After a 9-hour train ride from Budapest, we arrived in Krakow, Poland on Sept. 14. We were ambivalent about going to Krakow because seeing Holocaust locations would be very sad. We learned very quickly that Krakow has not forgotten its history.
The Hotel Pod Roza
We chose the Hotel Pod Roza because it’s the oldest hotel in Krakow and dates to the 17th Century. Upon arriving, we found it was also the Nazi headquarters during WWII. However, the hotel works hard revamp its dark history with elegance. We were upgraded to an “apartment” with a full living room, a sitting room, a gorgeous bathroom and a bedroom bigger than half our NYC apartment. The hotel contained a Michelin restaurant and a very large spa in its cellar. The service was five star. Recommended all around.
The Food
We ate at both the oldest restaurant in Krakow and the highest-rated restaurant in Krakow. Both were excellent, historic, and beautiful. However, the food we liked the very best was in small restaurant around the corner from our hotel, and we ate there twice. Monica especially liked its mushroom soup. We learned mushrooms are a primary export of Poland, especially Krakow.
Salt Mines
One day we went to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, which was advertised as a “not to miss” experience just outside of Krakow. To get to the mines, we descended 57 floors of stairs (330 feet below land) and were guided through a cave-like mine, ending with huge rooms full of salt statues, chandeliers and even a church. Before we left, we followed another guide through a labyrinth of halls that were quite scary, especially since the guide didn’t speak English, walked like she was in a marathon, and wouldn’t tell us where we were going. The labyrinth seemed to never end, and we were exhausted when it did. Finally, after getting back to land (via an elevator, thank God), we visited a beautiful tower near the mine, where we could bask in salt air coming from its trellises.
Would we recommend others go to the salt mine? Only if you are spending several days in Krakow. Because we only stayed four nights, we felt the salt mine took too much of our time that would have been better spent learning more about the city and its people.
Now for the sad stuff:
Jewish Ghetto
We took a private tuk-tuk tour of Kazimierz (the Jewish Quarter) and the former WWII Jewish Ghetto. We saw remnants of the wall the Jews were forced to build to keep people enclosed, and we saw the memorial of “Chairs” at the site of Bloody Sunday, where the Nazis did so much torture and killing. We saw Shindler’s factory, too.
There are generations of people still living in the Jewish Quarter, and Monica kept wondering what goes on in their minds each day. While the people were very friendly, they looked wistful and quiet. There were memorials of the holocaust all over the place.
Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camps
On our last day in Krakow, we went to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps where over 1.5 million people lost their lives during the holocaust. To get to the camps, we were lucky to have a taxi driver who spoke very good English, wanted to tell us about life in Krakow, and prepared us for what we were about to see. Being at the horrifying Auschwitz concentration camp was surreal. The weather was beautiful, the trees surrounding the property were gorgeous and the camp seemed almost peaceful. OF course, it was quite a different story during WWII.
Visitors are required to take organized tours the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps. On our tour, we entered under the notorious Arbeit _______, were guided through a museum of Auschwitz history and saw the inside of many buildings. Then we took a shuttle to Birkenau, where most of the killings took place. Many tourists were taking photos, which Monica initially thought was rude and disrespectful. But eventually, we decided to take photos too, so we would never, ever forget what we saw.
Auschwitz and Birkenau broke our hearts.
Our vacation in Krakow left us very sad, yet at the same time in awe of its people who work hard at staying happy and being very, very kind.