Day 40 - Visiting Auschwitz

I had given a lot of thought to whether I wanted to visit Auschwitz whilst in Poland, and a week or so ago booked onto a tour to do so. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, to be honest, but whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t really the packed coach that I met near the station, including a mixture of Italian and English speakers. I was sat next to Kristen, who is from New Zealand and has been travelling in Europe since May, and plans to be travelling until next February.

It was about 90 minutes from central Krakow to Auschwitz and the first striking thing was just how many people were there. There were coach loads of people - literally hundreds even just outside. I really had not expected it to be so touristy.

We were met there by our guide Anna, who was brilliant. We spent about an hour and half at Auschwitz 1. There was a very clear tour route that we were taken along (like I said, there were hundreds and hundreds of people doing the exact same thing), getting an understanding of how the camp operated. We saw displays of the personal belongings of victims, and finally saw a gas chamber.

It was then back on the bus for the short trip to Birkenau. It was the scale here that I think was most striking, and it all felt a bit weird to be seeing it on such a sunny day.

I haven’t really had time to process what I saw today yet, I don’t think. I know that I’m pleased that I went though.

When I got back to the city, I got off the coach at a stop near Wawel Castle, knowing that I probably won’t have time to visit properly tomorrow.

I then walked to the main market square for a lovely meal, before finally getting back to my apartment for some down time.

I am off to Vienna tomorrow, which I am really looking forward to. I do think I underestimated Poland though, as there is so much to see here - I definitely plan to come back in the future to explore more.

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