In writing this blog post, my intention was not to make light of the Holocaust but to share my honest experience of my weekend in Poland.
If I had to choose one thing to regret about Harlaxton, it would be not going to Lake District. I had a massive craving for nature and a long hike, but I didn’t sign up for the trip in time. Instead, I got a shot at making a dream come true by going to Poland and visiting Auschwitz Concentration Camp. One night after a secret viewing of Pitch Perfect 3, I randomly called out, “Does anyone want to go to Auschwitz?” and, to my pleasant surprise, Katie Smith called right back, “Me!”
According to a journal entry after the trip, ‘Poland was not the best weekend of my life’. If you’ve read Katie’s blog post, you already know this. Now, before you say, “Why should it be the best weekend of your life? You’re going to see Auschwitz,” let me tell you that I already know. But one thing that is more sad than seeing Auschwitz is not seeing Auschwitz.
Dear Poland, you do not have my heart.
Let’s start at the very beginning when Katie and I started looking at plane tickets to Poland. We surprisingly found tickets for only $50, which is probably the cheapest you will ever find a flight to Krakow. We waited an extra day to buy them, just to solidify plans, and the price had nearly doubled for a flight to Katowice. Rock on! I will accept responsibility and defeat for this one. Fast forward a week, and Katie, Steph, and I were all unable to check into the flight we had the next morning. We also had to book a cab and catch the earliest train to the airport. We stayed up until midnight, couldn’t book the cab, then woke up at 4:30 AM to try it all again. We managed to get it all done and print our tickets just before running to the cab Katie was able to call.
Friday, March 9
The flight ended up being a home run, and Steph and I each got a window seat even though we originally had middle seats. When we landed, though, it did not feel like a home run. The airport was fine, but, as you may know, I am not a fan of Border Patrol. Katowice Border Patrol was no different. This man clearly dislikes his country as much as I do, and he was not very great at welcoming us. He did his job by interrogating Katie about traveling to the Czech Republic, then he went a step further when he asked why we were there.
“On holiday,” Katie responded.
He laughed. “In Poland?”
We were appalled. Yes, sir, in Poland, where you live and work and welcome people into your country.
From there, we were scammed by a taxi driver. Fine. We got to see a lot of Poland on the drive, and Katowice wasn’t the prettiest, most inviting place I’ve visited. After we were scammed and we checked into our hostel, we went to get dinner at a burger place. It was dimly lit and smoky, but the burgers were good. Oh, except for the part when they turned the lights up and Katie’s burger was heavily rare. Like, every time she brought the burger to her mouth, I heard it moo. We still really liked it, I think.
After dinner, we walked around in a mall because it was getting dark outside and we didn’t know our way around. This was where we discovered people in Poland walk like they’re on a MISSION and were very annoyed at us taking our time. We ate ice cream and I heard a man switch from Polish to the most flawless English I’d ever heard once he found out I wasn’t a local.
Saturday, March 10
The next morning, we got ready for our Uber to pick us up at 7 AM. When we got to Oswiecim, we asked him to take us to the “historic gate” of Auschwitz, which said it was at Auschwitz II on Google Maps. He dropped us off at the Auschwitz Museum, which was not where we wanted to be*. We talked to someone at an info desk about our tickets, and he said it was free to walk around in Auschwitz II. Our tickets were free and didn’t specify anything, so we didn’t think much of it. We walked 2 km to Auschwitz II, the extermination camp, and started to walk around.
An excerpt from my journal:
[Auschwitz] has a different smell and a different feel from outside of the gates. There was a mist over all of it for the most part. All of the gas chambers had been destroyed by the Nazis nearing the end of the war. The buildings that stood were mainly rebuilt. There was nothing there but the remains of the buildings and a train car.
Something I thought was super weird was the number of new houses that had been built just down the road from Auschwitz. Why would anyone ever build a house there? It was also intriguing to see people ride their bikes past the camp on their morning workout.
We walked around for about an hour and a half before deciding to go back to the museum. When we got there, we tried to show them our tickets, but we were told they weren’t valid anymore. We tried to talk to someone at the information desk, but nothing worked. We either had to pay for a later tour, or wait until it was free again in the afternoon. With a 2 PM flight, we were out of luck and had to leave before either of those times came. We looked around to see as much as we could from the outside, and we were able to see the historic gate we were thinking of—the ‘Arbeit macht frei’ gate.
We tried to call an Uber, but the closest one was 45 minutes away. We checked for bus routes, but there weren’t any leaving any time soon. Finally, Katie had to bargain with a taxi driver to get us back to our hostel. We got back and called another Uber to take us to the airport.
We made it through security before we realized we had Ryanair tickets that had to be checked before going through security. We went back through, were told we were supposed to have our tickets stamped but the guy didn’t have a stamp, got yelled at by security, and went through security again. The other side had one restaurant with expensive food, so I bought gummy bears and called it a flippin’ day.
When we got to London, I almost passed out in a bathroom. I then proceeded to leave my brand new phone in said bathroom (sorry mom, who doesn’t know this yet). I realized it was gone a few minutes later, and I sprinted through the airport to get back to the bathroom. My phone wasn’t there, so I walked out almost in tears, and a help desk suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I asked them if anyone had turned in a phone, and the woman laughed and asked me what my background was. I told her—it was me in front of the Eiffel Tower with a baguette (ahhh!). She handed me my phone, I held in my tears, and I ran back to my friends. Crisis averted, mom!
When I got back to my friends, we discovered our train was canceled and we had to take a more difficult route to get home. The woman helping us told us the wrong platform, so we got on the wrong train. We got off right before it left, but we’d already missed the correct train and had to wait and hour to get on the next one.
We made a lot of changes on the train but finally got back to Harlaxton! And although I’ve said for the past few months that I never want to go back to Poland, I actually would like to give it another chance one day! If you’ve ever been to Poland, share your experience and tell me why I should go back!
*It actually was where we wanted to be.
What I’m listening to: My Hamilton addiction hasn’t ended. Reviving my Taylor Swift “Reputation” obsession.
What I’m watching: Celebrating my favorite actor by actually watching every single Tom Hanks movie this summer, starting today. Now taking suggestions of which one to start with! Also shamefully watching Freeform’s ‘Famous In Love’ every Wednesday night.
What I’m reading: Nothing at the moment.
Cool apps to try: Lightroom CC connects with Adobe Lightroom on your computer. It has a ton of the same tools, and it is a great free photo editor for your phone!
Join me next Monday for another edition of Untold Stories of Harlaxton!
