Day 21 – Krakow Second Day – Wednesday June 13th

Rob and I got up at 9:30 and ate another great breakfast. My laundry had been delivered inside my room in the morning, so I head fresh clothes from the start of the day. While Rob got ready to go for the day, I went and got a haircut at a highly recommended barber shop right next to the hotel. I think they did a wonderful job, and the hair washer lady at the shop was gorgeous. I did not mind her washing my hair at all.

Rob and I headed slowly over to Wawel Hill where the Royal Castle and Cracow Cathedral are located behind fortified walls. We stopped in shops and admired street painters on the way. Once there, we bought tickets for the Dragon’s Den and for the Armory. It would begin to be much more than that to see the apartments. The cathedral was free. Tickets are in high demand and limited by the hour, so Rob and I were very lucky to get the tickets we did (many on our tour did not get a chance to see anything but the Dragon’s Den). We went into the treasury/ armory, and I saw a marvelous collection of armor, swords, guns, cannons, pikes, maces, horse armor, shields, and a variety of jewelry, china, and gifts to the king. The most beautiful armor was plated and had attached feathered wings to the back breastplate that came up as high as the head. The most interesting weapon was the pistol sword. It was a full-length sword with a gun that would shoot out down the side of the blade. I thought it was strange those were not more common. We went from the armory to the Dragon’s Den. At the entrance of the Den was a great view of the city and the nearby river. Down a spiral staircase, we came into an actual cave that was said to have housed a dragon. It was beautiful, but it hardly cost the dollar I spent to go in. A fire-shooting statue of a dragon lived just outside, and a whole fieldtrip of kids surrounded it with smiling faces.

We left then to eat lunch. We happened upon a Polish fast-food place called “Kebob”. It was similar to a Moe’s in that you ordered the type of meat and fillings you wanted for the gyro-like sandwich they created for you. It was really good.

We headed for St. Mary’s Church in the town square near our hotel. We somehow snuck in with a tour group that was watching the noon reveal of The Assumption of the Virgin
(a huge wooden centerpiece) and avoided paying, which was unintentional but nice. I really hate the idea of paying to go into a church. It seems wrong. The church was gorgeous with huge blue ceilings and a beautiful altarpiece. I saw the Slacker Crucifix; apparently it is a very famous crucifix made by Veit Stoss. We left to go back to the hotel and rest.

Rob and I missed the other guys for dinner, so he and I went back to the restaurant from the night before. I got a filet of beef that came out on fire (for effect). It was delicious. Then we had some apple pie that was also great. With such an early wakeup call for the next morning (5:30), we headed back and packed. I went to bed.

Day 20 – Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 Birkenau – Tuesday June 12th

Rob and I woke up at 7:30 to get ready to meet Drew, Nick, and Sam for breakfast at 8:30. I felt so much better today; it’s hard to put into words. I was chipper to say the least. Breakfast was unusually good with its assortments of meat, cheese, and yogurt. I had to eat quickly though because we needed to leave at 9am promptly to get to the bus station. We made it there pretty quickly thanks to a chance encounter with Americans who recognized we were looking for the bus station. We paid on the bus and took our seats next to some older English people.

The bus ride was an event. Our bus must have had problems with stalling or starting or something because we did not stop once. We couldn’t. The driver shooed people away with his hands ahead of stops or else they had to literally run onto the bus. It was the same getting off for some people. One man started running while still in the bus and he just transferred himself out of it. A woman who could hardly hold the door open sidestepped out and face planted into the sidewalk. She got up, but the driver couldn’t stop. We went around a roundabout so fast, an Asian woman in front of me sleeping just fell flat on her back on the floor. It was crazy, but the bus did stop once we made it to Oswiecim, the home of the Auschwitz concentration camps. We made it there in about two hours.

We headed straight for the museum and signed up for the three hour English tour they had available. The museum and the grounds are free to see, but the tours were considerably more. Its hard to say how the experience made me feel. I don’t want to describe everything that I saw because they were just too sad. I saw everything that I could see, chambers, Gestapo offices, barracks, killing blocks, and everything else. The most gripping and saddening part by far were the several tons of hair they had piled in a room. It was maddening, the whole experience. I felt so angry at people. I kept asking, “How could anyone be okay with this? Why did anyone deserve this? Why did God let this happen?” I took many pictures, but I don't like having them. The place felt like death. I felt gross being there. I left my sadness at the gate and did not talk about the experience once we got on the bus to come back. One man on our tour group summed up the feeling. He said, “This is the worst day of my life.” I know why he felt that way.

The bus back was air-conditioned and a tour bus, so I slept the whole time. We made it back in about two hours. We headed for the square near our hotel and ate in a random restaurant. The place ended up being really affordable and very delicious. I had pork and cheese that was unreal. We took our friends there later on and they gave us a discount. During dinner we noticed that Poland, like the Netherlands, had a large number of beautiful women, and they weren’t all blonde. After the second dinner, we saw a show in the square. It was a drum circle with fire dancers throwing, breathing, and twirling fire wands, strips, and whole rods around for a fifteen-minute show. I headed back afterwards and went to bed glad to be feeling better and loving Poland.

Day 19 – Train to Krakow – Monday June 11th

I woke up at about 7:30 feeling very refreshed. Compared to the past several days, I was golden. I still went to the corner store and loaded up on liquids and took a taxi to the train station instead of walking. The travel day was about twelve a half hours long with four train changes. The countryside of Slovakia and Poland were beautiful though. I took several pictures from the train.

We had two hours of free time in Breclav. I walked around the town for about an hour with Peter and Chris. There was literally nothing to see, but we did make some cool observations. The locals dressed just as we did, so we blended in well. Their shirts would be written in English, but would sometimes have one or two letters mixed up. The people were much larger here than anywhere else on the trip. Also, we could afford a whole lot more here for cheaper.

We arrived in Krakow around 9:30 or so, and we headed to our hotel (which was literally just inside the medieval walls of the city). Although not air-conditioned, it was certainly a nice hotel. I again roomed with Rob and Chris. Nothing was really open when we went looking for dinner except for a McDonald’s, so (unfortunately) we had to settle. Really it was fine though. I was starving and had just started feeling better. McDonald’s hit the spot, even if it was American. We sat in the nearby square and admired St. Mary’s Church. We went to bed in the hotel without air-conditioning to a man repeating the song “Hallelujah” by J.J. Cale over and over again with a thick Polish accent.

Day 18 – Second Day in Budapest – Sunday June 10th

I woke up at about noon. Chris, Rob, and I went to eat lunch just a block away from the hotel. I had some great pasta. I stocked up on water and fruit juices on the way back. I literally did nothing but sleep this day to get better. I didn’t even have my camera on me. The sleep was much needed though. Yesterday was a big wake up call for how much I needed to slow down. Rob brought me some dinner in the evening. I mostly just slept, watched television, and worked on homework all day long. I slept well that night.

Day 17 – Budapest – Saturday June 9th

I woke up around 9:30 and Rob, Chris, and I all took our time getting ready. I felt a little better, so I decided I’d go eat lunch with the group. We ended up walking all the way to an island on the Danube. The walk was a little further than I would have liked, but I managed to be alright once we were sitting down and eating. I ordered a light salad and water. The island was a nice park area where people were laying out and listening to music next to fountains and sculptures. The walk back was pretty tiring, so I took a nap once I got back.

I woke up in time for the ballet I was signed up for. It was Romeo and Juliet. The walk to the Opera House was not very far at all, and when we got there, we found that we had pretty good balcony seats. The three act show was just beautiful. All with a live orchestra, the girl playing Juliet was especially talented. The most beautiful dance was the one when Romeo was calling Juliet at her balcony. The balcony dropped to the floor and they dance with each other in the stars.

I felt pretty bad when I made it back. I think I just tried to do too much considering my condition. By the time I laid down, I was feeling better.

Day 16 – Travel to Budapest – Friday June 8th

We got up at 7:15, ate breakfast, and headed to the train station. The train was noticeably nicer this time than any of the others. We had our own boxes with 6 seats each. I had signed up late, so I was not sitting with my close friends, but I was with Dr. Turkett. All 6 people in the compartment played games, but when I got tired of that I tried to go to bed. I could never fall asleep though, and I kept feeling worse and worse. We changed trains two times, and by the last one, I was struggling. At the end of the 12 hour travel day, we had to take a metro one stop and then walk several blocks to the hotel.

By the time I made it to the hotel, Kessler was carrying my book bag because I couldn't anymore. I started feeling very hot, and then I went to go sit down. I felt horrible. I had told Dr. Bob and Dr. Turkett that I needed to go to a doctor, so once everyone was checked in, I got to see one.

He did not speak English very well, though he did speak some. He understood it fine. He knew what was wrong almost immediately. He prescribed me amoxycillinum and a fever reducer and 500mg of vitamin c. He told me I was dehydrated, so I needed to drink lots of water, orange juice, and lemonade. He never got through to me what was wrong with me otherwise. I assume that the penicillin was for a throat infection though. Ironically, his name was Dr. Alibrahim Jihad. He was just the nicest man, and he really tried to help me. Dr. Bob and I took a taxi back to the hotel. He got me some water and lemonade to drink and went to go get my medicine. I took my medicine when he got back, and went to bed.

Day 15 –Venice – Thursday June 7th

Rob, Chris, and I woke up pretty early to go to the Island of Murano to watch glass blowing. We grabbed some pastries off the street and headed towards the water. We had to get vaporetta tickets ahead of time though, and while we waited in a very inefficient line, it began to rain. We got our raincoats and I took some Tylenol again. The trip to the island on line 42 took a very long time (probably 45 minutes), but once we got there, plenty of people were waiting and willing to direct you to their glass blowing factory. We found one which was free. The system must work great for them because after fifteen minute demonstration and explanation, everyone just goes and buys glass from their store. They had some very affordable glass, but I decided not to get any.

When we left, it was pouring. I got pretty wet, even with a raincoat on. The trip back didn’t take as long because we got off at the Piazza San Marco. We went inside St. Mark’s, which was beautiful with all of its gold mosaics. We went outside and watched children with birdfeed in their hands get attacked by swarms of pigeons. Rob had two land on him. I guess they just liked him because they stayed on him for a while.

We went to go eat lunch but made the poor decision of going to a pizza place owned by Asian people. Not that I don’t think an Asian person could make a good pizza, but when I’m in Italy, I should probably get one from an Italian person. The pizza was by far the worst of the trip (even worse than anything back home). We took a gondola ride across a canal for 50 cents. We went to the church of Santa Maria della Salute. It was beautiful on the outside, but nothing special really on the inside. It began to rain while we were there, so we just chilled out for a while.

We walked back to the hotel, and we all took naps. When everyone went to dinner, however, I stayed in because I was not feeling very well. I needed to rest.