Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2010-04-26 01:06 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2010-04-26 01:06 pm
Poland!
Today: In youth hostel in Vienna; spent a couple hours wandering around while waiting for the reception to open up. It is like a twilight-zone version of Paris where everyone speaks German instead of French. Habsburg palace complex thing rivals anything Louis XIV or Napoleon could've dreamed up. Everything is really expensive, my face hurts and I think it's sunburned, and I need a nap because my night train sucked and I didn't get to sleep. When I am more lucid I will find more interesting things to see than megalomaniacal imperial palaces.
Yesterday & day before: Krakow! Oh man I love Krakow. I had no idea WTF I was doing going to Poland, and I didn't have much fun in Budapest because I had no idea WTF I was doing there, but Krakow is WIN. I came out of it with a newfound respect for Poland; the rest of the world either ignores them or kicks them around like a football, and they just go on being quietly awesome. The Old Town is, sadly, very tourist-ified, but the rest of the city manages to be discreetly tourist-friendly without turning into a theme-park caricature of itself. Kazimierz is especially cool; definitely bordering on trendy, but also still on the side of 'fun' rather than 'unbearably pretentious.' Lots of bars and cafés with ancient rough stone walls, lit solely by a candle at each beat-up table. And brash, aggressive Antifa graffiti everywhere.
Also just a gorgeous city in general, even the touristy parts--parks and squares everywhere, a really nice bike path along the river, a university that kind of reminds me of Smith campus. And a place whose name (as far as I can tell--I didn't see any other name on the sign) is 'Books and Coffee.'
There was stuff about the Katyn massacre up everywhere, giant displays explaining in very strongly-worded language how the truth came to light, a cross with 'Katyn 1940 - 1990' and a schoolgirl standing watch over it that slowly accumulated flowers and candles and lanterns over the course of the day. I happened, by complete coincidence, to be in the main square during the funeral of one of the people who died in the plane crash--I think the head of the army--and the turnout was incredible.
My disgust with the tourism industry pretty much reached an apex in the Krakow train station on Saturday, when I dropped by the information desk for a map and saw a brightly colored poster with cheerful cursive writing that said "Auschwitz-Birkenau: tours every day!" I think that pretty much wins the "WHAT NO WTF WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT" award for the whole trip. I understand the need to bring people in to see it and keep the horror alive in the collective memory, I'm betting the tour itself is not happy cheerful fun times, but that doesn't make the advertising any less sickening. Just... gbuh? Who thought that was a good idea?
Yesterday & day before: Krakow! Oh man I love Krakow. I had no idea WTF I was doing going to Poland, and I didn't have much fun in Budapest because I had no idea WTF I was doing there, but Krakow is WIN. I came out of it with a newfound respect for Poland; the rest of the world either ignores them or kicks them around like a football, and they just go on being quietly awesome. The Old Town is, sadly, very tourist-ified, but the rest of the city manages to be discreetly tourist-friendly without turning into a theme-park caricature of itself. Kazimierz is especially cool; definitely bordering on trendy, but also still on the side of 'fun' rather than 'unbearably pretentious.' Lots of bars and cafés with ancient rough stone walls, lit solely by a candle at each beat-up table. And brash, aggressive Antifa graffiti everywhere.
Also just a gorgeous city in general, even the touristy parts--parks and squares everywhere, a really nice bike path along the river, a university that kind of reminds me of Smith campus. And a place whose name (as far as I can tell--I didn't see any other name on the sign) is 'Books and Coffee.'
There was stuff about the Katyn massacre up everywhere, giant displays explaining in very strongly-worded language how the truth came to light, a cross with 'Katyn 1940 - 1990' and a schoolgirl standing watch over it that slowly accumulated flowers and candles and lanterns over the course of the day. I happened, by complete coincidence, to be in the main square during the funeral of one of the people who died in the plane crash--I think the head of the army--and the turnout was incredible.
My disgust with the tourism industry pretty much reached an apex in the Krakow train station on Saturday, when I dropped by the information desk for a map and saw a brightly colored poster with cheerful cursive writing that said "Auschwitz-Birkenau: tours every day!" I think that pretty much wins the "WHAT NO WTF WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT" award for the whole trip. I understand the need to bring people in to see it and keep the horror alive in the collective memory, I'm betting the tour itself is not happy cheerful fun times, but that doesn't make the advertising any less sickening. Just... gbuh? Who thought that was a good idea?