Our trip to warsaw/Krakow

4th March 07

We woke up at 4am. Caught 2 buses to go to the train station. Our train left at 6.36am to go to warsaw. Got some breakfast at train station. Got on train for our 6 hr ride to warsaw. We sat in a little cabin area. It was 6 seater. No one was in there when we left Berlin. We got to frankfurt and a polish man hoped on and came and sat near us. He didnt speak english so we couldnt talk to him. Got our passports stamped twice. Not sure why. Had a our tickets looked at and stamped about 3 times. I watched a movie on the mp4 player. Phil listened to his mp3 player. The time went really fast. Didnt see much on the way. Lots of forest. Got to warsaw at 12.30pm. Walked to hotel from train station. It took about 20mins. Checked in. Our room is small but that doesnt matter as we wont be in it much.Nice hotel. Walked around warsaw. Went to palac kulturyi nauki (palace of culture and science). Thatw as good. Went up to the viewing area outside and saw the town of warsaw. Nice views. Took pics and video. Then we went down and phil did a radio demo in a studio they have there. He was trying to speak polish. He got it taped and emailed to him. Met a guy called Adam. He took us back up to the viewing area and showed us where certain things were to go to. He was really nice. Went back to hotel and had dinner. It was very nice. Then we went back to the train station to book our tickets to go to Krakow tomorrow. We found out we can use our eurorail passes. So that saved us money which was good. Things are cheap here. There currency is Zolty. Came back to hotel and went to bed. Have to get up at 5.45am tomorrow to catch train.

Will write about our visit to krakow and the concentration camp and what we did on our last day in warsaw tomorrow. Time is running out for internet.

Take Carexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

5th March 07

We had to wake up at 5.45am to catch train to krakow. Our train left at 7.05am. It took 2.45 hrs to get there. The train was packed going there. We hired a tour guide called josef. He drove us to Auschwitz. (which is a concentration camp). It took about 1 hr to drive there. It was a nice drive up. the driver was nice. We walked around for about 2 hrs. It was a interesting place to go to. It was upsetting to see what these people had to go through. We went in to a block which was called the death cells. saw where people got shot and gased. that was very upsetting to see. Everyone was so quiet walking around. We then drove to Birkenav which was another concentration camp. That was only about 2min drive from Auschwitz. This was a very big camp. We stayed there for about 45mins. The crematrioum got bombed. That was also distrubing to see what they went through. Drove back to Krakow. Phil bought some Nike runners. Pretty cheap over here. Didnt have time to walk around Krakow cause it takes so long to gte back. It was good to see the concentration camps. Caught 5pm train back to warsaw. Stopped and got dinner. lady didnt understand what phil was saying but she finally worked it out. She got a bit annoyed. Went back to hotel and had dinner. watched some tv and went to bed. Going to look around warsaw tomorrow.

Love to you all xxxx

6th march 07

Woke up at 7am. had a bit of a sleep in after getting up so early for 2 days. Walked around warsaw. Went and bisited the unknown solider and then went to Saski park. there was a pond that was iced up. The ducks looked like they were ice skating on it. We went to old town. Very beautiful place. It was unaffected by ww2 bombings.. saw the barbakan castle which was all so in old town. walked to the Jewish ghetto monument. Saw the old Pawiak prison memorial. It was closed. Then we walked around for about 1 hr trying to find postoffice. Finally found it after asking 3 people. Had to take a number. waited for about 15 mins and the lady didnt understand that we only wanted stamps. She had to gte someone to help her understand english. They finally worked out what we wanted. Went and had lunch at a cfe. Nice food. Walked back to hotel got new battery for camera and then walked to Lazienkowski park. very big. It was menat to be where the royal baths are but we couldnt find the,m. Saw some funny looking aniamls. They looked like squirrels but we werent sure. People were feeding them nuts. They come right up too you. There very fast. Phil tried to take phots but too quick. he finally got one. Went back to hotel and got changed and went out to dinner. We had Pierogi. It is what there food is. Very nice but filling. Nice and cheap too. Wene to the bar at the hotel. Phil had a couple fo beers. Packed up our things as we are off to Bucharest tomorrow.

Take Care. Hope you are all enjoying reading about our trip. We are having a great time. xxxx