Our European Adventure, Day 15

I felt like we woke up at the crack of dawn this morning because I had trouble sleeping last night. It was really already 6:30, but still, that’s incredibly early. We packed up our things, checked out of the hostel, and headed over to the train station to purchase some snacks for lunch before finding the platform for our first train of the day.

Immediately upon stepping on the train, we realized the difference it the older trains we’ve been taking for the rest of the trip and sleek, faster express trains that we took today. Instead of private cabins of six, today’s trains featured airplane-like seating only roomier with a table every few seats. The dining car was also more luxe.

The inside of the first express train - they looked the same

We toiled away the train rides by playing cards, reading, and sleeping. The switch between trains was a pretty high stress event though because our first train ended up getting stuck working its way around construction and we were running about twenty minutes behind. Originally, we had only had about twenty minutes to make our connection in Frankfurt’s Main station. However, our train pulled in two minutes before the second left and we would have needed to run across the station. People sitting in our train car persuaded us to wait until the next stop because they said our second train would be there also, but on the same platform. Luckily, they were right and we stepped off one train and directly on to the next. I did have to kick someone out of our seats though because he thought we weren’t coming we didn’t get on at the right stop.

After we settled in and a round of cards was played, we ordered our lunch from the dining car. I ended up getting a hot ham and cheese sandwich with chocolate cake and an ice cream bar for desert. It was actually really good. I’m surprised at the quality of the food that they sell on those trains. It was really easy to find something on the menu that I would like too.

We pulled into the Amsterdam station about half past four and put our luggage in storage lockers before adventuring into the city. We didn’t have anything specific to do, so after exchanging currency (for a really crappy rate, it would have been cheaper to do at the airport), we wandered throughout the souvenir shops looking for things to spend our money on. I ended up buying quite the collection of things, including a change purse, scarf, t-shirt, calendar and mug. I’m happy with the purchases that I couldn’t make as freely before because I didn’t have a credit card after it was stolen.

We found a Argentinean steak restaurant for dinner. The service was so slow and, while the meat was gigantic, it wasn’t that great tasting. It might not have been the best meal but Madeline and I definitely agreed the bread with garlic and butter sauce was really good. We made sure to order a second round.

Since the restaurant didn’t have a very big drink selection, we decided to get chips at a Mexican restaurant after dinner and try out their cocktail menu. We ended up making friends with the bartender, Victor and he gave us a few free sample drinks. I didn’t really like his mixing as much as everyone else, but maybe I just ordered the wrong things. They just all tasted rather strong to me and I wasn’t in the mood for that. Then Matt, Ben, and Madeline went back to the train station to wait for the next train while I sat outside a McDonald’s and stole their WiFi.

The four of us cheering to Victor's specialty on our last night in Amsterdam - notice Matt looks better today

We took the 12:45 train to the airport and we’ve been waiting there ever since in the downstairs area. Not getting a hotel was a good choice, but at the same time, I’m kind of tired.

Our European Adventure, Day 12

After getting ready this morning and taking some bread from breakfast for sandwiches on the train, we headed over to the main train station and found our platform. The train was there before us so we were able to board right away. It was strange though because when we found our seats, other people were already in them. Some elders had just sat down in our seat. They moved, but it was still weird.

We sat down in our cabin with two Canadians who have been travelling around Europe for about the same amount of time as us. We talked about where we had been and things like that for awhile before napping. I got woken up though because Matt and Ben decided to play cards practically on top of me as I didn’t want to give up my window seat so they could use the tray tables.

The train ride was about six hours. During that time, I wandered all over the train investigating the dining cart and finding the only remaining bathroom with toilet paper. Madeline played her ukulele and Ben and Matt played numerous card games with the other people in our cabin.

Czech "fairy cakes" - my train feast

Disko - a shortbread cookie with cookie frosting inside, similar to a backwards Oreo

When we finally got to Munich, I had us turn the wrong way out of the train station and we walked a little bit out of our way before finding our hostel – Jaeger’s Hostel. The place is fairly nice. You get a shot of Jaeger after checking in, but none of us took ours. The internet connection is really spotty all over the hostel though and I couldn’t get my computer to connect at all. My phone worked though for some reason.

They showered and napped when we got in while I worked on the budget and then we went out to dinner at a nicer place down the street for burgers, pasta, chicken, and drinks. I had this fantastic chocolate ice cream desert that was actually really cheap, just under 4 euros.

The fantastic dinner at 35mm

Followed by a perfectly chocolatey desert

After dinner, Matt and Ben wanted to nap some more, so I went back over to the main train station and wandered around by myself. I found some souvenirs and bought a cone of fries that looked good. I even found a UK version of Cosmo, which is great because I’ve been looking for one during this whole trip. I didn’t get to go to any of the souvenir shops outside of the train station because they had all closed by the time I was done.

When I came back, Madeline was at the bar in our hostel ordering a drink, so we decided to hang out downstairs for awhile and watch the people staying here make drunken fools of themselves. This hostel is pretty rowdy on the main floor, but thankfully it’s nice and quiet near our room.

Our European Adventure, Day 9

Today went surprisingly smooth. Shortly before seven we boarded our train in Warsaw after Madeline noticed we were waiting on the wrong platform. We were able to get to the right one at the same time our train pulled in and joined our two Polish-speaking cabinmates. After sleeping most of the train ride, one of the girls was able to indicate the correct station in Krakow where we were supposed to get off.

A free cookie we received on the morning train

The Krakow station was under construction, but we easily navigated our way to the bus station and, after getting directions to the proper bay, we located a bus to take us to Oswiecim and at a rate cheaper than I had planned.

Following the eighty minute, 10 zloty bus ride, we ambled through Auschwitz's parking lot and were able to eat our prepacked lunches in the cafeteria. We then purchased an English-guided tour in the camp office and stored our luggage.

The Polish countryside from our bus window

The guide led us through Auschwitz I, explaining that Auschwitz is actually just the German name for the Polish town of Oswiecim. She informed us that the camp's first prisoners were the Polish individuals who lived in the wrong place at the wrong time. These people and the captured Jews were forced to build the second camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau II, nearby.

While being guided through the camp, we saw various bunkers that had been turned into exhibits showcasing things such as the human hair collected from prisoners to be used in German trade as well as bunkers in their original form. We were also able to tour the reconstructed gas chambers in the first camp.

Inside Auschwitz I

A collection of shoes from Auschwitz prisoners, held in Canada I (the collection point for belongings)

The gate to the camp

A gate to Auschwitz-Birkenau II

"The gate it like a mouth ready to swallow the prisoners, so menacing and eerie," Madeline Miguel.

 The visit was emotionally taxing and the 1.3km walk back to the train station was a welcome relief from the sights and smells of the camp.

As our last meal in Poland, we were able to dine at a nice Polish restaurant called the Scorpion. The menu had meals such as steak and salmon at rock bottom prices, so we made sure to order the fancy meal that we haven't been able to afford in previous destinations. We even went for the specialty desert -- The Scorpion.

Salmon at dinner

Our steak dinner

The flaming Scorpion deserts we ordered

After dinner, we killed time in the small, cold train station (all of South Poland seems really cold for that matter) before boarding our 11:31pm train to Prague.

Our European Adventure, Day 8

This morning we got up fairly early so that we could walk around Warsaw and find some of the remnants of its lively Jewish past. Before World War II, Warsaw was approximately 10% Jewish - one of the highest concentrations of Jews in Europe.

We started the day off at the Jewish Historical Institute where we were able to see a movie detailiing the Jewish sufferings within the Warsaw Ghetto. The ghetto was decimated following its liberation, but during its time, hundreds of Jews died each month, mainly from starvation or yellow fever. After viewing the video, we were able to walk around the museum and look at memoriabilia and artwork that has been donated to the organization.

The inside of a mock synagogue in the Jewish Historical Institute

After leaving, we walked to old Warsaw. This part of the city is technically not much older than the rest because nearly all of Warsaw was torn apart during the war, but it was rebuilt to pre-war standards and looks very much like a picturesque European city. We dined near the river at a small outdoor restaurant on the tourist strip that served a variety of pasta, soup, and breakfast foods. Following the meal, we stopped in the tourist information center to purchase souveneirs in the local currency, zloty.

Madeline inside a church near old Warsaw

Our Polish lunch - ham and cheese toast

We strolled around this part of the city and its small alleyways and courtyards for about an hour because we thought we were getting closer to our next destination, the Jewish Cemetary. However, it turned out we were on the other side of town. When we finally located the cemetary, we each paid the entrance fee and were able to wander around a cemetary overloaded with gravestones. Matt noticed that a large amount of the gravestones in one section would all be from the same family and they would all have the same, or about the same, death date - during World War II. It was an awful realization and a very sobering place to spend the afternoon.

Old Warsaw

Me at the Jewish Cemetary

All of the gravestones were packed close together

After the graveyard was thoroughly explored, we strolled down the street to visit the memorial of Umschlagplatz - the sight where Jews were gathered to be shuttled like cattle to Treblinka, a nearby extermination camp. Many prisoners inside the Warsaw ghetto met this fate because the Nazis offered food rewards to Jewish volunteers willing to be transferred to the site.

We attempted to find the site of Mila 18 afterward, but were unable to locate the monument commemorating those who died in the bunker under the house located at Mila 18 during the Warsaw Uprising of World War II. Since we couldn't ask for directions to the monument as most people we encountered today did not speak English, we headed back to the train station near our hotel to purchase groceries for tomorrow's lunch and then the hotel for a little rest before dinner.

We ate a restaurant inside the train station called Il Patio and followed the meal up with some ice cream from a stand outside the restaurant before heading back to the hotel. Tomorrow we have to get up early to catch our train, so we're calling it an early night.