Starting out - leaving Sydney, Helskinki and Krakow
Helsinki and Krakow
06.05.2011
9 °C
This is our 1st instalment from overseas. We got away as planned on Tue 3rd May on the Qantas flight to Tokyo. We were lucky enough to get our business class upgrade seats (staff) and now Rob is convinced that that is the way to travel. As the flight left Sydney at 10.00pm we were able to recline our seats and get a reasonable amount of sleep. Again we got on the flight from Tokyo to Helsinki and got the emergency seats which gave us plenty of leg room with no seats in front of us. (For those unaware, travelling staff only gets you stand-by seats, so nothing is guaranteed but by having prior knowledge and picking your routes give a better chance of getting on)
We had about 24 hours in Helsinki, hopped on a bus to the city and walked around for a couple of hours, down by the water and then the city cathedral which is in a stage of restoration and then it was back to the accommodation for a big sleep and up again and out to the airport to catch the plane to Krakow where I think we might have got the last 2 seats.
We are now in Krakow (Thur till Sun). After arriving yesterday we were picked up at the airport by the hotel transfer taxi, how painless, we walked through the exit door from customs to see my name being held up by a guy. (Thanks Elise for arranging accommodation and transfer)
After settling in we headed out to explore the city heading straight to the city square where, of course we look like tourists, we were approached and asked if we wanted to do the city tour. We had already decided we would so hopped in a golf buggy to be driven and given an audio and running commentary from the driver. We opted for the 3 hour tour which covered most of the main points of interest in the city also giving us the opportunity to hop off and go inside a number of places. We went into the last and only operational Jewish synagogue left in the city after there being about 20 pre-war period. Apparently there are about only 600 Jewish people left living in Krakow (population 800,000) when it was about 25% of the population pre-war.
Today we did the Auschwitz tour……..so surreal and hard to comprehend the atrocities that were perpetrated on so many during the war. To see a whole section containing human hair where they cut off everyone’s hair, where it was sent to Germany and used for making socks for sailors on the submarines and mattresses and numerous other uses. You have to be there to hear and see to believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
