We finally arrived in Krakow (spelled Cracow in Polish and pronounced "crack-ov") around 2:30pm. We caught a taxi to our hostel, where we were able to check-in right away. The hostel was really cute and only had about ten rooms, a little kitchen, and a reception desk. We had a double room to ourselves with our own bathroom, so that was nice. I've learned that I hate staying in large hostel rooms with other people because they are usually loud, smelly, and rude. Yuck.
After checking-in, we headed out to the town to grab something to eat. After searching for an ATM, we finally settled down at a place that served Polish cuisine. I had some cream of broccoli soup and small potato dumplings (not pierogies like I had expected, but little buttery delicious dumplings). It was yummy. We headed back to our hostel after lunch to take a nap, and then went out to dinner afterwards. We ate at a pizzeria and they had some of the best pizza that I've had since I've been abroad. I also got a traditional Polish desert (I can't remember what it was called) that the waitress recommended that tasted like delicious apple crisp with whipped cream and caramel sauce. Yum yum yum.
On Monday, we woke up early, ate breakfast, got ready, and headed out into the city of Krakow. We reached the Old Town, explored a bit, and then walked to the castle in Krakow. We explored the castle for a little while, sat on a bench and enjoyed the sunshine and the view of the river. (The river in Krakow is the same one that runs through Warsaw - crazy!). After that, we did a little bit of exploring and then ate lunch at a really cute restaurant that had a wood-burning oven that they used to cook all of their food. I had the best pierogies there, which had potatoes, cheese, and onions in them. We also got an appetizer (fried sheep's cheese with cranberry jelly) that we had seen on a lot of menus, but I didn't like it. It tasted/squeaked like I was eating a balloon, which I found to be really unpleasant. However, Alex liked it, but without the cranberries.
After lunch, we high-tailed it back to our hostel to catch the 3:30pm trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. We managed to make it in time. Also on our tour were two older couples, one from Northern Ireland, and one from Ireland. They talked to us quite a bit about a variety of things including politics and culture. We took a van there, and the drive was a little over an hour. We watched a movie about the history of Auschwitz on the way there. We were lucky enough to have our own English-speaking tour guide for the six of us who brought us through each of the buildings and was incredibly knowledgeable. I learned so much about the Holocaust and Auschwitz that I had never known before. Despite how depressing the whole tour was, it was very eye-opening and intersting. I'm so glad I went because it was an important part of history that deserves to be remembered. I cannot go in to detail here about many of the things that I learned, but overall the experience was one that I am sure I will remember forever. If you ever have the chance to visit there, I highly recommend it. It really changes your views on humanity.
We did not return from Auschwitz until about 9:30pm, so we got dinner at a little restaurant/bar close to our hostel. We went back to our hostel and went straight to bed so that we could be up early to pack and catch our train to Prague, Czech Republic, which is where I am right now. We currently have about five hours left, but we are lucky enough to (so far) have an entire compartment to ourselves (think "Hogwarts Express" if you are confused as to what I mean by compartment). The seats are also big and comfy. Woohoo! More to come once we reach Prague!!!! :)
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