Day 1: Krakow
We arrived in Krakow at around 9am and after a short train ride into the city with some Australians, we picked up the keys for our little apartment for the next few days. The apartment was located about 15min walk from the main market square, but this didn't worry us. After settling in, we headed back into town to explore. We started at the Tourist Office and booked tours for the following days to Auschwitz and a Salt Mine as well as a ticket for the Hop on Hop off bus for our last day. The market square was huge and in the middle was a huge enclosed corridor full of small stalls. The Christmas market was also still on! After exploring, we had a cocktail at the Hard Rock Cafe and when we left at about 1630, the sun had set and it was as dark as night. That night we ate at a Polish Cuisine Restaurant - I had a steak and Addison had half a duck! The good thing about Poland is that everything is sooo cheap! So our meal although it was such excellent quality was pretty cheap!
Day 2: Krakow
We were up and in the city pretty early as we were to take a coach to Auschwitz for a guided tour which lasted about 6-7hours including the 2hour bus ride there and back. The first part of the tour started on the bus where we watched a documentary about the liberation of the Auschwitz by the Russians. The next was a tour of Auschwitz 1 which was housed in the old Polish Army Barracks overtaken by the Nazi's. The exhibit was really interesting but also shocking and sad. They had displayed in cabinets the size of a small bedroom the shoes, glasses, suitcases bearing names and addresses pots and pans, combs and brushes and even the hair that was taken from the people that were sent to Auschwitz. However this was only a small portion of what was actually stolen from these people as most of it was sold on including human hair to make clothes and blankets. The last part of the tour was of Birkenau, which is the most famous of the camps, due to the large scale of people that were murdered there in the gas chambers which was approximately 1.2million - most of which were Jews. The most interesting thing I actually learned was that most of the people who were murdered at Birkenau, never actually stayed in the camp, they were simply marched straight from the trains to the gas chambers, that was if they had survived the train ride. It was a really sombre day to think about all the people who died, but at the same time interesting to get to have a close up look at the a piece of history.
Day 3: Krakow
On our third day we visited a Salt Mine just outside of Krakow in a nearby village that dates back 100s of years. First we had to climb down 360steps and we were 160m under ground in the mine which was entirely/mostly made of salt - including walls, steps, the floor, statues and even crystals on the chandeliers. We learnt about the history of the mine as we descended further underground until we at 190m! There was even a church which was built by the miners to be able to pray while working in the mine. Addison also licked the wall to confirm it was indeed made of salt! (see picture below). Luckily we were able to take the mines elevator back to the surface! After our tour we sat down for a coffee/hot chocolate before heading out to dinner at another Polish restaurant, where I had mushroom soup which came in a bread bowl!
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| My mushroom soup in a bread bowl |
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| Addison licking the wall in the Salt Mine |
Day 4: Krakow
Our last day in Krakow we spent on the hop on/hop off bus visiting a mound which was built for a king - at the top was a wonderful view of Krakow. We also visited the old Jewish Ghetto and the memorial site for the heroes of the Ghetto and Schlinders Factory which is now a museum, but where Oscar Schlinder took in Jews, including many children, to work in order to save them from the concentration camps and lastly a castle and church on the outskirts of the main city square. It was built on a small hill as well. We then had to head to the airport in the late afternoon to catch our flight back to Berlin.
Day 1: Berlin
After a slow start in the morning we ventured out into Berlin to find some breakfast, but ended up at the supermarket buying cereal, fruit and yogurt, but found a bagel shop nearby for some brunch. In the afternoon we exploring the area surrounding our hotel which is one of the main shopping streets of Berlin and houses the famous department store KaDeWe which is the biggest in Europe. We had an early dinner at Vapiano as everything was closing for the German Christmas which is celebrated on the evening of the 24th. After dinner we went to visit the Brandenburg Tor which was part of the divide between the East and West of Berlin, the memorial for the murdered Jews, which is a square of concrete blocks which as you walk through them get taller and taller until you can no longer see the surrounding streets or hear them. (A bit spooky at night!) We then walked onto Potsdammer Platz and visited the famous Sony Centre with its magnificent roof and they even had a 'The Hobbit 2' display which Addison enjoyed!
Day 2: Berlin (Christmas Day!!)
Well we didn't get a white Christmas unfortunately, but it was a cold one!
In the morning we visited the Fernsehenturm (TV tower) and had a 360degree view of Berlin from the top! Luckily it wasn't cloudy so we could see right to the outskirts of the city! We also booked a table for that night in the restaurant for our Christmas dinner. Afterwards we visited the Christmas Market at Alexanderplatz and I bought a star, which folds flat for easy transport home. Everyone seemed to have one in their house for Christmas here in Germany, so I wanted one too!
In the afternoon, we went to visit Checkpoint Charlie and also the museum. We were a bit disappointed by the museum - it was actually a bit boring, so we quickly ran threw it and went for a hot chocolate! In the early evening we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for cocktails before our dinner reservation at the tower at 9pm. We had a lovely Christmas Dinner in the revolving restaurant over looking Berlin at night!
Day 3: Berlin
We got up early on the would be boxing day in New Zealand, but all the shops are shut in Germany. We went to the Natural History Museum in the morning, as Addison wanted to see the largest skeleton of a dinosaur in maybe the world/Europe! It was actually a really interesting museum and we stayed for about 2 hours looking at the different rooms and exhibits. Afterwards we took the train out to Potsdamm, a small village on the outskirts of Berlin which is really pretty. Their Christmas Market was still going so we had a look around and enjoyed a Gluehwein, while watching kids total themselves on the ice rink. In the evening we visited another Christmas Market at the Charlottenburg Palace. It was one of the prettiest I've been to with the castle in the
background all lit up!
Day 4: Berlin
Our last day in Berlin we spent the morning looking in the shops and Addison bought a new jacket. Then after lunch we spent the afternoon visiting several sights including riding the fastest elevator in Potsdammer Platz and the Reichstags - which is the parliament building of Germany. Unfortunately we didn't go in as you have to book months in advance. In the last afternoon we also went to the Rittersport shop/museum (they make chocolate) and got to make our very own flavour of chocolate. My flavour was lemon-raspberry and Addison's was filled with crunchy things. In the evening we went to a 'eat in the dark' restaurant, but they were fully booked so we found a nearby Mexican place instead. Then we had to head home to pack up our stuff for an early bus to Hannover in the morning.
Day 3: Amsterdam
