Emma Joan

Afternoon Dolls,

So I finally have found the time to write up the next segment in my travel diary. For those of you who do not know Krakow is a city at the bottom of Poland. We decided to go here for one main reason and that was because it is only 45 minutes away from Auschwitz concentration camp. I am obsessed with this particular part of history, my thesis for Uni was based around the topic “coming to terms with Nazi past”, so I have a good amount of knowledge on the subject. Going there was something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, so it was my mission to get to it during our travels.

I loved Krakow, it is such a pretty city, really nice to just walk around. It has got a real medieval feel to the town. In my opinion I found the city exactly like Galway city in Ireland. The reason being there both University towns, there not that big and they have the same night life vibe to them. One thing about the city is it has nice parks and a cobbled streets, which just adds to the old vibe the town gives off. Not to mention a really cool castle up on a hill that you can walk up to and walk around. You do have to pay to go inside which we did not bother with but the outside was really nice to stroll through.

There is a lot to do in Krakow, if you are looking for a little break. Not to mention it is dirt cheap, I almost died at the prices over there, for the whole five days including accommodation and eating & drinking out I spent 150 euro. For people on a budget it’s the dream place.              

For going to Auschwitz, we went with Cracow Tours, we priced around and they done the best deal. It was 15 euro for students which included a bus to the camp and a guided tour around both camp one and Birkenau. If that was anywhere in like the western areas of Europe it would properly be like up on 50 euro so you can see how cheap Poland is. On the way to the Auschwitz they showed a documentary on the camps liberation. It actually made me feel ill watching it, some of the images are very disturbing. Auschwitz camp one was where the main part of the tour was. It was very surreal actually being there and was hard to imagine what it had been was like. In camp one you get to go into the first gas chamber that was made, however, once they built Birkenau they built all the crematoriums in that camp instead. The first trial of gassing actually took 48 hours to kill everyone within. I do not how to describe what it was like walking through it as it really is just horrid to think of the happenings there. Also the room with all the belongings and hair in glass cases are in Camp one.  Side Note: One thing I will say about the tour that drove me mad was people taking pictures. I did not mind people taking pictures of the famous gate or the outsides of the camps, but talking pictures of things like the death wall or inside the gas chamber I just felt was unnecessary and disrespectful.  After the tour in camp one you move on to the larger of the camps, Birkenau. Which was huge! I never thought that it was that big, it looked as though it stretched for a good mile. Most of the buildings in Birkenau like the crematorium’s were destroyed as the Nazis abandoned the camps at the end of the war so all you can see is the rubble of buildings. Overall I would definitely recommend going there, it was something I have always wanted to do and after studying all about it for the past few months before I finished college I was definitely excited to go and see it. I am happy I went to it. I am not going to lie it is a bit of a depressing experience but one that’s totally worth it. There is a quote written up in Auschwitz camp one and that is “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat It.” which I think is a fitting quote to have up. People must go and see the destruction that mankind is capable of and grow from them experiences. The guides that work there are also very good and very informative to the history of the camps. So it is definitely worth going to see.

On to a lighter topic, for eating out there’s no shortage of really good restaurants. However, if you are looking for eating out on the cheap side but still getting really good food I would recommend staying away for the restaurants around the square as the can be more expensive than other places. Even though it is really pretty to sit and look out on the square all lit up. I would recommend MooMoo restaurant, they have the nicest burgers and are not too expensive.  Also there is the most adorable cupcake shop on your way from the square to the castle which has the nicest cupcakes (I can’t remember the exact name, but it’s called something cupcakes anyway). There are also no shortage of really cool clubs and pubs around the town. Everything is so close that your within walking distance from all the clubs so no spending money on transport, winning!

Hey Dolls,

 I know it has been almost a month since I last posted (Shameful I know). I have no excuses as to why I haven’t been keeping up with writing except for the fact that I just haven’t been in the mood for it. Pure laziness. However I am back with the next instalment of my travel segment. So picking up from where I left off, we were in Amsterdam and from there we moved on to Berlin. I was beyond excited to go to Berlin because of all its history, and the city really didn’t disappoint with that.

The first day in Berlin we went on the free walking tour around the city. I definitely would recommend doing this if you’re in Berlin and want to see most of the sights in one day. Our tour guide was really informative about the history of the city and was just good fun. You get to see the likes of the Brandenburg gate, memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe (which is the area with all the different sized grey blocks in case you’re wondering) and Hitler’s Bunker well where the bunker was its now just a car park and loads of other cool areas around the city.

Museum Island was another place we visited, it used to be where the royal family used to live but now it is just filled with a bunch of different museums, hence the name. I must say they really out did themselves with the museum buildings. Each building was made to resemble the type of museum it was, which was really cool. We decided to go to the Dutchland museum which as you can probably tell is all about German history. It was only 4 euro entry for students and if you had the patience for it you could literally spend all day in there the place was huge! Following on from then went to see the Berlin wall, now we didn’t get over to the east side gallery unfortunately, we went to a different part that was beside another museum/exhibition centre that was all about the Nazi regime (can’t remember the name of the place)

Berlin Nightlife on the other hand was an interesting experience. The first night we went out to probably the most Hipster area I’ve ever been in. If my memory serves me correctly we were in the Prenzlauer Berg area. This place had the coolest bars ever, it had such a chilled vibe. However, be warned if you are going out to nightclubs and all that jazz in Berlin, try and do so in an orderly manner as they have a serious issue with people being too loud.  We experienced this first hand. Also my recommendation would be to try have a few words in German. What happened to us was we were with a group of German speakers and apparently we were being too loud but those in the group who spoke German weren’t and they were let in and we weren’t. So you can imagine how that looked to us. This may not be the case with all nightclubs but that was just our experience so just be on the ball and try not to be too drunk and disorderly around the streets of Berlin.

Overall though Berlin was one of my favourite places I have been and I defiantly want to take a trip back there soon. 

Emma x.

Hey Dolls,

So the next stop on our trip was Amsterdam. The train from Brussels went fine it only takes like 2 hours to get there so it was grand. The hostel was actually a boat called the Christina. It was way over priced though for what it was! But then again Amsterdam is super expensive, so I suppose it was reasonable enough for there.

What we done:

A definite must for Amsterdam is to rent out bikes and cycle around the city, the city itself is really big and you cover more ground by cycling rather than walking. Plus it is what everyone does over there. There is even separate roads for cyclists, not many people drive over there. We rented bikes from star bikes near the central station, the only cost 7 euro for the day which was unreal, most places are around 7-10 euro anyways. We ended up cycling around the city to Museumplein which is where all the museums are, including the Van Gough Museum. And it is also where the IAMSTERDAM sign is! We went to the Stedelijk museum which was all about contemporary art. I would defiantly recommend checking out this museum if you’re interested in contemporary art. It was really inexpensive to only 8 euro for a student and I think it was 12 for an adult.

We were only in Amsterdam for a day and a half because of how the train times worked out so we did not make it to Anne Frank’s house. However I would recommend booking it a day or two in advance before you go because of the queue.

Nightlife:

We stayed just on the docks outside the red light district which is possibly the tackiest place I’ve ever been (& that is during the day). However at night it is shocking. I’m not going to get into it too much. But the way the girls were in glass windows and people were just passing them by staring reminded me somewhat of a zoo! It literally was degrading for the women to be stared at behind these glass windows! That part of Amsterdam I was not at all impressed by. It really is something you must see though if you go it is crazy to think that kinda shit is legal.

As for the actual night life, it is for stag dos really. The ratio of men to women at night is probably 10:1 (excluding the ladies of the night of course)  There are some really good pubs there though, and of course if you want to try something different to drinking there is always the coffee shops which the city has no shortage off. There is a more chilled out vibe in them than the pubs which can be a nice change, especially when the city is filled with lads on holiday. We all know they can get a little cray!  

That’s about it for our Amsterdam adventure. Berlin will be coming up shortly.

                                                                Emma x.