i chanced upon some unbelievably cheap airline tickets, so one weekend in november i went to poland! i flew into katowice, and promptly took a bus to krakow. it is a really beautiful and historically rich city! i was there for only one full day, so i just wandered around. lots of old churches, and a famous christmas market that was being set up but unfortunately wasn’t open yet. i tagged along with a tour group through the corridors of the ancient wawel castle, where there are nice views over krakow. went to kazimerz, the famous historical jewish quarter, and visited the great synagogue of krakow. krakow was one of the biggest centers of judaism in europe and indeed the world prior to world war two. unfortunately a ghetto was created for jews there during the war, and about 300 000 lost their lives there. auschwitz concentration camp is also nearby, but as it takes the better part of a day to get to and visit, i didn’t make it there this time. every jewish high school student in israel makes a trip to krakow and auschwitz to learn first-hand about the holocaust. on that topic, i also visited a new museum on the site of oscar schindler’s factory. he was a man who saved over 1000 jews during the war by employing them undercover in his factory – the famous film schindler’s list tells the story. excellent museum. right beside it is the kocak, or the museum of modern art in krakow, which i also patronized as admission is only two dollars. and i would be remiss not to mention that krakow has at least two amazing shopping malls, where i giddily and frequently purchased starbucks coffee. it was an excellent weekend!
