Andrea Hearts Traveling: Poland

Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts

I left Warsaw early one morning and mid day I had arrived to beautiful Gdansk!

Warsaw or Krakow?

Well, Krakow for sure! But that doesn’t mean that Warsaw is not beautiful or worth seeing but there is a “Je ne sais quoi" about Krakow that makes it a thousand times better. One of the things that makes Krakow better is the prices of absolutely EVERYTHING! I was super surprised to see the prices of food in Warsaw; in Krakow a plate of pierogi was 9zloty in Warsaw the same costs 21zloty… crazy!

Warsaw was very badly damaged by WWII so it has been all reconstructed.

I got to Warsaw mid day from Krakow and of course the first thing I did was to go on a walking tour. My hostel was a 30-40 min walk from the old town and when I asked how to get there the girl at the front desk said by metro and when I asked how far it was and if I could walk she said "Why would you walk?" so I looked it up in the map and it didn't look that bad. I decided to walk and was so glad I did because I got to see more of the city and walked through a beautiful park.

I've always wanted to visit Auschwitz, the biggest concentration camp in Europe, and that's actually what lead me to visit Krakow.

One morning in Romania I was sitting at a bus station and started talking with a Chinese girl who was heading to Budapest and then to Krakow and planning to visit Auschwitz and she said she had purchased her ticket and everything. I didn't know I needed an advanced ticket so I was glad I met her. Once I got to my destination I looked online and tickets for the next couple of weeks were sold out but glad to have found tickets for the dates I was planning to be there.

Auschwitz can only be visited with a guided tour and you can either go on your own by bus and go on one of the tours they provide (in 7 different languages) for about $12 or you can get a tour from an agency a day before from the main town for about €25 with transportation included. Once I got there I noticed a huge line for the information and I think you can actually get a ticket on the day but have to wait a long time and pray for a place in a tour in a language you understand so I think it might be better to book in advance.

Taking the bus there was very easy from the main station. The buses go every 15 mins or so and costs 24zloty roundtrip if you a roundtrip ticket from the driver. I saw a couple who got on the bus with me on the way back and the driver (same one i bought my roundtrip from) charged them each 20zloty, unsure if that's the real price for one way or they got ripped off.

I arrived in Auschwitz an hour before my tour started so it was perfect time to read all the boards outside sharing a little bit about auschwitz, and the life of the prisoners.

Gdansk!

Warsaw

A sad day in Auschwitz

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