While we were planning our trip, I wanted to make sure that we were in Prague and Krakow for Christmas because they had some of the best Christmas markets. We spent Christmas morning driving to Krakow and arrived late afternoon. We were very tired, so once we arrived to our airbnb, we took a nap. It was really sweet, because the hosts weren't able to greet us but they did have traditional cakes in the fridge.
We decided to get out and try to find food. We figured that a lot of restaurants and stores would be closed since it was Christmas, but we still were determined to find food. Before we left, we did make plain noodles with sausage, it was all we had, we thought that was going to be our Christmas dinner. We walked past a corner store and asked what time they would close, which was around 10 pm. Hope! We decided to walk a little more and get to the Old Town, to see if the Christmas market was open. As we were walking, we found another market and asked what time they closed. The lady said, "We are 24 hours, we never close. Not even for break." Ok. We continued on and made our way to the square. We started to see horse-drawn carriages with the most beautifully decorated horses. Emre loved them! He called them stallions and admired their "clipping clopping." The square had a great Christmas vibe and the market was my favorite! And they had amazing food! We bought some Polish mugs, we all picked our own, even Emre! And I got a cute ring to remember this special moment. My maiden name is Jankowski, I come from Polish heritage and have been waiting to get here! We ate really good sausages, kabobs, and potatoes. It turned out to be a great Christmas feast! We didn't have presents for each other, it was just a simple evening, filled with happiness!
The next day, we tried to wake up as early as we could to get to Auschwitz. It's about an hour away and we didn't want to miss such an opportunity. Now, this is something I'll only do once in my life. I can't explain how odd it was. I mean, walking around, touring, and being on the same ground where it was literal hell on earth for many people. Many people walked in and died there, and I am walking around freely. And to walk into the gas chamber... I can't come up with the words of what I was feeling. As I was walking through the rooms and looking at photos of people, just seeing people as people and for them to experience the inhumanity... It is a depressing and eye-opening place. I'm thankful to have gone but I will never go back.
