Auschwitz

Travelled from Cesky Krumlov to Prague by car with a couple of Germans I had met in a restaurant! Then went on the overnight train to Krakow in Poland. Although this train route has something of a reputation for theft, I was not burgarled!

Krakow is a nice city, and I was especially impressed with the mobile phone system which showed me where I was (on my phone) to street accuracy in some places. The old town boasts the largest square in Europe and a very pretty castle.

My main reason for travelling to Krakow (apart from visiting Poland which I'd never been to before) was to see Auschwitz. The morning was suitably atmospheric with a persistent light drizzle. The concentration camp itself was quite moving, as one would imagine. Before going I had prayed that I wouldn't be overwhelmed by it as I had thought this was a possibility. When I saw the various artifacts and exhibits I was nearly in tears a couple of times. I went on a guided tour and one of the others in the group had actually been a prisoner in Auschwitz and had survived. In fact he'd been shot whilst trying to escape from the "Death March" (when prisoners were evacuated on foot to Germany as the Red Army was advancing), but had pretended to be dead and thus got away with it. It was a very informative visit and quite tiring, but I'm glad I went.