Time is flying on this study abroad trip! We are already took our second to last field trip, and only have one more to go. I’ve been feeling productive lately because I finished planning my trip for the last 2 weeks, when my friend Lexi Liebig will be joining me! We plan to spend 8 nights in Croatia, 2 in Berlin, and 4 in London. I’ve also started an online course through UNK this month. I will finish the class right before I fly home in a month! This class will add some extra difficulties to my trip including time management and the need for Wifi everyday, but I’m optimistic I will be successful!
Our second to last field trip brought us to Krakow, Poland. Poland is a beautiful country with buzzing night life and a currency conversion rate in our favor! On our way to Krakow, we stopped at McDonalds for brunch. McDonalds is higher quality and tastes much better in Europe. Once we arrived to our hostel home, we split up for lunch. Ria, Mary, and I weren’t hungry after eating already so we decided to opt for a liquid lunch at a nearby cocktail bar!
Fancy cocktail bar 
Interior deco
After some fancy drinks, the group met back up so that we could tour Schindler’s factory. In preparation for the trip, the class watched the Spielberg film together. The movie was really hard to watch because it showed on screen the years of brutality the Jewish European population suffered. A specific scene sent chills down my spine as a group of human beings was being moved to a concentration camp and a small girl is throwing things at them and yelling, “Goodbye Jews!” Tears filled my eyes during Schindler’s monologue at the end of the movie when he breaks down wishing he would’ve done more. Oskar Schindler was a humanitarian during WWII that saved the lives of 1,200 Jewish people during the Holocaust. His factory in Krakow has been turned in to a museum. It was impactful to see the same exterior of the building from the movie in person.
Appalling 
Pots and Pans manufactured in Schindler’s factory 
After the factory a group of us had something we’ve all been missing, authentic Mexican good! Krakow is known for it’s trendy spots and concept bars so we spent the rest of the day trying craft beers and unique cocktails.
We miss you Mexican food! 
Mai tai
On the second day, our group toured the salt mines! I didn’t really know what to expect but I loved the tour. The walls of the mine were made of salt so you could even lick them! Apparently being in the salt mines and breathing deeply is really good for you. The tour was full of intricate sculptures made of salt, and my favorite part was this underground lake right in the middle of the mine! I was dying to swim it, unfortunately that was not a part of the tour. I’m imagining the water would be so salty it would hold you afloat like the dead sea.
Salt statue 
Doesn’t this just look enticing? 
Salt statues depicting the myth of the salt mine
We must have really enjoyed the Mexican food because we went back for round 2! Then our professor, Yan, led us on a walking tour to some of the sights in Krakow, including the Wawel Royal Castle and Cathedral. Then the group got tickets to go see St. Mary’s Basilica! The interior of this church was colorful and covered in intricate designs. Next a group of us found a cosmic mini golf pub! We played a round of golf and a few games of JENGA. For dinner we had a traditional polish meal, dumplings with meat, and a side of Bruschetta!
Wawel Royal Castle 
This Basilica is outstanding 
I can’t get over the ceiling 
Truly underrated 
We couldn’t help but stay for a while and take it in 
Cosmic golf mini pub! 
Cody with his artistic flair 
Polish meat dumplings 
Bruschetta 
A Banksy original
The next day was the hardest of the entire program but a cumulation of what we’ve been learning all semester. We toured Auschwitz I and Birkenau, the Nazi concentration camp that murdered over 1.3 million people in World War II.
In Auschwitz I, there was an entire building dedicated to helping understand the sheer volume of human beings murdered. There were piles of belongings that were taken from the prisoners: luggage, shoes, pots and pans. For me, the hardest part of the entire day was the exhibition of human hair. There was a small display explaining how the hair of the victims was sold and turned in to fabric. Then, as you turned around, there was an entire wall covered in a gigantic pile of hair. Tears filled my eyes as I imagined how degrading it was for the people to have their hair shaved, and that is nothing compared to all they endured.
The group was as quiet as we’ve ever been. No one complained or said hardly anything at all. Normally we’re laughing and goof around a little during our tours, but not this one. We understood that we’ll never truly grasp the scope of what these people endured, but we owed it to them to try. When Yan’s son asked us what we thought, the only word we could manage was, “sad.”
Traveling Rays 