23 August 2013.
Friday. Wherever did the week disappear to?
This morning we get a city tour of Krakow. And yet again, I get to learn things that I would never otherwise have known.
Our first stop is a bit of a surprise stop. I knew about Schindler, but because we don’t really do movies, I had never seen Schindler’s List. So I had no idea that the factory where Schindler employed, and therefore saved so many Jews, was in Krakow. Today, the buildling is renovated and used as a museum.
It’s one thing to walk in a city where you know that, once, someone like Mozart or Beethoven walked. It’s a different thing altogether to be driving through streets where, once, such frightful things have happened. It is however good to always be able to hear a story of at least one person who risked their own life, to save the lives of others. Like a pharmacist, who chose to remain in the Ghetto, even though he was not Jewish, mostly because he was concerned about his pharmacy. He then proceeded to sedate babies with Chloroform, in order to sneak them out of the Ghetto in a suitcase, and have them adopted, in order to save their lives.
The tour ends back in the beautiful Old Town. Seeing it by day, reconfirms our initial impressions. It really is beautiful. And vibrant. So we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, shopping, and generally just taking in the atmosphere of this lovely city.
Our evening entertainment involved a traditional Polish dinner, with some traditional Polish folk dancing. I always love seeing any country’s traditions, and often wish that we would not be so reluctant to show our own traditions to the world. Seeing young people dressed up in traditional dress, shows a nation’s true character, I think.
