I guess I should tell you about the hotel that I stayed at in Brasov. It was a no-frills hotel which up to leave was probably built in the 70s. It was decent and met my needs of having a bed, bathroom, and wifi. But other than that it was pretty sparse. I picked it because it was just a few blocks away on the same street as the hotel I was dropped off at last night. I figured since it was going to be 1030 in the evening I shouldn’t be trying to get lost in the city of Brasov, Romania.

The breakfast this morning at the hotel was typical central European breakfast of cold cuts, eggs, and sausage. I made myself three slices of toast. There seem to be quite a few Asian tourists eating in the big breakfast room that would probably double as a conference room or banquet hall.

After checking out of the hotel and getting them to hold my luggage and their luggage room I decided to head to Mount Tampa for the funicular to ride up the mountain to get close to the Hollywood style letters. After winding my way through the streets I got to the funicular station, where I found out that the funicular opens at 9:30 AM rather than 9 AM as they can’t book had stated. It was 8:47 AM so I decided to try and go back to the town and see the black church.

Unfortunately it looks as though the black church was not open or else they were having a worship service as I heard organ music playing through the walls.

I stumbled upon Rope Street which is one of the most narrow streets and all of Romania. It’s so narrow you can spread your arms out and touch both walls. Couples like to go there to express their love to another. It was originally built to allow firefighters to access adjoining roads.

I decided to head back to the funicular station to catch the sky ride to the top of Mount Tampa. Sure enough they were open and I managed to position my go Pro camera to record the view going up. I shared the vehicle with a French family and the funicular operator. Also on board was a worker at the café at the top of the mountain.

Once we arrived I thought it would be best to try and find the pathway to the Hollywood letters. After taking a wrong turn I finally found them. I couldn’t position myself to take a good Photo of the lettering as the vegetation had built up around the letters to where you could not exactly tell what was being spelled out. Still it was neat to stand beside and iconic landmark. I headed down to go to the black church which I had hoped would be open by now.

Sure enough it was open, but no photography was all out from inside of the church. Position around the church for rugs dating from far back and paintings depicting the life of Jesus.

Unfortunately it’s getting to where all the churches I see are running together. I will always remember the first few churches I saw while in Nürnberg. I’ll also remember the Vatican church and the ornate church in Toledo, Spain. But somehow the other churches that I visit are less than memorable.

I decided to have some lunch while I chose my next adventure. On the Square was a KFC so I decided to eat there. Friends and family get on to me about not trying local food but I figure it’s my vacation I should enjoy myself. I wasn’t sure what I wanted and by the time I finally decided what I wanted the line had become long. I got six chicken nuggets, which in this case are called fillets, and some chili cheese bites. The KFC worker warned me that she could not give me the combo deal which meant fries and a drink. But I am not particularly a fan of the fries and I decided to treat myself with the chili cheese bites.

I decided to go to Saint Nicholas’s cathedral. It was in the south part of the town near the secondary Square. At the Square some young children are playing soccer. Inside the cathedral was nothing to write home about but still it was an interesting find.

Next I decided to go to the citadel which is located on the top of the hill near my hotel. But it is quite a hike up to it and I’m not sure it was worth it. I got lost on the way up there and I asked a man who spoke little English to point me in the right direction. I finally found my way up there to and abandoned citadel with landscaping workers weed eating the first Grass cutting of the season. I could tell because the dandelions are overtaking the citadel. The citadel didn’t look like it was open and the guidebook mentioned the citadel only in passing. It was such a waste to have such a historic building set there without any exhibits.

As I hiked down I saw in the guidebook that a postoffice was nearby so I made my way to it to buy some stamps for postcards. The guidebook and I store owner confirmed that only the post office will sell Stamps in Romania.

As typical and post offices in the United States is saying that the person in front of me always has a huge long transaction to do. The people waiting in line at the post office can never want a simple transaction.

By then it was 2 PM and I figured I had just a few more minutes to visit one other exhibit and I’ll be on my way to the train station. I decided on the history of Brasov, Romania. Most of the exhibits did not have English subtitles so I was at a loss as to what was being exhibited. There was a very interesting tempering serve it detailing how some cities in Eastern Europe were re-named after Joseph Stalin. I had read that Brasov have been renamed to Stalin city. But there were other cities within the eastern bloc renamed to Honor Joseph Stalin. Most of this did not last long as many reverted back to their previous names sometime later. The Exception to this was the city in Albania which did not revert back until 1991.

It was getting near 3 PM which was my personal cut off time to start heading back to the train station to catch my train to Sibiu. After retrieving my stored luggage at my hotel, I got detailed directions from the front desk gentleman on how to catch the bus to the train station. I purchased my ticket and waited on the bus. When the bus came it was crowded but the amount of people who got on the bus made it overwhelming. I held onto my wallet and hoped that I would not be pickpocketed while riding the bus stops to the train station. Honestly I did not even count the number of stops. Everyone was getting off at this particular stop so I figured it was the train station, and sure enough it was the train station.

The train station itself was very dilapidated. It looks like it was built in the 70s and not refurbished. Pigeons were flying around inside of it. I noticed when hopping around on a stub of a foot. I felt sorry for it and wondered what happened to make him lose his foot.

On platform 4, I waited for my train. The train was coming from Bucharest and I knew what time it was supposed to arrive and what time it was supposed to leave. When it initially I arrived it had signage on it stating it was going to Vienna. There were sleeping cars on the train itself and I almost didn’t get on the train. I show the train agent my ticket and he confirmed that this was the right training and pointed me in the direction of the wagon I was wrong. The seating arrangement on the wagon involved train seats facing each other in groups of four. I found a young woman sitting in my seat and motion to her that I had a ticket for that seat.

At first I thought this young lady was traveling with the older couple in the seat facing us but apparently she was traveling by herself. With in the car itself was a loud group of middle schoolers playing games on their phones. They stayed loud through the most of the trip. I Finally put on my headphones to try to drown out the noise but listening to 60 minutes podcast. At some point in the journey we stopped in the middle of nowhere for about 15 minutes. I was really worried that the train was in a state of disrepair and I have to send a new engine. But we started moving and eventually arrived a few minutes late to our destination.

I made my way to Casa Luxenberg, which manages Heut residence. The receptionist was very nice and showed me to my room. However in the process of checking in she charged my credit card which made for a double charge. I had paid through booking.com.

I went out and got a domino’s pizza and a large bottle of Sprite and Milka chocolate.

Tomorrow will be a day of exploring the town before I leave for Sighasoura. I would mitt that are usually don’t go back and reread my blog post about vacation. I guess it’ll be good to do whatever I get old and getting a static about being able to travel in my younger years.

I had been watching my flight from Nashville to Washington Dulles for a little over a month noting when it was late, which happened periodically. One time the flight was cancelled altogether. Not so the time when it mattered.

At one point the air on the plane cut off. I asked the stewardess sitting next to me on the very back row on the jump seat. She said sometimes the terminal cuts power to the plane and not to worry.

She was eating a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s. I asked if she had to get it herself and she said the pilot got it for her. It’s nice that the pilot will take care of his crew.

When i asked her how to transfer terminals the stewardess went above and beyond and searched on her phone for answers. Very nice of her.

We arrived at Washington Dulles right on time. Transferring to a different terminal was a breeze. There is a very large bus which can transfer many passengers at once. No need to got through security again unlike Ohare.

On my flight to Munich from Dulles, I thought I had a row all to myself, but a young woman came in on her phone. While on her phone she cursed, which pretty much made me write off as one of “those” people. I didn’t offer her my salad (probably because of the cursing; and probably because it is awkward).

I watched Argo and Downsizing on the plane. I wondered if I was being hypocritical being offended at my row mates’ cursing language while I was watching r rated movies.

I had seen Argo before and still enjoyed it multiple times around. Downsizing started off good, then got a little too preachy with a girl with a fake Vietnamese accent. I’ll pass on future showings.

At the Munich airport we didn’t clear customs and were instead rounded to different terminals. I changed clothes and found a place to charge my phone. I had been unable to charge my phone completely on the plane using the USB port.

My flight to Bucharest loaded early and sat on the tarmac for a while. We were told it was because Bucharest airport has only one runway and another plane needed to land ahead of us.

We landed without incident in Bucharest. After clearing passport control I had hoped to pick up Burger King at one of the gates. But this was impossible because of the layout.

I found an ATM to withdraw cash. Romanian money is made of plastic and can’t be torn easily.

I found my van driver taking me to Brasov. He had actually texted me while I was in Munich. We weren’t leaving for a few more minutes so I decided to get some snacks at the Carrefour supermarket.

So right now I’m writing this blog post on my way to Brasov.

More to come later.

This past week I had the opportunity to visit the Alamo.  I had been to it before, but it was during my late twenties.  Now I feel in my midlife I’ve had an extra measure of solemn perspective.

You see, just across the street from the Alamo is a tourist trap….Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, Hall of Mirrors, Wax Museum….you know the usual Gatlinburg tourist fare. But somehow I think that this sacred ground which between 182 to 257 Texans lost their lives (and between 400 – 600 Mexican casualties).  Except for women and children, those Texans who were captured, were executed and their bodies were burned by Santa Ana. Should we necessarily celebrate this with shrunken heads or mirror mazes?

And how far into the future should we make light of tragedies?  Pee Wee Herman didn’t do the Alamo any justice, just like others making a joke about “Mrs. & Mrs. Lincoln, don’t go see that play.”  Or Reagan making a joke “Honey, I forgot to duck,” when 3 others were wounded in the assassination attempt.

Who knows, 20 or 50 or 100 years from now we might be making fun of the Las Vegas massacre, the World Trade Center terrorist or the like. (And yes I know some people do still make fun of the 9/11 tragedy; but most still see that tragedy as a solemn tragedy).

Further on down the road is a cathedral which houses the remains of Travis, Crockett and Bowie, men who died fighting for freedom at the Alamo.  This should be our perspective, not a mirror maze or a wax museum.

After breakfast I rode with a group of strangers to Auschwitz. The trip took about an hour and 15 minutes. On the way we watched a documentary about the Soviet filmmaker Soldier tasked with recording the events of liberating the Auschwitz concentration camp. At times the documentary was disturbing. I found myself looking out the window imagining brighter things outside. There are no Interstate or Autobahn highways to Auschwitz. Instead the trip took us through many small towns and villages with roundabouts. Also we got to see a large portion of farmland and forested areas. at times I forgot that I was in Poland and instead thought I might have been in America.

Auschwitz is a very busy place. There Are Tour groups going in and out at all times seemingly. And this isn’t even the busy season. We met our tour guide who reminded me of an old co-worker in looks and in dress. I was unable to take my backpack so I struggled with keeping all of my cameras ready and able to take photographs. We had to put our accessories through a metal detector before we entered. I can understand this as there are some Holocaust deniers there who might cause harm to the park.

We saw the famous gate with “Arbeit Macht Frei” that is “work makes free” over the top of the entrance. As it turns out Auschwitz was a former military base which was turned into a death camp. I had been to Dachau Concentration Camp before in 2010 so I sort of knew what to expect. How were the buildings at Auschwitz were more permanent than at Dachau. I would have to assume that the bricked military base buildings for built to stand much longer than the Dachau Concentration Camp buildings which were basically wooden barns.

Throughout the tour I kept thinking to myself how did the German leadership convince thousands of Germans to believe that the Jews were evil in must be exterminated. A typical German military official probably would not be concerned with the Jews. Was he just following orders? Did he have some type of brainwashing that made him think that Exterminating people in such a flippant manner was okay? Somehow I’ve got to believe that these people became numb to the killing around them. Someone doesn’t just wake up and hate people. Instead they are taught to hate through indoctrination. So in a sense if you believe a lie long enough then you will do extraordinarily terrible things to human beings.

Large-scale killings by governments have been done before. We read about it in the Bible. What makes this situation different is that it happened on such a large scale and in Fairly modern times. These times we thought were supposed to be in a sense more humane. But the Holocaust proved everyone wrong. It proved how cruel we can be to a fellow human being, an entire race.

I found that the Germans would cut the hair from corpses and use them to make socks for soldiers. How creepy is this? I for one would not be wearing any socks from hair from a human being.

I also found out that the Germans would have the prisoners write to their next of kin on postcards describing how beautiful Auschwitz was and how they should come to Auschwitz. This seems like a cruel joke but somehow the Nazis thought it was okay.

Throughout the tour I was wondering how are tour guide could emotionally do this all the time. She described death in a very blunt manner without sugar coating it. She used words and phrases that I would look for in a very blunt documentary about Auschwitz. It didn’t necessarily seem like a canned speech. Honestly I couldn’t tell if she ever verred off topic. I told her later on that I felt that she did a good job and appreciated her leading the tour even though it is a very difficult subject, but a subject that needed to be heard.

I told myself I would take a photo of anyone trying to shoot a selfie within Auschwitz. But none could be found. Sure you would have an occasional person go and stand beside a Memorial to get there spouse or friend to take a photo of them. Those types of photos are okay I guess but I’m not so sure I would necessarily want to be posing beside a crematorium.
They’re actually two camps to Auschwitz, that is Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II. The latter of the camps is mostly outside with decaying ruins. Seems the Germans tried to extinguish any trace of the crematorium before the Red Army arrived. The whole time we were in the second camp it looked like that it might rain at any moment and yet the sun was out. This is kind of been a theme to my Polish trip. Ever since I got to Warsaw the weather has been cloudy or even rainy. This dreariness has reminded me of Poland’s Troublesome past, with being partitioned in World War II, hosting a concentration camp, and being under the subjection of communism. I’m hoping for brighter days for Poland both meteorologically and figuratively.

Auschwitz was a difficult pill to swallow. It’s one of those places that you should visit once but you don’t really have a reason to go back. It’s terrible, mind-blowing, and disgusting. But the story must be told so that we do not repeat it. In other words treat those who are different than yourself with a sense of respect.

I made it back to Krakow at around 5 p.m. I had supper at cyclop pizza place which was recommended by Rick Steves. However as most pizza places go in Europe it turns out it’s just cheese on a cracker with very little tomato sauce. I was disappointed.

As luck would have it they were having a classic car show in the Market Square. I love taking photos of old cars in unusual settings. I managed to get several pictures of race cars and classic cars in front of Krakow landmarks like st. Mary’s Church and the old City Hall Tower. I could have spent all day taking photos of old cars but unfortunately people kept on getting in the way of the photos.

Tomorrow fly back to the United States. In some ways I think I spent a couple of days too long in Europe as I’ve been longing to get back. Walking around for so many days can be difficult and tiring. So tomorrow I will pack up all my stuff and head toward the airport probably via train. It’ll be a long day and I’ll be glad to get to my own bed tomorrow night.

Today was a full day of exploring Krakow’s Old Town. I got up at around 8 a.m. and headed to breakfast. I had done some studying before hand and was able to say my room number in Polish to the breakfast attendant. I’m sure I’m mispronounced it but I said it well enough so that she could figure it out. I’ve been trying to learn polish as I think it helps break the ice with service staff. I would imagine most Americans don’t bother learning polish and therefore it kind of looks bad when they just automatically speak English to service staff. 

At breakfast I had my usual scrambled eggs and toast. I also found out where the cereal is kept. So I had some chocolate Cocoa Puffs as well.

My Rick Steves guidebook said that I should stop by the Jagiellonian University and ask for the 30-minute English tour. I found the ticket area and was told the next tour was at 10:40. Therefore I had about an hour to kill before going back for my tour. I checked to see if the Old City Hall Tower was open. Unfortunately it opened at 10:30.  I did stop by the Floridian gate which is a medieval gate protecting the city.  A McDonald’s is right beside it providing me with free wifi. The Rick Steve book spoke about how when they were renovating the McDonald’s they found a medieval basement in the underground of the McDonald’s. So McDonald’s turned it into more seating. I did some window browsing and took some photos before getting back to take a tour of the University.

While waiting in line another gentleman saw that I was wearing my UT Vols shirt and mention that he did his undergraduate study at Vanderbilt. I mentioned to him that I lived near Nashville and was from Mount Juliet. I didn’t have much more time to talk to him because the tour was already started.

A stern security guard open the door to the library and invited our group of around 12 people in. Our tour guide was a young lady whose English wasn’t as good as others English. I really had to listen to her to be able to decipher what she was saying because of her thick accent. 

During the early days of the University of the professor’s would actually live at the University somewhat like a monk. Students who could not afford to pay for tuition worked as servants to the professors. Copernicus went there as a student can the university has several artists Renditions of his likeness. For example in the library there is a bust of his head. 

We saw a library, a few treasury rooms, and a lecture hall that looks very similar to a cathedral in seating arrangements. And one of the treasuries and Oscar, a Nobel Peace Prize, a 2004 Olympic medal, and a Neil Armstrong autographed photo of the view of Earth from space. The latter was for Copernicus’ 500th birthday.

After the tour was over I went over to the town hall Tower to climb to the top for some pictures. The town hall Tower is All That Remains from the former Town Hall. It was torn down by Austrians in never rebuilt.

On the way up there are various Museum exhibits about the history of the Town Hall. Fortunately they were in polish therefore it really did not mean too much to me. Had the top the viewing area is behind class therefore it would not look good to be doing selfies there. One space would turn dark while the background would be light.

Imagine what it would be like if they ever did rebuild the town hall but I think it’s so much of a landmark now that the town hall would overwhelm the rest of the empty Square.

Afterwards I wandered around some more and bought some souvenirs. I did find myself near the Barbican, which is a medieval Fortress which was one disconnected to the non-existent city walls. I paid my admission fee to get in and wander around. Unfortunately the view from the Barbican is not all that good. You can barely see the Floridian gate behind it.

I decided that I should at least try some pierogi as today would be a good opportunity to do so. I wondered around the old town till I Came Upon an authentic Polish restaurant sign. I was the only one in the restaurant at that time. I order the Pierogi with potato and cream cheese. Initially I thought I was ordering 10 but they gave me two extra perogies. The Pierogi was good but it’s not my kind of food. It was like eating a plateful of potatoes. 

I ended up ordering an extra Fanta in order to be able to have some thirst quencher. It almost felt like I was in an eating contest in The Amazing Race. And somehow I was doing it to prove to friends that I was willing to try new things.

Afterwards I stop by St Mary’s tower to visit the tower. As it turns out the next Tower visit was at 3:10 p.m. Therefore I had around 90 minutes to kill before having to be back in the tower.

 I walked around the Old Town and got a ticket to the underground Museum. The lady at the ticket booth recommended I go ahead and buy my ticket now so as to ensure my place in line. Therefore I scheduled my visit for 4:10 p.m. with plenty of time in between the St Mary’s tower and the underground Museum.

At the appointed time I climb the steps to the St Mary’s tower which is the largest tower in the old town. The Rick Steves book said that the stairs were in a state of disrepair because there was a feud going between the church and the City of Krakow over whose responsibility it was to repair the stairs. But by now the stairs were repaired with nice new steps and handrails. Therefore I figured that the disagreement between the church and city of Krakow had been resolved.

At the top one tourist had a GoPro camera on the end of a stick and was holding the stick out from the tower in the window. I thought about doing that too but I still not trust my equipment to be able to secure the GoPro. I probably would have freaked out if my GoPro had fell from the tower.

It’s a nice view of the city from up there. I was going to use my GoPro more but a couple of Germans were monopolizing the viewing area of the prime location showing the Market Square.

After climbing down the steps I really wanted some ice cream and soda.. the only problem was I couldn’t find any in the places I was looking. That kind of happened sometimes. When you’re needing to find something you never can find it. But afterwards you always seem to be able to come across it.

I started my tour of the underground Museum thirsty which was probably not a good thing. The museum had plenty of screens to read about primitive and medieval Krakow. Excavations from the city had brought about old skeletons, knives, spoons, and toys. It was all very interesting but unfortunately it was near toward the end of the day and I was really tired. Near toward the end of the tour there were short documentaries about the history of Krakow. The only one that I really enjoyed was the one about World War II and onward.

After the underground muzeum I was thinking about getting supper but I wasn’t sure if I wanted McDonald’s or something else. The Rick Steves book had suggested French bread pizza but I never could find it.

And now a word about the people who stand on the streets of Krakow and hand you flyers for whatever restaurant, bar hop or strip club they may be promoting. After a while it becomes incredibly annoying especially when you’re walking down the same street back and forth and they harass you each and every time trying to hand you a flyer. I’ve kind of death tit showing them the hand or just ignoring them quite completely. I act like I don’t know English either. It’s just one of those things that makes my vacation less enjoyable.

I decided on Pizza Hut again which was located at the mall by the train station. I had my usual: a pan pizza with all the meats. I think something was wrong with the seven up in that it probably didn’t have syrup and tasted like European water with carbonation. 

After dinner I saw that we was raining and therefore I changed back into my coach. I stopped by a convenience store and got a large Milka chocolate bar and got back to my hotel room. 

Tomorrow I have a day trip to the Auswitch concentration camp. This should be a sobering reminder of the evil humans are capable of doing to one another. 

I’m looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep.

I got up early this morning. I had a 11:15 a.m. appointment for a tour of the salt mines. If I could get up and get ready I’d have a few hours to spend in the old town visiting some whole churches that open early. 

Breakfast was the usual that is toast, banana, and scrambled eggs. As I watched euronews on the tv in the breakfast eating area, I noticed we were having another crisis with North Korea. I wondered if the Polish people felt like North Korea needed to be contained just as much as the United States felt.

With the cool brisk air at my face I walked to the old town. The forecast in called for rain but so far it was only cloudy. I took a few pictures of Saint Maria’s Church in the old town. I had already seen the inside of the church so there was no need to try and see it again. Although I will try to climb the tower tomorrow to get a good view of the whole old town. I visited a handful of churches including the Dominican Church also known as the Holy Trinity Church, and the Saints Peter and Paul Church. The latter of the two had some great looking statues of what appeared to be the Apostles at the entrance of the church.

I’m at the point where I see almost all churches as being the same. When I first made it to Europe in 2010 I was in awe of these churches with their massive ceilings and ornate decorations. Now it seems that they’re all blurring together and it doesn’t seem so impressive anymore. Even more so it makes me dislike the ornateness of it. I mean why not stop using so much ornate statues and give the money to the poor?

Meanwhile some Churches didn’t allow for photographs which is just as well. Many times my photographs inside churches do not come out very well.

I noticed the Dominican church had a representation of God along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Very rarely do I see representation of God. I see many carved images of Jesus, which seems to be a favorite Catholic subject for carvings. The God is almost never shown – rightfully so which one of The Commandments privets it. 

At one of the gift shops I managed to find a Volkswagen Christmas ornament which I gladly bought. It is an old style blue Volkswagen Beetle convertible. I’ll add it to my collection of Beetle Christmas ornaments.

With time running short I decided to grab a Subway sandwich to eat on the Run while waiting for my ride to the salt mines.

While I waited in my hotels Lobby I listen to those around me speaking in English and German. As it turns out I believe it was an Australian family and a German family that knew each other. 

The gentleman with my tour company arrived to pick me up. He drove a Mercedes van. There was a Swedish couple already in the van in the very back seat. I made small talk with them and with the driver. We picked up two more Danish couples at another hotel before heading to the Salt Mine. 

The driver and I engaged in conversations about traveling. Has it turns out he was traveling to the country of Georgia for holiday in a few days. I told him I had wanted to visit Georgia. 

We got to the salt mine and waited for the rest of the other tour groups to arrive so that we could form one large tour group. Heart or God works for the salt mine and was not associated with the company that provided transportation premier hotels to the salt mine. We took several flights of stairs to the bottom of the salt mine sometimes having to stop and wait for whatever reason.

Our first stop told the story of a princess who threw her ring down the salt mine which was later found by miner which influenced her decision to marry someone from that area.

Other interesting stories included how they used horses in the mind and did not take the horses back up to the surface until they were retired. Which makes me wonder how the horses felt after seeing daylight for the first time since being Colts. 

Also the water in the mind has to be purified before being released into the sewers or else the entire water supply could be contaminated with salt. There was a story of German soldiers going on a boat ride in the mine for amusement purposes. The boat turned upside down and the Germans were unable to turn the boat right side up because the water was thick with brine. They ended up drowning and the mine that this type of entertainment was forbidden.

The mine had a chapel with various scenes of The Life of Christ carved in salt. This included a Last Supper piece carved and salt. The Chapel’s altar was also carved in salt. At the other end of the chapel was a statue of John Pope Paul II carved in salt. 

And now a note about the statue of John Pope Paul II. We were told to meet the guy at a certain time beside this said statue. I was focusing in on my tour guide and was not looking around me. I felt the hands of someone physically moving me to the side. As it turns out someone wanted their picture made in front of the Pope statue but I was in the way. Just about the time they moved me a large group of people probably were following our tour guide games that probably couldn’t get the shot anyway.

Toward the end of the tour they mind hook a note from Cracker Barrel and released the tour group has a captive audience into a gift shop. The gift shop had everything except probably a salt shaker made out of salt.

There is a Tavern in the salt mine which serves meals. I was aware of this tavern, but due to the tour schedule I would not have been able to eat there. Hence I was glad I ate before the tour.

The elevator ride back was very fast. Sometimes I think they should use the elevator for us going down. But I think it would be putting us in a completely different part of the Mine. On our way back we had to cross several blocks in order to get to the entrance of the Mine from the exit of the mine. 

I stayed with the Swedish couple hoping that we could find her way back easier. But we ended up taking a wrong turn and me and the sweetest gentleman ended up being the last two people back to the bus.

I had mentioned to our bus driver that I was interested in seeing Nowa Huta, a planned Soviet City with large spacious boulevards and Apartments built in the way as making it easier to fight fires should there be a nuclear blast. By coincidence our tour guide lived there and was willing to take me there. We had a bit of a large amount of traffic due to it being rush-hour and rain. Had it been Sunday more people would have booked or taken the bus.

There was a communist Museum that closed at 5 p.m. that was I was interested in seeing. Our tour guide said that he can probably make it by 4 p.m. We spent several minutes in traffic within the old town (dropping off passengers at their hotels) and getting to Nowa Huta. But I did have a chance to visit the Communist Museum in Nowa Huta. 

Had the Communist Museum there was some discussion about how Polish people received care packages from organizations in Western Europe. There was an interesting story about how a Polish family received toothpaste from overseas Howard the family didn’t know what it was. The grandmother thought that it was some catch all medical ointment and put it on her back. Someone else thought it was glue and used it on their school project. When the items that she thought had been glued onto paper fell off she knew that it was not glue. 

It was cold and wet whenever I exited the museum. But I wanted to find the street plaque showing Ronald Reagan Square. How ironic was it to have the leader of a democratic country the honored in a city planned by the Soviets. I guess we know who won the Cold War. I had some bit of trouble trying to find my way back but I did find tr for and rode it back to the old town. 

I had supper at Pizza Hut at the mall beside the main train station before heading back to my hotel. I stopped at a convenience store and got some candy and also at a bakery and got a brownie and cupcake

Tomorrow will be the first time that I’ll be able to spend all day in Kracow and I’m looking forward to it.

I woke up to find that my phone hadn’t charged overnight so I quickly plugged it in and started charging it. The phone is my lifeline when I’m out in town. It keeps me from getting lost. 

Breakfast in the hotel was fine. The mail Hotel server asked how I would like my eggs either scrambled or fried. I said scrambled. I had toast with strawberry jam and a banana and scrambled eggs.

Before I left the hotel I decided it would be best to inquire of the hotel staff if I could schedule a tour for the Auschwitz concentration camp and the salt mine. The lady at the desk recommended I should schedule to separate tours rather than doing them both on the same day. Therefore since tomorrow was going to be raining I scheduled the salt mine tour for tomorrow. The Off Woods tour I scheduled for Wednesday. I would need to visit the ATM to get cash as they would need to give it to the tour operator.

Today was free day at the Oscar Schindler Museum. It opened at 10 a.m. And on the way I was going to drop off my laundry at Frania Cafe on the way there.

I failed the laundry place quite easily as I had looked on Google Maps to figure out where exactly it was. I couldn’t determine if it was a cafe or a laundry mat or both. It seemed a little bit too hipster for me to hang out there. I paid the equivalent of 7 dollars for laundry which would mean that they would wash and dry and fold the clothes for me within 3 hours. This was quite a bargain. 

I made it to the Oscar Schindler Museum. There was already a line and people who had purchased tickets beforehand actually got to go first. I finally made it in at 10:15 a.m. I watched a short movie of survivors of the Schindler Factory. It gave a good overview of the story. Actually the Rick Steves book gave been even better description of how Oscar Schindler was able to save around 700 Jews from the concentration camps.

Very little of the museum is dedicated to Oscar Schindler. Instead it examined World War II history from the perspective of Krakow and its citizens with a special concentration on the Jewish plight. It was one of the better museums that I had been too. There was no audio God but none was needed as there were English descriptions on each of the exhibits.

After the museum I decided to walk back the way I came and visit the Jewish quarter. I checked to see if there were any attractions near me and discovered that the Eagle Pharmacy was nearby. In fact it was on the Ghetto Heroes’ Square with the empty chairs. This is much like the Oklahoma City Memorial with empty chairs.

I took several pictures each trying to avoid having a tourist in the photo. It would be great to visit this Square when no one is around. But there always seemed to be a tour group or a couple around taking Glamour Shots of the square. 

I spied a Telepizza nearby and ordered a pepperoni pizza without onions. (I made this mistake in Gdansk and ended up having to pull the onions out of the standard pepperoni pizza).

How ironic was it for me to be eating a pork based product in a square honoring Jewish victims of the Holocaust. On top of that I saw couples posing beside the empty chairs as if it was a glamour shot.

This is one of those things that I despise about traveling in Europe. Sometimes you will see couples striking a pose and in the course making themselves look very foolish. Plus with this empty chair Memorial it seemed obit over the top and sacrilegious to do this kind of thing. On top of that a group of high school or college at aged kids showed up and did what college age kids do that is not seem to care or have any interest in the memorial around them and use the empty chairs as shelves for their book bags.

After eating I found the Eagle Pharmacy but unfortunately they had closed by the time I found it. It was only 11:30 p.m. but they close at 2 p.m. It’s Times Like These when I wish I worked Baker’s hours.

I then decided to try to find some Jewish historical sites in the Jewish quarter. I found the new Jewish cemetery easily even though the Rick Steves book said that it was difficult to find. The new Jewish cemetery is not all that new dating back to the 1800s. Moss and vines covers up many of the headstones. Before I entered a female cemetery worker ran up and asked me if I spoke English. Not sure how to answer her I reluctantly told her yes. As it turns out she just wanted me to wear a yamaka with a bobby pin. Apparently yamakas are required for all men not just Jewish men, at holy Jewish sites. 

I didn’t set out to find other synagogues and the old Jewish cemetery. One of the synagogues I came to was closed. I did find another one however the inner part of the worship area seemed a very sparse. This is the case with many synagogues that I visited as apparently Jews did not decorate their houses of worship the way Catholics decorated theirs. 

I found another Jewish synagogue which was being refurnished. I believe a donation was strongly encouraged however I was able to sneak in with a tour group. Again the inside part of the synagogue was nothing special and therefore I decided that it was not worth visiting any other synagogues as I’m a photographer and prefer more photographic scenes.

I figured now it might be a good time to try to visit it Wawell Hill, which is where the castle and Cathedral are located. I made my way up the hill,  took some photos, and bought my ticket to the Cathedral at the ticket stand. Initially I got the ticket without the audio guide. However when I got into the cathedral I decided to go back and get the audio guide as I would have had no idea what any of this meant.

As collateral for the audio guide they do ask that a form of ID is left. I left my driver’s license. 

The cathedrals dedicated to to well-known Polish figures, one of which was King Wenceslas. 

With the tour I got to go to the top of the cathedral to look out through a fenced-in area of the Old Town. The old town is a bit far away but you can still make out some of the landmarks.

Several polish figures are buried there, including most recently the president of Poland and his wife, victims of the 2010 plane crash in Russia.

After I finished my tour and got my driver’s license back, decided to see if there were any tours available of the castle. I looked around and it looked like all of the Museum’s of the castle were closed. This confirmed my suspicions when I asked the lady at the ticket booth. Apparently they close at 4 p.m.

I decided now would be a good time to go back and get my laundry, take it back to my room, and then go find supper.

After returning to my room with my laundry, which was nice and folded by the way, I decided to go and try to find the old town. My hotel is located within easy walking distance of the Old Town.

In front of St Maria’s Church there appeared to be some hip hop guys show up to do a dance demonstration. At first I thought it might have been a fraternity dare wrong because to be quite honest with you these guys looked quite uncool.

Just like an old cliche the Krakow Hard Rock Cafe is located in the most centralized part of the town beside a well-known landmark. I really thought that Hard Rock Cafes went out in the 90s. But just like the United Colors of Benetton and Tommy Hilfiger, Hard Rock Cafe seem to hang on overseas if only to give American visitors the taste of a decent burger.

I ate a Burger Station which appeared to be a hip burger joint with free wifi. The only problem is that I don’t think I’m as hip as what their preferred clientele would be. Regardless I ordered the standard cheeseburger on the special Italian bun as recommended by the server at the cash register. My burger came drenched in ketchup and mayonnaise so much that I was using tons of napkins. Underneath my napkins on my plate for the plastic disposable gloves which I use to serve food at summer camp. I felt foolish putting on those gloves but somehow it was helping me keep my hands from getting too messy. 

Tomorrow I have a big day. I’ll be going to the Salt Mine. Due to some confusion on my hotel receptionist’s part, she scheduled the wrong day for the salt mine tour. I wanted it scheduled for Tuesday at 9 a.m. but she scheduled it for Wednesday at 9 a.m. Since Tuesday’s weather forecast is showing rain I preferred Tuesday for the mine tour. But by the time she rescheduled it the 9 a.m. slots were filled and I had to settle for a 11:15 a.m. slot. So I guess tomorrow I’ll get up early and head into the old town and try to see some Churches which my open early before being back in my hotel in time to catch the tour at 11:15.

So far Krakow scenes very interesting I should be able to see most of it during my three days left.

I had a big day today. Plus rain was in the forecast and I didn’t pack an umbrella. I had packed the night before so that I wouldn’t have to race to repack this morning as I was going to be leaving for Krakow on a train at 5:50 p.m. 

The breakfast buffet was a bit less crowded today. I could tell a lot of people were going home today. It was probably those weekend Travelers that were there for Saturday.

I got my usual scrambled eggs and Cocoa Puffs cereal. And now a word about the glass size of the juice machine. The glass size is one step up from a shot glass. I can get probably about three swallows out of it before having to get a refill. But it seems all normal to Europeans. They don’t question having to get up several times in order for them to quench their thirst. I’ve said it before. Europeans are camels. They seem perfectly fine with no free refills and small glasses for breakfast juices. This goes hand-in-hand with the pay toliets. Having no free refills means one’s bladder is not full therefore they do not have to pay for the for the body function of relieving oneself while out on the town.

There was light rain when I left the hotel room but not overpowering so much that I would have waited until it stopped. I’ve seen Gully washers before in Tennessee, and I’m sure they’ve had heavy rain before in Europe. But this goes to show you if rain is in the forecast don’t feel as though your trip is going to be ruined. It only means that part of the day there may be rain, unless of course the forecast shows Heavy Rain which in that case you might need to stay in your hotel room.

I found my way to the metro station and bought a 24-hour ticket. I figured I’d be using the buses trams and Subways a lot therefore it would make more sense to get the 26 zloty take it rather than having to pay 4.30 zloty for each and every ride.

The Warsaw Uprising museum is free on Sundays. I got to the museum at around 9:10. The museum didn’t open until 10 a.m. and I was quickly reminded by staff members already on the premises. Has more and more people arrived I decided would be best to stand in front of the ticket office. I stood there for a good 15 to 20 minutes until a Polish lady came by and ask to worker if tickets were to be bought here. There was a separate office for tickets and an entrance Door far away from the ticket office. The worker confirm that since today was free ticket day that they would be giving tickets out at the entrance. There is already a line forming and I decided I better get in line.

There was a big mass of people trying to get in as it was raining lightly. There was no Rhyme or Reason.  There were quite a few people who just cut in line. When the door is open they were only letting a few in at a time so as not to overwhelm the exhibit. I did get in and found the museum was difficult to absorb with so many people around. I really wish that I had gotten the audio guide which seemed to be unavailable on free day.

There was an exhibit on children who helped during the Warsaw Uprising. Children as young as 12 years old served as couriers during the battles. Some of these children lost their lives during the uprising.

I did get to see a 3D movie which showed an aerial view of what Warsaw must have looked like during the war. The Nazis pretty much flattened the city. Very few buildings remained of the downtown area of Warsaw. The Nazis wanted to wipe it off the face of the map.

I watched a movie showing old newsreel footage of the uprising. It was important to dig wells in case the Germans cut off water to the city. Mini of the Polish resistance used the sewers as a way of navigating around the city. The exhibit had an area where you could feel what the sewers for like 2 walkthrough but without the waste.

The museum had items donated by those involved in the uprising including mini personal mementos,  arm band flags, a bicycle, and many other various items.

I enjoyed the museum but felt that I probably could have done better had I not gone on free day. There’s something to be said about paying so that you don’t have to deal with the crowd issue. I’m sure had I gotten an audio Guide I would have been joined the exhibit better. 

Next to is trying to navigate my way to the Museum of neon using public transport. The thing about Google Maps is that it requires a WiFi connection. If you lose that WiFi connection you could be lost randomly roaming the city for a non-existent bus stop. I did manage to find a WiFi signal at the Museum which I used to navigate my way to the bus stop. 

On my way to the bus stop I passed by an anomaly. That is a Domino’s pizza restaurant. I had been eating Pizza Hut for quite a while and was interested in trying a new brand of pizza. The worker tried to get me to buy a large pizza at the same price as a small pizza but what he didn’t realize was that I couldn’t possibly eat a large pizza so why buy it? I got a small pepperoni pizza. He was pretty hot when it came out of the oven and I think I’m probably didn’t let it cool down enough before I started eating it. I was just there stood in trying to get my food as quickly as possible so that I can try to squeeze in the three remaining museums. After I ate I asked if there was a toilet available for me to use. The first worker did not speak English and asked that another worker come and help me. I was told there was no toilet. This would have been unheard of in an American restaurant. If you have in-house eating then you must provide a toilet for customers to use. Again this goes along my theory about Europeans being Camels as far as bodily functions and no free refills.

I rode the 30-minute tram ride to the neon Museum stop. It seemed to be in a nondescript area of town but using Google Maps I was able to get to it. The museum itself is quite small but a joy for a photographer. There was maybe about 20 neon signs lit up and several off to the side without any electricity.

Next was the Czar PRL musuem. It was within easy walking distance of the Neon Museum. But it is kind of hidden away and I probably would have missed it had I not known about it using Google. 

The museum is a Showcase of household items from the Communist era. There were plenty of Brands I did not recognize but had someone grown up in Poland in the 70s or 80s they probably would have felt a sense of nostalgia in the Museum.

I took several pictures before heading back to the tram stop. I knew I needed to take tramp 26 back to the old town to view the royal castle. However I got turned around and ended up taking the tram in the wrong. I soon corrected myself but was getting kind of anxious to try to make it to the castle in time. 

To my pleasant surprise there was no line to get free tickets to the royal castle. This was free ticket day and I had read reviews about how on Sundays the castle museum is overwhelmed with those seeking to get in free

I got an audio guide and checked my bag. Bag checking seems to be a regular thing at tourist attractions in Europe. I guess they’re doing it so as not to have the possibility of theft. Also it makes it less likely for damage to Priceless items when someone turns around with their backpack on their shoulder. 

A good portion of the audio guide at the beginning is dedicated to telling the story of how the castle was damaged during World War II. Basically it was flattened by the Nazis. The Polish people were thoughtful enough to move all of the Priceless items to the countryside. Unfortunately many of these items were discovered by the Nazis in the countryside and pillaged. The museum audio guide talked about then finding a metal Eagle used in the throne curtain design. This metal Eagle was found in the United States and wish use as a guide in making reproductions for the throne room.

I have an OCD symptom where I feel as though I need to listen to each and every part of the audio guide regardless of how interesting it is. So I found myself listening to critiques of paintings and have already forgotten what they mentioned. Plus I was anxious to end the tour to be able to get back to my hotel room grab my luggage and get to the train station.

At around 4 p.m. a Museum lady started shooing me out. I guess it was time to close. I managed to buy a couple of souvenirs. Before heading back to the bus stop to ride to my hotel. 

On my way to the train station about a Subway sandwich to eat either on the train or waiting for my train. I did the latter.

The train ride was the direct Rod to Krakow. This is different than the Gdansk to Warsaw train ride as there were a few stops. 

I’m in my hotel room in Krakow now. I had asked for a double room which was the same price as a single room and I’m glad I did. The room has actually two rooms plus a bathroom. There is a bedroom and another room for sitting and watching TV. It would be the perfect place for a couple who had different sleep patterns. One could stay up at light at night watching TV while the other partner napped. 

Tomorrow I plan on dropping off my laundry and going to see the Jewish area including the Schindler Museum.

The breakfast area was filled to overflowing into another room this morning. There was nobody checking for room Verification before anybody was entering.

I got my usual eggs and Cocoa Puffs cereal. Later on I tried some toast with blackberry jam and honey. I preferred the honey better as the blackberry jam is a little bit too tart.

The Rick Steves had raved about the Copernicus Science Museum so I decided to give it a try. I found that it was easy to get to from my hotel just by riding a subway stop away. I got there and found that there was already a line forming. It was a Saturday and many people had Brought their families along.

I tried to get tickets to the Planetarium but they said the next available adult show is at 3 p.m. and I did not want to stay that long at the Museum. The museum has mostly all Hands-On activities for participants. I entered in what appeared to be an area designed for teenagers and older. There’s a card that you use to activate the experience. I saw where you could control music, help identify song lyrics, identify sayings in other languages, take personality tests, and so on. Since this area was not designed for children it was the least crowded. After trying all the experiences that I wanted to try in that area, I moved on to other areas. There were different areas devoted to motion which included showing waves in water, building pyramids, holding one’s breath, being on a sinking ship when it was going down and many other things. The area devoted to the human body showed how long once digestive system was, and also having a plastic body where you would put the plastic organs back in it. The darkroom included examples of lasers hand static electricity.

I can’t say that I got too much out of the museum but I was glad that I did have a chance to look at it but I would probably not go back given the chance if I was in Warsaw again.

Next I decided to have lunch. I took the subway and ate at Burger King. The server actually gave me three ketchup packets rather than the usual one or two. I was grateful for this but still ungrateful that the bathroom door remained locked even though I entered in the code that I was given.

It was then I decided to visit the Palace of culture. This is right by the Burger King and is very much a landmark Within Warsaw. It’s not the tallest building around but it’s definitely the most recognizable.

Right about when I was to get in line to buy my tickets a tour group got in front of me and I had to wait for them to buy their tickets. Thankfully a representative of theirs was buying the tickets for them so I did not have to wait entire time for each individual to buy their tickets. I did have to wait for them to get into the elevators though.

It’s a nice view from the city at the top. I was able to get some good pictures although I was unable to see the Old Town in great detail as it was too far away.

I bought some souvenirs and asked the souvenir sales person which should I do next…either the Warsaw National Museum or Lazeinki Park. Both were in the same direction at the last minute I decided to go to the Warsaw National Museum since it look like it was about ready to rain.

The Warsaw National Museum was full of old paintings and Cathedral artwork. There was a new section which had more contemporary art which I kind of enjoyed. There was also a section devoted to Hungarian photography. There was one particular photo that struck me as interesting. It was a photo of a cathedral in the background with debris around it. The debris was from the Jewish Warsaw Ghetto which the Germans had completely leveled but left the church standing. I asked one of the muzeum associates if the church was still standing and she said that she did not speak English.

I then decided maybe I could go to the Lazienki Park. I walked up to the bus stop and got in line. I did not have very many coins but I thought I would try to buy a ticket from the driver. Or I was even able to buy my ticket the driver had already started therefore I just decided to buy it at the next stop. The driver did not understand English but held up the ticket that he thought I wanted and I told him yes that’s what I needed.

Lazeinki Park is a nice Urban Park which probably would have been better had it not it been overcast. There’s a big statue of Chopin at one of the entrances which I took a few pictures of. There’s also a house on an island in a lake which you can use Bridges to get to. There were statues and peacock around.

After I’d grown tired of the park I decided to try and head on back. The only problem was I had no Wi-Fi and could not access the internet to establish a route back. For the first time I was looking at a bus stop schedule and decided to try and ride it to where I thought I should get off at. Phone’s battery was running low and I know I did not get a decent charge from my battery backup the night before so I was stressed a little bit. I rode the bus up to a stop which I thought would be good to try to walk back to my hotel. As it turns out this was the stop for a good photo opportunity. That is Warszawa Powisle, a communist era train ticket booth which is been turned into a hipster Cafe with neon lights. It looked really needs and probably would have looked even better had it been at night rather than on a cloudy day. I took several pictures and then headed back. That area was somewhat of a shady area of town as there were some skateboarders and other people around who I wasn’t sure what actions they were doing. But I managed to get myself up away from the area under the overpass. 

It was sprinkling rain enough to wet my glasses whereas before it had only been misting. I’ll probably have some trouble tomorrow as rain is still in the forecast and I may need to buy an umbrella. For what it’s worth I made it to pizza tonight for supper. I bought the refill option for my drinks but I still had to tell the waitress to be sure to refill it. This time I did leave a tip. I had read that you should leave at least a 10% tip for waiters and waitresses in restaurants.

Tomorrow I have a big day. I’m going to try to see the Warsaw Uprising Museum, the royal castle, the Museum of neon, and the communist era PRL musuem and still get back in time to catch my train at 6 p.m.