Krakow, Poland Day 5

Krakow, Poland Day 5

Today was pretty interesting. We had to check out by 10 am, so that's what we did and just hung out in the lobby for a while. Our lobby at this place is actually quite large and close to everything that's going on. The kitchen is close, the front desk is right there, and the white golden retriever is always making passes with his ball. The people at the front desk have been more than helpful, adding humor to the conversation and making our time enjoyable. The Polish people have really been great. Except.....

Getting stamps, change, or post office employees!

Today, being Saturday, I thought that I would easily get some stamps for the post cards that I wanted to send to a few people. I had the cards, and some postage. But upon looking up how much postage was on the Internet, I was short. I bought some stamps in the underground salt mine from an old lady vendor. No, I didn't buy her cards, I just needed stamps. So, she gave me postage. I told her specifically that I needed them to go to the USA. She acknowledged, and I got the stamps and was on my way. But now I have a problem. The cards are written, and the stamps are affixed, but they are 1 Zlote short. All I need is a single stamp to make this all good. I would hate to drop a dozen cards in the box and have them get chucked. I believe that is what happened to the cards from Bulgaria. They were some of the best. Now, I want to be darn sure the postage is correct. I went to a post office on the way to the town center. Closed! I went in and asked some vendors. "Sorry, only for people buying post cards." That happened a few times. I found a post office that was open on Saturday. Bam! Closed at 2pm. It was now 2:30pm. I had an idea. I would go to the post in the middle square of Krakow. Sure thing. There is a post carriage there that is open for tourists all the time. But what happened? The freaking Tour Of Poland bicycle race was getting ready to start in the center. All streets were crowded and the post carriage was blocked in by advertising balloons. Closed! I kept asking vendors and they kept denying me the stamps. They probably wouldn't have the 1 Zlote stamp anyway. One option would be to pay the hostel attendant to wait until Monday to buy stamps and affix them for me, but that would be risky. I wanted to be sure that they would get sent. The last vendor, in a larger market I thought would be my best bet. I bought two Cokes and asked her about stamps. She told me she did not have any and I should go to the post office (where I just was)and try there. I told her that I was just there and they closed at 2 pm on Saturday. And I said, "but you knew that." She smiled. Now, I was flat out angry.

Next we met up for the "free tour" of the Jewish quarter and ghetto to the south of town. It would be a lot of walking, but I'll get to the it after stamp issue.

So, we got back from the tour, tired and needing food. I saw on the map that we could easily pass through the train station area going back to the hostel to get our bags. This was where supposedly a 24 hour post was open. Just in front of the train station, this would be great. Something on the door said closes at 7 pm. It was 7:03, so I ran inside. There was no need to worry since the sign was for something else and the post was open 24 hours like I thought. Whew!!! Upon entering the que, there was a man to the left crying profusely, a lady attendant pounding a stamp onto paper over and over, and a line for the window I thought that I needed. Here we are I thought. This might work. I had 2.40 on the cards and needed a total of 3.20, so a single 1.00 stamp should do the trick and be over by .10 cents. Out of my forgetfulness, I just started speaking in English when I got to the window. Oops! You should always ask before you rattle off in USA talk. Most people will speak "some" they say, which is normally fine to do the business. She spoke none. None at all. She had no idea what I wanted either. I showed her the cards and tried to signal that there was not enough postage and all I need is one more Zlote per card. I busted out the paper and pen and tried to write my explanation with numbers and it still did not work. She then signaled over to a dude in line to come over and help. He spoke English and was efficient in helping, but not happy about it. Neither was she. I wanted the stamps myself so I could affix them in a clean clear way, but no, she hammered 1 Zlote stamps on there however she wanted and was killing my postcard creations. I tried to thank her anyway and was cool the whole time never getting angry. I just know that at the end of this all, I would have to try to explain it in the blog. The more crazy it got, the better the story. I have no idea why the man was crying either. Maybe he knew I was coming. Also, if you get a postcard from Poland, be thankful.

The Jewish quarter was something else. It was the last main area of the town that we wanted to visit and was a bit away. It would be another long walk and the return trip would have to be fast, since we had to catch a train later in the evening. We met up in the hustle of the Tour of Poland bike race in front of St. Mary's church. We followed the crazy guide throughout the streets to the south and we began the tour. We saw the areas that the Nazis forced the Jews into; small confines with fences and concrete walls. He showed us the oldest Jewish cemetery and the market square. There were a few synagogues. One in particular was a small orthodox synagogue in which only a few still go to worship. Poland had many Jews before the war and lost nearly all of them. I was surprised that the Polish language is spoken by so many of them, still. When they left by choice, not being sent by the Nazis, many took their language of Polish with them and did not change Today, the language is still strong with them and Poland still has a place in their hearts. many return, but the numbers actually living here is low. Our group did not have any Jewish people, and I was surprised how little the people knew about them. Our guide was questioning the group to get us interacting and they seemed to not know about anything that he was talking about. I have been lucky to have Jewish friends throughout my life that have been open to discuss what their religion is all about. The guide told us that people have treated them as outcasts in the past and they wanted to live in seclusion. No one knew what they did and therefore were afraid of them. This goes back to my problems with people being uneducated about other religions. It is easy to band together and develop hatred about people you don't know. The best bet is to learn about them, and hopefully you will understand them. Tolerance is what will keep things rolling in the future, but you have to work at it, on both sides.

The tour took us to the site of Schindler's factory that was made popular in the movie Schindler's List. Our guide filled us in on the real story and the changes that Steven Spielberg made to make it sell and be more appealing. I will not go into detail about it, but if interested, read up online. The real story is quite interesting and different. Now, the factory is part of the Modern Art Museum of Krakow. A little different than 1943.

We walked back to the hostel, got our bags, ate some pierogies in the main square, and headed to the train station. We were comfortably on time, unlike the time in Budapest with Josh. We hopped onto the train and it left right on time. We were now taking this party to Prague, in the Czech Republic.