Auschwitz and Burkenau These sites are now museums and located about an hour from Krakow. Auschwitz was a concentration work camp from where the inmates were basically worked ... to death. It's also where the demented, depraved Nazi doctors carried out their appalling medical experiments on Jews and others e.g. to find ways to stop what they considered sub human races from reproducing. Auschwitz was originally a Polish military camp. Burkenau, which is about ...

Krakow On arrival, we tried to figure out the tram system to get to our hotel. But it transpired this was only a 15 minute waddle from the station so waddle we did. We were right on the edge of the historic old town which is stunning. Medieval towers and cathedrals built around a huge town square lined with again, great restaurants, bars and cafes. Charming cobbled side streets and a massive castle at one end. We checked in - great hotel - and cheap, and headed o...

Back story Like many of our generation we'd learnt about the horrors of World War 2 at school and especially the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people by the Nazis. Some years ago we visited Prague in the Czech Republic and took a day trip to Terezenstadt a Nazi transit camp from where Jews and other prisoners were sent to concentration camps or the gas chambers. This triggered a desire to visit Auschwitz near the city of Krakow, and thus a trip to Polan...

Hi everyone I am running way behind in keeping my blog up to date so have compressed three posts into one. This wraps up the sea cruise part of our trip. I will be doing one more blog post to cover Poland which has turned out to be a real highlight of our journey. And then I will be signing off. We are at Chopin airport Warsaw awaiting a flight to London now. Best Keri Helsinki Our next port of call following St Petersburg was Helsinki the capital of Finla...

Our next port of call following St Petersburg was Helsinki the capital of Finland. We only had six hours on shore but that was enough to get a feel for the city. Our initial impressions weren't too great. The public bus we caught into the city dropped us in a very nondescript part of town near the main railway station. However as we walked the streetscape, architecture and overall ambience improved markedly. We found ourselves at a huge white cathedral the main w...