Florian spent the weekend in Poland, which was the reason for my trip. He arrived in Gliwice on Thursday night after I finished work, and the Friday morning we went to Oświęcim (Auschwitz) to see the concentration camp there and at nearby Brzezinka (Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz II). I've been to the concentration camps a few times now, but this visit was the first time that I've gone on an organised tour of the facilities. The tour was mostly good, and the guide told a few stories and gave some information not presented on the signs, but I don't think I'll go on another tour - in some ways I think it's better to walk around at your own pace and see the individual sections as you choose.
After Auschwitz, we caught a bus to Kraków and spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning there. Near our hostel, I noticed this store and felt it necessary to take a photo.
On Saturday morning we went to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. It was a nice place, and definitely worth the visit. It's necessary here to go with a guide, and the tours are a little on the expensive side, but the guide does pass on a lot of information. Saturday afternoon was spent resting and wandering around the Jewish Quarter of Kraków (Kazimierz), and the main square. In Kazimierz, there's a street with a rather amusing name - ulica Kupa, which can be translated as "Shit Street".
On Sunday morning we went to Wawel hill and walked around the castle. We were there quite early and none of the individual sections were open, though entry to those sections costs extra so we didn't miss anything except for the dragon's lair, which I will have to visit next time I'm in the near vicinity of Wawel Hill. We were about 1.5 hours too early for the lair, and we didn't want to hang around that long just waiting for it, as we hadn't yet had breakfast and were both hungry.
After breakfast we walked around the city a bit more and the headed back to the train station, and back to Gliwice.
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