Krakow (Krakuff) Posted by Bubbly89 , Sunday, December 26, 2010 at 5:03 AM, in Labels: Holiday - Krakow

Spent four full days in Krakow and really had had a great time, partly because of friends there as well as the places that we went were really interesting.

First day, we went to Zakopane, which was a town in the mountains, 2 hours drive from Krakow by bus. And as expected of mountains, the temperature then was -16 degrees Celcius. So we were really struggling as the wind was strong and it was snowing rather heavily. It was a very pretty place. Went there with Terri and two other friends with Krakow. Had a great time shopping there as everything was relatively cheap. Took the tram up to the top to a plateau overseeing the whole landscape but unfortunately it was too misty that we couldn't see anything. But it was really pretty in the pictures. So definitely recommend the ride up.

Second day, we went to the Salt Mine which was half an hour away from Krakow by the public bus. Despite the cold weather outside, the temperature inside the mine was constant at 14 degree celcius which was of course like heaven. Lol!!! Anyway, the inside of mine was totally awesome. There were a few big chambers with lots of statues made from salt, a few chapels also totally made from salt (one of it was really huge and that one was the most beautiful one) and there was the lake. Totally beatiful lake.

Third day, we went to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. It used to be the largest concentration camp in Europe. Very interesting. We had a tour guide from the center and probably because of that, the whole place seemed very interesting. Before the tour started, our tickets entitled us to watch a movie on the concentration camp where it showed the real footage of the times when the camp was liberated by the Red Army. We got to photos of what happened then, the pile of glasses collected from the Jews that were in the camp, shoes, brushes, and clothes. The most heartbreaking part, I would say, was the part where they housed the clothings of the little children, being the smallest was the clothing of a baby. All I can say was that the entrance fee was totally worth it. We got to see the inside of the gas chamber/crematorium, the starvation camp, the standing camp and the wall where thousands were being shot dead. We got to see the unloading platform where the sorting had taken place and the "dreadful" railway track that led into the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Overall, I think that Krakow was really worth visiting. For me, I think if I were to say that the number of days to finish Krakow, I would say that five days are enough. But, definitely, Krakow is really a city unique and packed with history.