Day 24: “Je me souviens” – Auschwitz Concentration Camp

(Him: Charlie)

I never really understood why Quebec has “Je me souviens” as the province’s motto, until today. At Auschwitz, “Je me souviens” is the reason why this camp still exists and is being preserved. Built by the Nazi Germany, Auschwitz was the world’s largest concentration and extermination camp, in which over 1 million people perished during WWII.

The visit to Auschwitz was intense and depressing. Not only the museum shows prisoner’s inhumane living and working environment, it also displayed mountains of victim’s suitcases, shoes and even hair. No words can describe how terrible the crime was committed by Nazi Germany. When the evidence is right here in front of you, the impact of the war becomes so real, and you would realize that nothing is worth destroying lives.

I have a proposition, maybe the next UN Security Council meeting should be held at Auschwitz, and invitation should specifically be extended to people such as Bashar al-Assad, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Benjamin Netanyahu. I bet these people have sat in their office for so long that they forget the cruelty of wars!

We shall remember that WWII started only because one group thought they were better than others.

"The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again" – George Santayana.

Day 23: Intense history reminder in Krakow, Poland

(Him: Charlie)

As it turned out, Krakow is a bit of a letdown, architecture-wise. It is supposed to have the most beautiful structures in Poland, but I am disappointed. Compared to the other cities we went to, buildings in Krakow are not as colourful and are more run-down. However, the visit to Krakow is still very worth it, notfor buildings, but for intense history. Krakow was one of the epic centres of war crime during WWII. Not only there was Jewish ghetto, lots of torture and murders, the infamous Auschwitz is just 40km outside of Krakow. Subsequent to the war, the once shriving Jewish community in Krakow became a ghost town. And at the latest check, there are only 97 Jewish remaining.

On the second day in Krakow, we visited Schindler’s Factory. Famed by Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, which was shot in Krakow, the factory is a major tourist attraction (maybe tourist attraction isn’t the right word, but you know what I mean). Today, the factory has been turned into a museum that showcases the tragic history of Krakow during WWII.

For those who have seen the movie, unfortunately, I have to ruin the heroic story depicted by Steven Spielberg. The fact is, Schindler was a rather sly business man, who took advantage of the war and cheap labour to make money. Although his factory was sheltering the Jewish people, he wasn’t the one who prepared the list (at least not single handedly). However, nonetheless, he still played a critical role in saving the 1100 Jews.

Day 21: We like Poland!

(Him: Charlie)

After 3 cities in Poland (Warsaw, Gdansk, and Wroclaw), we can comfortably say that we are really enjoying Poland! This country has so much to offer – from deep history for those who wish to look back in time, to a variety of landscape for outdoorsy enthusiasts, to great food for those with savory taste buds. These days, Poland is also busy prepping for Euro 2012 (you can even feel the excitement in the air!!).

I cannot stress enough that the buildings in all three cities we’ve been are gorgeous. I just don’t get tired looking at those colourful buildings. Although I don’t recognize the architectural significance (I can’t even tell the difference between Baroque, Classical and Renaissance styles), I can still appreciate the delicate ornaments and sculptures on those buildings.

As we approach Krakow on a bus, we are looking forward to another satisfying stay at this former capital of Poland. It is supposed to have the most amazing architectural buildings in the whole Poland.

Interesting fact of Vodka:

Polish claimed that Vodka was first made in Poland, while the Russians also make the claim. During the communist period, Vodka was pretty much the only drink available, and it led to a lot of social problems. In the post-communist era, beer and wine became the elegant and social drinks. However, Vodka is making a comeback these days, as Polish once embrace Vodka and feel proud about this traditional drink.

Day 19: Expectation exceeded in Warsaw, Poland

(Him: Charlie)

After 4 days in Gdansk, a laid-back coastal town of Poland, we are on the move again. We are heading south to Wroclaw on the southwest. Over the last 4 days, we were essentially catching our breaths and recovering from the exhausting traveling in the first two weeks of the trip. At the peak of the frenzy, we traversed through 6 cities in 48 hrs. St. Petersburg – Helsinki – Tallinn – Riga – Vilnius, and then Warsaw. At that point, we were so thirst of some relaxation at the coast that we zipped through Warsaw in less than 24 hrs.

Poland is a country with profound history, which for the most part, is quite depressing. It is a country literally emerged from debris and ashes. A lot of cities were almost completely destroyed during WW II. Take Warsaw as an example, the city was over 80% flattened by both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, so almost everything in its old town was reconstructed.

Before we got to Warsaw, we didn’t think highly about it. People keep saying Warsaw is not as pretty as Krakow and that it is not worth visiting. However, I don’t think that’s true. Jo and I actually enjoyed Warsaw. I am particularly amazed by the reconstruction of its old town. All the buildings so really nicely rebuilt and the sculptures and ornaments were so meticulously and carefully crafted that they can easily rival Riga and Tallinn. In fact, the reconstruction was so impressive that UNESCO designed the old town as a historical site!! Ironically, the reconstruction was credited to the communist regime. If a democratic government was in charge after the war, the rebuilt efforts may not have been so dedicated.

************************************************************************************** In Warsaw, the Uprising Museum is not to be missed. The museum was founded to commemorate the patriotic Polish fighters during WWII against Germany (they had a brief uprising against German occupation, but it ended tragically of course). For visitors like us, it was a history review of how brutal the ruthless the war was. The museum details the sequence of tragic events that Poland suffered, including the double occupation from German and Russia. On the other hand, the museum also showed us how dirty and despicable that the Soviet government was at the time. Yes, the Soviet Government! I used to think Germany was the culprit of Poland’s devastation, but as it turned out, Soviet Russia played a major role too! Here’s the part of history that I didn’t know before:

After Germany invaded Austria, before it started invading Poland, the Soviet and German governments held a secret meeting and reached a pact over the occupation of Poland. Shortly after Germany started attacking Poland from the west, the Soviet followed on the east side and bombed Warsaw. Subsequent to that, Poland was divided in two halves. Later on in the war, Russia joined the rest of the world to fight the Nazis. Towards the tail end of the war, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stallin had a meeting to discuss the world order in the post-war era (without participation from other European countries of course!). Due to an advantageous position that the Russian had, it eventually overtook most of Eastern Europe under its wing, which later became the Eastern Bloc. Poor Poland, when they welcomed Red Army in January 1945 for the liberation, little did they know that the “liberation” eventually lasted well over four decades!!

Day 15: My Gadgets And Me

(Her: Joanna)

Things have drastically changed from my first backpacking trip in 2005, my trip to South America in 2008 and this trip in 2012. It hits me when I saw almost everyone in the common area doing their thing with a laptop or a smartphone at Oki Doki Hostel in Warsaw. No one talk to each other! “Back in the days” in 2005, hostels don’t usually have internet for you to use for free or even purchase, let alone Wi-Fi. If you were in the common room, there’s no better thing to do than chatting with people from different places and hang out. Nowadays, whenever people have down time, instead, they pull out their computer or smartphone, which unintentionally send out a signal of “do not talk to me”. I’m equally guilty of doing the same thing during this trip.

On a backpacking trip, if you choose to stay at a hostel, you should take advantage of meeting different people instead of hiding behind your computer or smartphone screen that you can do at home anyways.
The world has changed so much in this short 7 years. Has the advancement of technologies really improve how well we communicate? At work or school (the serious stuff), I think it has but for personal communication, I’m not so sure. I’m sure a lot of folks my age or younger have BBM, What’s App, MSN or SMS their friends or roommates or folks in the same room as them instead of opening our mouth to talk to them.

Just before I left, I got this anxiety of life without a cell phone and DATA (serious anxiety...lol). Thought I would get a break from my gadget leech for 6 months without my iPhone and Blackberry but no! Charlie and I are on the computer or WiFi with our iPod all the time during our down time. We seems to forget how to move on with our life with out gadgets. Sadly, I can't get away from this addiction.

Day 12: St. Petersburg - Mixed feeling towards Russians

(Him: Charlie)

Just wrapped up a 3-day excursion to St. Petersburg, Russia. The palaces, churches, and monuments in St. Petersburg are truly magnificent, especially Peterhof! I heard about the amazing architectures in the city, but I was still blown away when seeing these marvelous structures in real life.

However, what really caught my attention was the people. I think any travelers who visited St. Petersburg (or maybe the entire Russia) would agree that people seem to be quite rude! Sorry, there is no better way to say this. From metro ticket office, to bus far collector, to book store cashier, all of these people, who carry image of their nation, seemingly could not care less about tourists (or maybe other Russian fellows as well). Inevitably, topics among backpackers at the hostel usually evolve around poor attitude of Russians and the bizarre experience in pubic space. A classic example goes like this:

[As I checked out post cards at the book store]

Charlie: do you have any stamps?

Casher: “uh ah” [with head shaking and eyes looking down]

Charlie: where can I find stamps then?

Cashier: Post office… [impatient face started to show, but I was the only customer at the counter]

I was afraid she would eat me alive if I kept on asking. I guess I would have to figure out where stamps are myself. Damn! How hard is it to be a little more helpful?!? To that question, most backpackers (and even people from the neighbouring Baltic states) would say, “Well, it’s Russia.” Man, it is ashamed that a country carries this unfriendly image – it’s really unwelcoming!

So is this really what Russians are like? I may agree if I didn’t know any local Russian, but meeting Svetlana changed my perception.

Thanks to my co-worker, Marina K-K, Joanna and I had the honour to meet Svetlana (aka Sveta/sweety) in St. Petersburg. Sveta is a real sweetie. This proud St. Petersburgist insisted that we should pack 6 days of activities in our 3-day stay, personally guided us in the leg-breaking 4-hour Hermitage visit, and took us on a scenic bike ride, in which we coasted along river banks and among gorgeous palaces and churches. Without Sveta’s hospitality, my experience in St. Petersburg would not have been so nice.

Like other Russian, Sveta doesn’t smile very easily and often seems to be worried about something. However, this cannot conceal her kindness. Her warm hearted hospitality has melted our hearts and we are convinced that Russians are not like what they appear to be!

Travel info: For those who are interested in visiting St. Petersburg, you have the choices of a 72-hour visa-free visit if you take the ferry (St. Peters Line) from Helsinki, Finland or a 24-hour visa free visit if you take the ferry from Tallinn, Estonia. Personally, a 24-hour visit to St. Petersburg is far from enough because there are too much to see in the City.

Day 9: My brief (5-hr) experience in Helsinki

(Him: Charlie)

"Oh man! Helsinki is freezing! It was sunny and warm a couple hours ago in Tallinn! I’m glad that we are only here for a few hours!"

My first impression of Helsinki is, let’s say, not so impressive. Things are ridiculously pricy and the weather is brutally cold (in May!).

However, by the second hour of our visit in Helsinki, we began to scratch the surface. We began to get to know this funky, vibrant and creative city!

First off, Helsinki is the World Design Capital of 2012. The City organized a lot of activities that showcase designs in many aspects. In general, creativity is ubiquitous – even the McDonald’s restaurant incorporates specially decorated interior and funky looking furnitures.

("Shopping carts" and "aisles" of linen products in a small H&M store.)

Perhaps because of the World Design Capital designation, Helsinki is featured in the May issue of Monocle. After reading the interview with Helsinki’s mayor, I have become deeply moved by the high quality of life in this City. According to Mayor Jussi Pajunen, his tenure in the last 7 years has focused on making Helsinki “fund and functional”. Fun and functional indeed… From World Design Capital to creating an air transit hub linking the world (in fact, Helsinki airport guarantees 35 min transit time), every achievement points towards a bright and prosperous city. The mayor emphasizes the strength of Helsinki is that everyone wants to get involved in making the City a better place. Hard to believe, but it’s not hard to find out why. When the City encourages residents to host dinners for members in the community, instead of worrying about feeding less fortunate people below the poverty line, and when the City is on track to building one sauna facility for every 3 households, instead of worrying about meeting affordable housing needs, the City is on to something great! If the residents are well taken care of, naturally, they would care for others and a strong sense of community would start to form.

To me, this high quality of life makes Helsinki one of the most livable cities, leaving the rest of world catching from behind.