We got up early in the morning in Prague and headed to the train station for our 6:19 AM ride to Krakow. It took about six hours, and truth be told we weren't quite sure we had the right train because everything on our reservation was in Czech. Lo and behold we made it, however! Our tour guide, Arek, met us at the train station and our small group of 16 headed over to the hotel hoping at least one room was ready to store the luggage.
Dar and Sean's room was ready so all the luggage got dropped off there and we headed out for some much needed vittles. This cute little restaurant was able to put all of us in the basement, away from everyone else, for which we were grateful. Thank goodness Arek and Martyna speak Polish!
After our first delicious Polish meal we headed out to explore the city. It was quite hot and we had plans to tour the castle. But truth be told, all the kids that had been in Europe for awhile were castled out. The adults pretty much too.
We took the kids to a little park.
And then to see the fire-breathing dragon.
And the creepy mime.
After that Becky and Beth's families headed out to the Skawa area while the rest of us went to the hotel.
Day 2: Bright and early we made the hour and half drive to Auschwitz. We learned that there was actually three Auschwitzes, Auschwitz 1, which was originally Polish soldier barracks. It was made of brick and is still standing. Then there was Auschwitz 2, also known as Birkenau, a wooden set of structures made by the prisoners. Little of that is left. The conditions there were much worse than Auschwitz 1. It had four gas chambers as opposed to Auschwitz 1, which only had one. The main purpose of Auschwitz 2 was the gassing of Jews. Auschwitz 3 was a forced labor camp.
We only toured Auschwitz 1 with the girls. Dar and Sean went on to Auschwitz 2.
This is where executions took place.
The is the gas chamber at Auschwitz 1. We actually went inside of it. The gas had to be at a certain temperature to work which is why the chambers were all built into the ground. Prisoners undressed in the courtyard and were told they were going to take a shower.
After leaving Auschwitz we headed to Skawa to be the rest of the family. Jenny, Nick and Wally were there too. Arek and Becky were staying in Arek's uncle's house and the guys took all the kids to pet the local sheep.
The house had a trampoline, a zip line, swings, a doughboy pool and a giant bathtub which they preferred to "swim" in.
Day 3: Today was our big water rafting trip. There was some confusion as to actually what the trip entailed but eventually it was clear that we were taking eight kids, including two toddlers, on a three hour rafting trip with no guide. Arek worked his magic and got us one guide. That meant Arek had to guide the other raft. The kids played in the water beforehand not knowing what they were going to have to endure. 😂
Kinga was pretty miserable in this life jacket.
We rafted for an hour and a half and then stopped for lunch in Slovakia. That was when I noticed my phone was no longer in my pocket but in the river, either on the Slovakia side or the Poland side. I lost all my pictures of Poland as I hadn't hooked up to wifi the night before. Luckily, I scavenged all these pics from everyone's else's booty. Lunch took two hours because there was only one person working in the little snack bar and she had to cook and take orders!
Then we rafted back. It was exhausting but we had so many laughs and Darlene was brilliant to tell the kids in our raft that she would give the winner of the quiet game a dollar!
For dinner we went to Arek's aunt's restaurant which had more delicious Polish food.
Day 4: Today we all drove up to the mountains to visit the cute town of Zakopane. Mia and Paige decided to ride in a horse drawn carriage while the rest of the kids went to the arcade.
After that we went over to the house Arek's parents still own and he took all the kids out on the razor.
He also took Dan out and there he showed him the painted rocks that indicate where pope John Paul II used to take his walks when he was the archbishop.
What a trip!
We were happy to be going home the next day but made memories to last a lifetime!
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