Krakow & Auschwitz

We arrived in Krakow, Poland July 16. We dropped our bags off at our hostel and spent the better part of the evening trying to buy train tickets (our passes don't work on Poland). We were surprised to find that out of the 5 different line-ups we were in there was only one worker who spoke English (strange, as Krakow is supposedly the tourist capital of Poland). We tried to communicate in English and with the little German we know, but they were quite uncooperative, and simply glared at us and shook their heads. The Polish people in the lines were quite friendly and helpful, but the workers were having none of it. We spent what remained of the evening walking around the city.

Krakow has a gorgeous town square. We watched 2 dance crews in the square, who were more funny  than talented, as they danced to their modern 80's music in their new 80's clothing.

We found this really neat fountain that danced to music. Because of the heat, kids took off their clothes and were running in and around the fountain. 

 

Even a dog stopped to enjoy the fountain. It had us in stitches, reminding us of Shadow (the St. Germain's old dog) who attacked the gardening hose when we tried to use it to clean off their deck during a weekend of babysitting Jeremy... I mean Oakley. This dog was attacking the water coming out of the fountain.

July 17 we headed off to Auschwitz for the day. We took a tour through Auschwitz 1 and 2 (Birkenau). It was a very eye opening experience. It was difficult, but it was really important to both of us to pay our respects.

Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau)

In the evening we went to the mall to grab another ice cream from our favourite place before our night train. This was our first night train experience. We booked 2 beds in a couchette for 6 people. Luckily our roommates were 3 girls who were really quiet. The train was hot at first but sometime in the middle of the night the heat wave finally cracked and it started pouring and the train actually cooled down.

We arrived in Prague yesterday (July 18) at 7am. We dropped our bags off at our hotel and went walking through the city... in the rain, but at least it was cool out. We weren't sure if anything would be open early Sunday morning but we ended up finding a huge grocery store called Albert. We were able to have breakfast in a mall across the street. We spent the rest of the morning shopping to waste time before check in. Andrew and I both got a pair of shorts in case there is another heat wave!

Last night I was exhausted, as I didn't get a great sleep on the train, I went to bed at 6:30 and didn't wake up until 8am. So now that I am well rested we are off to see Prague.