Prague in the rain

It was still raining in Prague when I got up the next morning. What can you do?... I didn't come this far to sit in my hotel and stare at four walls, so I got dressed in my woolies, grabbed my umbrella, and headed out as usual. My plan was to head to the famous Charles Bridge and start from there.

The Charles Bridge is lined from end to end with statues on each side

Charles Bridge is famous for it's history and it's statues, and I found it to be quite over-rated. It was packed with tourists, buskers, people trying to sell you things, and beggars... and this is the off-season. It would be madness in summer! But it got me across the river, which is all a bridge really needs to do.

Before I climbed the hill to Prague Castle I popped into St. Nicholas' Cathedral. The parts of it that I could see make it look like it would be quite stunning... if it weren't lined floor to ceiling with scaffolding!

The view from the gallery

So I continued on up to Prague Castle, and it truly was up...

Yep... just climbed this

There was a long queue for entry into the castle grounds, but it moved quickly and I was inside after about 5 minutes of bumping umbrellas with others in the queue.

Inside the castle grounds

I had a look around the Old Royal Palace. Excuse the terrible pictures, but photography was prohibited so I was doing it from inside my jacket.

Then I went into St. George's Basilica which was too dark for photos, and other than being the oldest surviving church within the castle walls it wasn't anything special. By then it was starting to rain a lot harder and quite sideways. But I didn't want to leave the castle until I'd seen St. Vitus Cathedral so I did a mad dash for the entry into there. The outside was pretty amazing.

The inside wasn't as stunning as some that I've been into, but was still pretty grand.

I didn't go in here... There isn't a priest that could handle it!

There were a few more areas of the castle that I wanted to visit, but the weather was getting a bit ridiculous so I decided to head back to the hotel. There is a tram that runs right down the hill and across the river to very near my hotel. I had a bit of a walk in the rain to get to the tram stop though.

I found this place on my way. It's called the Loreta and it's part church, part museum. I ducked in for a break from the weather.

I finally made my way back across the river and found this statue in a market on the way home. Someone has made sure she's warm! Cute...

Apologies again for the poor quality of the photos. The light was just not working for me that day, inside or out!

Travel fail, then onward to Prague

Travel fail: So I got to the bus terminal at 6am for a 6:30 departure and I couldn't find my bus... anywhere... It wasn't on the departures board, there was no physical bay allocated to that bus, and there was definitely no bus from that company in the station. I looked and looked and looked, and I watched 6:30 come and then pass. Still no bus... There was a help desk but it doesn't open till 9 on weekends so it was no help at all.

The terminal supposedly has free wifi, but it wouldn't work for me. I was briefly able to connect to the internet of a bus that had just pulled in and came across some reviews of the bus company and this doesn't appear to be uncommon for them... the terms 'bunch of cowboys' and 'scam artists' came up amongst others. Then that bus departed and I lost my internet again. So I was sitting at Krakow bus terminal at 7am on a Saturday with a useless ticket, no internet, no assistance, not speaking the local language, and having already missed the train I was supposed to connect to later in Bohumin because I only had a 40 minuter transit time, and I was already almost an hour late.

Bugger...

There are ticket machines at the terminal, but one was broken and the translation feature on the other one wasn't working, and Polish isn't my strongest language!

So in a really long and frustrating process of 'borrowing' the wifi of other buses as they came in (and each only stayed in the park long enough to unload their passengers and luggage and pick up the next lot before leaving), I managed to find another bus company that was running Krakow to Prague later that day and had seats available. Then I had to wait for a really full bus to come in so they would take a long time to unload and I could do the credit card transaction uninterrupted. But after a really long day and 8 hours on a bus I made it to Prague that night! There were many times during the morning that I didn't think that that was going to happen!

It was persisting down with rain when I arrived in Prague, and I had to take the metro and then a tram and then a 5 minute walk to get to the hotel, but I really didn't care. I had made it there against all odds, and I have been really lucky with the weather so far so I can't complain.

I only took a couple of photos that night because I was juggling a camera and a suitcase and an umbrella.

I was just so glad to get there that I had a packet of chips from the minibar for tea and went to bed!

Krakow in a day

The next day I went to explore Krakow Old Town and the Jewish Quarter. I started in the Old Town which was very near my hotel.

Old Town Main Square

There is a central building in the Main Square called the Cloth Hall. It is packed with stalls from one end to the other selling souvenirs, jewellery, leather goods, hats and scarves, and lots and lots of amber. Apparently amber is the national gemstone of Poland and has been a trading commodity for centuries.

I didn't buy anything. Most of it is stuff you can buy in any shop in Krakow and I'm not here for souvenirs. Experiences and photos are enough for me.

Cloth Hall

Town Hall Tower

Then I was off to wander the streets. I found an old Dominican Church that was pretty fabulous... I always give a small donation when I go into these churches to take photos because I feel like such a heathen! I don't touch the holy water, or cross myself, or light candles. I don't sit and pray or 'take a moment'. I just think they look gorgeous and they are very peaceful places, but I do feel like an intruder...

Unfortunately the next group of photos also won't let me access them so you'll just have to take my word for it. I went into a Franciscan church directly opposite this one, and even more beautiful. Then I took a tram across the Vistula River that runs through Krakow and into the area that was known as 'the ghetto', where the Jewish people were housed and persecuted. There is a square called 'Place Bohaterów Getta' (or Ghetto Heroes Square) which played a big part in the lives of the people of the time. As I can't post photos, here is a link to a site with some. It has many empty chairs places across it to signify the empty spaces left by those who were taken away or killed.

After that I went to the Under the Eagle Pharmacy Museum. This is the site of a pharmacy in the ghetto that was allowed to keep trading supposedly to provide for the few remaining wealthy citizens and some of the gestapo, but actually helped many of the needy locals by supplying otherwise unavailable medicines and treatments free of charge. The website is here. But there is much more to the pharmacy than just looking at old tinctures and bandages. When you open the drawers and the cupboards there are displays within of life in the ghetto. You can pick up the phone on the pharmacist's desk and hear the pharmacy staff being interviewed after the war about the atrocities that they witnessed, and there are many other interactive exhibits.

My next stop was the museum that has been set up in Oskar Schindler's old enamel factory (of Schindler's List fame). This is possibly the best museum that I have ever been to and I am so disappointed that I have lost the photos of this place more than any others. The museum isn't so much focused on the work that Mr Schindler did in helping many Jewish people escape a fate in the concentration camps, but in the lives of the people during the Nazi occupation of Poland in general. It starts in 1939 and follows the general timeline of the war.

I really wish that I had seen this before I went to Auschwitz. It put a really human face on the daily lives of the people before they ended up in the concentration camps. It was fantastic and I could have gone a lot slower and taken more time, but I only had the one day to explore the rest of Krakow. I am gutted that I have lost these pics... but Google 'Oskar Schindler Museum Krakow' and click on 'images' and you might get an idea.

It was getting late in the afternoon, so my last stop for the day was St. Mary's Basilica back in the Main Square because it hadn't opened yet when I was there earlier.

I love churches and cathedrals! (In a completely non-religious way). Why can't we lay-people have somewhere this lovely to sit and contemplate our navels?

Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau

Author's note: This post contains writing about and images of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau. I have not included anything that I consider too graphic or offensive, but please don't read further if you believe you will find it disturbing.










I only just made my bus from Budapest to Krakow. I was meant to leave from the Nepliget Bus station. What no one (including the bus company) explained is that there is Nepliget Station and there is Nepliget M Station. Nepliget Station is the main bus terminal where most of the buses come and go from on that side of town. Nepliget M Station is a small sign on a side road about 400m away. How one is supposed to know this is beyond me, but thank goodness a station official saw me wandering around Nepliget Station looking lost and confused because I couldn't find my bus that was supposed to be leaving in about 10 minutes. He pointed me in the right direction and I got there just in time to load my luggage and go (along with several foreigners who had obviously had the same problem). The bus got us to Krakow just before 11pm and I didn't have to go far to get to my hotel.

I was up early the next morning as I had to catch an 0800 train to Oświęcim, which is the town in which Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau are located. I started off in Auschwitz I. To begin with it seemed quite crowded as I entered at the same time as several tour groups, but we soon spread out. I think this trip is better described with pictures than words:

"Work sets you free". The entrance to Auschwitz I

The camp is encircled by double rows of barbed wire fences

People brought their most valuable possessions with them 'for the future'.
They were relieved of these possessions by the S.S. as soon as they arrived .

Some of the spectacles taken from the victims

Shoes removes from the victims

Unfortunately some of my picture files have become corrupted and I am missing the rest of my photos from Auschwitz I including examples of the living conditions and the gas chamber and crematorium that is open for viewing. When I get home I am going to look for someone who might be able to fix the files (any ideas/offers?).

After finishing up at Auschwitz I, I jumped on the shuttle bus to Auschwitz II - Birkenau. This camp has two sides: one in which the 'barracks' were made of wood (which has not really survived) and the other which was brick and is still in pretty good condition. The corrupted files extend into the first part of my visit to this camp, but then come right, so I still have something to remember my visit by...

Washroom 

Three tiers of bunks with 6-8 people in each tier of each section, often with only one or two blankets between them

Each building only had two of these tiny stoves for heat. Many people froze to death

Some of the adult prisoners managed to paint a mural in the children's barracks

I'm glad I made this visit, but I'll admit to feeling a sort of detachment from it all. Maybe it's because it's so hard to relate to in these times of plenty, or maybe because it's just too horrific to really picture and believe, or maybe it's the same self-protection mechanism that kicks in at other times in my life and dampens my feelings so I don't hurt. Who knows?... It's definitely a powerful memorial to have, and as the saying goes "Those who can not remember the past are doomed to repeat it". This must never happen again, yet century after century there are people condemning others for all sorts of unjustifiable reasons.


And if anyone has any ideas about fixing my JPG files, please let me know 😢

An underground hospital and a 'peaceful' gathering

So I'm still in Budapest, having a look around on the Buda side of the river. After lunch at Trinity Square I headed toward Buda Castle.

Part of Buda Castle

Then I went to a place that I had read about online called 'Hospital in the Rock'. During WWII the naturally-formed cave system that runs under Budapest was transformed into an underground hospital to treat the wounded, and later in the 20th century it was expanded to include a nuclear bunker. They have now turned it into a museum and guided tours are offered. It is really well set up. Photography is forbidden, so the following pictures don't actually exist...

By then evening was setting in so it was time to head back across the river and find some dinner. Had a look at the Great Market Hall on my way...

The next day I only had half a day in Budapest before catching the bus to Krakow. My plan was to visit the Hungarian National Museum and then see how much time I had left for other things. What I didn't know was that March 15th is a National Holiday in Hungary, commemorating a revolution in 1848. As I was walking toward the museum because the trams weren't running it seemed like half of Hungary was walking the same direction as me. When I was a couple of blocks away from where I wanted to be there was a police cordon and bag search to go any further, and there was a crowd of several thousand waving flags and banners and chanting and cheering. There were also some signs of protest, and many hundreds of armed police and military 'keeping the peace'. It became abundantly clear that I wasn't going to be able to get anywhere near the museum, and I didn't like the tone that the crowd was taking on or the level of interest that the police were showing... so I backtracked and decided to be a tourist elsewhere in the city.

The edge of the crowd

There wasn't really much else I had earmarked to see in this part of the city, so I just wandered. I found St. Stephen's Basilica, apparently famous for having the mummified remains of St. Stephen's hand on display.

St. Stephen's Basilica

Resting on the cushion is the clawed, mummified hand of a saint...

Then in my wandering I came across a place called Miniversum, a very large model town set-up. It didn't really interest me, but I went in and took some photos that I'll send to my nephews one day.

Then I just had time to poke my head into the State Opera House, and it was time to go and catch my bus to Krakow...

I took the underground Metro back to the hotel and then to the bus station to avoid the action that I could still hear going on above ground. It was disappointing not to get to the museum as it has great reviews, but I doubt they would have moved their National Holiday to a different day for me, no matter how nicely I asked.