Poland

Since I moved to Romania, I have been dreaming about going to Poland.  Everytime the word vacation comes up, I always say, "How about Poland?"  Well, this year, my dream came true.  My friend, Kristen, came to visit me in Romania and she wanted to take a side trip.  She had suggested Poland but only if I would go to Auschwitz with her; which was no problem for me because that was one of the main reasons for wanting to go to Poland in the first place.  So I started looking up prices and was able to find a pretty good deal.  So, we were off to Poland.  We stayed in the city of Krakow--touring around the city, visiting the Schindler museum, an art museum, Wawel Castle, and finally on to Auschwitz.  It was very surreal to visit there and to see the buildings where the Nazi soldiers kept their prisoners and to actually walk the grounds where so many people were tortured and killed.  There were three rooms that we saw that really saddened me: first, a room full of hair that had been shaved off of the women as they entered the camp, second, a room full of shoes--probably the best shoes these people owned, and third, a room full of luggage that had been confiscated as the prisoners came into Auschwitz.  It is so easy for me to take life for granted, so the next time I find myself doing this, I'm going to remind myself about the suffering that these people went through.  It was a nice little vacation and I'm so glad that I went and that my friend Kristen could come see my life here in Romania!

Kristen and I at Auschwitz-Birkenau