Last night at dinner I went down with Nicole so she could get a second glass of wine (my serving). I wasn’t hungry so wasn’t going to stay for the dinner. However, the two that sat across from us were fun to talk to and we got into a great conversation with them. I ended up sitting through the whole dinner so I could continue the conversation. Love when that happens.
This morning we were scheduled to do a tour of Krakow on the bus and then a walking tour of Old Town. Buses can’t operate in Old Town so we were going to have to walk back to the hotel, which is a 10 – 15 minute walk.
It was 34 degrees out this morning so I opted to stay at the hotel and not go on the tour. Nicole came back cold! I was glad I had stayed warm and toasty.
We walked across the street to get a quick lunch before we left on our afternoon tour. We ended up eating at McDonald’s. It was a bit slow but the food was hot and fresh.
Our afternoon trip was to Auschwitz’s, the largest concentration and death camp of WWII. It took about 1 1/2 hours of driving to get there. We had to stand in line for a bit to get in and then were met with a tour guide.
We started the tour and hadn’t gone too far when all of a sudden I got very hot. I felt like I was going to get sick. I decided I better turn around and not go any further. Our tour guide walked me to the exit and then went back to join the group.
I found a warm place to sit and wait for the group to come back. My tummy did its thing for a bit but there was a bathroom close. By the time the group came back I felt better.
We then took a short bus ride to another part of the camp and I was able to complete that tour. We saw the barracks where the prisoners were held. We also saw the bathroom barracks that they had to use. Imagine 100 holes back to back down a long row. They were given about 1 minute twice a day to use the toilets.
We also saw the sleeping quarters where they slept 6 – 8 to a bed smaller than a king sized mattress. It was a humbling experience.
After we finished the tour, we had a long bus ride home. On the ride home we were told about the attack that happened in the Old Market this afternoon. Some person drove through shooting and killed six people and injured 12 others. They are not allowed to have guns in this country except for hunting guns. So far they don’t know the motive or nationality of the person that did the shooting. They are very close to Ukraine so it may be somehow connected to the War that is happening there. Nicole was in that Market place this morning…….
It was a hard day. Seeing up close and personal the extreme cruelty that humans are capable of is challenging, to say the least. And to think we have not yet learned how to live with those that have different beliefs and the cruelty continues. And to think that many people do not know this occurred and while it was happening, did not speak up.
It is hard to know what to do with the images that are in my mind tonight. All I can do is pledge to live my life differently and to speak up to the injustices that I witness. I feel small tonight.
I have been surprised at the lack of racial diversity that I have seen in Poland. The very vast majority of people that we have seen are white.
Tomorrow we spend most of the day in the bus driving to Budapest, Hungry. We will spend tomorrow night in a hotel in Budapest and then the next day get on our cruise ship that I don’t think will be cruising.
This trip is proving to be an adventure……
Grateful for our safety tonight, grateful for those that work to tell the stories of the past, and grateful for my loved ones tonight.