Prague and Poland: Triumph and Tragedy

Hello blog followers (i.e. Mom and maybe Amy P.). About to get on what bodes to be a nightmare of a train ride from Krakow to Amsterdam via Warsaw. Wanted to do some updates from our last two stops.


Prague 

Prague is absolutely gorgeous. Architecture from the Medieval, Baroque and Renaissance periods mingle in an assortment of towers and spires. We honestly didn't even do much there. We sauntered through the maze of old town, across the famous St. Charles Bridge. We took a tour of the looming Prague Castle, their magnificent cathedral, Kafka's house on the Golden Lane, and viewed a nerdily cool exhibit of knights' armor and weapons. Prague is another one of those cities that just radiates both a hip and historic vibe. I loved it and would go back in a second.

Ben stated we should do something obnoxiously American for the 4th of July and quite frankly, I agreed. Original plan was for just a garish meal at TGI Fridays, Hard Rock Cafe, or Hooters. Ben had already consumed Mickey D's for lunch, as I stared down his fries yet devoutly stayed true to my now 3 year McDonalds boycott. As we headed toward Hard Rock though, we were handed a flyer for a 3 hour all you can drink plus burgers and dogs pub crawl. I was wary of another one of those, but it seemed our density...I mean, our destiny.

As we entered The Drunken Monkey, the first thing I noticed was baseball on TV. Yes! Not soccer, not Wimbledon, BASEBALL! The 2nd thing I noticed was the hot dogs and burgers...in the form of 50 bags of McD's cheeseburgers. Well crap, there goes the streak. Finally I noticed the bartenders wearing American flags as capes. This night had potential. We swooped on the beer pong table quickly, knowing the line would get discombobulated in a hurry. Took down an Ohio State pair like Tyshawn and TRob taught me and then for the next 8 or 9 matches, mainly slew an invading force of Union Jack draped Brits. We fulfilled our solemn duty and made George Washington weep a tear of pride up in heaven. The soundtrack to this whole series, by the way, was our fellow countrymen belting out Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, and Lee freaking Greenwood. Surreal for me, super surreal for the many non-Americans joining the fun. By the time we finally lost to a fresh US team, 3 hours were up and the entire highly inebriated contingent embarked on the pub crawl. Fun night.

Night Train to Krakow 

Oh night trains. We shared one of those 6 seat rooms with 4 British college kids. They were a lot of fun, which was needed for this particular trip. At one point I woke up and we were stopped. Edward in his delightful accent said there was something I must see. At the front of our car, there was nothing but a desolate trainyard scene. The problem being, we were originally the 7th car in, not to mention there was no longer an engine car attached! Apparently, this was normal, but at the time, nobody communicated that fact to us. And the 5 hour delay certainly was not ordinary. Thankfully, Edward kept me HIGHLY entertained with his droll and out loud rendition of his buddy Dan's inner dialogue as he spoke to/hit on this girl in the hallway, only a curtain acting as a sound barrier. 

Dan innocently to girl: So how did you like Prague?

Edward: I don't care and will not listen to a word of your answer, I just fancy a peak beneath your knickers.

Probably had to be there, but the dry British wit kills me. Someone also remembered Dan was wearing a shirt with a cartoon character that read "Desperate Dan" and the 4 of us exploded in laughter. Meanwhile, Ben slept through all of this, occasionally waking up during the delay and believing me when I said we're just about there, then saddened to learn we actually hadn't moved in 4 hours. He sleeps like a champ though. I, however, had maybe 1 hour, but sleep can wait, I'm on vacation.

Krakow 

Poland was a bit of a last minute choice, made literally the same day as the train. We had one extra stop we could make before Amsterdam and chose it over Berlin or maybe Brussels. My adopted home is Chicago, I miss my Polish! Krakow seemed very similar to Prague in a lot of ways. It's more newly en vogue for tourists, but had a beautiful huge market square, pretty churches, fascinating history (Poland would definitely not be the first pick in a game of Risk). We took a free tour of the city, Wawel Castle, saw a Pope John Paul II memorial, and the fire breathing dragon sculpture. I ate some delicious empanadas pierogi. We had a solid night out on the town which included us curiously witnessing two interpretive dance performances, similar to the superintendent's routine in Big Lebowski but with better looking artists. Krakow, while possibly not worth the epic train detour, was very enjoyable.

We also took most of one day to do a tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps, where an estimated 1.5 million Jews, Polish, Gypsies, and Russian POWs died. Honestly, I'm normally very on the fence about depressing tourism that you feel obligated to see, but I'm thankful I decided to go. The tour started with our guide attaching flair to our chest to identify us with our group and was followed by a long list of rules and things we couldn't do. Geez Louise, how authentic is this gonna be? We then toured the facilities including the group "toilets", the suffocation cells where 4 prisoners shared a space the size of a closet, and the gas chambers and crematorium. I am as desensitized as they come, but the room with an endless display of hair that had been shaved off women post-mortem got to me a bit. The heat and crowdedness played a part, but even in the winter I'm sure the air there just seems thick and heavy. Not fun, but I'm glad I got to see such history.

Apologize for ending on a dark note. But hold on to your butts, we're headed to Amsterdam! And sorry Anne Frank but I don't have time to see your attic, so hopefully the next one will be a little brighter!