The Craic in Cracow

The last leg of our journey brought us to Krakow, Poland. Honestly, none of us really knew much about the city or had any strong desire to go there, but we all really wanted to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum so we decided that a couple days in Krakow would be the best way to accomplish that. We took an overnight train from Prague to Krakow, about a ten hour journey in the most sketchy, disgusting train I have ever been unfortunate enough to ride on. There was dust everywhere, the train looked like it was from 1955, and the company was less than desirable, but luckily we had bought out a cabin so it was just the four of us together avoiding the gypsies and party animals along for the journey to Krakow. I guess I'll just have to chalk that train ride up to the whole Eurotrip experience.


We arrived in Krakow at about 6:45AM and were greeted by a taxi driver sent from the hostel to pick us up and bring us to there. Our hostel was the Good Bye Lenin Hostel, located in the Old Jewish Town of Krakow. It was conveniently close to the city center and public transport, as well as clean, welcoming, and decorated with an anti-communist theme. It was pretty cool considering Poland's recent history and how it effects present day Krakow. The receptionist let us put our bags in storage and have a complimentary breakfast, even though we hadn't stayed the night before. We freshened up and got ready for our tour to Auschwitz-Birkenau, which turned out to be one of the most moving and unforgettable experiences I've ever had the privilege to be a part of. But I'll write about that in its own post.

After a day at the museums, the girls and I returned to the hostel to get settled in our room and make some plans for the night. We headed into town and visited the Main Market Square, which was filled with Easter Markets, adorable outdoor restaurants, a Quincy Market style building, and a beautiful basilica. Putzing around the Easter Market, we sampled local cuisine and saw arts and crafts made especially for the holiday. I found the area to be similar to Prague, not as beautiful but equally as friendly.

Later that night, Katie, Caitrin, and I met up with our friend Doug who we had met in Berlin. He was staying in Krakow for a few days, so we decided to meet again and have a couple of drinks. Most places closed early in honor of Easter being the next day, so we ended up at a sidewalk cafe for a couple hours until heading back to the hostel once it became evident that the square was shutting down.


The next morning was Easter and for the first time on our whole journey, it was raining. Not to be deterred, we put on our Easter dresses and headed back to the Main Market Square to attend mass at St. Mary's Basilica. The church was unbelievable and absolutely packed with its regular attendees and visitors like us. Although the mass was recited in Latin, it was still very nice and I was glad to know that I done the right thing and gone to mass on Easter even though I usually fight my mom every single year that I don't want to get up and go. Sunday also marked the first holiday that I ever spent without my family and as I had expected, it was really difficult. It was weird not to be woken up in the morning by my sisters and head downstairs to open baskets or reluctantly go to church and then to Maureen's for Easter dinner. I missed home a lot that day, but it was nice to know that I had friends to spend the day with who were in the same position as I was. We treated ourselves to a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant called Carlito's after deciding that we deserved some comfort food rather than trying new Polish food that we probably wouldn't like too much. After dinner, we returned to the hostel and changed into clothes more suitable for traveling as we had a flight to catch back to Dublin in just a few hours. Once at the airport, it was smooth sailing through security and all until we reached the border control. As I have previously mentioned, there was no border control entering The Netherlands, so we just strolled into continental Europe along with all other arriving flights. That was fine until we tried to get out of continental Europe, when the Polish border patrol woman was not having the fact that our passports hadn't been stamped upon arrival. I showed her my student visa from Ireland, my Irish identity card - anything to prove that I wasn't abroad illegally. Eventually, she let me through, after lecturing me about how I was on the continent illegally and that I shouldn't be allowed back into Ireland. I was relieved that she was feeling nice, but she got really angry when Katie and Caitrin also did not have their passports stamped. While we explained it wasn't our fault that the Eindhoven Airport closed its border patrol office, she retorted that it wasn't her problem and made a real stink about giving us the stamps. I understand there are lots of legalities but c'mon lady, do we honestly look that threatening? No, I don't think so. Thankfully, all three of us got through border control, onto the flight, and back into Dublin without any more problems. Katie stayed at the airport to continue her travels with a flight to Scotland, while Caitrin and I caught the bus back to Galway. We arrived back at our apartment around 3:00AM, exhausted but thrilled to have had such a great time on round one of our Eurotrip.


Love and remembering to get your passport stamped,
Haley