01/08/2010 Lublin, Poland So...August is upon us, 3 weeks left now- how time flies.... After another lovely breakfast at the Waksman (highly recommend it if you stay in Lublin), I met Slaw at 9am and we set off in the care to Madjanek. At the reception there was an American asking for directions and then about trains to Krakow- it appeared we were to be getting the same train later. The memorial at Madjanek is the first attempt I have seen of a reconstructi...

31/07/2010 A 12 hour tour from Lublin to Wlodawa, Sobibor, Belzec and Zamosc Breakfast at the Wakesman was very nice - salate, bread, eggs and yogurt with coffee and orange- a much needed hearty start to a long day. Slawomir and his wife pick me up at 8am, as we travel out of Lublin we see a grand procession of pilgrimages: further emphasising along with the adorned crosses by roadsides and elaborate churches that seem to crop up out of nowhere- just how relig...

30/07/2010 Bialystock region, NE Poland and arriving in Lublin Ahhh I forgot the joys of hostelling- those random early hour wake up calls from lights on and drunkards stumbling in- at least it was only twice. I am use, from my Tel Aviv experience, the party being outside, in the garden (I am under the impression this is how things are in my Krakow hostel)- here it was not and it was fairly scare of lone travellers, mainly college students and older couples so ...

29/07/2010 Warszawa, Poland I have been welcomed to Poland with what I am to understand to be the typical Polish summer climate:one minute it is raining and windy (July is the worse month for rainfall), the next it is warm and sunny! Oi Vey!! My day began at 3am Lithuanian time +2:00 (seems like a lifetime ago now!) heading off to the airport. The architecture of Vilnius airport is beautiful, it is very small and very close to the city (about a 5 minute drive)...

28/07/2010 Vilnius, Lithuania July is coming to a close, I can not believe I will be in Poland tomorrow: the longest stint of the trip- I will be there for a week. I will be sad to leave the Baltic, but will have more company as will mainly be staying in hostels and/or be with tour guides the whole time. This morning I get the train from Vilnius to Paneriai, out in the darkest depths of the Lithuanian forests. The train is simplistic- a typical Eastern Europea...