Krakow

Dzien dobry (Good day),

I arrived in Krackow this evening. We just finished a nice tour group dinner in the Old Town. Tomorrow we will be having a walking tour with a local guide in the morning & an afternoon walking tour of the Jewish Quarter, possibly followed up by a Mozart concert in the Barbican. A few of us plan to rent bikes for an afternoon, maybe the next day, & ride around the Planty, a park surrounding the Old Town, where the walls used to be.

We toured Aushwitz this afternoon. It was sad & interesting to see the place where so much suffering and death occurred at the hands of the Nazis. We went into the one remaining gas chamber & crematorium in Aushwitz, the four at Birkenau were all destroyed by the Nazis before they left. This smaller one was the first one built & wasn't destroyed because it was later used as a bomb shelter for the staff and guards during the bombing raids. We went out to Birkenau & saw a couple of reconstructed barracks to get an idea of how the prisoners lived (& died). I will try to post a couple of pictures in the next couple of days, too tired right now.

Yesterday, we hiked up in the Carpathian Mountains & then watched a village dance troup perform for us in Troyanovich. It has been very hot every day, it was nice to be up in the mountains & enjoy the fresh air & scenery. Hansa, our guide, dressed up as a medival Wallachian shepard to show us how they lived up in the mountains. We've nicknamed him Cap't Jack, because he so resembles Johnny Depp. Did I tell you he is a student at the Praha college? He and his wife, Zuska, are working on their doctorates in languages. He is doing Chinese and she, I think, Farsi. He also does several tours a year for Rick Steves and helps keep the guide book updated as well. Our assistant guide, Renee, lives in Seattle. She just recently joined the company & is in the tour operations department.

I hope everyone is doing well & my animals are all OK. I wish you'd hurry & get those Lapins picked so my cats can have their territory back : ) Girls, have you been refilling the food for them & keeping the dog pool full? Thanks!! I am off to rest now for another full day of adventures. Czesc (Bye)