Auschwitz

It's been a few weeks now since we visited Auschwitz on our tour, and I have been having a difficult time figuring out how to write about the experience. I think in some ways I'm still processing everything that I saw and felt while we were there, but I'll try to describe some aspects that stuck out to me.

Our guide had noted that many people are "shattered" by the experience of visiting Auschwitz, so I had been emotionally preparing myself a couple of days prior to the visit. I remember having a knot in my stomach when we first drove up to the grounds and I saw the infamous barbed wire fences. When we arrived, though, it was initially completely different from what I had envisioned. Now technically a museum, It is overrun with tourists, and we had to wade through throngs of loud, noisy crowds just to get to the main lobby and get our headsets. And when you see high school students on a field trip, laughing and joking with each other, and tourists with their large cameras and selfie sticks (no, I'm not kidding), there is something about that atmosphere that led me to feel more detached than I initially anticipated.

When we walked through the grounds, I remember being struck again by how it was not quite what I expected to see. We happened to go on a beautiful, sunny day, and in the light Michael and I both commented how the red brick buildings could almost, in a weird way, resemble dormitories at a summer camp. It was a strange, confusing feeling. But that feeling fades as soon as you enter the buildings and see the starvation rooms and standing cells. The lab where female prisoners were brutally experimented on and sterilized. The execution wall. The small beds where sometimes as many 5 people slept. The place where 12 prisoners who tried to escape were publicly executed, their bodies hung in plain sight as a warning to the other prisoners. The gas chambers and the crematorium.

The entire visit profoundly affected me, but I remember a moment during our tour that particularly stayed with me. We were walking through the halls that displayed the possessions that were taken from the prisoners before they were killed. You see seemingly innumerable amounts of clothing, glasses, prosthetic items taken from the elderly and disabled, human hair, and perhaps the most heartbreaking, children's shoes. What affected me the most, though, was seeing a glass case showing the prisoners’ suitcases with their names written on the exteriors. It is incomprehensible to imagine exactly how many people died at Auschwitz, but all of a sudden, there are names attached to the nameless items. I had a moment of realization that each of these people had stories, and how lives and families were just ripped apart. I also teared up when we passed by a small display case featuring combs, shoe polish, and shaving brushes. There was just something about the utter simplicity of these objects that added to the heaviness and sadness of the whole experience.

We are all familiar with WWII history and know about the events that took place here. We have all seen the pictures, read the books, and learned the statistics. But for me, when I walked on those gravel paths and saw the buildings in person, I started to digest the reality that,  "Wow, this all actually happened here". It feels utterly surreal. I was surprised that I was fairly composed during the tour, if not a bit numb. I think that's because it feels impossible to process exactly how much suffering and pain occurred there. 

We have been snapping thousands of pictures throughout our travels, but we barely took any here. It just didn't feel necessary, or appropriate. So I'll share with you all the couple of pictures that we did take:

The infamous banner you see when you first enter the camp, that reads "Work will set you free".

The infamous banner you see when you first enter the camp, that reads "Work will set you free".

I distinctly remember thinking once we climbed back into the tour bus that traveling, in so many ways, is such a privilege. Michael and I have gotten to see some incredibly beautiful sights, eat delicious local cuisine, meet interesting people, and immerse ourselves with new languages and customs and cultures. I am so, so appreciative of these opportunities and experiences. But I am equally, if not moreso, grateful for the opportunity to visit places like Auschwitz, where you are starkly confronted with some of the darkest and most horrific aspects of humanity, and forced to pause and reflect, sit with feelings of sadness and discomfort, and ask yourself difficult questions. Why did this happen?  How could we, as human beings, do this to each other? And how can we prevent something as horrible as this from happening again?

Visiting Auschwitz was certainly not a comfortable or pleasant experience, but for me, it was a very necessary one. I cannot imagine having gone on this trip and not gone there. I think we owe it to the people who died there, and to those who continue to suffer at the hands of other similar human atrocities, to visit, learn, and perhaps mostly importantly of all, to remember. 

Poznan, Warsaw, & Jasna Gora

Poznan

On our drive from Germany to Poland, we stopped in the charming city of Poznan for lunch. This used to be the capital of Poland, and is midway between Berlin and Warsaw:

The cathedral in the market square. Our tour guide was excited to show this to us because at noon, the bells chime and two mechanical goat figurines come out and start "fighting" each other. It seems mainly a thing for the tourists, but was still cu…

The cathedral in the market square. Our tour guide was excited to show this to us because at noon, the bells chime and two mechanical goat figurines come out and start "fighting" each other. It seems mainly a thing for the tourists, but was still cute!

Here come the goats!

Here come the goats!

We were trying to decide on a place for lunch, and all of restaurants by the square seemed so touristy and overpriced. We walked down some side streets and found this tiny, cute place called "Coco's Cafe", which was completely empty, but the owner w…

We were trying to decide on a place for lunch, and all of restaurants by the square seemed so touristy and overpriced. We walked down some side streets and found this tiny, cute place called "Coco's Cafe", which was completely empty, but the owner was friendly, rosy-cheeked, slightly plump, and reminded me of the Polish grandmother I always wanted but never had. We ordered some polish dumplings - these had pork and cabbage inside with pork "cracklings" on top" - and they were scrumptious.

Warsaw

After a few hours drive, we made it to Warsaw! Our first stop was on the Łazienki Park, which had this beautiful statue of Chopin (and our guide made sure that we remembered that Chopin was Polish not French, as many people think!):

We spent the next few hours on a bus tour of the city. While we drove around, our guide provided us with some staggering facts about the city. For instance, much of the infrastructure in Warsaw is only 50 years old max, because 85-90% of the city was destroyed and 800,000 people died during the war. 800,000, in just one city. It's hard to comprehend how much suffering and destruction Warsaw endured. But also pretty amazing to think of how resilient the people are to almost completely rebuild an entire city within a decade, and how the city strives to remember everything that occurred:

Memorial commemorating the uprising in 1944

Memorial commemorating the uprising in 1944

Monument outside of what used to be the Jewish ghetto

Monument outside of what used to be the Jewish ghetto

Palace of Culture and Science; actually a former communist building.

Palace of Culture and Science; actually a former communist building.

Old Town after the war....

Old Town after the war....

...and currently.

...and currently.

Old Town Square

Old Town Square

Jasna Gora

The next day we stopped at Jasna Gora Monastary, which is considered the holiest place in Poland and is visited by about 5 million people per year. It's most famous for the image of the Black Madonna, to which many people attribute magical powers:

Inside the monastary. On the walls are crutches and walking sticks left behind by those who have been healed.

Inside the monastary. On the walls are crutches and walking sticks left behind by those who have been healed.

The Black Madonna

The Black Madonna

Our guide at the monastery. I remember there was this one moment where he was describing the Black Madonna in his thick Polish accent, and then his cell phone rang, at which point he said, "Pardon me, but I am a modern man!" and picked up the call. …

Our guide at the monastery. I remember there was this one moment where he was describing the Black Madonna in his thick Polish accent, and then his cell phone rang, at which point he said, "Pardon me, but I am a modern man!" and picked up the call. We all had a good laugh.

Up next, Auschwitz...

Berlin

After a 7-hour long bus ride from Frankfurt, we finally arrived in Berlin! For dinner, we thought that we should try to eat a bit healthier since we had had beer and pork knuckle for dinner the night before. Michael found a Chinese restaurant close by, and figured that our bellies would thank us if we had some soup noodles and vegetables instead of…well, meat and fat. But then we also found a very well reviewed local pub specializing in classic German fare that seemed too good to pass up. We decided to go check it out and just get some happy hour, believing that we had enough discipline to stick with our original plan for dinner. (Fools!)

Once we arrived, we sat and ordered some beers. As we were chatting, we kept seeing large plates of scrumptious food pass us by – pork knuckle, schnitzel, bratwurst – and with each passing plate, our restraint slowly waned. We can eat healthily another night!, we started suggesting.  We are only in Germany for a couple of days. Carpe diem! As you can probably guess, we ended up ordering another pork knuckle for the second night in a row, along with two more steins of beer. Everything was delicious. Oh well, willpower is overrated anyway.

Happy about our hedonism.

Happy about our hedonism.

So. Good. And we didn't regret it at all (until the next morning, when we still felt full and uncomfortable).

So. Good. And we didn't regret it at all (until the next morning, when we still felt full and uncomfortable).

The next day, we joined our tour group and hopped on the bus for a morning ride through all the major highlights in Berlin. We got a bit antsy after being on the bus for a couple of hours, so afterwards we walked all over the city and got a more up close look at many of the sites we had seen on the tour. We passed by the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, along with a number of other sites. We’re definitely brushing up on our WWII history!

One section of the Berlin Wall.

One section of the Berlin Wall.

Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most well-known crossing points between East and West Berlin. Ignore the Mickey D's in the background.

Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most well-known crossing points between East and West Berlin. Ignore the Mickey D's in the background.

Brandenburg Gate

Brandenburg Gate

The Tiergarten, a large urban park. It's beautiful! Having a nice leisurely stroll through the park was one of my favorite memories of our short time in Berlin.

The Tiergarten, a large urban park. It's beautiful! Having a nice leisurely stroll through the park was one of my favorite memories of our short time in Berlin.

The Victory Tower. Apparently Americans refer to this statue as "The Chick on a Stick". We sure are a witty bunch.

The Victory Tower. Apparently Americans refer to this statue as "The Chick on a Stick". We sure are a witty bunch.

We climbed to the top of the tower! And then I got heeby jeebies and promptly raced back down.

We climbed to the top of the tower! And then I got heeby jeebies and promptly raced back down.

The view from the top of the tower.

The view from the top of the tower.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, or the Holocaust Memorial.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, or the Holocaust Memorial.

We were loving walking around the city, but remembered that in our past trip to Europe, we had had a great time doing bike tours.  We found one offered for later that day in Berlin that was very reasonably priced, so  we thought, why the heck not? Let’s get in more cardio to offset all that pork knuckle! So we signed up for it and it turned out to be a great decision.

About to start the tour. Woohoo!

About to start the tour. Woohoo!

Simon, our very informative guide.

Simon, our very informative guide.

On the bike tour, we were able to see a couple of sites that we didn't see either on the bike tour or on our walk through the city:

A memorial marking the spot where books were burned at Babelplatz.

A memorial marking the spot where books were burned at Babelplatz.

The spot marking where Hitler's bunker was during the war. We got swarmed by a high school field trip right when we visited, so sorry for the sub par picture.

The spot marking where Hitler's bunker was during the war. We got swarmed by a high school field trip right when we visited, so sorry for the sub par picture.

We went to a beer garden for dinner. So lovely!

We went to a beer garden for dinner. So lovely!

Had to try the schnitzel. Verdict? Delicious!

Had to try the schnitzel. Verdict? Delicious!

And we got to go back to see the Brandenburg Gate lit up at night!

And we got to go back to see the Brandenburg Gate lit up at night!

Our Hungarian-born tour guide told us that out of all the cities in Europe, she would choose to live in Berlin. We only spent a couple of days there so my perspective is limited, but so far, I have to say I agree. Berlin is a really fun city, with a lively, vibrant energy, friendly people, and delicious food. I definitely could have stayed longer and hope to go back at some point!

Up next – Poland! (Warsaw, Auschwitz, and Krakow).

Central Europe Tour

The tour was amazing.  Two weeks seemed to go by in the blink of an eye.  I can’t believe we’re already into our fourth week of the trip.  After the initial excitement in Stockholm, then the whirlwind tour, then a quick stop in Athens, we finally have some time to unwind, slow down and relax.  It amazes me how sometimes in life, perhaps some of the most important times, moments roll into other moments and things just seem to happen.  A period of time becomes yesterday, last week, last year.  The recent tour, our honeymoon, and our wedding day come to mind.

Months ago when we started thinking about our trip, a tour of Central Europe was high on the list.  We wanted to see and experience places affected by WWII.  Particularly Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow… Auschwitz.  Walking the same streets that hundreds of thousands walked to their inevitable fates, seeing the precise locations where so much death and destruction occurred, walking into the gas chamber in Auschwitz...  One thing I’ll never forget is seeing the nail marks on the concrete walls inside the gas chamber.  The idea was that we'd learn and experience something profound. 

Now that it’s over, I don’t know.  It all seems a bit blurry.  The tour was go go go…  Sleep, 6am wakeup, 7am luggage and breakfast, 8am bus and tour, 11am “comfort stop,” 1pm lunch, 3pm comfort stop, 5pm check-in, 7pm dinner, repeat and repeat...  Getting enough sleep was always a struggle.  

Every place we visited had such immense history and aesthetic physical beauty, it was impossible to properly comprehend everything given the pace of the tour.  There was never enough time to think, reflect or mourn…  I barely had enough mental capacity to journal, take pictures, and pic-stitch.

I’m not sure yet if I had any profound learning experience.  Maybe the whole thing will just take some time to digest and I’ll realize something later. 

What I do know is that we got a special glimpse of how resilient people can be, and when entire cities and communities work together to rebuild, how incredibly beautiful and inspirational the results can be.  Alexandra and I were both struck by how cool, lively and vibrant every war-torn city that we visited is today.  We’ll try to recap some of our favorite experiences and, of course, food!

In real-time news... it's our last morning in Santorini, and we're off to Mykonos this afternoon!  Alexandra has a cold.

-Michael

 

Tables Turned

Anniversary day! 

We arrived in Frankfurt for our Central Europe tour on Sunday, our anniversary.  Checking into the hotel, to our surprise, the receptionist notified us that dinner was at 6pm on the second floor.  Dinner?  Our tour itinerary didn’t mention a dinner -- it clearly specifies every included meal.  

To celebrate our anniversary, we were really looking forward to having dinner at a German restaurant that we found online.  Oh well, at least we could save some money.  Besides, skipping dinner with our tour group wouldn't give a good first impression.   

After meeting the tour guide, we sat down at our table for six.  A quiet father and son duo sat across from us, while a very talkative pair of older Asian women from London sat at the other end of the table.  They took an interest in chatting up Alexandra, who tried her best to be cordial and make the table more comfortable.  The father and son were having none of it.  They may as well have been two big ice blocks melting in their chairs.  It was excruciating – the complete opposite of what I was looking forward to on our anniversary.  Beer and pork knuckle!

As I looked at the depressing bread roll and tiny packaged butter on the table, the tour guide approached us.  “Are you Michael and Alexandra?” 

“Yes.”

“There’s been a mistake.  You guys are on the Central Europe tour, right?  This is the Highlights of Germany tour.  I’m sorry, dinner actually isn’t included for you tonight.”

Alexandra says she’s never seen me spring up from a chair as quickly as I did in that moment. 

“Oh no worries!  We had dinner plans...  For our anniversary, yeah!  So this all works out!”  I may have toppled a few chairs or so as I exited my seat.  I dunno, I just remember being very excited.

As we said our goodbyes and made our way (or, rushed) out of the restaurant, the manager approached us.  “I overheard it’s your anniversary!  How about a glass of champagne on the house?  There’s a bar downstairs – I’ll arrange it!”

Whoa, what just happened?!

We arrived at the bar, made eye contact with the bartender, who was pouring two glasses of champagne...  “Please have a seat, anywhere!”  We sat at a corner table, and he served us two of the best glasses of champagne I've ever had (I was so ecstatic at that point, I would've been happy with half soda water half Franzia!). 

We looked at each other, totally surprised by the turn of events.  A narrow escape from the no-fun-zone to free champagne, then our first food experience in Germany to look forward to…  Life threw us a major bone (a braised pork bone, to be exact).  So we took a selfie:

I had been looking forward to our first German dinner experience for several years.  Alexandra ordered a braised pork knuckle, and I grilled spare ribs.  Both were AWESOME, and paired perfectly with some local brews served in big glasses:

I can’t believe it’s been a year…  It’s been an amazing year – I never would’ve guessed a year ago that we’d be on this trip right now.  We’ve come a long way, and I’m excited about how far we’ll go in the next year.

On deck, Berlin and Poland...