Day 8 - Częstochowa

4 Mar 2010

We treated our trip to Częstochowa like a mini pilgrimage to visit the "Black Madonna of Poland". I must say that we were a little fortunate as most tours from Krakow to Częstochowa do not operate on Thursdays.

We managed to organise our trip with some help from our hotel staff, at a cost of PLN 260.00 per person. To our surprise, we were the only ones going. Our driver, Yanush gave us a good introduction to Częstochowa and we also watched a video on our way.

The journey from Krakow took about 3 and a half hours (one-way). According to Yanush, when Pope John Paul II celebrated mass in Częstochowa, more than one million Catholics attended. There were not many pilgrims when we were there, but mass was in full attendance.

Statue of Cardinal Wyszyński

The 'Black Madonna' is in essence an icon of the Virgin Mary. According to a famous legend, the icon was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist on a tabletop built by Jesus himself, and the icon was discovered by St. Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine and collector of Christian relics in the Holy Land. The icon eventually found its way into Poland in 1382.

The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa (during Mass)

The icon is only revealed during mass and a scroll will cover the icon after mass. It was a beautiful service even though we don't understand Polish. The mass was dedicated to a group of Paulinean monks. According to Yanush, the church always have masses dedicated to a particular cause or profession e.g. masses dedicated to firemen, doctors etc.

The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa (after Mass)

After mass, we toured around the museum which showcase the story of the Black Madonna and a history Częstochowa. We also bought some souvenirs and took some shots outside the church.

Monks and priests get together after mass

A scene from the monastery of Jasna Góra

Yanush took a different route on our way back to Krakow, via some country road and passing the Ojców (pronounced 'OUT-Soof') national park, which was surrounded by limestone caves formed during the Jurassic period. We managed to take a look at the little church built on water there.

Little church built on water

Front view of the little church on water

From what I understand, the church was built on water because during that time, the Poles didn't have the permit to build the church on land. Technically, by building the church on water, the Poles did not violate any laws.

We finally arrived in Krakow at about 3.30 pm in the afternoon and proceeded to take a rest after lunch.

Dinner
We had early dinner and cakes for dessert at Carlito (www.restauracjacarlito.pl), a restaurant located within the Old Town Square between the Florian Gate and the Mariacki Church.

Cakes at Carlito

Old Town - Scene taken on the way to the Florian gate

Budapest, here we come!
After dinner, we headed to the hotel and board a taxi to Krakow Glowny train station to board our train to Budapest-Keleti. We bought a sleeper reservation, which cost EUR 21 per person (since we already got a Railpass) to get ourselves into a private cabin.

Krakow Glowny station (front) at night

Sleeper reservation to accompany our Rail Pass

Our cabin was quite comfortable and we were able to get a good night's sleep until we arrived at Budapest the next morning. The sleeper cabin can be configured to sleep three. I took the upper bunk of course.

A view of our Sleeper cabin

That's me on the upper bunk

Day 7 - Oświęcim (Auschwitz)

3 March 2010

Our trip to Oświęcim (Auschwitz) began in the morning of 3 Mar 2010 with a freelance guide called Bogdan, who also plays tenor saxophone in a local band (see Black A White) and a huge fan of Hard Rock / Heavy Metal music.

The trip to Auschwitz took about an hour and a half from Krakow. It is also not too difficult to make a trip there on your own as there are regular buses that go there (from the main bus terminal located behind Krakow Glowny train station).

We arrived at Auschwitz museum site at about 11.30 am and it was beginning to snow. There were also large groups of Jewish school children visiting the site. The entry to Auschwitz was free and the English guide book (PLN 5.00) provided enough detail for one to visit the various blocks and sites within the museum.

Entrance to the Auschwitz museum

The feeling around Auschwitz is one of sadness. It was hard to imagine how defenseless civilians were systematically targeted, tortured and mercilessly murdered. Most of the evidence of Nazi atrocities in Auschwitz-Birkenau were collected by the Soviet army when they liberated Auschwitz from the Nazis. Most of the victims were Jews although a large number of Poles, Russians and gypsies were also murdered and subjected to insane experiments.

The Death Wall

The Death Wall was where prisoners were shot, sometimes at random. The death wall is located between blocks 10 and 11 (aka the ‘Death Block’). Block 11 consists of exhibits which described how prisoners were ‘prepared’ before they were killed.

The ‘standing cell’ was one of the worst torture methods used by the Nazis. After working for 10 long hours during the day, prisoners were hauled and made to stand (usually in a group of four people) in a very small block of about 1m x 1m x 1m during the night and prevented from proper rest and sleep. Most prisoners died of starvation and exhaustion.

The collective gallows

Apart from being shot and hanged, many prisoners were also gassed to death. Prisoners were tricked into believing that they will be led to a showering facility but instead deadly gas chambers await their fate. Dead prisoners were mass-cremated in one of the many crematoria within the concentration camp. By the time I left the crematoria, it was snowing cats and dogs.

Crematoria

Just beside the crematoria in Auschwitz 1 is the Camp Gestapo where prisoners were interrogated. This was the site where the first commandant of the camp, Rudolph Hoss was tried and hanged.

Camp Gestapo

Birkenau camp
After visiting Auschwitz1, Bogdan drove us to Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz II. Birkenau was where most of the killings took place and the camp was so much larger that I thought.

A view from the Birkenau camp (Auschwitz II)

A monument was erected at Birkenau as a reminder of the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

Birkenau monument

The Nazis destroyed most of the gas chambers and prison blocks before they left. Here’s a snapshot of what was formerly a gas chamber.

Remains of a gas chamber in Birkenau

After finished visiting Birkenau, we headed back to Krakow and visited the site which used to be the factory of Oskar Schindler (from the 1994 Speilberg movie Schindler’s List). Schindler ‘employed’ Jews to work in his factory to prevent them from being sent to Auschwitz and he is hailed as a hero by the Jewish people.


The visit to Auschwitz had been both physically and mentally draining and we decided to take a rest and simply chill out with a simple dinner and some Polish beer at the hotel restaurant.

Day 6 - Krakow

2 Mar 2010

We arrived in Krakow Glowny (pronounced "gvoove-nih") train station at about 6.40 am in the morning. It was a little confusing for us because we exited through the foyer of a huge shopping mall Galleria Krakowska, without a single Zlotty and all the shops (including money changers) were closed.

What we should have done was to exit the mall, turn left and head to the station building (which was not that obvious in the morning in sub-zero temperatures). The staff at McDonald's (the only establishment that was opened at that time) didn't help much either because they speak little English.

I called our hotel was told that a taxi ride from the train station to our hotel would cost about EUR 5. Fortunately, the cabs accepted payment in EUR and the fare was consistent with what the hotel told me. I got my change in Polish Zlotty though.

We stayed at the Aparthotel Spatz, which is a pleasant 3-star hotel located in the Kazimierz area on Miodowa street. The hotel building looked old but we could tell that the hotel had been recently renovated, bathroom facilities were great, the heating was excellent and Internet access was free!

Aparthotel Spatz

After checking-in, we changed some of our EUR to Polish Zlotty (PLN) at a nearby bank (Bureau de Change outlets only opened after 10.00). One EUR buys about 3.8 PLN. Armed with some Zlotty in hand, we started walking towards the Jewish area to look for some food and found a nice cafe just around the corner after the Tourist Information centre. We had some really good cakes and coffee.

The total cost for breakfast for two, was about PLN 22.00 or about SGD11.00, which I thought was reasonable by European standards. It would have costed much more in Paris or Prague.

Nice cakes

After breakfast and getting information the relevant information from the Tourist Information centre, we visited the Corpus Christi church, which was primarily designed in Baroque styles. There were students on a field trip analysing the interior of the church. They could be studying art or architecture.

Inside the Corpus Christi church

One of the main attractions in Krakow is Wawel Castle, which was within walking distance from our hotel. Wawel holds the largest repository of historical artifacts of the Polish people. We visited the crown jewels and armory section, cathedral and also the Pope John Paul II museum.

Wawel Castle

The cathedral is beautiful but unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs. I went up the Bell Tower to take a look at the Sigismund Bell after traversing a lot of steep steps and narrow passages (certainly not recommended if you have a fear of heights or clautrophobic). The bell was the only object in the cathedral that allowed photography and I forgot to take pictures (sigh!). From memory, I would recall that the Zygmunt Bell was pretty huge and there were more than one bell in that tower. The Zygmunt Bell could easily trap four people underneath it.

Wawel Cathedral

Statue of Pope John Paul II

After Wawel, we headed to the 'Old town' area, which was not too far from the castle. The view of the 'Old Town' was quite similar to Prague with shops selling souvenirs, though the scene in Prague was more happening (no pork knuckles here!).

Entry to 'Old Town' as seen from the foot of Wawel hill

We decided to have an early dinner, which is mainly made of pizza and some Polish soup. The pizza was quite large for two persons and we got the restaurant to pack the leftovers.

Polish sour soup

Pizza

After dinner, we strolled along the main street of the old town and exited via the Florian gate. I went to the railway station and made a reservation for our sleeper berth to Budapest.

Florian gate