poland...

hey all,

as some of you know, aifs took us to poland this past weekend. we left prague friday morning and arrived in krakow at 5 that evening. we strolled into the town square, which was one of the most beautiful and biggest town squares that we've seen on this trip. as we entered the square, on the left stood a large church that had the most ornate alter inside. The rest of the town square houses little shops and a sheltered marketplace to buy souvenirs. we spent the evening in search for traditional polish perogies, but our search was unsuccessful, so we had pizza... lame, i know.









the next day we toured the town, visiting many of the historical churches and monuments. we also went to the national gallery in the afternoon, where they have works by da vinci and rembrant. they also had a large egyptian exhibit which was really neat. they had mummified cats, mongooses, and birds. i should probably mention that we attempted to redeem ourselves in the perogi search from the night before, but the restaurant we chose was out of them! so drew had a polish sausage and i had... gelato. i was starting to think we'd never find perogies

finally, for dinner we made a reservation at a place that was recommended to us for large portions. and they had perogies! the group of us that had been on the perogi hunt came away feeling very satisfied. afterwards we went to a mediterranean bar to spend time with everyone. we went to bed early that night because we knew we were going to have an emotionally draining day the next morning.

we got on the bus early again, unsure whether to feel excited or solemn about where we were going: the auschwitz concentration camps. we won't elaborate much on here, because it is definitely better to hear it in person, but as we walked through the camps there was a somber feeling among the group. walking in an out of the former barracks was very surreal and began to become more realistic as we passed through rooms filled with shoes, glasses, brushes and other belongings of the once imprisoned jews and other outcasts. one of the more shocking sights was seeing a large room filled with over 3 tons of human hair. we visited both auschwitz 1 and auschwitz-birkenau 2. birkenau was the camp specifically designed for extermination, and was even more eery than auschwitz 1. appropriately, the weather was very grim and dark that day. please feel free to ak questions, because we've been very vague.

"work will set you free"


these are the empty cyclone b cans which held the gas used to kill the prisoners


these next 4 pictures were some of the personal belongings of the prisoners








a view of auschwitz from the end of the railroad tracks which brought the prisoners to the camp.


the trip was fast, but we really saw a lot. it was a very bittersweet trip; friday and saturday was really fun, but sunday was a bit of a downer. this week is filled with more midterms and papers, and the second half of the semester is here. tomorrow is my birthday so we have plans for going to the zoo, having appetizers and drinks with friends, and then going to dinner ourselves. although this birthday will be special because i'm in prague, i am a little sad that i can't celebrate with friends and family. i'm so glad to have drew here.

until next time,
drew & alie