Krakow, Poland

I left Warsaw hungry for atmosphere. Warsaw is a lovely city, but much of the physical history was lost during the war and the uprising. Since so much of what surrounds you in Warsaw is 60 years old, at best, it's hard to find that sensation you get when visiting a place like Versailles—a place that is still like it was at its beginning.I found all the atmosphere I wanted in Krakow. And that's why we travel, I guess, isn't it? To come across those places that connect us at the soul with countless people gone before us. Krakow did that for me. I love that city.Wander around Old Town. I could have done this for days. It's fantastic.

Quick Tips:

Auschwitz and the Wieliczka salt mines are both short bus rides out of the city. Visit them. If you only have time for one, go to Auschwitz.

Best Way To Get Around:

Buses and trams are common, but I didn't even buy a ticket for transportation in the city. I stayed on the other side of the river, but it was still only a 45 minute walk all the way to the train station. Save some money, walk around.

I eat meat, but I still enjoy a good vegetarian dish. This restaurant is excellent. There is limited seating and it feels a bit crowded at times, but no wonder—the food is delicious.Go in, order your food (from an English-language menu, if necessary), claim a seat, and wait until your order is called. Don't forget to return your tray to the counter on the left before you leave.You can find lots of good things to eat here for less than 10 zloty, from soups, enchiladas, pitas, and cabbage steaks to fresh orange juice. I highly recommend the pakora and samosa. The main dishes come with coleslaw-like salads; if you don't like them, just ask that they be left off—it'll even knock a little off the price. If a full order is too much, you can order half the food for half the price.I'm going to go ahead and recommend the pakora and the samosa once again. They're that good! I was in Krakow for 4 days—I ate here three times.

Another happy, homey little restaurant serving traditional Polish dishes. You can find all the usual—soups, salads, pork cutlet, nalesniki, and, of course, pierogi. What makes Babcia Malina special is that you have the option of ordering roasted pierogi—crispy and flaky instead of mushy. It costs a little more, but it's well worth it.

Prices stay under 15 zloty. Vegetarian options are available. The menu is in English. Again, return your plate to the counter before you leave.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial
8:00am - 7:00pm daily (June, July, August -- closes earlier in the off-seasons, times vary by month)
Admission free; tours 26 zloty

I highly recommend a guide. Tours are available in several languages; English tours are common and are scheduled daily. All the captions are in English as well as other languages, but having someone to tell you the stories is unbeatable. Furthermore, if you're visiting Auschwitz alone, you'll be glad to have the company of the group. Trust me. The tour takes about 3 ½ hours; you are then free to go spend more time wherever you would like.

If you join a tour, the shuttle bus to Birkenau is included. If you go on your own, you can pay a small fee for the bus, or just walk to the other part of the camp.

To get to Auschwitz from Krakow, catch a bus at the station (which is near the train station). Several of the buses stop right at the museum; make sure you get the right one. (Buses that stop at the museum leave at 8:40, 10:10, 13:20, and 17:10.) It costs 7 zloty one way. You can buy your return ticket on the bus when you board to go back.

Where to begin when talking about a place where 1.5 million people were murdered? Your mind can't even bring that into focus. No matter how much you've studied the war, no matter how many books you've read about the Holocaust, you are not prepared for this. It was so recent—barely 60 years ago, people were dying there. The pond near the crematoriums is still gray with the ashes of the dead.

It's overwhelming. You feel terrible, yet you want to feel worse, even though you know it still wouldn't be enough, can never be enough.

Throughout the tour, as we looked at the piles of suitcases and combs and human hair, our guide kept reminding us, "Each of these things represents a person." That helps to bring it into focus a little bit.

I feel a visit here is not only educational, but incredibly important to humanity. I've wanted to go for years, because I want to understand as best I can. It's the duty of  everyone to do so, because this must never happen again.

Czartoryska Museum
10am to 3:30pm or 6pm, depending on the day
Closed Mondays
Admission: 9 zloty, 6 for students
Free on Thursdays

I went to this museum on a Thursday, and several of the rooms were roped off. I don't know if it is like that just on Thursdays, or if there's another reason.

There are a few old swords, armour, and saddles which are fairly interesting, but the paintings are the best. You can see some Rembrandt and Da Vinci's Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine—the museum's most famous work.

The English captions are pretty sparse, which was disappointing.

While I was there, there were two artists painting reproductions of two of the works. It was a lot of fun to watch them work—they're so precise! Such talent.

Wieliczka Salt Mine
7:30am to 7:30pm (April 1 to October 31)
8am to 5om (November 2 to March 31)

English tour: 60 zloty, 50 zloty for students (slightly more expensive in July and August).
10 zloty for permission to take pictures or video.

The tour takes about 2½ hours.

There are salt mines all over the world. What makes this one special is not only that it's among the oldest, but it is also filled with magnificent salt sculptures created by the miners. It has been a tourist attraction for centuries, and has hosted such visitors as Copernicus, Pope John Paul II, and Goethe.

The most beautiful chamber in the mine, the Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, can be reserved for weddings and parties. The walls are covered with carvings of scenes from the Bible, which include a reproduction of da Vinci's The Last Supper. The relief is stunning—it looks like you could walk into the scene, but the carving is actually only 10 inches deep. The floor is, of course, salt, but it looks almost like marble thanks to the millions of visitors that walk on it every year. This masterpiece took three miners 70 years to complete.

The mine has seen bungee jumpers and even the world's first underground hot air balloon flight. The tunnels cover 300km.

This is certainly an enjoyable activity, though the admission price seems a little steep to me. Polish guides are cheaper; you might want to just brush up on the mine's history on your own and take a Polish tour if you're looking to save some money.

To get to Wieliczka from Krakow, catch a mini-bus at Starowislna Street. The buses that go to Wieliczka say have a sign that says "Wieliczka". You can ask the driver if he stops near the mine, just to be sure. It only costs 2.50 zloty each way and takes about 30 minutes. There's no time-table, but the buses run fairly often. I only waited at the stop for about three minutes when a bus arrived. Same for getting back—just wait at the same place where the driver drops you off.

I hadn't intended on seeing any plays while in Poland because I couldn't find any English language shows currently running. However, I stayed with a Pole who is studying theatre, and he was heading to a show on Thursday night, so I decided to join him.

It was the first time I'd ever seen a play in a foreign language. I wasn't sure what to expect. I only know a handful of Polish words, some of which weren't likely to show up on stage. I knew I wouldn't be able to follow the story.

The play was Jean Genet's The Maids, a play I, as a theatre student myself, probably should have read by now, but haven't. I am familiar with other works by Genet, so I knew I was in for a good story, whether I understood it or not.

And of course, I didn't. But it didn't matter—I had a great time. Since I couldn't rely on the words to convey the story, I had to depend on action, facial expression, sound effects, and everything else to get the drift. With no words to focus on, I could pay attention to various other aspects of theatre, which as a theatre student, I loved.

If you're not into theatre, you might not enjoy a production where you can't understand the words. But, if you're a student of theatre or even someone who just really enjoys it, I'd highly recommend watching a show in a foreign language. It's a fabulous experience.