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hey everybody!!
apologies again for falling behind with the blog updates, we dont want to update to quickly between blogs and not give you guys a chance to read them all, dont worry though we will be sure to keep you all updated on everything that we do!!
for those of you playing at home you will remember on the last enthralling blog update we left you as we were jumping on the train for Poland. So when we were booking our train tickets in Berlin that afternoon we didnt realise how much of a sucky train ride we were in for, why so sucky you ask? Well....we jumped on the train from Berlin at about 4pm, again we kind of left it a little late to get to the station from our hostel and we ended up having to run to get on the train...not the best idea when its pretty damn hot outside and your carrying a heavy ass backpack..needless to say we were pretty sweaty ewwww. Lady luck was on our side and we managed to get on the train...phew!!!
Our journey from Berlin to Krakow was three trains loooooong, which sucked because just as we got settled on a train we had to get up again and change trains. And what sucked even more was that our journey was to finish in Krakow at 3am!! Chloe met some Polish people on the first train while Adam was snoozing, and they were kind enough to warn us to keep an eye on our bags as apparently alot of them seem to go missing on Polish trains, so that basically meant that we had to stay awake now on the trains now...no sleep until 3am!! So when we finally got on the third train at about 11pm we had a fair journey ahead of us still, we were exhausted already, Chloe had a bit of a snooze (although it was pretty difficult to get to sleep as it was boiling hot outside that evening!!) and Adam made friends with a guy from the Polish army returning from service in Afghanistan. He had some pretty interesting stories but that was not enough to keep Adam awake who swtiched positions with Chloe as designated bag watcher and had a bit of a snooze...if only both of us were as awake as the soldier (who was about to see his baby son for the first time) then the train ride probably wouldnt have sucked to bad. Finally we arrived in Poland....at a bit after 3am haha!!
when we finally arrived at our hostel in Krakow we were wrapt! (as it took us quite a while to flag down a cab in Krakow at 3am to take us to the hostel). The girl at the hostel was really really sweet, she offered us a drink and then took us straight to our room gave us fresh towels and as soon as she left we crashed. the next morning we were up later then usual as we got to bed at 4! but the nice girls who ran the hostel got some breakfast out for us even though breaky was finished and we filled up on food then head out to explore and join another free walking tour:) As far as small cities go Krakow is the perfect city to walk around, everything is in close range and its beautiful and rich in history as we found out on our tour.but before we were to headout on our tour we stopped at a small vegetarian restaurant for some tasty tasty food and the most delicious smoothies! and best of all..IT WAS CHEAP! HAHAH it was great to have our aussie dollar be on the better side of the exchange for once!
$1 aus =28polish zotles haha awesome!
Our tour guide was really informative and even though it was swealtering hot outside we didnt mind the 3hour walk. He showed us all around the Jewish Quarters of Krakow, describing the different Synagogues and taking us through a trail of sights from the classic movie "Schindler´s List". The Steven Speilberg epic is set in Krakow, where the real Oskar Schindler empolyed Jews from the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow during the second world war to work at his factory only a short distance away from the Ghetto....Obviously for those who have seen the movie they will know what we are on about here. We finished up the tour at Schindlers factory which coincidently had its grand opening as the new Schindlers Factory Mueseum that same day, as it had spent the previous few years under construction. As it was the grand opening it was free entry, so we spent the next hour wandering around through the extensive world war two exhibits they had housed in the mueseum. It would have been fantastic to stay for longer but it was getting late and after all that walking our stomachs were beginning to get hungry!! We made a short pit stop at the hostel to wash up before dinner then headed back out towards the old Jewish Quarters of Krakow...this now where all the best bars, restaurants and clubs in Krakow are housed as very few Jewish residents occupy the old Jewish Quarters.
Adam was dying to see some soccer, considering that the world cuphad just begun and all...So we walked around for some time trying to find somewhere that was not only serving cool food, wasnt full of loud ass soccer supporters and was playing the world cup (not as easy as it sounds!). After finally finding the perfect location, we spent the night just chillin out at this packed restaurant/bar watching the world cup and enjoying some good food!! Chloe got some duck and Adam enjoyed a delicious Pork Schnitzel (which thanks to the currency conversion was cheap as!!).
The next day we had to get up bright and early to get on a tour to the Auschwitz concentration camp. We woke up and smashed out some breaky, then realised we had to get to the other side of Krakow in like 10minutes to meet up with our tour group (hahah trust us two to leave it to the very last minute to get out!!). Powerwalking our way down the street we got about half way before we realised that we had left our tickets back at the hostel haha! Adam decided to run back and catch up to Chloe while she continued to powerwalk down to the tour meeting place. It was an adventure getting down to the tour meeting point needless to say, and when we finaly got there Adam looked like he had just jumped out of the shower he was so sweating after running through the sweltering morning Krakow heat to get the tickets..However all our efforts of rushing around all morning to make our way there in time proved to be fruitless as we were just a little too late and our tour had already left..DAMN!!! After a heated debate the lady working at the tour company we were allowed to use our tickets to get on a tour later in the day...our problem now was finding something to do that morning considering we had not planned to have it free! We went and organised our tickets for the train to Prague for the following day then headed back to the hostel and spent some time updating the blog (for all our avid blog readers this time proved valuable as we were able to update our blog with the now infamous Amsterdam blog update!!). Then we walked around Krakow, did some shopping and made sure we got to the next tour with plenty of time to spare hahaha!!
The tour of Auschwitz begun with a long bus ride from Krakow, which was made even longer by the fact some hungover Irish guy spewed up in the bus just outside the toilet and stunk the entire bus out haha! Trust us, we were not laughing at the time!! Our tour included access to both the Auschwitz Mueseum which is located all through the orginal Auschwitz (Camp 1) and also the Birkenau camp (Auschwitz camp 2)..which for all of you who are familar with Auschwitz is where the famous image of the train tracks heading through a gate into a camp is from. After holding our breath for a significant period of time on the bus we arrived in Auschwitz, and were lucky enough to be given a really really good tour guide. He showed us around through the exhibits inside Auschwitz, explaining things to us really well and being very respectful about what exactly he was showing us. It was a sweltering hot day and the entire Auschwitz area very open, there is little shade and we really felt the heat. When the guide took us to the Birkenau camp he took only half the group all the way as it was just too hot for some! It was a really interesting day all round, very moving and very emotional. It was a great experience to see the concentration camp and learn how the Holocaust developed, a day we will truely never forget!
That evening we headed back to the hostel for a quick shower and then made it out to the old Jewish Quarters to chill out and watch the soccer again. Funnily enough we made a beeline for the same cool bar we had spent the previous night at, and we hadnt planned on staying there for dinner but it kind og just happened haha!! We retired back to the hostel shortly after to get some sleep before the train to Prague the following morning. We were up early, well much earlier then the previous day haha just to be on the safe side and make sure we were actually on time for once! And departed from the hostel just after breaky for our train to Prague...
And so that ends another episode of Adam and Chloes blog, stay tuned for the next update...Prague!!
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