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| View of Krakow from Wawel Cathedral Bell Tower |
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| Bike ride day :) |
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| Vistula River |
First, apologies for not posting in such a long time. I'm going to do better in the future with blogging...it's still new to me. But so much has happened since I last posted! It's officially springtime! The weather this week has been beautiful thus far and I'm hoping that it stays this way especially after hearing that my brother had a snow day today back in Michigan. I mean I ate lunch at an outdoor cafe today and spent the afternoon walking around in a light jacket and sunglasses...not to rub it in or anything.
First, and most exciting, I have official Easter break plans. I'll be in GREECE for 11 days! Not only I am going to be in Greece, but I'm going to be in Greece on my birthday. And not only will I be in Greece on my birthday, but I will also be joined by my Mom, Aunt, and close family friend. Could it get much better? We are in the process of finalizing exact locations still, but so far on the list is Athens and Santorini, to be followed by a few more places. For those that don't know, I have been waiting to go to Greece for awhile (it was on my places to travel to the last time I was in Europe, but didn't end up happening). I am literally counting down the days. And yes, I plan to eat feta cheese everyday.
Besides my epic spring break plans, life has been great. Classes are going along. In another month, I'll already be done with two courses. I don't mind studying economics because I find it interesting and obviously relevant to current times, but my favorite course here is International Political Relations because it is a political science course (for those of you who don't know, that is my major at GVSU). And although it's been a great experience studying economics and branching out from my major a bit, I'm so happy that I studied what I'm truly passionate about for my first four year of undergrad. I am even looking forward to grad school more and more because I'll be studying politics again (I must be missing it, right?).
It's been easy for me to make a life in Krakow for myself. And lately, I could see myself coming back in the future. There's just so much to do here and so much life going on! Over the weekend I went to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. And yes, it's cooler than it sounds. They're no longer mining salt there, but it's still open to tourists. We spent at least three hours down there and it was really cool to see cathedrals, statues, and different rooms carved out of the salt--there are rooms from the 14th century. You can even get married in one of the cathedrals down there. At one point the mine was even responsible for a third of Poland's wealth. It was definitely a good half day trip to take though and I would recommend it to others planning to visit Krakow.
Last Monday I visited Schindler's Factory. To get there, I took a tram, which happened to drop me off in the center of the Plac Bohaterow Getto--the Jewish ghetto used in WWII. It was definitely sobering to step off there and see the 70 empty chairs that are part of a memorial now representing the furniture, suitcases, and other items Jews were forced to leave behind. This was also the point of departure for thousands of people who were transferred from the ghetto to the concentration camps. For those of you familiar with the movie Schindler's List, some of the movie was actually filmed in the old factory and throughout the city. But now the factory has been turned into a museum of WWII history. There are rooms and exhibits focused on Jewish life in Krakow, the ghetto, Plaszow Camp (which started out as a labor camp but later turned into a concentration camp not far from Schindler's Factory), the German occupation of Poland, and much more. It was really interesting to be in a place displaying so much tragic history, while at the same time knowing that where I was standing was a place of refuge; a place where no Jew was ever harmed, mistreated, and received a sustainable caloric intake along with a sense of hope. Schindler's factory was a safe haven relatively speaking, trumping the alternative of a concentration camp.
On a more cheerful note, two weekends ago I rented a bike with some friends and rode around the city. We rode 12 km out to an abbey, called Tyniec. It's an old Benedictine abbey that has been there for almost 1,000 years. The bike ride out there was gorgeous! It was a 60 degree day and sunny. We saw great views of Wawel Castle, the Vistula River, and other sites. The abbey was also very nice. We walked around a bit, ate lunch, and went inside the church. And not to be disrespectful in any way, but the organ music playing inside the church was some of the creepiest music I've ever heard in my life. My friends there with me can attest to this.
But that is the update on my adventures thus far :) Do zobaczenia!
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| Nicholas Copernicus statue |
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| Alter of Mariacka Basilica |
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| Plac Boharterow Getto |
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| What's left of the old ghetto walls |
