A weekend in Poland...one to remember

So honestly as beautiful as Italy was something caught my heart allll up in what krakow had to offer. 

I don't know if it was my amazing hotel room...where I got some amazing sleep. 

Or the adorable Christmas market that made me feel like I was in a Dr. Seuss story winter wonderland, that was right outside if my window....

In case you can't tell this is amazing polish food smoking up a storm.

So outside of the building was a group of carolers, I got caught staring and instead I pretended to be super interested in this building haha sorry not sorry. And turns out! That the super cute market continues inside!

...Maybe the Cinderella horse and carriage is what got me...

(Never figured out what this was)

Or maybe what made me most content with Poland was that I got to visit Auschwitz, a place that I have studied about and read about and wanted to visit since I ready Ellie Wissel's  "Night" in high school. As depressing as taking a "Christmas vacation to Auschwitz" sounds to some, it was a highlight of my trip. It was definitely a depressing sight but something that I think everyone should see. For me, it's thinking about what you've seen after the visit that is most haunting, which I think is a good thing, leaving there makes you sure that you never want to ever think of having such a terrible and tragic event ever happen again. I won't caption the pictures because I think that even though small and not of best quality, this pictures and their significance speak for themselves.

I'm only interrupting to say that behind that fence is where the family (wife and kids) of the head SS officer lived. This building made of brick is directly next to the crematorium.

Then we were taken to Birkenau where i got to walk where thousands were marched to their deaths in one of 3 different crematoriums, where selections took place, and stand in the exact place people like Ellie Wissel as a child were separated from their families. In regards to the photos, all I have to say is that every single chimney you might spot used to be a housing block.

And this was the sunset at the end of my tour...

So at the end of a long day I went back to my cheery town in Krakow to have an amazing dinner.

Okay so in reality it might have been the wild mushroom soup in a bread bowl that won me over....

Or the vodka plum sauce baby back ribs.

( I think it was the ribs) :D

It was a short but worthwhile trip and I'm so lucky to have been able to visit! Now off to celebrate Christmas in Frankfurt with my crazy Indian family!

(Seriously does this not look like Dr. Seuss though? Pointy trees and all!)