In which we go to Krakow and shout "USA" in a crowd of silent Jews.

When I found out I was going to Europe this summer, I decided I had to at least see Poland. I’ve always sort of romanced my vague Polish Jew ancestry (mom’s dad’s mom’s family lived there until the war when they moved to England) and I especially liked the idea of visiting the country with my mom.

We took the night train over from Prague (Aside: don’t take a night train anywhere if you actually want to sleep. I don’t care how cute your little compartment room is, or how many complimentary foil-topped water cups they give you—you will spend the entire night wondering what kind of livestock animal you just hit, what piece of the train was just ripped off by an alien onslaught, or how many seconds you have left to live before the murderous German men outside find you.)

Glamorous accommodations.

We arrived early in the morning, and after working out a snafu with our AMAZING hotel (Hotel Stary in Krakow, check it out; it has a DUNGEON POOL), I used a prehistoric navigation mechanism to lead us in a roundabout route to the bus station. (I think the English translation for it is “map.”)

Dungeon Pool. Ooooh.... Ahhhh....

We spent the rest of the day walking around Auschwitz. I’m glad we did it, but the experience was heavy and numbing and strange. I don’t know if anyone can come close to grappling with the atrocities that occurred there, especially in one afternoon. Walking through the barracks, the starvation cubicles, a gas chamber, and past the shooting wall felt a little like touring the set of a horror movie. Most disturbing to me was the room full of human hair the Nazis had sheered from the head’s of Jewish women to make carpets. Two tons of hair, a sea of it, on the other side of a pane of glass.

Pile of shoes taken from Auschwitz prisoners.

Clearly the first half of our Krakow trip was a sobering experience. But from there we decided to embrace the more positive aspects of the cities history and culture. We found ourselves drawn to the overall vibe of Krakow, but it was hard to put our finger on exactly what it was. It felt smaller than Prague, maybe more village like. Warmer even.

We crashed a Polish wedding. That also added to our love of the city.

A mischievous walking tour guide said something that struck me: “In Krakow, we are not soldiers, we are artists.” Perhaps this is the vibe I was drawn to. Historically, the people of this place gravitated more heavily to the arts than to war. Sculptures poke fun at bloodlust, and poets are buried next to kings in the cathedral catacombs.

My goat friend in the Market Square. (I make them wherever I go, clearly)

A Jewish heritage festival happened to be going on while we were there, so the Jewish Quarter was alive with people and sephardic rock. (It’s OK if you don’t know what that is; I didn’t either).

 Here's a youtube video about Deleon, our new favorite band!

The buildings and markets in Old Town were beautiful and bustling, but the Jewish Quarter ended up being my favorite section of Krakow. I enjoyed browsing the tiny bookstores and jewelry shoppes with tired facades. We sat at an outdoor café and ate delicious fish soup while bearded men passed by in throngs. (If you read that as "thongs," good for you).

My new favorite necklace: a dragonfly made of watch parts from the Jewish Quarter.

The second night, we came back to the Quarter for the big concert. There, we picked up on some interesting culture differences. When you think of an outdoor concert in America, what comes to mind? Beer. Dancing. Jumping. The guy smoking a rainbow bong to your left.

Mysteriously well-behaved crowd.

Not in the Krakow Jewish Quarter. Liesa and I found ourselves hoisting our vodka sodas and spinning around in a massive crowd of stationary, empty-handed Jewish music “fans.” Should this have felt awkward? Of course. Did we embrace it and dance all the more enthusiastically? Did Liesa, when a lead singer asked if anyone was from Brooklyn, pump her fist in the air and yell “U-S-A!!!” from the middle of a silent crowd? Naturally.

We only had two days in Krakow, but we left with a special appreciation for the place (and it’s soup; seriously, we ate such good soup there). I would definitely go back, just maybe not on a night train.