Hi All,

Sorry about my last postcard, it was massive. It took my forever to write it. I started writing these postcards when I got back from Europe back in July 07. But as per normal I got distracted with something else and as each month would go by the task would get bigger and bigger. So 12 months have passed and I have to try and remember all the details, you would imagine that the stories would be smaller but given the last one was 5 pages I am unsure. I will try and keep this one short. I also have to try and write this under my perspective 12 months ago.It would be easy to write it now and leave out certain things but I believe that I have to stay true to the facts and write it as it occurred and the decisions that I made would have been made given the info at the time. Wow, that sounds kind of serious, no build up intended.

Now that we have got that sorted I can tell you about our trip to Poland. When we started to think about the trip there were certain places that stood out for us and Auschwitz and Birkenau was one of the big ones. Rach had travelled around Europe before and so we didn't want to duplicate what she had seen but thankfully she had not really visited Eastern Europe before.

Many people at the wedding did the same as us and took advantage of the proximity to Poland. We decided that it would be better to see such a thing after the wedding rather than before it. The last thing we wanted was to be depressed before a wedding. Also, we thought give it a couple of days after the hangovers had gone. Going to Auschwitz was bad enough; I don't think I would have handled it with a hangover.

We caught a lift to Krakow with Alan, Karen and Paul. We were quite lucky as there is no direct transport from Dolny Kubin to Krakow. We would have ended up taking several trains, a couple of buses and a taxi and it would have taken about 10+ hours. Alan and Karen flew out later that day so Rach, Paul and I checked into our hostel. If you are ever in Krakow stay in the Tutti Fruiti Hostel, I know it sounds a bit gay, but it is a great place and the staff are super friendly and the place is very clean. We were only in Krakow for two days so the idea was to see the locals sights and than head out to Auschwitz and Birkenau the following day.

Krakow is a beautiful city and has the largest medieval square in the world. After all of our local flavour we decided to go for Mexican cuisine when we got in and ended up bumping into a few others from the wedding. As we were only there for two days one of which was taken up we didn't venture too far from the city centre. Plus we arrived in the city about midday and with finding the hostel and all it was 3pm by the time we finished lunch. Most visitors seem are there for the same reason, although it is becoming a party city due to the cheap flights.

There is not a huge amount to write about Auschwitz and Birkenau. I know that doesn't sound correct. I could write all about the history and the horrors that happened there but you all know about that. I could write about how it made me feel, but there was nothing to feel but anger and sadness. I was angry for what the Nazis did there but also that the world has not learned from this. Genocide and mass killing are still happening all over the world, countries invading each other for bull s*** reasons, people starving for no good reason, the oceans being raped and destroyed, wildlife species disappearing every day, and of course the topic of conversation is who the f*** won Big Brother or some bloody Pop Idol thing!

Sorry, I get a bit worked up about some things. Seriously though, everyone should be aware of these things (other than Big Brother et el). It is horrible and very depressing but sometimes we need to get an emotional pick in the head to make us see the dreadful realism of mankind and the disgusting things we do to each other. I am glad I went and would recommend it. But if you are doing it do not go with a tour company. They whizzed us around the place and we only go 20 minutes in Birkenau. My advice is get yourself there and take as long as you want. When it comes to something like this you need to do it at your own pace.

Other than the obvious sadness felt from visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau Krakow is a great city. I am sure if we had more time we would have seen a lot more of the city and people.

Anyway, I promised a short postcard and there you have it. From Krakow myself and Rach took different paths….

Until next time, Em