Auschwitz-Birkenau

I took a tour of the concentration camp yesterday. I'm still trying to form coherant thoughts on this. I think that the crux of the problem is that even after visiting a site like this, I am still no closer in understanding how it could happen. Our guide emphasized that the vast majority of those entering the camp had no idea what awaited them. They thought they were going to work in a German factory. They brought bowls and plates and clothing with them. You see the piles of personal belongings, preserved. You learn how the prisoners were treated, see their living conditions, what the Nazis did with the bodies. You begin to picture what happened, but there is no way that the scale of such a thing can be understood.

Birkenau was striking. It is vast, I would guess 10 square miles. But you still have no way of comprehending that about 1.5 million people perished there. I can't get any further than "How did this happen?"

Photos....

I have new photos up, Greece until now... Click on the link, and let me know if you have any problems with anything...

Future movements...

Another one of those boring posts to indicate where I am and where I will be...

I'm in Kracow until Sun, 2 April. That day, I'll take a train to Prague. It seems as if the overnight train is a bit theftprone, so I'll go during the day.

I'll be in Prague through the night of 5 April. (Insert visit to embassy to ask about extra passport pages. I wouldn't be so bitter, but all the EU stamps look alike. All are a rectangle with the country's initials in a circle. There's also a picture of the method of conveyance - train or ferry. Ironically, I have not entered the EU by plane.)

After Prague, I'll visit Dresden Germany for a couple of days, followed by Berlin, probably Munich as well. This part is still a bit fuzzy because of Easter...

I have booked four nights in Amsterdam at a hostel - the minimum required over Easter weekend. So I'll fly from somewhere to Amsterdam on 14 April, and leave on 18 April. I'm guessing I'll have a day trip or two... So if anyone wants Easter in Amsterdam, let me know...

From there, I think it's a flight to Barcelona, and then into France...

So I'm in Poland...

I'm wondering how long it will take before someone posts the first Polish joke.... But anyway. I'm in Krakow. There's an accent in there somewhere. I'll be here a few days before heading on to Prague.

I spent about three hours of my life in Vamosgyork, Hungary. I thought that it would be a major city, as the night train from Budapest to Krakow makes a stop there. I had the choice to spend three hours there, or I could spend three more hours on a train. I chose Vamosgyork..

It turns out that Vamosgyork is a small town. It is bigger than Olib, but not by much. Its main virtue is the fact that it's about a 10 minute drive from a large city, which itself is not on the rail system. Thus, a stop in the tiny town services the larger city. I surmised this information after finding an area map outside the train station, well after disembarking the train.

I did locate a map of the town on the reverse of the area map. The map key did have a fork and knife emblem. In practice, this translates into "small grocery store" instead of "restaurant." Lacking the ability to boil pasta, I came away with paprika flavored cheesy-poofs and some juice. Fear not, I did find a desert shop open, which provided me with some tasty goodness. I did note at least two bars were open, thus continuing the trend to drink with greater ease than eat in a small town.

Mom, don't read this; Dad, it's OK...

So Roxy put me in contact with Patrick, someone from Peoria who teaches English here in Budapest. We went to the opera last night, followed by a look at the expat scene. He explained something that had been bothering me for awhile...

My first night here, I was in an internet cafe, tapping away, when the internet connection stopped functioning. I brought this to the attention of the manager type, who spent the next five minutes telling me to wait, but not really looking at my computer, or doing much of anything other than talk to his friends. I start to pack up my stuff. He tries to explain that it's not his fault that the connection went down. It's not the connection I was bothered by, it was the five minutes of my life I don't get back.

Seeing that I was still perturbed, he said, "Fuck you!" followed by a string of Hungarian.

I repeated the expletive, and walked out without paying for the 10 minutes I did use.

Needless to say, this did not endear me to the city.

But last night, Patrick explained that cursing is an art form here. "Fuck you" isn't personal here. It's very commonly thrown around. The worst curse words translate into "God's cock," and you must be very careful in use of that one...

By now, you know why I told my mom not to read this. I'm certain she wouldn't appreciate my reflections on this subject...

Moving on...

So today, I'm taking a bus to Eger (EGG-air). It's the Napa Valley of Hungary. Their most famous red wine, Eger Bull's Blood (long story relating to a war with the Turks) is made there. Apparently, there is the Valley of the Beautiful Women. It's a horseshoe shaped road, full of wine cellars. It's a few minutes walk from city center. Also, everyone raves about the castle and the church there, so I'll investigate those too.

From there, I am taking an overnight train to Kracow. The German railroad maintains a database of all RR operations in Europe. It kindly alerted me that I would be passing through the same rail station twice - once from Eger to Budapest, and then from Budapest to Kracow. So I have elected to spend three hours in a small Hungarian town instead of on a train... I'll let you know how that goes...

I plan to spend four days in Kracow. There's the city, some salt mines, and Auschwitz to see. And I figure I'll need a bit of downtime after the last of that list. From there, I'll head to Prague for a few days, where I should pay a visit to the embassy. I'm running a bit low on space in my passport. Not as many border controls have been abolished in Europe as I thought. I'm hoping to score a few extra pages in the passport before heading to Germany...

So that's an in-depth account of my future movements to make up for the fact that I forgot to tell you that I was going to Hungary before doing so...