Krakow, Poland & Vienna, Austria

KRAKOW, POLAND

Krakow, Poland was one of the most surprising weekend trips I have been on. I went on this adventure with my wonderful Mom and Kelly-dad.

Getting on the train to Poland I was expecting to spend the weekend eating perogies, wondering around the city of Krakow, and to be honest, I expected to be bored. (Going against my previous oath to not have any expectations when going on adventures)

Krakow surprised me though. (once again, I won’t go in to a play by play of everything we did, because it gets monotonous and boring, not only for you, but for me as well.)

There were people everywhere, tons of stag parties with men dressed in tutus with wands and dresses, karaoke singing, and the city itself was really beautiful and rich in history.

On this trip we made a visit to Auschwitz concentration camp and truly words to describe this place fail me. There is simply no way to describe the things we saw, and the things I felt. Half way through the Birkenau-Auschwitz 2, I could no longer bear to be on the grounds and left.

All I have to say about this visit is that we as humans need to remember what happened in these concentration camps, and that hate is truly the most dangerous thing on the planet. If we as a race, as humans, as people, forget what hate can do, what hate did, and how hate was used to justify the near extermination of an entire population, than we are doomed to repeat history. We are doomed to have something similar happen in the future. We need to remember that hate is not acceptable, that it is not justified no matter how hard you try, and that hate still exists in many forms today, and we as a population need to work to eliminate the existence of hate in today’s society.

Also on this trip we made a visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. Which was truly one of the most interesting and unique places I have ever seen.

The mines are out of use salt mines that date back to the 13th century and in 1978 became a UNESCO World Heritage site. The mines now hold cathedrals, light shows, carvings, wildly salty water, and lick-able walls. (Yes we all licked the walls and drank the water)

In Krakow we also ate authentic perogies, visited a market in the center of the city, went on a ghost tour, sang karaoke, drank Polish beers, ate excessive amounts of chocolate and macaroons, saw live music, ate again, laughed, and had a wonderful time.

This trip definitely wouldn’t have been the amazing experience that it was if it hadn’t been for my incredible Momma and Kelly-dad.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA

The 5-hour bus ride to Vienna consisted of me playing Billy Joel’s Vienna Waits For You on repeat. (Not to mention the copious amount of times I played it leading up to the trip.)

As stated in previous blog posts I try to go into cities, countries, and trips with out any expectations, leaving my trip to be a wonderfully pleasant surprise.

In Vienna, I had the opportunity to make a visit to the Hofburg Winter palace, not to be confused with the summer palace, because every one needs 2 palaces. One is simply not sufficient.

I also had the opportunity to attend a tour of the Opera House, which consisted of me and some others getting separated from our tour group and thus getting lost in the Opera for about 15 minutes.

While in Vienna I also saw one of Mozart’s apartments, a place where he played, the art academy where Hitler was denied entry in his adolescents, the Naschmarket, the Belvedere, St. Stephens Cathedral, and many other historical buildings and sights.

One of my favorite moments from this trip (maybe in my entire life) was going to the Albertina where I came face to face with one of Claude Monet’s ‘Lillies’ paintings, Picasso’s famous ‘Woman with green hat’, and many other paintings that simply took my breath away.

Vienna’s Belvedere is home to hundreds of infamous works from well known artists. The grounds are also home to gardens and the Schonbrunn palace or Summer palace.

While at this historic site I experienced, saw, and cried in front of Gustav Kilmt’s original works, including ‘The Kiss’. (I was yelled at while trying to take pictures)

Vienna is full of art, full of history, beauty, music, and let’s not forget the schnitzel. (I stuck with the pork as I have an aversion to veal)

Vienna was wonderful, it was beautiful, lovely experience.