Krakow and a sombre note

The past couple of days have been spent in Krakow. My first impression from hanging around the main square the evening we arrived was that its citizens had the most flair of any I have seen in other European cities! I was really quite impressed, and then I thought, 'I want a piece of this... Take me to the shops!'

Unfortunately we didn't find the cool shops, though we did spend a nice afternoon in the Jewish quarter, where it seemed some of the cool kids hang out. We found that we had to have a relaxing afternoon after our harrowing trip to Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau that morning.

We took a tour out there and on the bus they showed a doco about the liberation of Auschwitz. I think that it actually made me feel physically ill, so after the distress of the film, walking around the actual camps didn't seem as bad. Even walking through the barracks (like the one below that housed up to 1000 prisoners!), and seeing the gas chamber made it difficult to picture the scale of what was happening and the atrocious things that were going on there. We were glad that we went, but it certainly wasn't an enjoyable experience, that's for sure.

But, onto more positive things, tonight we are in Warsaw (and seeing posters of Hugh Jackman advertising iced tea everywhere!), because tomorrow morning we fly to St Petersburg! My next post shall come from the land of the bare-chested-tiger-hunting President.