May 2010
Day 6 and 7 - Goodbye Poland, Hello Prague
The train ride from Krakow to Prague was supposed to be about 8 hours. Well, what ever works like it is supposed to? First, we were on the right, but wrong train. Apparently there are 2 trains that run between Krakow and Katovice (our connection to Prague) at roughly the same time. The one we got one was apparently not covered by our Eurail Pass. It was about 45 minutes late and arrived at the time the train we needed did. Oh well. We made our connection, and some 11 1/2 hours later we roll into Prague (remember those floods I mentioned earlier? Huge delays across the entire rail system). The whole trip wasn't a wash - I did have the single best meal I'd ever had on a train. Chicken Schnitzel, roasted potatoes, cabbage, potato soup, rye bread, and chocolate crepes. All for $18.
Poland
Poland.
What can you say about Poland? The picture that many people have is that of a cold, hard, and unforgiving place existing only in shades of grey; a sad old black and white film that made it off the big screen and onto the map. The last thousand years haven't exactly been kind to Poland. They've been invaded, conquered, re-invaded, conquered, re-invaded, Nazi's, Holocaust, Soviet Bloc, and so on (and that's just the last 200 or so years). More recently their President was killed in a plane crash, but due to the rumblings of one aforementioned Icelandic Volcano a large majority of world leaders were prevented from attending. Now unseasonal rains have caused quite massive flooding in the south and west of the country. Does this place ever catch a break?
We arrived here a day late, and were greeted by what can best be described as weather resembling a typical wet Arkansas winter day. Rain, cold, wind - all the main players had tuned up a wonderful symphony intended to lower our spirits and dampen our plans. Sounds Polish right?
Day 4 - Auschwitz and Updates
Today we went to Auschwitz. I don't really know what to say except that it is the most horrible thing that I've ever experienced. Your first view of the camp is red-brick buildings and lush green grass, but hidden behind that is the site of the extermination of 1.1 million people. I don't have and won't attempt to put into words how seeing it makes you feel. The buildings have piles of suitcases, clothes, shoes, childrens clothing, pots/pans, human hair from the victims - rooms for each one. Terrible. Simply terrible. Most of the Birkenau portion of the camp has been destroyed, including the gas chambers and crematoriums. Only parts of one unit still remain.
There are now photos of our adventure available here.
More to follow.....
Day 3 - Krakow and more pleasant surprises
We left our hotel in Frankfurt this morning at 6:45 and headed to the airport. No need to check-in since we had boarding passes. About 5 min after we arrived, we were sitting at gate A2 waiting for our flight to Krakow. Boarding was pretty painless as well - a very short bus ride from the terminal to the plane, a Boeing 757-500. Turned out to be about the smoothest flight I've been on - zero turbulence, and a smooth landing at 10:30 in Krakow. Our bags made it, and after collecting them, it was off to the apartments.
This is where the biggest surprise of the day came in - These things are INCREDIBLE. They are each 2 bedroom apartments, newly furnished, absolutely wonderful in every way, and they have A WASHING MACHINE!!! NO HANDWASHING!!
Day 2 - Frankfurt am Mein FTW!!!
Frankfurt am Main FTW!
I love Germany. Last time I was here (2006, aka the year of the Group From HELL) was pretty much non-confrontational. Biggest story that day - Ms. Frazier left her hat on the Tram from the train station to the Hotel, and we all waved bye-bye as it rode off into the wild mustard and bratwurst flavored yonder.
This time was much different. And so far, better.
We left IAH (George Bush Intercontinental-Houston) about 40min late for whatever reason. Prevailing winds were in the right direction to deal with the unpronouncable Icelandic Volcano (Ekaslkdfhkljasdfjklhasldjkhfasdsomethingantother) so we basically had a direct flight to Frankfurt and arrived pretty much On-Time. We were to have a 5 Hour layover - As of right now (05:32am hooray jet-lag) the layover has morphed into almost 17hrs. What??
At Little Rock National
We're on our way! We've made it to Little Rock National Airport, the best airport in the country IMHO. Cleared security without any issues (except for the student with all the zippers on their pants), and watching the chaos that is Southwest Airlines try to figure out how to board. I prefer airlines that actually allow you to pick your seat before hand....which is why we are flying Continental (or united or whatever you call them these days). A couple of students are trying to scarf down the only pizza they've known (pizza hut) and gulp their last Dr. Pepper (with ice mind you!) before we head for less humid pastures. Keep checking - more to follow.
