A Castle, Dragon & Opera

The next (very rainy) morning I met up with Sara and we reserved our tickets for the night train for Prague! But we still had a few days left -

So off course we went off to see Wawel Castle - the very large castle that crowns Krakow. Wawel Hill was used as a center of power since the 11th century (if not earlier). However, the monarchy moved to Warsaw in the 17th century. The castle fell into disrepair and was plundered during the many wars throughout Poland’s history. So today, most of the castle is recent construction (well compared to other castles I have seen).

As a popular site, it was interesting that your tickets were bought with reserved times so they could control the flow of traffic. It made for a better touristing experience I think. First we went to the Cathedral inside the Castle walls. The Kings and Queens of older Poland are buried here. Here it became obvious how convoluted Polish history is - the royalty often ruled many principalities and even other countries (i.e. Lithuania). And as Poland’s borders changed and fluctuated, this was hard for me to grasp without an historical atlas!

The armory and treasure room was quite nice - instead of being overcrowded with everything the museum owns (which often happens with armory collections) this exhibit detailed the cream of the crop. My personal favorite were the cool sabers that included a small gun in the handle. Sadly, I was not allowed to take pictures!

Then we went on to our scheduled tour of the State Rooms. A wonderful collection of Flemish tapestries is owned by the castle. I believe since the fire they still have over 180 or so. What was interesting about these state rooms is that because of a fire these rooms are shown as they were decorated in the early 20th century. It was an odd mix of more modern telephones and bathrooms next to the older style of painted frescoes and baroque filigree - one set of rooms even had the old leather wallpaper (yes, it was rather stinky).

Here is the courtyard where we were supposed to see the opera, but due to the rainy weather, it was moved indoors to the new opera house.

Neat castle courtyard. I love that the older foundations still present. We did not make the archaeology museum here as it was closed for the day :(

We then made our way down the dragon’s den - into a series of caves that are part of the mass of rock the Castle Wawel sits upon. This was neat to see as so many castles have rock foundations but it isn’t always you get to walk through them!

When you emerge you meet the Krakow Dragon! Yes it is touristy and breathes fire every 3 minutes - but hey, anything with fire is fun! There is a legend that there was a dragon that harassed the people of Krakow. So the king asked his sons to kill it. Instead of swords and shields, the two princes slayed the dragon by filling bags of skin with methane gas - after gobbling them up, the dragon suffocated.

Opera
We went that evening to see the opera - Barber of Seville (Cyrulik Sewilski). It was supposed to be at the castle, but because of the rain was performed at the new opera house. Sara tells me there was controversy about the new opera house as it is very modern and many in Krakow would rather have seen it have the same charm as the old opera house. To me it looked like an office building and the theater itself was small. The design reminds me of some of the 70s-80s buildings at some of our stateside college auditoriums.

We ended up leaving early as some of the singers were being drowned out by the orchestra (I don’t think they were ready for tha change in venue) and we were both rather tired. So we headed to the Rynek for a beer in the cool evening before heading home for the night.

Overdue Krakow Posting

Wieliczka Salt Mines
The salt mine tour was very enjoyable - I had thought I was not going to go but when I saw pictures of the carved cathedral, I thought I would give it a go. After walking down 378 steps, we were at the start of our journey - which would actually last 2 hours - talk about a long tour!

We of course were not the first as popular persons were allowed in for tours as early as the 15th century! This statue commemorates a visit by Nicholas Copernicus in 1493.

Historically, the salt mines are different than coal mines. The work was still very dangerous, but not nearly as toxic on the health of the men and horses(!) that worked down there. Being a salt miner was considered good work. Not only were the conditions better than coal, the miners received a chunk of salt once a year which was like receiving a lump of gold as it was so valuable at the time. But the mines did have their dangers! Miners called 'Penitents' would wet their clothes and use torches on long poles to burn methane gas that pocketed the mines. Sometimes the explosions of methane were fatal. This picture shows the carving of such workers. I should note that all the carvings in the salt mines were done by the miners themselves. Most of them date from the late 19th or 20th centuries.

This carving is of Queen Kinga of Hungary who was given the salt mine by her husband as a wedding gift. When she came to claim the mines she took her ring and tossed it in the mine to stake her rightful claim. Supposedly when the miners were sent down for her ring they found rich salt deposits and started mining this site in ernest from then on. Kinga was a patroness for miners and was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

Here is a picture of the horses still hard at work - kidding! But the last horse to work in the mines was only retired in 2002! It went on to a happy retirement as we were told that the salt mine horses never went blind like the coal horses and had somewhat better working conditions. However, it looks like tough work no matter how you look at it!

The stairs the men used to carry baskets up were made of salt. We walked a few and they were very very slick! Many accidents happened and carriers were considered to have one of the hardest jobs in the mine.

Walking along and then - Ahhh - Random Dwarf!

Finally, the cathedral! There are actually quite a few chapels in the mines, this is the largest. 'Technically it is called St Kinga's Chapel. I worry that my pics did not show this place for as wondrous as it is! Carved all of salt by (predominently) three miners, there are wonderful reliefs, alter and my favorite - the polished salt floor Even the chandeliers are rock salt. I took some video footage and hope that will show the work better.

After the cathedral was an odd assortment of rooms used to host banquets, weddings and other events. There were tourist shops as well. But the oddest was the bar where (of course) European Techno was playing! After a short stop here we continued our trip to see some of the water bodies underground. One of the few chambers where dynamite was used, it now has wonderful acoustics and were treated to some music by Chopin while the rock carvings were lit and dimmed - a regular Disney-esque treat!

St Mary ‘s Basilica
After the salt mine tour I decided to walk around town and take some pics. I wandered into St Mary’s Basilica which is the most prominent building in the Rynek or town center. Started in the 13th century, it was not completed for over a hundred years - that's dedication! What surprised me about this church was the color - it immediately popped out at you - I hope you can see the vibrancy on these pics!

After stepping out of the Basilica the hour changes and a bugle sounds from the higher tower letting the town know all is well. The call always comes to an abrupt end to commemorate the death of the bugler in the 13th century who was shot by the invading Mongols. To listen click here.

So, I admit, I really didn’t know what I was taking pictures of most of the time - point and click and you are bound to get something beautiful in Krakow!

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Sometimes history just plain hurts to know. It is not easy to pause a vacation to learn about a site such as this. However, it is a way of respecting in memorial those who suffered. A day of conscious prayer. A day to remember and reflect on history at its darkest.

This place requires no introduction. The complex at Auschwitz was a Polish military base until occupation. In 1940, the Nazis first used it to hold Polish political prisoners. Soon it was overcrowded with other prisoners including Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, the mentally ill, Soviet POWs and more political prisoners (especially after the Polish uprising in 1944). Auschwitz was purposely chosen because according to Heinrich Himmler, “the area can be easily isolated and camouflaged.” (Consider the first Ally aerial photos of the camps were not taken until 1944) Away from sight, Auschwitz became the stage for mass murder. Prisoners died from overworking, extreme punishments, hunger, disease, medical experiments, firing squad and finally, the gas chambers. In September 1941 the first experiment with gassing prisoners was held in the jail cells of bldg 11 where 600 Soviet POWs and 250 others were killed slowly over 2 hours. By 1942 the Nazis started killing Jews in earnest immediately as they came to camp, mostly in gas chambers. This same year a new camp was constructed at Birkenau (Auschwitz II) and then one in Monowice (Auschwitz III). The new camp at Birkenau had new “more efficient” gas chambers where 2000 victims could be killed every 20 minutes in each one.

Above the main entrance to Auschwitz I is the famous “arbeit macht frei” giving false hope to prisoners of an eventual freedom. Just as sickening was the addition of trees to the barracks to make the area more appealing and again offering the prisoners hope that this was only a transfer area until they were reassigned. The result is today there are some beautiful trees on the site that clash indescribably with the history here. There is such an eerie peace over the camp that I cannot describe or process it.

The SS tried to dismantle the camp and destroy photographic and material evidence before the camp was liberated. However, prisoners found ways of hiding evidence in walls they were forced to build. There was also an underground effort with local Poles, smuggling out information and documentation about the war crimes taking place.

Some Reflections

• I found it very interesting that the guide made every attempt to associate the camp with Nazis and not use German or made certain it was always Nazi Germans not just Germans. It makes a historical distinction that I think I can only explain by - Germans of today are no longer Nazis just as Christians today are no longer Crusaders. A crude example, but an important distinction the guide was earnest in making.
• The Polish people suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazis. Political prisoners died in these camps. Our tour guide’s grandfather had been imprisoned there for 6 months at the end of the war and luckily survived. One of Poland’s great heroes is Father Maximilian Kolbe who volunteered his life to save a fellow prisoner. He was then starved for two weeks in bldg 11. Still alive, he was then killed with a shot of poison to the heart. Our guide asked us to always refer to Auschwitz as the death camp in occupied Poland. The Poles often hear tourists refer to Auschwitz as “Poland’s Death Camp” and to them this a egregious and hurtful error - it was never their death camp.
• As I stated above, I cannot explain exactly how eerily peaceful Auschwitz I was. Even with the throngs of tourists, the grounds were muted somehow.
• Birkenau is simply overwhelming in its size - over 350 acres it is hard to fathom all the people that were “processed” here. I don't think any picture I took of the remnants does justice to size of the place.
• When I toured Dachau years ago, I remember there being a memorial on the grounds to reflect and pray. I found it startling that although there was one small indoor memorial, the real memorial is the camps. This created such a different experience. I almost have the sense that there is still a gap, that not enough has been done or can be done. I think that may be why there is not a wall memorial here - the camp leaves a deeper impression for it.

MALBORK IS HUGE!

So I almost want to type this whole blog in caps to express how HUGE this castle is! But I’m jumping ahead... Malbork is a town about a 40 minute train ride east of Gdansk. The town itself is quite cute. There is an array of boutiques and the area I walked through was a really nice ped-mall. This area was new in appearance and there was still scaffolding up as I think they are still developing this town too! Sadly, I did not get to the heart of Malbork where there is an old cathedral and more boutiques - my feet were simply too sore after my marathon days of walking ;)
When I reached the castle I was disappointed to find that there were not any tours in English or German available AND the posted sign stated that you could not go inside the castle rooms without a guide. Well, as cliché as it is, rules are made to be broken! Rather out of character, I went around the castle opening any door that would open and walked through all the exhibits that were open armed with a simple guidebook. I got a couple halting looks from the docents, but in the end they just shook their heads - I was one of “those damn tourists” (and loving it - ha ha). At one point I even had to ask how to get to the next level as you could only up or down certain staircases for safety reasons (too narrow). In the end it was like being on the playground for the big kids. Searching out the halls, rooms and defensive walls was fun! Of course I’m glad I didn’t get too lost as this castle is said to have secret tunnels and passageways to the town and other castles (and that really would have been way too much walking)!
Malbork Castle was started by the Teutonic Knights (monastic order started in the Holy Land during the Crusades) in the 13th century. This was their staging ground against the pagan Prussians. There was actually a group of castles in the region, but this was the largest as it was the home to the Grand Masters of the Order (so want that on my next business card). Later, in 1457, the castle was sold and became the northern seat for the Polish monarchy. It would stay an important state center for three centuries - even housing the Prussian stewards. (I’ll spare you all the history lesson - just always keep in mind, Poland has had a lot of change throughout all of its history!)
Quick Tour
The first section is known as the Middle Castle. This is where the chivalric events such as jousting and feasting took place on a grand scale. Guests including kings, princes and other knights were entertained here as alliances were formed. As welcoming as that sounds, the gate entrance had a drawbridge and 5 gates made of oak and iron!

Then it is on to the High Castle - this was the elite area for the Teutonic monks. A huge dry moat and then another draw bridge and gate. This gate was usually kept closed and only opened by password. A real fortress, the well in the center was guarded to make certain the water supply could not be poisoned.

The Chapter Hall is where all the laws and rules were passed by the monks. Originally a group effort, this became more elitist later. Sadly, I didn’t get the best picture of this room, but the keystones were neat and the second floor had a lot of great views and rooms.

The Church of Saint Mary was, like most of the castle, destroyed by bombing. The upper chapel is a shell now which showcases the old pews, fresco fragments and wood and stone carvings.

The other rooms and dining halls hold some exhibits and are relatively stoic. But I really fell in love with the ornate tiles!

Then it was off to walk around the outer High Castle and Outer Bailey. I love all the little finds down in the dry moat!

Finally, walk out on the bridge over the Nogat River and enjoy the view!

Thoughts About the Train
So I was lucky to accidentally purchase a ticket to Malbork on the Express Link. This train was very nice and the trip went quickly. The only unnerving part was when we crossed the Wisla River on a rather old metal bridge. There was, you guessed it, scaffolding on here too as they are making repairs/improvements. What was unnerving was the welders were working on the bridge as we were on it - their gas tanks were sitting right next to the tracks with no discernable ropes/ties keeping them firmly rooted. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if one of those canisters fell over! I could only tell myself, “I will have faith in welders, I will have faith in welders.”
On the way back I made the mistake of getting a standard/local ticket. This train would stop at each town on the way back to Gdansk. I got a lot of reading done. However, it wasn’t until after being entertained by a showcase of young male pizzazz/machismo. A group of about 10 young men (about 16-20yo) came chanting through the train station. There were all dressed in red t-shirts and two had capes. When the train arrived they started chanting again and were answered by another group of about 10 young men already on the train. Some then did pushups outside the train doors while the others counted. They also continued to chant back and forth. When the train pulled out they were all on board and singing songs. At the next stop the push-ups started again on the platform. They did this for about 4 stops and then suddenly all departed and got the train going back the way we had just come. My guess is that this was somehow sports related but I cannot be certain as I really have no idea. I will bug my local expert Sara and see if she has an idea!