04/08/2010
Krakow, Poland

If this trip has been cultured and all about research, then this very much stopped yesterday by about 1.30pm!

The night 03/08/2010 some new guys arrived in my room from Northern Ireland, just finished their A Levels, but you wouldn't know it: bloody intelligent and interesting guys. We sat up with a couple of drinks till about 2am in the garden and bar at Goodbye Lenin and then went off to bed, only to be rudely awoken by the idiotic British lads in the room swearing at each other and complaining about the club they had been to between 4 and 6am WITH THE LIGHTS ON!

Got up and proceeded to make just about as much noise as I could possibly make packing my bags and headed down for breakfast. Met this Londoner (now living in Shrewsbury) called Tim at breakfast, he had done a history degree and was asking about the Jewish quarter so I walked him over there, he joined me at Schindler's factory and I showed him the Ghetto sites over the bridge. Schindler's factory has been turned into a museum about Nazi Occupation in Krakow, there is a reconstruction of the ghetto with scenes of ghetto life (which seems a bit 'tamed down' for the family) and a fair bit on the Polish resistance, the message is a little ambiguous- talks about how Polish folk were involved in blackmailing the Jewish population, but then also about the resistance and people who saved others. The last room is a memorial of quotes from Jewish people who were helped or saved by others- which is quite moving.

After this we headed to Ariel to try some Polish and Jewish food: last time for Porogi and Palkies- I'll miss this food and whilst he started drinking earlier than me, I started slowly around 3:30pm and we spent most of the afternoon from about 2:30 to 7:30 in the garden here. The Jewish quarter is the real Krakow, the market square is frankly dull.

Then we headed back to the hostel and met some Canadians and Northern lads and carried on the party in the BBQ area, the Irish lads join a while before I left for the night train.

On the night train I was in a cabin with 2 Dutch girls, 2 American guys and a Swiss guy, we chatted for a little bit, the usual travelling etiquette: 'where have you been, where are you from, where are you going to, how long are you travelling', then tried to sleep- it was quite hot, but started raining in the night and my feet got wet as my bed was in line with the window! Ophs. On and off, slept through till the guard gave us the tickets back. Was awake at the border for the whole hour we stood there, I could just hear stamps on tickets and English/ Czech announcements (we must have crossed the border, there was English at every single stop we made).