We got up EARLY to walk down to the train station to catch the 6:05 from Warsaw to Krakow. Fortunately, Teresa and I had been through this process before and had known to pick up some pastries the night before (all five of us ended up munching on those throughout the day). We had a little excitement when some guy on the street decided to grab Teresa around the waist -- about the time she was rounding on him with a rather firm and loud "NO!" I was grabbing him and turning him away from the ladies, he got the idea. When we got into the train station in Krakow, a driver with a small mini-van was waiting for us to take us to the bus for the next leg of the trip.
The bus drove us out into the Polish countryside. We drove through the section of Poland that used to be part of Austria -- we could tell by the architecture. We drove to the Auschwitz complex. There are actually three areas: Auschwitz 1, Auschwitz 2 (actually called Birchenau) and Auschwitz 3, which was a chemical plant.
They have various varieties of the tour ranging from a few hours to three days.
It would be hard for me to spend three days touring that place. I REALLY don't see how the people that work there can work there.
Auschwitz 1 was sobering and oppressive, it had actually been a Polish army base before the war: the buildings were sturdy. This is now primarily a museum. Terrible things happened there on a regular basis but it wasn't quite as � overwhelming as Auschwitz 2. Death there was at least personal, rather than being part of a factory process.
Auschwitz 2, Birchenau was different. If you have seen Schindeler's List, you've seen what the front of the place looks like, that was the front gate at Auschwitz 2.
Birchenau was hard for everyone in our tour group to deal with.
We headed back to Krakow, where we met our tour guide. She took us on a guided tour around Krakow. It was an excellent experience. We saw some impressive cathedrals, a Castle and the "Popes Church"
And we found out how the city got its name�. It turns out that there used to be a monster in the area that lived in a cave by the river. Said monster breathed fire.
One of the Polish princes, named Krak, got the idea of filling up an animal head (I believe it was a cow, although I'm not positive) with sulfur, and then leaving it for the monster. The monster promptly devoured the head - and when the sulfur hit the fire in his belly, he blew up, freeing the people from his rampages. In gratitude, the citizens named the place Krak's town - or Krakow.
There is a statue of the "monster" in the park by the river (which does breath flame) and the cave does exist. There were many toy dragons in the shops�.
We asked our guide for a recommendation for dinner. She recommended Havalatee's on the main square: her recommendation was a excellent as the rest of the tour was. Dinner was superb. We ordered homemade mushroom soup in gigantic bread bowls -- it was unbelievable.
After dinner it was time for some serious Amber Shopping. We had about an hour - I thought Francis, Joanna and Teresa had been in serious shopping mode at the open air market�.
Boy, was I surprised to find that they could STILL notch it up one more level. It was power shopping at its best.
Everything that we got was a GREAT buy, but I'm betting a bunch of orders for new inventory went in the next day�.
We watched the bugler play his partial song from the bell tower and�
Then it was back to the train station for the trip back to Warsaw� and the event which forms the basis of one of my new stories.
In Europe, the trains ran on time - usually you can set your watch by them. The process is to check inside the station for which platform your train is supposed to come to - you go wait there - they change the signs - the next train is yours' - you hop on your car, find your seat, and go.
That's the plan, at least.
We were on the 8:05 express from Krakow to Warsaw. It was supposed to come to Platform 4. We to our platform and waited.
The signs (they are electronic) changed at 7:45. The train pulled in at 7:47 (I have to admit, that kind of surprised us, we were expecting it more like 8:01). We got on car 4 and found our seats.
The train pulled out at 7:51. This is VERY unusual - they don't leave before the scheduled time because people tend to cut it close on the trains.
However, we didn't think all that much about it.
Until the train stopped.
Express trains aren't supposed to stop.
About this time, we saw the conductor (Polish and female) go through the car to check tickets. She checked Fran, Francis and Joanna before she got to us.
The next thing I knew, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of the conductor heading towards the front of the train like someone had lit a fire under her. This did not bode well�
Then Joanna appeared at the door to our compartment, very upset. She desperately tried to push the door open to tell us something.
Unfortunately, these compartment doors slid�.
We finally got the gist of what she was saying.
Well, yelling, actually�.
"WE'RE ON THE WRONG TRAIN!!!"
So, everybody gathered in a compartment to figure out what was going on. It was pointed out, multiple times (probably by everybody) that the worse this could mean was getting back to Warsaw later.
Then, the conductor came back and tried to explain the situation to us. There was just one problem: she spoke no English, and our Polish was very limited (pretty much "which way to the market?" and "how much?", neither of which seemed appropriate in this exact situation).
Conductor: "Jaber, Jaber, Jaber" (yes, I realize I am maligning the noble Polish language, but that was about what came across to us).
Us: "We don't speak any Polish"
"Jaber, Jaber, Jaber" (with pointing to our train tickets)
"We only speak English".
"Jaber, Jaber, Jaber".
"Do you speak any English?"
"Jaber, Jaber" (waving tickets around)
"Yes, we know we are on the wrong train".
"Jaber, Jaber" (more excited pointing at tickets).
"Is there anybody on the train who speaks English?"
"Jaber, Jaber".
"We really don't speak any Polish at all".
"Jaber, Jaber" (waves tickets, points outside the train).
"Yes, we understand that we are on the wrong train".
"Jaber, Jaber" (I'm starting to fear she'll have a stroke right there in front of us).
"Yes, we made a STUPID mistake, what do we do to fix it?"
Comprehension dawned on the word "STUPID" (evidently that was a word that she knew). At this point, she makes "stay in place" gestures and begins checking the other compartments of the train. In about 5 minutes, she comes back with a German gentleman in tow, who spoke Polish and a little English.
"I speak some English, but it is not very well. I will try to translate for you."
"Thank you".
"Jaber, Jaber".
"She says you are on the wrong train."
At this point, the conversation broke up for a few moments, since all of us pretty much fell out laughing.
After more back and forth, we rounded up the essential facts:
We were on the wrong train.
This train did go to Warsaw
The problem was, it cost more to go on this train than on the express (and if anybody has a clue why that would be, PLEASE let me know, I'm extremely curious).
"How Much More?"
"Jaber, Jaber", writing of notes back and forth and rapid fire Polish.
"10 Zolates per person"
(this works out to $2.50 per person, by the way).
At this point, just to make the situation go away, I pulled a 50 zolate note out of my pocket to pay for it.
Eventually, everything settled down and we started laughing.
Fran Corsin's comment was that it was worth the $2.50, just for the excitement.
We got back to Warsaw about 30 minutes later than we would have on the express and walked back for the hotel.