Now that I've plagued my blog with an excessive number of posts in the past couple of days, that wraps up my first little Eurotrip. I'll be spending the next week and a half in Galway before heading out for round two. In the meantime, I will be enjoying the royal wedding over tea and scones from the comfort of my living room while pretending I am in London (I tried to get there, but a girl has got to have a budget!), studying for my one last exam on May 5th, saying goodbye as friends slowly start to return to the States, and spending days down by the beach working on that summer tan I'm eager to have. Tough life, I know. But it's back to reality a month from today and while I can hardly wait and want time to freeze both at once, I plan on enjoying my last weeks abroad the most I possibly can.
Love and home in five weeks,
Haley
Friday, April 29, 2011
Food Crawlin'
Throughout our travels, the girls and I may have had different opinions about what museums to visit, which trains to take, or when we'd be retiring from a night out; but we did agree on one thing: eating. Yes, amongst all our sight seeing, picture taking, clubbing, train riding, paddle boating, and people watching, we managed to also eat our way from country to country. In each city, we made a point to find a local farmers or Easter market where locals would be selling fresh produce, baked goods, or items hot off the grill. For us, this was the easiest, cheapest, and, in our humble opinions, most delicious way to try traditional and non-traditional cuisines from each country we visited. We ate out twice, once in Prague and once on Easter, but other than that we either cooked our meals in a hostel or ate on the go at a market or cafe vendor. While we joked that if nothing else we managed to food crawl our way through Europe, I think it's fair to say that trying things new to us and traditional to the places we are visiting is a significant part of the experience. So, without further ado here is a glimpse of our food crawl through Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Prague and Krakow:
Love and good eats,
Haley
It Happened Here
Caitrin, Katie, Lindsey, and I found ourselves traveling to Poland for one reason: to visit Auschwitz - Birkenau. For me, as somewhat of a history geek, visiting was one of those bucket list things that I had been looking forward to for a long time now. I find World War II and the Holocaust in particular to be one of the most fascinating periods of history, so any chance to see something from that time is one I'm willing to take. Going there, I had anticipated that the experience would be humbling, eye-opening, and probably depressing. But really, I had no idea how I would feel at the end of the day.
Auschwitz - Birkenau is located about an hour from Krakow, so the girls and I paid for a taxi there included in our tour price. On the way to the camp, we watched a video about the establishment and operation of Auschwitz I and Birkenau as both death and concentration camps. I wasn't aware that Auschwitz was the flagship prison of more than 40 other camps; it just happens to be the most well known because it is where the most victims perished - nearly three million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other prisoners of war. Entering Auschwitz, we were given headsets to wear around on our tour so that we could all hear the tour guide without trampling one another to get close to him. At first, I thought it was really tacky and overly touristy, but the headsets turned out to be a great idea because it kept everything organized and quietly respectful in such a somber place.
We began our tour at the infamous gates with the words Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Makes You Free) inscribed across it. That was where, not too long ago, millions of poor people entered what they told were "resettlement grounds" and never made it back out.
The camp didn't look at all like what I had thought, except for the barbwire fences and watchtowers; it was small and comprised of brick buildings that were used as dormitories, "hospitals," guard headquarters, etc.
Today, the buildings are cleared out and used as exhibition space for the museum. They have the original signings on the outside, labeling each "Block 1" etc. Our first stop was to see the methods in which millions of people were murdered at the camp. There were empty cans of poisonous gas and an urn containing ashes from a mere fraction of those cremated. Putting the atrocities into further perspective, we saw personal items from the victims such as glasses, prayer shawls, shoes, suitcases, and human hair that had been stolen and never returned. I was most shocked at seeing all of the hair, aged and matted, but still so abundant, with braided ponytails and long locks that the Nazi's shaved off and used for cloth production. I suppose this part of the exhibition was to put a face to the numbers and statistics from the Holocaust; when I stopped and thought that those piles of shoes had actually been worn by people, the reality of where I was set in. The hallways of the building were lined with mug-shot types of photographs that were taken to document camp prisoners, with their arrival dates and death dates not far apart. What got me the most was the room filled with children's clothing, shoes, toys, etc. and photographs of the 12, 13, and 14 year olds that were deemed strong enough to labor. The images of fear and innocence were too much, there were lots of tears and no words to describe the moment.
Our next stop was another block which formerly houses internees as well as serving as a torture chamber. In the basement, there were cells used to house prisoners who had committed infringements, as well as small standing stalls that were no more than four square feet where violators would be made to stand four to a stall day and night as punishment. Just outside the building was an execution wall, where thousands of people were shot with a single bullet to the head. There were bouquets of flowers left from individuals paying their respects, but other than that, no one ever would have known the wall's significance.
From there we made the short walk on the graveled pathways of the camp towards the part of the day I wasn't really ready for: the gas chambers. Walking past the watch towers and the barbwire fences, our guide reminded us that we were pacing along what were the last steps taken by millions of people. It felt almost wrong, going to "visit" a place of mass execution but I kept reminding myself that millions of other people had visited and it is part of the experience that I wanted to have. Outside the gas chamber was a gallows that had been used to hang the leader of the camp, Rudolph Höss, who had introduced gassing to the camp and also built a mansion for his family to live in literally within view of the chambers. After the liberation and end of the war, he was hanged outside the chambers for the atrocities he had committed. While I am not one for violence, I'll admit that upon learning that fact I thought "serves him right." Entering the gas chamber was inarguably the most humbling experience I have ever had. The shower heads have since been removed, but you cannot mistake the eeriness that plagues the vicinity. Also in the building was the crematorium, used for burning large masses of bodies. Visitors had left flowers, candles, cards, and money in the rooms but nothing could disguise what had happened there. I really wanted to get out as soon as possible.
After visiting the gas chambers, the tour at Auschwitz I was over and we were bussed to Birkenau, a much larger camp about five minutes away. Birkenau had been established when the influx of prisoners had become so great that Auschwitz could not hold them all. It looked more like what I had expected, barn-like dormitories, high watchtowers, barren fields, and railroad tracks leading to nowhere. Our guide showed us the selection grounds, where thousands of families got of trains and were separated forever, first by gender and then by useful or useless. A replica train car rests by the tracks, looking more like something that should have transported cargo, with no windows and definitely not enough space to fit the eighty or so individuals who were crammed in for the days-long journey to the camp.
We were also shown the latrine, which consisted of a few shower heads and a long concrete block with circular holes that the prisoners were forced to use as toilets. Only given a chance to use the bathroom or shower twice a day in mass numbers, I could only imagine the health and hygiene problems that resulted out of that structure alone.
Next, we were shown a dormitory, which consisted of rows and rows of bunks stacked three high that often slept six people across. There was no insulation and a small stove that would be of no help during the winter. The conditions of the camp restored for exhibition are so grave that it is unimaginable what they must have been like when the camp was actually functioning for its intended purposes.
After seeing the dormitories, the tour was over and we were left to wander as we pleased before heading back to Krakow. I noticed that no visitors spoke almost the entire time, but really, what can be said? There are no words to describe the experience of visiting and pictures do it no justice. I really think that in order to put the Holocaust into more perspective than numbers, to understand it as a tragedy that impacted millions of individual lives rather than a collective group of victims, you have to visit. I'm not saying that every person who tours Auschwitz - Birkenau will have some eye-opening, life-altering experience, but it may make you thank your lucky stars a whole lot. I sure did.
Love and gaining new perspectives,
Haley
Auschwitz - Birkenau is located about an hour from Krakow, so the girls and I paid for a taxi there included in our tour price. On the way to the camp, we watched a video about the establishment and operation of Auschwitz I and Birkenau as both death and concentration camps. I wasn't aware that Auschwitz was the flagship prison of more than 40 other camps; it just happens to be the most well known because it is where the most victims perished - nearly three million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other prisoners of war. Entering Auschwitz, we were given headsets to wear around on our tour so that we could all hear the tour guide without trampling one another to get close to him. At first, I thought it was really tacky and overly touristy, but the headsets turned out to be a great idea because it kept everything organized and quietly respectful in such a somber place.
We began our tour at the infamous gates with the words Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Makes You Free) inscribed across it. That was where, not too long ago, millions of poor people entered what they told were "resettlement grounds" and never made it back out.
The camp didn't look at all like what I had thought, except for the barbwire fences and watchtowers; it was small and comprised of brick buildings that were used as dormitories, "hospitals," guard headquarters, etc.
Today, the buildings are cleared out and used as exhibition space for the museum. They have the original signings on the outside, labeling each "Block 1" etc. Our first stop was to see the methods in which millions of people were murdered at the camp. There were empty cans of poisonous gas and an urn containing ashes from a mere fraction of those cremated. Putting the atrocities into further perspective, we saw personal items from the victims such as glasses, prayer shawls, shoes, suitcases, and human hair that had been stolen and never returned. I was most shocked at seeing all of the hair, aged and matted, but still so abundant, with braided ponytails and long locks that the Nazi's shaved off and used for cloth production. I suppose this part of the exhibition was to put a face to the numbers and statistics from the Holocaust; when I stopped and thought that those piles of shoes had actually been worn by people, the reality of where I was set in. The hallways of the building were lined with mug-shot types of photographs that were taken to document camp prisoners, with their arrival dates and death dates not far apart. What got me the most was the room filled with children's clothing, shoes, toys, etc. and photographs of the 12, 13, and 14 year olds that were deemed strong enough to labor. The images of fear and innocence were too much, there were lots of tears and no words to describe the moment.
Our next stop was another block which formerly houses internees as well as serving as a torture chamber. In the basement, there were cells used to house prisoners who had committed infringements, as well as small standing stalls that were no more than four square feet where violators would be made to stand four to a stall day and night as punishment. Just outside the building was an execution wall, where thousands of people were shot with a single bullet to the head. There were bouquets of flowers left from individuals paying their respects, but other than that, no one ever would have known the wall's significance.
From there we made the short walk on the graveled pathways of the camp towards the part of the day I wasn't really ready for: the gas chambers. Walking past the watch towers and the barbwire fences, our guide reminded us that we were pacing along what were the last steps taken by millions of people. It felt almost wrong, going to "visit" a place of mass execution but I kept reminding myself that millions of other people had visited and it is part of the experience that I wanted to have. Outside the gas chamber was a gallows that had been used to hang the leader of the camp, Rudolph Höss, who had introduced gassing to the camp and also built a mansion for his family to live in literally within view of the chambers. After the liberation and end of the war, he was hanged outside the chambers for the atrocities he had committed. While I am not one for violence, I'll admit that upon learning that fact I thought "serves him right." Entering the gas chamber was inarguably the most humbling experience I have ever had. The shower heads have since been removed, but you cannot mistake the eeriness that plagues the vicinity. Also in the building was the crematorium, used for burning large masses of bodies. Visitors had left flowers, candles, cards, and money in the rooms but nothing could disguise what had happened there. I really wanted to get out as soon as possible.
After visiting the gas chambers, the tour at Auschwitz I was over and we were bussed to Birkenau, a much larger camp about five minutes away. Birkenau had been established when the influx of prisoners had become so great that Auschwitz could not hold them all. It looked more like what I had expected, barn-like dormitories, high watchtowers, barren fields, and railroad tracks leading to nowhere. Our guide showed us the selection grounds, where thousands of families got of trains and were separated forever, first by gender and then by useful or useless. A replica train car rests by the tracks, looking more like something that should have transported cargo, with no windows and definitely not enough space to fit the eighty or so individuals who were crammed in for the days-long journey to the camp.
We were also shown the latrine, which consisted of a few shower heads and a long concrete block with circular holes that the prisoners were forced to use as toilets. Only given a chance to use the bathroom or shower twice a day in mass numbers, I could only imagine the health and hygiene problems that resulted out of that structure alone.
Next, we were shown a dormitory, which consisted of rows and rows of bunks stacked three high that often slept six people across. There was no insulation and a small stove that would be of no help during the winter. The conditions of the camp restored for exhibition are so grave that it is unimaginable what they must have been like when the camp was actually functioning for its intended purposes.
After seeing the dormitories, the tour was over and we were left to wander as we pleased before heading back to Krakow. I noticed that no visitors spoke almost the entire time, but really, what can be said? There are no words to describe the experience of visiting and pictures do it no justice. I really think that in order to put the Holocaust into more perspective than numbers, to understand it as a tragedy that impacted millions of individual lives rather than a collective group of victims, you have to visit. I'm not saying that every person who tours Auschwitz - Birkenau will have some eye-opening, life-altering experience, but it may make you thank your lucky stars a whole lot. I sure did.
Love and gaining new perspectives,
Haley
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