Kraków, Poland

Kraków is a captivating place. Aesthetically, it is your quintessential European city with cobblestone streets, colourful buildings, and expansive public spaces for everyone to enjoy. However, I found Kraków to be different. The country’s turbulent past is evident in the memorials, museums, and sobering sites of Nazi Europe dotted throughout the city. Kraków remembers it’s history. During my seven days in Poland, I learned more than I could have ever imagined about this magnificent country, and the extraordinary resilience of the Polish people. 

Despite it raining our entire time in Kraków, we fit in lots of sightseeing, museums and galleries, Polish vodka, and delicious meals. We visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine, one of the world’s oldest salt mines and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reaching a depth of 327 meters underground. We went to both the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow and Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory Museum on Lipowa Street. We enjoyed croissants at Charlotte, dinner at Wesoła Cafe, and massive burgers at a New Zealand-inspired fast food joint called Moaburger. We also celebrated the bachelor and bachelorette with bar hopping in Kazimierz, the Old Jewish Quarter.

Most notably was our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oświęcim, something I have been wanting to do for a long time. We so often learn about history, but have trouble relating because of how distant these events are from our own reality. After reading the memoir By Chance Alone by Max Eisen, who is a Canadian survivor of Auschwitz, I knew I had to go to try and understand the sheer magnitude of terror, suffering, and injustice that occurred in this place after horrific ideologies spread across Europe. Visiting Auschwitz is an experience I will never be able to put into words.

On a more light-hearted note, we found Kraków to be a city rich with culture ready to explore and experience - a great destination for those on a budget or with money to spend. 

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Poland through the iPhone

I was recently in Poland for my good friend Sophia's wedding. It was a whirlwind of a trip, with only two days in Kraków, one day in Niepołomice for the wedding, and one day in Warsaw - paired with three entire days of travelling around Poland via every mode of transportation imaginable. In retrospect, I should have planned a longer stay in each city, but I had an amazing adventure through Poland regardless. Sleep is overrated anyway!

While in Kraków, we visited many historic sites from World War II - the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau as well as Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory, among others. We toured the Wieliczka Salt Mine and visited MOCAK, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków. In Warsaw we walked the entire city, using must-see architectural wonders as our guide, which included a stop at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, a fantastic museum. I fell head over heels in love with Poland on this trip: the history, the architecture, the food, and the people - and I hope one day I can make it back here.

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