hand crocheted table cloths. Did I mention the ABSINTHE!!!
About three drinks in, we're already walking the line of sanity. Kaare is wearing the biggest shit eating grin I have ever seen on his face. Before anyone gets excited, there were no hallucinations. But definite craziness.
Around now we meet Cameron and Pol. Cam is from Texas. My favourite part of running into Americans is telling them that Steven Colbert is running for president. They lose their minds. Pol (I think his real name was Luke) is originally from Krakow, but moved to the States at age 9 to go to school. Now he's living in Krakow again with his wife and little girl. Cam was just on a week long trip to visit him. Pol is short for Poland. The same way we call Alex: Alabama.
Another absinthe and we're off to the jazz bar. Downstairs, WWII brick basement. Real jazz. Upright bass, keyboard, trumpet, sax, and guitar. On the way, Pol teaches us Polish phrases. Don't remember any of them. We must have walked 2km to get to this bar. Pol kept saying it was close. We drink Polish beer. We have no idea how to get back to our hostel. We meet some cats from Dublin, and one guy from Ontario. I think his name was Rick. Don't know what happened to Rick. Pol is fuckered and, for some God unknown reason, in charge of leading us around.
The set is over, 2:30am. We embark on an epic journey to find kebabs. Kebabs appear to be a favoured Polish fast food. If you've listened to the Patton Oswald sketch about putting all your favourite foods in one bowl, mashing them up, and shoving them down your throat, then you have an idea of what kebabs are. A piece of bread topped with meat, cabbage (lots of cabbage), pickles, and occasionally some vegetables. Between perogies and kebabs, I'm pretty sure we've both gained about 10lbs.
3am. We do not find kebabs. However, we do find another bar. Kaare and I have run out of money at this point. Cam is buying our drinks. I set out from the bar to find an ATM.
3:30am. I am completely, utterly, and hopelessly lost. I have no idea how to find the guys or the bar or our hostel. I decide to wander aimlessly until sunup when I will be able to find an open store that can hopefully sell me a map.
3:45am. As I am wandering aimlessly, I notice that I am walking past the bar where the guys are. No word of a lie. I join up with them again, and we decide to head home. Pol and Cam are nice enough to walk us back to our hostel, as we literally have no idea where it is.
4am. We are lost again. Kaare and Pol are both way to drunk to read the map. Not lying about that. They actually can't figure out which way is up. They start talking to some random dude walking by. I start skipping off on my own, some how figuring that if I just walk, I will eventually find the hostel. This is a bad idea. Kaare and Pol send Cam to make sure that I don't skip off into some dark alley and get murdered. Kaare says that at this point I was making out with Cam. I don't believe him. I have photographic proof that Kaare was trying to make out with Cam. So who do you believe? The absinthe affected opinions of one man, or my solid photographic proof? Probably both.
Noon. Today. We have slept through breakfast. Kaare is in a very bad state. I have no idea how we got back to the hostel. I did somehow manage to take out my contacts, put my money belt under my pillow, and put my pajamas on (backwards). I have now drank about 2L of juice. My brain hurts.
And now it's 3pm! I'm blogging, Kaare is captain puking (hopefully not on my bed, but I'm too scared to look), and I'm about to go explore Krakow!
Morbid fact of the day: We are going to Auschwitz tomorrow. I feel strange about turning one of the most devastating and horrifying places in history into a tourist attraction. But as we are so close, I feel that we can't miss it. I think it's going to be a very sobering experience. The museum doesn't allow people 14yrs and younger. Keenan wouldn't be able to go. Scary.
Quote of the day:
Kaare: if Krakow was a video game, it would be Castlevania.
That's right, I said absinthe. The real stuff. The wormwood content being measured in mg/L. We were drinking 30mg/L last night. It was called Mr. Jekyll. I love my life. This blog is going to be as disjointed as our night was.
The absinthe den that our hostel is situated next door to:
I don't even know what it's called. The decor is late 1800's Victorian era. Smoke filled. Dim lighting. Chandeliers that only partially work. Playing 30's jazz music. Nana-style hand crocheted table cloths. Did I mention the ABSINTHE!!!
About three drinks in, we're already walking the line of sanity. Kaare is wearing the biggest shit eating grin I have ever seen on his face. Before anyone gets excited, there were no hallucinations. But definite craziness.
Around now we meet Cameron and Pol. Cam is from Texas. My favourite part of running into Americans is telling them that Steven Colbert is running for president. They lose their minds. Pol (I think his real name was Luke) is originally from Krakow, but moved to the States at age 9 to go to school. Now he's living in Krakow again with his wife and little girl. Cam was just on a week long trip to visit him. Pol is short for Poland. The same way we call Alex: Alabama.
Another absinthe and we're off to the jazz bar. Downstairs, WWII brick basement. Real jazz. Upright bass, keyboard, trumpet, sax, and guitar. On the way, Pol teaches us Polish phrases. Don't remember any of them. We must have walked 2km to get to this bar. Pol kept saying it was close. We drink Polish beer. We have no idea how to get back to our hostel. We meet some cats from Dublin, and one guy from Ontario. I think his name was Rick. Don't know what happened to Rick. Pol is fuckered and, for some God unknown reason, in charge of leading us around.
The set is over, 2:30am. We embark on an epic journey to find kebabs. Kebabs appear to be a favoured Polish fast food. If you've listened to the Patton Oswald sketch about putting all your favourite foods in one bowl, mashing them up, and shoving them down your throat, then you have an idea of what kebabs are. A piece of bread topped with meat, cabbage (lots of cabbage), pickles, and occasionally some vegetables. Between perogies and kebabs, I'm pretty sure we've both gained about 10lbs.
3am. We do not find kebabs. However, we do find another bar. Kaare and I have run out of money at this point. Cam is buying our drinks. I set out from the bar to find an ATM.
3:30am. I am completely, utterly, and hopelessly lost. I have no idea how to find the guys or the bar or our hostel. I decide to wander aimlessly until sunup when I will be able to find an open store that can hopefully sell me a map.
3:45am. As I am wandering aimlessly, I notice that I am walking past the bar where the guys are. No word of a lie. I join up with them again, and we decide to head home. Pol and Cam are nice enough to walk us back to our hostel, as we literally have no idea where it is.
4am. We are lost again. Kaare and Pol are both way to drunk to read the map. Not lying about that. They actually can't figure out which way is up. They start talking to some random dude walking by. I start skipping off on my own, some how figuring that if I just walk, I will eventually find the hostel. This is a bad idea. Kaare and Pol send Cam to make sure that I don't skip off into some dark alley and get murdered. Kaare says that at this point I was making out with Cam. I don't believe him. I have photographic proof that Kaare was trying to make out with Cam. So who do you believe? The absinthe affected opinions of one man, or my solid photographic proof? Probably both.
Noon. Today. We have slept through breakfast. Kaare is in a very bad state. I have no idea how we got back to the hostel. I did somehow manage to take out my contacts, put my money belt under my pillow, and put my pajamas on (backwards). I have now drank about 2L of juice. My brain hurts.
And now it's 3pm! I'm blogging, Kaare is captain puking (hopefully not on my bed, but I'm too scared to look), and I'm about to go explore Krakow!
Morbid fact of the day: We are going to Auschwitz tomorrow. I feel strange about turning one of the most devastating and horrifying places in history into a tourist attraction. But as we are so close, I feel that we can't miss it. I think it's going to be a very sobering experience. The museum doesn't allow people 14yrs and younger. Keenan wouldn't be able to go. Scary.
Quote of the day:
Kaare: if Krakow was a video game, it would be Castlevania.
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