Krakow's Podgorze district was the site of the former Jewish Ghetto, and while part of the ghetto wall still remains, until December 2005 there was no monument commemorating the heroes and victims of the ghetto. This memorial was designed by Krakow architects Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Latak and funded by Polish film director Roman Polanski. It features 33 large illuminated chairs in the square and 37 smaller chairs standing on the edge of the square and at the tram stops. The chairs represent the furniture and other remnants that were discarded on that very spot by the ghetto's Jews as they were herded into the trains that would often take them to their deaths in Auschwitz and other concentration camps.
Nearby is the site of Oscar Schindler's factory. Oscar Schindler was a German industrialist born in Moravia. He is credited with saving almost 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.
No one knows what Schindler's motives were. He was quoted as saying "I knew the people who worked for me... When you know people, you have to behave towards them like human beings."
We came back to the hotel for dinner and our final sunset view of Krakow from the hotel window! I hope to return someday with Wyatt.
Day seven was a travel day. We traveled by bus from Krakow to Vienna. It was supposed to take 6-7 hours, but because of road closures we spent at least 8, maybe even 9 hours on the road. Not our favorite day, but at least some of the kids caught up on their sleep!
Our bus driver Emi is Hungarian. He was a good driver and did not like when other driver's were reckless or daring. One tried to pass the bus on a windy road and almost ended up in a head-on collision. We learned many choice Hungarian words on the long bus trip.
In the late afternoon we arrived in Vienna, or Wien as it is known in Europe. Vienna is very majestic and by far the largest city in Austria. Nadia oriented us with downtown Vienna on a short walking tour before dinner.
Vienna City Park is a beautiful gathering place for Austrian-natives and tourists and was blooming with roses and other beautiful signs of summer.
We walked to the Vienna Parliment Building designed in Greek revival style. One of the building's most famous features is the later added Athena fountain in front of the main entrance, which is a notable Viennese tourist attraction. Following heavy damage and destruction during the Second World War, most of the interior has been restored to its original splendor.
Many of the other buildings we saw on this walking tour were ones we would see or visit on days 8-10, so I will describe those later.
We walked through the touristy streets to dinner at Weinerwald. The students thought the wiener schnitzel was the best dinner we'd had yet!
On our way back to meet the bus and head to our last hotel we saw these street performers and had to stop to watch. It was a fun way to end the introduction to Vienna!
http://youtu.be/aF8MEhts27c
http://youtu.be/aCwTISV9-Hg
No comments:
Post a Comment