Warszawie

The title of this post is how Poles spell Warsaw in Polish.  Polish, as a language, is hard to understand and even harder to pronounce.  I asked a tour guide what language is most similar to Polish.  He said none.  Maybe what they speak in Slovakia is a little similar, like the way a Polish kid would speak.  Most young Poles speak some English.  They are the ones I turn to when I need someone to interpret for me.  Forget about the older generation.  Some of them look like they still live in the communist era, and may speak some Russian.  They behave that way too.

I took a bullet train from Krakow to Warsaw.  It costs about US$60 in 1st class and took about 2 hours.  The regular train takes about 4 hours.  I arrived at Warsaw Central Station and walked about 500m to my Airbnb apartment.  It's right in the city center, convenient to all the businesses but a little ways from Old Town.

The afternoon after I arrived I stop at the Tourist Information Office, located in the Palace of Culture and Arts, right across from the Central Railway Station.  Yes, they answered my questions when I asked but it was almost like "pulling teeth."  Customer Service is definitely not their forte; again, perhaps they think Poland is still run by the communists.  I asked about the Warsaw Pass, since I was planning to visit many of the museums and it also give me free travel on all public transportation.  The lady didn't even try to address my question at all.  I got my map, pick up some brochures, and left.

On my first morning, I took the 160 bus from the bus stop across the street from the apartment, and went to Old Town.  The buses, like all public transportation, charge their customers based on travel time.  The cheapest is a 20 minute ticket, costing 3.4 PLN, or about 89 cents.  That's what I paid for the ticket.  I arrived at Old Town, just in town to catch the Free Walking Tour.  Like I explained before, "Free" is not really free.  You are expected to tip the guide when it's over, based on what you think the tour is worth.  The very informative tour, with a big group of almost 20-30 tourists, took about 2 hours.  It stopped at all the major tourist attractions, with a lot of history and culture mixed in.  I tipped the guide 40 PLN, about $10, which is much more than what most tourists gave.  I thought our guide, Peter, deserved it.

Old Town Warsaw

The Royal Castle, which is also a museum

Musician performing in Old Town

Iconic Mermaid at Market Square

A kid mesmerized by a singing puppet show

A budget restaurant enjoyed by the locals.  You can get a meal for less than 20 PLN or $5

I stopped at a Bar Mleczny (or Milk Bar) restaurant for lunch.  The day before, I found one near the apartment and had a substantial dinner for less than 20 PLN or $5.  A lot of locals eat there and that's what I like.  I found this one in Old Town and had 5 pierogis for 12 PLN or $3.

A tourist shopping for souvenirs

Inside the Royal Palace Museum

 The Royal Palace has a museum that is not as impressive as the one in Vienna or others but still quite impressive.  The story behind palaces is not how impressive they are but how misplaced the priorities were of those who ruled the countries in the old days.  Monarchies spend tons of money on their palaces and churches while their poor struggle to survive.

Next I saw on the map that the Fredrick Chopin museum is not far from Old Town.  Chopin is a much beloved musician here, although I heard he never lived in Poland.  One of his parents is Polish, however.  Nevertheless, Poland. perhaps looking for famous figures to put on the mantel, grabbed Chopin and call him their own.  It was my lucky day.  Admission is free on Saturdays for those over 60.  Otherwise, it'd have costs 20 PLN or $5.  Growing old has its merits.  Those over 65 get 50% off on public transportation and other admissions.

Museums in Poland try to adopt the latest technology for their displays.  Every one I went to do things differently.  They try to incorporate the latest in technology.  The Chopin Museum is in a small building so its exhibits are spread over 2 or 3 floors.  Of course, they include a lot about Chopin's life, especially in Paris, and individual stations where you can listen to different categories of Chopin music.  It is a very well done museum; one can finish it in less than 2 hours.

Frederick Chopin Museum, near Old Town

The next day happened to be the Warsaw Marathon.  What irony.  Perhaps I should go run at least the half.  However, my right leg has been bothering me so much the last 4 months that walking is sometimes even a problem.  I think I pulled a tendon while running in NYC in June and the pain has not eased at all.  I have trouble sleeping sometimes because of the pain.  With the marathon in the Old Town area, I decided to avoid the area, and walked 30 minutes from my apartment to the Warsaw Uprising Museum.  Another lucky break for me; it's free on Sundays.  But free brings large busloads of tourists.  The place was swarmed with tourists and then locals.  This is a "feel good" history for the Poles.  Although the uprising was crushed by the Germans after two months, it reminds Poles about their strength, fearlessness and defiance to the oppressive Germans during WWII.  It's very well-done museum.  You get a lot more out of it if you rent an audio-guide.  Bring your own headset because the audio guide is the type that you have to put next to your ear.

Model of a sewer tunnel that the Poles have to use to get around the Germans

Front entrance of the Uprising Museum

Memorial to the Warsaw Uprising, near Old Town

 I also visited the National Gallery Museum but it's not much to talk about.  It's an okay museum with some paintings but nothing compared to other well-known museums around the world.  The only thing that they are immensely proud of is their own Polish painter called Jan Matejko

My Airbnb host, Joanna, told me about the Museum of the History of Polish Jews and how impressive it is.  The next morning I took bus 227 and then walk about 3/4 a mile to the museum.  The building architecture is very nice but the exhibits are even more impressive.  It is very well organized and if you follow the suggested path and rent an audio guide, you get a very nice story of the Jews in Poland.  Before WWII, there were more Jews in Poland than in any other European country.  That was the main reason why Hitler located his concentration and extermination camps in Poland.  Of the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust, 3 million came from Poland.  Before there was a Warsaw Uprising in 1944, there was a Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by the Jews in 1943.  About 13,000 Jews died when it was all over.

Museum of History of Jews in Poland

In the afternoon, I walked to the Copernicus Museum.  Unfortunately, it was closed on Mondays.
That pretty much ended all the interesting places I wanted to go to in Warsaw.  The next morning, I took a train from the station across the Central Station to Warsaw Chopin Airport.  Cost of the ticket?  4.4 PLN or about $1.25.  Can't beat that

Bus ticket for 20 minutes (above) and 75 minutes

My next stop?  Munich, for Oktoberfest.  What a life.

Auschwitz

My first priority in coming to Krakow is to visit Auschwitz.  I know that doesn't sound appetizing but I want to understand more of what happened and see with my own eyes, the places where the Jews, plus others deemed undesirable by the Nazis, suffered their endings.  We should never run from the past, no matter how unpleasant or evil it was.  This is how we learn and make the future better.  Incidentally, I also visited Cambodia's Killing Fields several years ago.

My Airbnb host in Krakow booked the Auschwitz tour for me for 155 PLN, roughly around US$40.  It started at about 9 am, took about 1 1/2 hours to get there and we got back around 4 pm.  Auschwitz actually consists of Auschwitz I, the main and original concentration camp, and Birkenau, which some also called Auschwitz II, and Auschwitz III in Monowitz.  We spent the first part of the tour at Auschwitz I, and the second part in Birkenau, about 30 minutes drive from Auschwitz I.

There were many tourists at Auschwitz, including many young Israelis.  Our tour company had arrangements with a licensed guide.  He took us to selected parts of the camp and expanded on what is explained in each exhibit.  It was very tough to see some of the exhibits and try to visualize what happened.  In one building, there were pictures of the prisoners and that made it more personal.

No words can describe what happened in Auschwitz in World War II.  The Germans built it initially to hold Polish political prisoners.  But then it became a place for exterminating those that the Germans deemed undesirables:  Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Russian prisoners of war, Jehovah Witnesses, homosexuals, etc.  When Auschwitz was not big enough, they built an extermination camp nearby in Birkenau.  All in all, the Germans killed about 1.1 million prisoners, 90% of them Jews.  There were 7,000 Nazis who worked at the camp and after the war; only 1,000 of them were persecuted.  The rest of them vanished and were not found.

Shoes belonging to prisoners

Pictures of prisoners

Wall where prisoners were executed

Buildings housing the prisoners with double electric fence

Type of freight cars used to bring in prisoners from all around Europe.  Many of them suffocated

The Germans destroyed the camp as they were retreating

Railroad tracks in Birkenau leading straight to the gas chambers

Some Grim Numbers

Doctore in the middle decides who lives and who dies by pointing his thumb

Washroom 

Bodies pushed in there to be cremated

Pond where the Nazis dump the ashes

Latrine in Birkenau

Kraków

Before I decided to come to Krakow, the only thing I knew about the city is that it's where Auschwitz is located.  Yes, Auschwitz gave the city its notoriety but that's not the only thing that this place is well-known for.  The city and Poland both have a long history, going back to the 9th and 10th centuries.  Pope John Paul II studied and served as the bishop and archbishop here before being elected as Pope in 1978.  The city calls him its native son because he spent most of his life here before becoming pope.

After talking to others and reading more about Krakow, I decided that I need more than 1 or 2 days here.  I booked an Airbnb apartment just outside Old Town Krakow for 4 nights.  At about US$45 a night it's much cheaper than staying at one of the hotels.  The apartment is spacious and has a kitchen.  My host arranged for someone to pick me up at the airport for 90 PLN (about US$23) since I was arriving late in the evening.  Jakub, the host, met me at the apartment and showed me where everything is.  I also asked him to book a tour to Auschwitz the following day.  It costs 155 PLN, or about US$40.  It's about 1 1/2 hours from Krakow.  I will talk more about Auschwitz in my next post.

On my second day in Krakow, I signed up for two walking tours.  One in the morning, touring the old Jewish Quarter and the second in the afternoon of the city itself, mostly Old Town.  In most European cities, there are "free" walking tours.  But, they are not really free.  After the tour, you are expected to tip the guide.  The amount you tip depends on what you think the tour was worth.  These tour groups tend to be much larger and sometimes, it's hard to follow the guide.  I paid 60 PLN for each tour; booked through the city's Tourist Information Center.  The Jewish Quarter tour started at 10 am.

Most of the Jews in Krakow used to live in the Kazimierz area.  It was named after an old Polish king in the 14th century.  They coexisted with Christians throughout history until Hitler put all the Jews into a ghetto during the war.  Today it's no longer a Jewish area, although some of the buildings are still being preserved like it was in the old days.  It's a popular area with restaurants and other businesses.

An old Jewish synagog, that is not being used today

Old Jewish shops that are being preserved to look like the old days

One of the old buildings in the Jewish Quarter

A Jewish cemetery

Restaurant tables to look like old sewing machine tables

Chairs are placed in this Square to commemorates Jews who were forced to gather there before being taken to the ghetto
On the top right-hand corner is a pharmacy.  The pharmacist risked his life helping many of the Jews.

My afternoon tour started at 2 pm with about a dozen people.  They came from all over:  England, Australia, Netherlands, Canadians, and me, the only American.  In the morning, there were quite a few Americans and Canadians.  This city tour took us mostly around Old Town, where the guide explained the history of Poland, how it evolved, the culture and language, some of the famous people, buildings, statues, etc.  You can read more about its history here:  History of Poland  One thing I did not realize is Poles are considered to be Slavic people.  Hitler said that Slavs are sub-humans.  No wonder he invaded Poland.  When I listened to Poles speak, I wonder which language is closest to it.  Our guide said none but the closest language is from Slovakia.

Vistula River

Inside St. Mary's Basilica

Old Town Square

St. Mary's Basilica

The Royal Palace

My last tour in Krakow was to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, about 30 minutes outside of Krakow.  Again, I signed up for a tour that costs 150 PLN, about US$40.  This is a very popular tour, judging from the van being packed.  The tour guide at the mine said they typically get about 9,000 visitors a day at the mine.  It is so popular that the owners decided to close the mine because they make more money for visitors than mining the salt, which now has become very inexpensive, compared to the old days.  The tour lasted about 2 hours.  The tour is more than about the workings of the mine itself.  There are many interesting stories about statues, incidents and accidents, history, etc.  Not surprising since it's been running since the 13th century until 2007.  Some parts of the mine are big, including a chapel.  It's more like some of the limestone caverns that I have visited.  At the start of the tour, we were told by the guide not to lick the walls and floors, even though they were salt.  They have to be purified before they can be consumed.

Entrance to the mine

Wood was used extensively in the mine.  They came from nearby forests

They call this "cauliflower".  A close look at the salt

In the old days, horses were used a lot in the mine.  They never see the light of the day throughout their lives.

There is even a chapel inside the mine

Close up look of a type of salt

There's even a restaurant inside

Oslo in 2016

I last visited Oslo in 2011.  My impression was that it was a clean and friendly city.   Back then I bought an Oslo card, which allowed me to go to all the museums and ride public transportation free.  I highly recommend this because the museums are awesome.  The two I remember are the Kon-Tiki and Viking Ship Museums.  This time I only went only to the National Gallery, where I saw Edvard Munch's famous "Scream" painting.

On my way to Bergen to Krakow, I decided to stop again in Oslo for a couple of nights.  I booked a hotel room that is very close to The Royal Palace and Karl Johans Gate, which is a popular pedestrian mall from the Oslo Central Train station to the Royal Palace.  Many tourists and locals come here but there are also a lot of shops and activities along the side streets.

On my first day here, I took a walk down the Karl Johans Gate and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and the park near the palace.  It's a Sunday and there were a lot of people here.

Park along Karl Johans Gate

The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Hall.  You can walk on the roof.

Norwegians love statues and they are everywhere

Smarthotel, where I stayed for 2 nights

The King's Palace, at one end of Karl Johans Gate

I tried to look for the Nobel Peace Center but was unsuccessful.  I finally walked to Greenland, an area just behind the Central Railway Station.  This is where a lot of the immigrants from Asian, Middle East, and Africa reside.  It's kind of a ghetto but lately has seen a lot of interest from younger Norwegians because it's so close to the city and real-estate there is probably much cheaper than other parts of the city.  I found a restaurant to my liking.  It was a Pakistani restaurant, serving dishes that are quite similar to Indian food.  I had Tikka Masala chicken with rice and nan.  It was good.

The next day I realized that the Nobel Peace Center is actually quite close to the hotel.  I found it and memories started to come back of the harbor area.  It's where I took the ferry to the museums five years ago.  Unfortunately, the Center is closed on Mondays.

I walked around the city for a few more hours because taking the NSB local train to the airport for my flight to Krakow.  The fare was 92 Norwegian Kroners.  The weather was nice that day and I walked behind the Karl Johans Gate area and found some interesting looking shops.

A grocery store popular with immigrants in the Greenland area

Nobel Peace Center

Statue in the Harbor Area

Yachts in the Harbor Area

Trams or Light-rail is a popular mode of transportation around the city

A Farmers' Market right in the middle of the city

Surprisingly, there are quite a lot of beggars in the city.