Central Europe Trip, Day Six

Day 6 proved to be a physically and emotionally exhausting day. It started with a local guide, Gregory, who showed us to Wawel (pronounced Vavel, of course) Hill. It was so cool that we could walk there from our hotel even if was all uphill. People have lived on Wawel Hill at the site of the Castle as early as fifty thousand years ago, in the Paleolithic Age. It’s amazing to me!

The castle itself dates back to the 14th century with many updates, fires, wars and revisions.

The Wawel Cathedral has been the main burial site for Polish monarchs since the 14th century.

A popular version of the Wawel-dragon tale takes place in Kraków during the reign of King Krak, the city's legendary founder. Each day the evil dragon would beat a path of destruction across the countryside, killing the civilians, pillaging their homes and devouring their livestock. In many versions of the story, the dragon especially enjoyed eating young maidens, and could only be appeased if the townsfolk left a young girl in front of its cave once a month. The King certainly wanted to put a stop to the dragon, but his bravest knights fell to its fiery breath. In the versions involving the sacrifice of young girls, every girl in the city was eventually sacrificed except one, the King's daughter Wanda. In desperation, the King promised his beautiful daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who could defeat the dragon.

Great warriors from near and far fought for the prize and failed. One day a poor cobbler's apprentice named Skuba accepted the challenge. He stuffed a lamb with sulphur and set it outside the dragon's cave. The dragon ate it and soon became incredibly thirsty. He turned to the Vistula River for relief and drank and drank. But no amount of water could quench his aching stomach, and after swelling up from drinking half the Vistula river, he exploded. Skuba married the King's daughter as promised, and they lived happily ever after. I like a good “happily-ever-after story”! Oh, and here are the actual bones of the dragon hanging by the entrance to the castle...wink, wink!

Pope John Paul II is beloved to the Polish people, as he was born and raised there. There are many, many statues and memorials to him around Krakow.

Our tour guide pointed out these sculptures above the doorways on the Krakow street. Instead of addresses, people would use these kind of decorations as their landmarks. "I'll meet you at the rhino house at five!" I love that!

After lunch in the square, Paul had traditional Polish sausage and I had the most delicious cheese grilled on a skillet and served with cranberry sauce, we had some fun with the various sites in the square including a Polish school class on a field trip.

Then we met our bus driver and left for Auschwitz-Birkenau about an hour away. This was the largest German concentration camp between 1940 and 1945 and is now a Polish-run museum which has welcomed 22 million visitors thus far. It was a somber, horrifying tour, but also quiet and reflective. There is no talking as you walk through the tour, only a tour guide with a microphone and visitors wearing headsets to keep the noise-level minimal. I only share only a few photos from that experience.

The sign reads "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Makes You Free"

I decided not to take photos inside. I felt it was a very sacred place and I was there for my own experience. I would encourage others to take that opportunity if it should ever arise. It was difficult, but important and I am glad I did it. Ironically, it was a beautiful day, with sun and a slight breeze.

I am grateful for my freedom.

Plaques along the memorial (former gas chamber site) in dozens of languages all carry the same message:
"Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe.

Auschwitz-Birkenau 1940-1945"

Central Europe Trip, Day Five

We woke up ready for Day 5, starting with a bus ride to Krakow, Poland. We were excited to find out we were staying in the heart of Old Town Krakow. It's much nicer to stay in town and be able to walk around after dinner and not have to be bussed back and forth.

Krakow dates back to the 7th century and has traditionally been one of the leading centers of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596. After checking in to our hotel we went for a walk to the Main Market Square (the largest Medieval square in Europe), got our bearings, and set out to explore.

The tower in the center of the square is the Town Hall Tower. The Tower is the only remaining part of the old Town Hall demolished in 1820 as part of the city plan to open up the Main Square. Its cellars once housed a city prison with a Medieval torture chamber. The students were super interested in THAT fact.

Mr. Plank and a few of the kids went up the tower while I went shopping.

I enjoyed browsing in the Renaissance Sukiennice or old cloth hall where there are local merchants selling their wares. One of the things Poland is famous for is their amber, so it was fun to look at all the amber jewelry. This was a nice way to shop...in the shade with seemingly authentic shop-keepers.

By this point, I was really missing Wyatt, so I enjoyed seeing all the children in Krakow. Wyatt would have loved scaring the pigeons!

One of the main attractions in the square is St. Mary's Basilica It is a brick Gothic church re-built in the 14th century. It is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss.
On every hour, a trumpet signal—called the Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of St. Mary's two towers. The tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate the famous 13th century trumpeter, who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before the Mongol attack on the city.

Paul and I walked around looking into the many churches and building we thought looked interesting. This one is St. Florian's Church. Here is a short video clip I took outside just for the ambiance. I enjoyed hearing the clock bells.

http://youtu.be/TSFl-CKTNLA

We stumbled upon the Collegium Witkowski, a Jagiellonian University building erected in 1908-11. The building's style mixes elements of Gothic-revival, Romanesque-revival and Art Nouveau architecture. We walked through this cool tunnel into the Philosopher's garden. A nice spot.


Medieval Kraków was surrounded by a 1.9 mile defensive wall complete with 46 towers and seven main entrances leading through them. Of course, only parts of the wall are still standing, but it is a really cool walk to go around the old town on the path and see parts of the wall and the beautiful garden, statues, and fountains that are there now.

The Kraków barbican is a fortified outpost once connected to the city walls. It is a historic gateway leading into the Old Town. The barbican is one of the few remaining relics of the complex network of fortifications and defensive barriers that once encircled the royal city.

After a long day of travel and taking in the sights we went back to the hotel for dinner and saw this sight from our room. Here is a short video of that sight as well.

http://youtu.be/69VyB7Vo5k0

Central Europe Trip, Day Four

We awoke early on day 4 to leave Prague and head to Dresden, Germany, about 2.5 hours away.

This proved to be our least painful bus ride of the trip.

Allied aerial bombing towards the end of World War II killed thousands of civilians and destroyed most of city. We only had one day in Dresden, so we spent it in the historic inner city which has been almost entirely rebuilt. It is like walking into a fairy tale since everything looks so picture-perfect and new.

Dresden Frauenkirche is a beautiful Lutheran church originally built in the 11th century and destroyed in 1945 by Allied forces.

As far as possible, the church – except for its dome – was rebuilt using original material and plans, with the help of modern technology. The heap of rubble was documented and carried off stone by stone. The approximate original position of each stone could be determined from its position in the heap. Every usable piece was measured and catalogued. A computer imaging program that could move the stones three-dimensionally around the screen in various configurations was used to help architects find where the original stones sat and how they fit together.
Of the millions of stones used in the rebuilding, more than 8,500 original stones were salvaged from the original church and approximately 3,800 reused in the reconstruction. Reconstruction was completed in 2005.

Paul and some of the students paid to go to the top of the dome. This is a gorgeous picture of the Elbe river and some of the historic city. We also ate lunch along the banks of the river. It was a beautiful day.

My 4 Euro bottle of water during lunch. In Europe it means something different when you say, "I'll just have water," in a restaurant!

I enjoyed the sculptural trees throughout the city.

The production of porcelain at Meissen, near Dresden, started in 1710 and attracted artists and artisans to establish one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers, still in business today. It was fun to window shop in Dresden, even if things were way too expensive for me. The students managed to find H&M, of course!
The Fürstenzug (German for "Procession of Princes") in Dresden, Germany, is a large mural of a mounted procession of the princes of Saxony, made out of 25,000 Meissen porcelain tiles. Somehow, the picture was only minimally damaged in World War II.

The Semperoper or opera house is an amazing sight! The building style itself is debated among many, as it has features that appear in the Early Renaissance style, Baroque and even features Corinthian style pillars typical of classical Greece…definitely eclectic!

As a group we visited the Historic and New Green Vault. It was a girl’s (who used to fantasize of becoming a princess) dream come true.
The Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) is a museum that contains the largest collection of treasures in Europe. It is a part of the Dresden castle. It was founded by August der Starke (Augustus II the Strong) in 1723. It is often referred to as a walk-in treasure chest. It contains nine rooms, each with its own exhibition theme. Of course, we were not allowed to take pictures, but this link will take you to their website and a cool slideshow of the rooms. My favorite, not surprisingly, was the “jewel room”. Ahhhh, the jewels!

http://www.skd.museum/en/museums-institutions/residenzschloss/gruenes-gewoelbe/historisches-gruenes-gewoelbe/index.html

This is a picture from the pamphlet:

We had a nice dinner at the Hotel Novalis in Dresden and slept well in anticipation of heading out to Krakow, Poland in the morning