30th January
I had a really lazy day today - knowing that I would be getting very little sleep tomorrow. We went shopping to get Becharovka and beer for dad, to see how much I can add in my luggage. The answer was 2 x Becharovka and 4 large cans of beer!
I have packed and am at about 29kgs, taking into account the last minute toiletries to pack - I just hope they don’t check my hand luggage.
Janko managed to take my stitches out, on second inspection, so I’m really happy they are out. I will wait until the morning to wash my hair though - give it overnight to heal the tiny stitches holes.
31st January - homeward bound.
Got up a little earlier than normal - but still late by real standards. Showered and finally washed my hair properly - it was wonderful! Packed the last bits and pieces.
Svartava came over - with another Becharovka and a tin of chocholates for mum... My scales said it was exactly 30kgs - phew! (Still sweating bullets over the hand luggage - it’s about 3kgs over!
We didn’t dally over goodbyes - we’d just cry - so we made it quick - like taking off a bandaid....Checked in okay and through security with no problems.
When I got to my gate I got worried - as they were checking the boarding passes to allow you through to the waiting area the lady is picking up the hand luggage of the people in front of me....I’m about to get busted SO badly...... I smile like I’m just your average passenger - and she waves me through....then I notice, she’s only checking the hand luggage of Asian passengers....not sure if they are notorious for having too much - because they didn’t seem to have any issues..... But that was the sad fact of it. Talk about racial profiling!
The flight left on time - it was okay - nothing special or bad. I watched a couple of movies then started on catching up on season 10 of The Big Bang Theory....still have a couple of eps to go on my next leg.
Dubai - also zero problems - flight again, left on time... finished season 10 TBBT and then watched more movies. I’m coming up blank on all the movies I watched - talk about Dory’s memory! Had a particularly wanky wanker next to me who insisted not only on taking the entire arm rest - but spilling over to my side! Happily he’s getting out at Singapore, so I have hopes of a better neighbour next leg.
Quick stop in Singapore for fuel. I hate having to go through security when transmitting at the best of time - it’s ridiculous to get off a plane that you’ve been screened to get on to, and walked through the secure section of the airport to get to another gate, but we think you may have picked up something you’re not allowed to have....... But this was even worse - we got off the plane, literally turned right at the end of the jetway and sat in seats to wait being allowed to get back on - the same plane... and they made us go through security for it! Anyway - nothing you can do about it.
Got in to Brisbane a few minutes early and I have to say that with the chipped passport and ‘teller’ machines to get through, it was really quick. We were the only plane there at the time, and the luggage came out pretty quickly. By the time I’d gone through customs and wandered over, I waiting maybe two or three minutes and hey presto-chango - luggage! I think I was out and talking to Dad within 20 minutes of landing!
Thursday, February 08, 2018
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
28th and 29th of January 2018
28th January
Lazy morning - then went to “The Cottage” for lunch. There isn’t much cottag-ey about where Karol (Marketa’s Dad) lives. It’s rather a large bungalow and actually where Svartava (Marketa’s Mum) grew up. The house has been in the family for several generations.
Went for a short walk after lunch, but was honestly mostly just fighting to stay awake. A couple of late nights and early mornings are just a little tough to take, it seems.
29th January
Mostly lazy day again today. I had a dry run at packing. With all the books and heavy stuff in the suitcase it’s 26kgs. There’s probably about another kg to add to that. I will take out some of that heavier stuff though, to fit in some Pilsner and Becharovka.
Tried to get the stitches out - but Marketa’s doctor wasn’t answering her phone at all, and ER wouldn’t see me, as I’m not an emergency..... wonder how I would have gone if I’d injured myself here - if it would have been easier?
When I got home I checked with Lottie - and will be leaving the stitches in until I get home - honestly can’t be arsed fighting to get help and don’t like Marketa having to run around so much for me. I’m not happy about it - but I just can’t be bothered!
Lazy morning - then went to “The Cottage” for lunch. There isn’t much cottag-ey about where Karol (Marketa’s Dad) lives. It’s rather a large bungalow and actually where Svartava (Marketa’s Mum) grew up. The house has been in the family for several generations.
Went for a short walk after lunch, but was honestly mostly just fighting to stay awake. A couple of late nights and early mornings are just a little tough to take, it seems.
29th January
Mostly lazy day again today. I had a dry run at packing. With all the books and heavy stuff in the suitcase it’s 26kgs. There’s probably about another kg to add to that. I will take out some of that heavier stuff though, to fit in some Pilsner and Becharovka.
Tried to get the stitches out - but Marketa’s doctor wasn’t answering her phone at all, and ER wouldn’t see me, as I’m not an emergency..... wonder how I would have gone if I’d injured myself here - if it would have been easier?
When I got home I checked with Lottie - and will be leaving the stitches in until I get home - honestly can’t be arsed fighting to get help and don’t like Marketa having to run around so much for me. I’m not happy about it - but I just can’t be bothered!
29th January 2018
Got up nice and early to make my 7.55am flight. I shouldn’t have paid the high price for breakfast as it was too early for me to do it justice - but I ate what I could since I’d paid so much for it!
Flights all left on time, Warsaw stop through was nice - it’s a nice new airport and easy to navigate so that’s nice.
I will say, that although the hotel was not cheap by any standards - it was so handy since it was right there, at the airport - I just walked to my gate - way too easy!
Marketa and Janko picked me up an off we went into Prague to see “The most beautiful library in the world”. Klementinum WAS stunning - but a tad disappointing that we didn’t get to go into it at all - just view it from the doorway. The old observatory was there too, so we climbed a couple of hundred steps (okay - about 90 or something) up to the top and were rewarded along the way with seeing where the old time nerds did their observing and a most stunning view of Prague from the top of the tower.
Did some souvenir shopping, finally found the goodnight fella for Laura - couldn’t believe what a feat that was!
Drove home to Hradec and then went out to the local Italian for dinner.
Flights all left on time, Warsaw stop through was nice - it’s a nice new airport and easy to navigate so that’s nice.
I will say, that although the hotel was not cheap by any standards - it was so handy since it was right there, at the airport - I just walked to my gate - way too easy!
Marketa and Janko picked me up an off we went into Prague to see “The most beautiful library in the world”. Klementinum WAS stunning - but a tad disappointing that we didn’t get to go into it at all - just view it from the doorway. The old observatory was there too, so we climbed a couple of hundred steps (okay - about 90 or something) up to the top and were rewarded along the way with seeing where the old time nerds did their observing and a most stunning view of Prague from the top of the tower.
Did some souvenir shopping, finally found the goodnight fella for Laura - couldn’t believe what a feat that was!
Drove home to Hradec and then went out to the local Italian for dinner.
26th January 2018. Worst Australia Day ever
I can hardly see the screen at the moment. Today was such a wonderful celebration of Anne’s life. She had already been cremated, so today was the memorial service (all details as previously planned by Anne, no surprise there).
I stayed in my room as late as I could, had breakfast around 9am, and luckily check out isn’t until midday, so Par and Lottie will arrive not too long after that. I got ready and checked out a tad before noon, then sat in the lobby quietly reading, waiting for them and trying to avoid thinking about what is coming up.
There was a not too long ceremony outside, overlooking the water. I was so proud of both Karin and Lottie, to be able to get up and make a speech.
Afterwards we went indoors (at the same place) for a bit of a gathering. There were speeches (I think I was really glad I couldn’t understand them, I would have cried even more), small nibbles (not sure Anne would have liked the single use plastics being used :) and drinks.
I was always introduced as “Anne’s big sister from Australia”, which made my heart happy. And I lost count of the times someone heard me speak English and come over and say: You must be (or Are you) Anne’s Australian sister? When I nodded or said yes, it was always followed by, “She spoke about you so much, she loved you very much” which just made me cry harder, to be honest as nice as it was to hear. Both Anne and I knew what we had was special, and I’m pretty sure if the shoe was on the other foot, friends of mine would be comforting Anne as we obviously both talked about each other a lot :)
After the service, Lottie, Par and I had dinner and I could finally talk about Anne without my throat catching and bursting into tears. It was so nice to talk to them about her and be able to...and to remember the funny things..... Like how between us we broke the dial pad on the phone in my bedroom since Anne was always the one arranging the social outings, and I wasn’t afraid to dial out either... we were pretty proud of breaking a phone :)
About 8.30pm we called it a night though - it had been a draining day, and as Lottie put it, prior to today, we had today to aim for - and as horrible as the reason for the reunion - we had that. From now though, is the new normal. Learning to live without as much light in the world....
I got the 9.15pm Flygbussarna back to Arlanda and checked in no problem to the hotel.
I stayed in my room as late as I could, had breakfast around 9am, and luckily check out isn’t until midday, so Par and Lottie will arrive not too long after that. I got ready and checked out a tad before noon, then sat in the lobby quietly reading, waiting for them and trying to avoid thinking about what is coming up.
There was a not too long ceremony outside, overlooking the water. I was so proud of both Karin and Lottie, to be able to get up and make a speech.
Afterwards we went indoors (at the same place) for a bit of a gathering. There were speeches (I think I was really glad I couldn’t understand them, I would have cried even more), small nibbles (not sure Anne would have liked the single use plastics being used :) and drinks.
I was always introduced as “Anne’s big sister from Australia”, which made my heart happy. And I lost count of the times someone heard me speak English and come over and say: You must be (or Are you) Anne’s Australian sister? When I nodded or said yes, it was always followed by, “She spoke about you so much, she loved you very much” which just made me cry harder, to be honest as nice as it was to hear. Both Anne and I knew what we had was special, and I’m pretty sure if the shoe was on the other foot, friends of mine would be comforting Anne as we obviously both talked about each other a lot :)
After the service, Lottie, Par and I had dinner and I could finally talk about Anne without my throat catching and bursting into tears. It was so nice to talk to them about her and be able to...and to remember the funny things..... Like how between us we broke the dial pad on the phone in my bedroom since Anne was always the one arranging the social outings, and I wasn’t afraid to dial out either... we were pretty proud of breaking a phone :)
About 8.30pm we called it a night though - it had been a draining day, and as Lottie put it, prior to today, we had today to aim for - and as horrible as the reason for the reunion - we had that. From now though, is the new normal. Learning to live without as much light in the world....
I got the 9.15pm Flygbussarna back to Arlanda and checked in no problem to the hotel.
25th January 2018 - Off to Sweden
I got up early so I could catch the 7.08 train to Prague. I would give my own life to not be making this trip and for Anne to be okay. But it’s the trip I have to make, and I’m grateful I’m in Europe and am able to make it.
I had no problem with the train, or getting the Airport Express to the Airport. Everything went smoothly with the flight etc. Picked up a 1 litre bottle of Becharovka for Thore and Margareta on the way through :)
At Arlanda - everything went equally as smoothly, Flybussarna to City Terminalen, train two stops to Slussen, then had to catch a bus as the line is being upgraded, so bussed it to the next stop along the line. Out at Saltsjöbaden and went to check maps - but the hotel was in plain sight (directly opposite) the train station.
Got checked in no problem and let everyone, including Margareta know that I’d arrived okay.
Margareta stopped by for a catch up which was really nice. Lots of tears and lots of laughter. In typical Margareta style - she didn’t want me sitting alone the night before the service.
We (obviously) talked a lot about Anne, which was hard. I haven’t been able to really talk to anyone about Anne since I heard the news. Marketa was a big help in being my sounding board, as I tried to work out if I should come or not...but she didn’t know Anne, so it’s not quite the same. So I couldn’t really talk without crying, so I wasn’t much help at all really! But it was good to catch up tonight a bit - who knows how tomorrow will go.
I learned a lot more with how Anne managed to go. I’m still processing it to know if it was more than I needed to know or not - but I’m glad it was painless and she wasn’t alone. They didn’t know she was going to choose then, and don’t know why she chose that day. Maybe it was the day she was brave enough. Maybe she wanted to go while I was nearby and could come along - though I don’t really think I factored into it really. Maybe something else happened to tip the scales, I’m not sure. I’m just grateful she went on her terms and not through one of her allergic reactions sending her into anaphylactic shock and dying in agony and scared. There are details I know of that I won’t write here. But even her exit was very typical Anne and made me smile.
I wasn’t in the mood to sit in the restaurant and eat after that - but I’d brought some chocolate along, so that was my super nutritious dinner. I was hoping to have a nice cup of tea - but there were no facilities in the room at all. A little disappointing!
23rd and 24th of January 2018
23rd January
Today was a day of taking it very easy. I’m a bit headachey, but that’s not so unusual for me anyway!
After some drama I managed to get a tetanus shot. Marketa’s doctor couldn’t do it because she only receives the vaccines as needed for her own patients. So we had to go to the ER - but they didn’t want to see me as they only see patients after 4pm when the doctors are closed. Finally someone agreed to see me an it was a 30 second job!
24th January
Today I took it easy unti the afternoon and then walked to the nearest shops and got my nails done. Now I can’t type for shit - but that’s because they are way too long - I will need to get them shortened when I’m back - for now I’m on holidays, and will have them pretty :)
Later Janko remove the wad of dressing and I was finally able to wash my hair/head and get the dried blood off me - it felt so bloody good!
Today was a day of taking it very easy. I’m a bit headachey, but that’s not so unusual for me anyway!
After some drama I managed to get a tetanus shot. Marketa’s doctor couldn’t do it because she only receives the vaccines as needed for her own patients. So we had to go to the ER - but they didn’t want to see me as they only see patients after 4pm when the doctors are closed. Finally someone agreed to see me an it was a 30 second job!
24th January
Today I took it easy unti the afternoon and then walked to the nearest shops and got my nails done. Now I can’t type for shit - but that’s because they are way too long - I will need to get them shortened when I’m back - for now I’m on holidays, and will have them pretty :)
Later Janko remove the wad of dressing and I was finally able to wash my hair/head and get the dried blood off me - it felt so bloody good!
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
22nd January 2018
Small post today. I am sore and my head hurts a little - but nothing unexpected or out of what would be normal for someone my age/size stacking it on the ice and smacking my head on a concrete step.....
I took it easy today. The most effort I made was boiling eggs and doing a load of laundry!
It will be my plan for tomorrow probably as well. Thursday, I’m off to Stockholm :(
I took it easy today. The most effort I made was boiling eggs and doing a load of laundry!
It will be my plan for tomorrow probably as well. Thursday, I’m off to Stockholm :(
Monday, January 22, 2018
21st January 2018..leaving Krakow, but not the way we planned
Okay, so it’s not exactly Hollywood Seven - but we did NOT plan our exit of Kraków quite this way........
So....the plan for this morning was to go Mound Kosciuszko (not the Mountain, which they also have), on to the Salt Mines then off home.
Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko was named after the same man, Tadeusz Kosciuszko as it looked like this mound. Tadeusz is a national hero in Poland for his freedom fighting against the Austro-Hungarian occupation, Russia’s then occupation and also Prussia. Poland was not a united nation as it is now, so several nation had different areas. Poland obtained independence after World War I, which they kept until Nazi occupation. Liberated by Russia, they were folded into the Soviet Union until 1989 when the Solidarity movement finally won them their independence, which they’ve had ever since.
Okay, brief background history lesson over.....
Kosciuszko - done - check.. coming down the stairs to walk back down the roadway to our car (and I’m being super careful, as I had noted it was slippery), I get to the bottom of the steps, stand on the pathway and whupp! I’m flying. I’m trying to hold my head up as I don’t want to smack it on the path...I should be so lucky - I was not far enough away from the steps and cracked it (very loudly) on the bottom step).
Marketa heard me make a sound (nothing intelligible - just one of those noises you make when you fall) and turned to see my lying on the ground holding my head and writhing in quite a bit of pain. She immediately tells me “don’t move, Sharon, there’s blood” (so I pull my hand away from my head to look, and it’s obviously bleeding quite badly because my hand is covered)! Then she’s asking one of the gentlemen who stopped when it happened if they could call an ambulance. She was a total warrior and went straight into organisation mode.
So I hear “blood” and “ambulance” in one breath and do just as I’m told - I stay laying on the ground as I was when Marketa got to me - a little on my side (as I’d gone foetal with the pain).
The two Polish guys who stopped and stayed with us were amazing and so nice. Others walking past checked to see if we needed anything more - but didn’t hang around to gawp, which was really nice.
One passer-by actually gave me a disposable nappy to soak up the blood which they secured with my beanie, which made it a little easier as I could take my hand away.
I’m not sure how long the ambulance took to come - it wasn’t long, but it felt like it as the ground was freezing and it was still snowing. One of the original two guys went back to his car and got 2 large polythene bags to put under me to try to keep me from getting any wetter from the snow. I have to say that I found the Poles extremely friendly and very nice people. The two original guys were staying until they knew the ambos spoke English, otherwise they were going to stay to translate what happened etc. (SO nice)! I wish I’d got their names or had a way to thank them!
During my wait they were also telling Marketa to take photos as this is a public parth and they had not salted or sanded the pathways/steps when it had been snowing all morning. (I think this was about 1pm when this happened) and that I should sue the Krakow government and should get a good payout. This seems somewhat extreme to me, but they DO have a point that it should have been looked after. I hope I was the only one to get injured, but I’d be hugely surprised if I was the only one who slipped. I may just write to them and ask for reimbursement for my costs though - that added up. (Nothing like it would be in Australia, I’m sure, though).
So the ambo’s arrived and I asked the one nearest me if he spoke English, to which I got the cheerful reply, “No, I don’t speak English”, said with not that much of an accent at all!
So after we explained what had happened (that I had failed at walking), they took me off and told Marketa where I would be. Some local Military Hospital!
In the ambulance they took off my nappy and put on a real dressing then vitals and the normal stuff... It didn’t take too long to get there - but the warmth of the ambulance made my wound really start hurting. I felt a bit tired and a bit sick, so I was keeping myself awake by trying to see as much out of the window as possible. Then I was handed over to the hospital.
Marketa wasn’t impressed - but the wait was pretty short compared to what I think it would have been in Brisbane (though anyone arriving by Ambulance usually gets seen first).
The doctor spoke enough English, but had zero bedside manner (maybe he’s in the right place, if he deal with the military (but there were tonnes of civilians there too - so maybe it WAS military and has just kept its name?
He wasn’t the greatest communicator and his nurse was a bloody frightening thing. Barrelled me out of the way to get to her seat with not one word in any language and I’m thinking - I’ve already got one head injury - could we maybe not knock me over and give me another one! He shaved around the wound (the most painful part), and gave me a tonne of total and put in three stitches, then sewed a pad of gauze over it to be taken off by anyone in three days. No washing my hair for three days (lovely - it’s covered in blood and I look a fright if I can’t at least wet down my curls to unflatten them! The I was sent off for a CT scan and the radiologist was a lovely young woman.
Back to the waiting room for him to tell me if I’ve got anything serious going on.. there wasn’t. He noticed some non-injury irregularities so my special Kraków souvenir is a CD with my CT images on there so my GP at home can follow up. He claims it’s nothing urgent...
So of all the things to suck at - mine is apparently walking! I have only had one other head injury in my life and it too, involved a bottom step.... I’m not sure I can avoid steps though - but I will be taking it easy for a day or two and was given the okay to fly on Thursday. I would have been devastated if I hadn’t been able to go to Anne’s funeral because of sucking at walking!
So we got home so much later than originally planned and pretty much went straight to bed. Marketa was amazing throughout all of it and is checking up on me regularly to make sure I’m okay while home alone. She is a GREAT person to have with you in a crisis situation and sadly never got to see the famous Salt Mines :(
So....the plan for this morning was to go Mound Kosciuszko (not the Mountain, which they also have), on to the Salt Mines then off home.
Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko was named after the same man, Tadeusz Kosciuszko as it looked like this mound. Tadeusz is a national hero in Poland for his freedom fighting against the Austro-Hungarian occupation, Russia’s then occupation and also Prussia. Poland was not a united nation as it is now, so several nation had different areas. Poland obtained independence after World War I, which they kept until Nazi occupation. Liberated by Russia, they were folded into the Soviet Union until 1989 when the Solidarity movement finally won them their independence, which they’ve had ever since.
Okay, brief background history lesson over.....
Kosciuszko - done - check.. coming down the stairs to walk back down the roadway to our car (and I’m being super careful, as I had noted it was slippery), I get to the bottom of the steps, stand on the pathway and whupp! I’m flying. I’m trying to hold my head up as I don’t want to smack it on the path...I should be so lucky - I was not far enough away from the steps and cracked it (very loudly) on the bottom step).
Marketa heard me make a sound (nothing intelligible - just one of those noises you make when you fall) and turned to see my lying on the ground holding my head and writhing in quite a bit of pain. She immediately tells me “don’t move, Sharon, there’s blood” (so I pull my hand away from my head to look, and it’s obviously bleeding quite badly because my hand is covered)! Then she’s asking one of the gentlemen who stopped when it happened if they could call an ambulance. She was a total warrior and went straight into organisation mode.
So I hear “blood” and “ambulance” in one breath and do just as I’m told - I stay laying on the ground as I was when Marketa got to me - a little on my side (as I’d gone foetal with the pain).
The two Polish guys who stopped and stayed with us were amazing and so nice. Others walking past checked to see if we needed anything more - but didn’t hang around to gawp, which was really nice.
One passer-by actually gave me a disposable nappy to soak up the blood which they secured with my beanie, which made it a little easier as I could take my hand away.
I’m not sure how long the ambulance took to come - it wasn’t long, but it felt like it as the ground was freezing and it was still snowing. One of the original two guys went back to his car and got 2 large polythene bags to put under me to try to keep me from getting any wetter from the snow. I have to say that I found the Poles extremely friendly and very nice people. The two original guys were staying until they knew the ambos spoke English, otherwise they were going to stay to translate what happened etc. (SO nice)! I wish I’d got their names or had a way to thank them!
During my wait they were also telling Marketa to take photos as this is a public parth and they had not salted or sanded the pathways/steps when it had been snowing all morning. (I think this was about 1pm when this happened) and that I should sue the Krakow government and should get a good payout. This seems somewhat extreme to me, but they DO have a point that it should have been looked after. I hope I was the only one to get injured, but I’d be hugely surprised if I was the only one who slipped. I may just write to them and ask for reimbursement for my costs though - that added up. (Nothing like it would be in Australia, I’m sure, though).
So the ambo’s arrived and I asked the one nearest me if he spoke English, to which I got the cheerful reply, “No, I don’t speak English”, said with not that much of an accent at all!
So after we explained what had happened (that I had failed at walking), they took me off and told Marketa where I would be. Some local Military Hospital!
In the ambulance they took off my nappy and put on a real dressing then vitals and the normal stuff... It didn’t take too long to get there - but the warmth of the ambulance made my wound really start hurting. I felt a bit tired and a bit sick, so I was keeping myself awake by trying to see as much out of the window as possible. Then I was handed over to the hospital.
Marketa wasn’t impressed - but the wait was pretty short compared to what I think it would have been in Brisbane (though anyone arriving by Ambulance usually gets seen first).
The doctor spoke enough English, but had zero bedside manner (maybe he’s in the right place, if he deal with the military (but there were tonnes of civilians there too - so maybe it WAS military and has just kept its name?
He wasn’t the greatest communicator and his nurse was a bloody frightening thing. Barrelled me out of the way to get to her seat with not one word in any language and I’m thinking - I’ve already got one head injury - could we maybe not knock me over and give me another one! He shaved around the wound (the most painful part), and gave me a tonne of total and put in three stitches, then sewed a pad of gauze over it to be taken off by anyone in three days. No washing my hair for three days (lovely - it’s covered in blood and I look a fright if I can’t at least wet down my curls to unflatten them! The I was sent off for a CT scan and the radiologist was a lovely young woman.
Back to the waiting room for him to tell me if I’ve got anything serious going on.. there wasn’t. He noticed some non-injury irregularities so my special Kraków souvenir is a CD with my CT images on there so my GP at home can follow up. He claims it’s nothing urgent...
So of all the things to suck at - mine is apparently walking! I have only had one other head injury in my life and it too, involved a bottom step.... I’m not sure I can avoid steps though - but I will be taking it easy for a day or two and was given the okay to fly on Thursday. I would have been devastated if I hadn’t been able to go to Anne’s funeral because of sucking at walking!
So we got home so much later than originally planned and pretty much went straight to bed. Marketa was amazing throughout all of it and is checking up on me regularly to make sure I’m okay while home alone. She is a GREAT person to have with you in a crisis situation and sadly never got to see the famous Salt Mines :(
Sunday, January 21, 2018
21st January 2018 - Our suite.......
Shortly we will be leaving Krakow. It’s a wonderful city, very pretty and we found the people to be really friendly, but we did stick to the old town, for the most part.
I’ve spent way too much money for a weekend, and had a fabulous five star time... I regret not one cent of it.
I’ve added a short film (please excuse the fumbling trying to open the balcony door) to show how gorgeous our suite is.
I’ve spent way too much money for a weekend, and had a fabulous five star time... I regret not one cent of it.
I’ve added a short film (please excuse the fumbling trying to open the balcony door) to show how gorgeous our suite is.
20th January 2018 Auschwitz-Birkenau Photos 4
The memorial. The different coloured stones (a little harder to see since it had snowed heavily only an hour before - so it’s all wet) represent the different nationalities of the victims.
Memorial plaque - one in each language of the victims, plus English20th January 2018 Auschwitz-Birkenau Photos 3
The remains of one of the gas chambers. This is the same chamber as shown in the model in previous photos from Auschwitz 1 - the three photos of the model are of this chamber.
20th January 2018 Auschwitz-Birkenau Photos 2
Each bunk slept several people. Approximately 400 people were in each barrack. The person in the middle bunk had the greatest percentage of survival. The top bunk took a lot of extra effort when being starved and working 12 hour days. The bottom bunk was wet from the mud floor. Also - rampant diarrhoea meant that the lower bunks got extra gross.
20th January 2018 Auschwitz-Birkenau Photos 1
First glance
Arriving
Cattle car they were transported in
This chimney is what is left of Joseph Mengele’s lab/workshop/torture chamber
One of the kitchens. The wagon next to the kitchens brought the food and carried the dead.
Barracks
20th January 2018 Oświęcim photos 1
Lies
Since the ashes of all those cremated was scattered in rivers, across fields etc, this urn actually represents the largest collection of ashes in Europe to honour those killed.
Marched to the chambers, undress etc
In the chamber
Sonderkommando sorts the dead from their belongings. Items of worth are taken to a section they themselves named Canada (as in their minds Canada was a far away place, full of riches) and sorted. Roughly 10kgs of gold was taken from the teeth of the deceased per DAY.
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