BERLIN TO KRAKOW
The view over BerlinFinally I was out of the pub in the middle of nowhere - well actually in between Oxford and Whitney, but pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was a real relief to leave and get back together with Em. She had done a wicked thing and booked us a trip away to Berlin and Krakow. Just what I needed, what a girl.
We flew into Berlin, worked out how to to get a train into town and then walked around til dark looking for a backpackers. We finally found a great place, dropped off our bags and went for a walk.
Em in our great backpackers.
Berlin was nothing like I had remembered from my last visit. It isn't the prettiest city in the world. Mostly I think that is due to 70% of the city being lost to the bombings of World War II.
Me in a Berlin courtyard.
Glimpse at the Jewish Gallery
However it is a very vibrant and creative city with a wealth of history. Em and I did alot of walking in and around the city. There is quite a lot to explore. There is also alot of graffiti, more than most cities. There is one piece of graffiti that is quite cool though. There is an old hippie guy who rides around on his bike with a bucket of paint and his brush. He only paints the number 6. His idea is that the number 6 represents the word sex (because of its German translation). Being an old hippie he is into free love and it is his subtle way of spreading the word. It also has a second function because he only paints it on broken or temporary surfaces that either need repairing or removing. If you go there and look around you will see the number 6 everywhere.
The work of the hippie 6 man.
We visited some of the local bars and restaurants that the city has to offer and were impressed. One of our favourites was this Italian place that is huge and packed but the atmosphere was great. The walls are covered with graffiti by famous people and bands that have visited the place. Really cool place to eat.
At the pizza place
We also went to the top of the TV Tower which is Europe's second highest tower. The views were amazing.
Yeah you guessed right, the TV Tower.
Berlin also offers free walking tours. We went along on one that was led by a Welsh ex-pat named Barnaby. Great guy and great tour. We walked for about 4 hours and took in so many sights and so much information. We got to see where Hitler's bunker once was which is now a carpark for the housing block behind it. The same site is also where he and his wife killed themselves and also where they were cremated. Many people do a little jig and alot of men will do a "wee" on or near the tree just to say they did it on Hitler's grave. Another historical site that we saw was one of the few remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall. Also we saw checkpoint charlie - one of the many former passport checkpoints between west and east Berlin.
(Photos below of Barnaby our tour guide and tour shots)
Em on the site of Hitlers bunker and death site
The original sign at Checkpoint Charlie
The next night saw us off from Berlin and onto the overnight train to Krakow.
Bye Berlin - hi Krakow
Krakow has got to be one of the prettiest cities in Europe - the old town especially. We stayed in a great little backpackers right in the heart of the town, just off the main square.
Main square and below the main market building.
The old town is amazing. It has over 600 bars and cafes just around the main square itself. There is a beautiful cathedral where on the hour every hour a bugle player will play. The story goes that some time in the 1200s a bugle player was playing at the top of the cathedral tower to warn of invading troops. During his tune he was shot in the throat by an archer's arrow and died. So now every hour one of 7 town firemen volounteer to play the tune from the tower. They play it four times one from each of the tower's windows, and to really commemorate the old bugle player they stop on the very last note that he was killed on. It's kind of kooky but I think it's really a unique thing to have as part of your town's heritage. While in Krakow we did a lot of walking and touring. We visited the famous salt mines about half an hour out of the city. We walk down 68m underground on a wooden stairwell. Then through dozens of tunnels, chambers and even cathedrals and chapels to finally get to 135m underground. Everything in the mines is made from salt - the floors, the walls, the roof, the statues - even the carving in most of the chapels. What an amazing place. To get back up we got to go in a three level miners' lift. It was great and only took about 45 seconds to get back up to the top.
The main cathedral where EVERY THING is made from salt.
The next day we went to Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 Birkenau. Auschwitz 1, which was the first camp, was not like we see in the movies with the long wooden huts built in an open field. Instead it was big three story buildings on a smaller property built just near the town. It was a very sombre place. 75% of the people who were taken there never even made it to the gate - they were sent off to Birkenau to be sent to the gas chamber. Mainly the strong men and some women were allowed to stay because they could work, but the old, weak and most of the children were sent to the chambers. Crazy. We spent alot of time there being led by a tour guide which in a way made it less personal - though there were so many people visiting that I can see why it was in guided groups. We were led into some of the old barracks where there was a room that had 2 tonnes of women's hair, which mind you was only a small portion of what was originally cut and stored for further sale. We saw rooms piled to the roof of shoes, or suitcases, piles of wire rimmed glasses or kitchen utensils. Huge piles of hair and tooth brushes and peoples clothes. It was very surreal, and again these were just very small percentages of what was actually taken from these poor people. Many thousands of people were killed here and we were taken into one of the gas chambers and crematoriums. Such a crazy experience.
After Auschwitz 1 we went onto Auschwitz 2 Birkenau. This is where the main killings took place. The Germans had destroyed a lot of the camp including the chambers and crematoriums as a way of destroying the evidence after the war, but still a lot of the camp exists. It is the site of Birkenau that is usually used for the movies. The long wooden huts and the watch towers. It's hard to put into words what it is like to be in these places, but it is well worth the time to go there to at least get a small idea of what it would have been like for those who were killed or just spent time in the concentration camps.
Auschwitz 1 main gate, the captions reads, "Work will set you free".
Birkenau main gate and photos of the remaining camp.
The main platform where the living and the soon to die were chosen.
The next day we slept in and then went for a big walk to the Old Jewish Quarter. It was a beautiful place. There is an old market square where you can get fruit and veg and many old buildings, synagogues and laneways. After a bite of lunch we walked up to Wawel Castle to take in the views across Krakow.
We flew into Berlin, worked out how to to get a train into town and then walked around til dark looking for a backpackers. We finally found a great place, dropped off our bags and went for a walk.
Em in our great backpackers.Berlin was nothing like I had remembered from my last visit. It isn't the prettiest city in the world. Mostly I think that is due to 70% of the city being lost to the bombings of World War II.
Me in a Berlin courtyard.
Glimpse at the Jewish GalleryHowever it is a very vibrant and creative city with a wealth of history. Em and I did alot of walking in and around the city. There is quite a lot to explore. There is also alot of graffiti, more than most cities. There is one piece of graffiti that is quite cool though. There is an old hippie guy who rides around on his bike with a bucket of paint and his brush. He only paints the number 6. His idea is that the number 6 represents the word sex (because of its German translation). Being an old hippie he is into free love and it is his subtle way of spreading the word. It also has a second function because he only paints it on broken or temporary surfaces that either need repairing or removing. If you go there and look around you will see the number 6 everywhere.
The work of the hippie 6 man.We visited some of the local bars and restaurants that the city has to offer and were impressed. One of our favourites was this Italian place that is huge and packed but the atmosphere was great. The walls are covered with graffiti by famous people and bands that have visited the place. Really cool place to eat.
At the pizza placeWe also went to the top of the TV Tower which is Europe's second highest tower. The views were amazing.
Yeah you guessed right, the TV Tower.Berlin also offers free walking tours. We went along on one that was led by a Welsh ex-pat named Barnaby. Great guy and great tour. We walked for about 4 hours and took in so many sights and so much information. We got to see where Hitler's bunker once was which is now a carpark for the housing block behind it. The same site is also where he and his wife killed themselves and also where they were cremated. Many people do a little jig and alot of men will do a "wee" on or near the tree just to say they did it on Hitler's grave. Another historical site that we saw was one of the few remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall. Also we saw checkpoint charlie - one of the many former passport checkpoints between west and east Berlin.
(Photos below of Barnaby our tour guide and tour shots)
Em on the site of Hitlers bunker and death site
The original sign at Checkpoint Charlie
The next night saw us off from Berlin and onto the overnight train to Krakow.
Bye Berlin - hi Krakow
Krakow has got to be one of the prettiest cities in Europe - the old town especially. We stayed in a great little backpackers right in the heart of the town, just off the main square.
Main square and below the main market building.
The old town is amazing. It has over 600 bars and cafes just around the main square itself. There is a beautiful cathedral where on the hour every hour a bugle player will play. The story goes that some time in the 1200s a bugle player was playing at the top of the cathedral tower to warn of invading troops. During his tune he was shot in the throat by an archer's arrow and died. So now every hour one of 7 town firemen volounteer to play the tune from the tower. They play it four times one from each of the tower's windows, and to really commemorate the old bugle player they stop on the very last note that he was killed on. It's kind of kooky but I think it's really a unique thing to have as part of your town's heritage. While in Krakow we did a lot of walking and touring. We visited the famous salt mines about half an hour out of the city. We walk down 68m underground on a wooden stairwell. Then through dozens of tunnels, chambers and even cathedrals and chapels to finally get to 135m underground. Everything in the mines is made from salt - the floors, the walls, the roof, the statues - even the carving in most of the chapels. What an amazing place. To get back up we got to go in a three level miners' lift. It was great and only took about 45 seconds to get back up to the top.
The main cathedral where EVERY THING is made from salt.
The next day we went to Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 Birkenau. Auschwitz 1, which was the first camp, was not like we see in the movies with the long wooden huts built in an open field. Instead it was big three story buildings on a smaller property built just near the town. It was a very sombre place. 75% of the people who were taken there never even made it to the gate - they were sent off to Birkenau to be sent to the gas chamber. Mainly the strong men and some women were allowed to stay because they could work, but the old, weak and most of the children were sent to the chambers. Crazy. We spent alot of time there being led by a tour guide which in a way made it less personal - though there were so many people visiting that I can see why it was in guided groups. We were led into some of the old barracks where there was a room that had 2 tonnes of women's hair, which mind you was only a small portion of what was originally cut and stored for further sale. We saw rooms piled to the roof of shoes, or suitcases, piles of wire rimmed glasses or kitchen utensils. Huge piles of hair and tooth brushes and peoples clothes. It was very surreal, and again these were just very small percentages of what was actually taken from these poor people. Many thousands of people were killed here and we were taken into one of the gas chambers and crematoriums. Such a crazy experience.
After Auschwitz 1 we went onto Auschwitz 2 Birkenau. This is where the main killings took place. The Germans had destroyed a lot of the camp including the chambers and crematoriums as a way of destroying the evidence after the war, but still a lot of the camp exists. It is the site of Birkenau that is usually used for the movies. The long wooden huts and the watch towers. It's hard to put into words what it is like to be in these places, but it is well worth the time to go there to at least get a small idea of what it would have been like for those who were killed or just spent time in the concentration camps.
Auschwitz 1 main gate, the captions reads, "Work will set you free".Birkenau main gate and photos of the remaining camp.
The main platform where the living and the soon to die were chosen.The next day we slept in and then went for a big walk to the Old Jewish Quarter. It was a beautiful place. There is an old market square where you can get fruit and veg and many old buildings, synagogues and laneways. After a bite of lunch we walked up to Wawel Castle to take in the views across Krakow.
Some local delicacies
Meat Head.
Beatuiful Architecture.
Wawel Castle
From the castle
Em in one of the castle's courtyards
posted by em at 7:18 AM
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