Vacation 1: Poland

Poland is AMAZING!!!  The teachers from ILP get three vacations during our time here in Kiev.  This means that English School gets closed down for a few days at a time and we get to go out and vacation around nearby countries.  Our vacation for September consisted of us going to Poland.  I taught Tuesday afternoon and then headed to the train station to catch our overnight train to L'viv.  We left at 10pm and slept on the train.  Well I tried to, but for some reason the light in the compartment that I slept in stayed on all night long.  So I don't think I slept for more then a couple hours.  We got to L'viv at about 7am.  We then took a bus to the bus station and purchased our bus tickets to get us to Poland that night.  We took another bus to the center of L'viv and walked around.  The group of us that were just in L'viv a few weekends ago really weren't that motivated to do anything that day.  We did do a few things that we didn't get to do previously.  One of which consisted of us going to the top of the bell tower in the center of the city and looking out at the view.  It was very beautiful and we took lots of pictures.  We even got to hear the bells ring (very loudly).  We also went to the chocolate factory.  I bought some delicious truffles.  Here is a picture of all the different choices.

We wandered around some more and found the L'viv cemetery.  It was pretty cool.  It was SO big and had so many tomb stones.  We then went back to the bus station and laughed a lot because we were so tired and crazy.  We loaded our bus at 10pm and headed to Poland.  I sat next to Katie and we tried to sleep, but I had a hard time because my chair did not recline and I had nothing to lean against.  Katie then fell asleep on my lap so I laid on top of her.  We got woken up when we got to the boarder and got out our passports.  They boarder patrol went through all of us and we sat there for about and hour and a half.  Then we drove across to the Polish side and had to do the same thing all over again.  It took forever.  We were stuck at the boarder for about 3 hours total.  Then we drove the rest of the way to Krakow.  I don't think I got much sleep after that.  Once we got to Krakow, we went in search to find our hostel.  We stayed at Hostel Giraffe.  Ten of us were in a room together and then the other four were in a room with some other people.  We dropped off our stuff and tried to get rid of our train and bus stink as best as we could without a shower, and then headed to Auschwitz.  This was such an amazing experience.  I have always loved learning about the Holocaust in school and it just made it so much more real to me to actually go and see where it happened and what they went through.  The museum has done a great job at preserving some of the barracks and items that were taken from the Jews when they arrived at camp.  There was a whole room filled with hair that was cut off of women.  There was so much that I cannot even explain how it made me feel.  We also got the see their sleeping conditions and bathroom facilities.  I will never complain about my situation ever again.  This was such an eye opener that it totally made me rethink my life and all the things I take for granted.  We also saw the wall where many were killed and the chambers that they were locked in and suffered.  This tour also took us to Birkenau camp which had the two destroyed crematoriums, which were the biggest in all the camps.  Through this whole tour I was in total amazement.  Here are some pictures:

This is just a glimps of the shoes that we saw.

Their bathroom

This is the memorial.

After we got done at Auschwitz we headed back to our hostel and got to shower!  Then we went out and explored the town.  We were right down the street from the mall so we decided to go check it out.  Probably wasn't the best idea because I wanted to get all new clothes!haha  Katie, Megan H., and I found this delicious Mexican food place.  We got burritos for dinner and they were grilled like a panini.  They were so good!

Then we went home and did some yoga.  It was hilarious.  I was laughing so hard and of course I had to take some pictures.

On Friday we got to sleep in.  It felt so good.  Then we got ready and headed out to find Schindler's Factory.  There was a museum set up in a way that we walked through all the of situations that happened during the war.  It was pretty interesting, but not as cool as Auschwitz.  We got to see his real office and pictures of people who he saved.

After Schindler's Factory we headed back home and got ready to explore the town more.  Sarah, Katie, Elysia, and I headed to Old Town.  It was beautiful at night because everything was lit up.  We found all the stands that were selling amber jewlery and we each bought a ring.  There was so much stuff that it was a little overwelling.  I could have spent all my money there!

On Saturday a group of us decided to rent bikes and cruse around Krakow.  It was so much fun.  I felt like I was in a movie because there were people along to rode playing Polish music and everything!  We rode to St. Mary's Church and went inside.

It was so beautiful in there, but I couldn't take pictures.  Everything was so colorful.  We then rode to the Church of Saint Peter and Paul and went into the crypt.  It was way cool.

We stopped for lunch at a cafe that had delicious pizza.  It actually tasted kind of like pizza!  That is the first I have had since I have left America.  We then rode to a castle (I don't know what it is called) and walked around the grounds.  It was very pretty, but there was construction so I couldn't get too many pictures.

After the castle we headed back to the bike rental place and dropped off our bikes.  A few of us then went to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, one of the oldest working mines in the world.  It was way awesome.  Everything in the mine was carved out of rock salt.  There was even a cathedral carved out of salt.  You can rent it out to have your wedding there!

Sarah and I danced in the Cathedral

After that tour we then headed to the mall for dinner.  We went to an italian restaurant and I had lasagna.  It was good, but not a delicious as my moms.  We also got gelato.  On Sunday most of our group left and flew back to Kiev, but three of us, Haley, Megan U., and me stayed an extra day.  Haley and I decided to rent bikes again and ride to places that we didn't get to see the day before.  We rode down by the river.  The weather was so perfect for this.

We also went to the Jewish community and found the Jewish cemetery.  That was pretty cool because they had head stones from the holocaust.

We then went to an authentic Polish restaurant and I had delicious goulash in a bread bowl.

Then we flew home Monday morning.  This trip was so much fun.  I got to know all of the people I am here with so much more and we had some good times.  It was hard to come back to teaching.  I am excited for our next trip at the end of October.