A Letter to Poland

Dear Poland,
I want to thank you for all your hospitality on our recent visit. Your people were more than welcoming and your country is so picturesque and beautiful. I am sad to say that we only had the opportunity to visit the Krakow (Cracovia) area. I found the city pleasantly surprising. Wawel castle and all its legends were spectacular and very medieval. Old town was quaint and charming. It was refreshing to see local farmers markets set up on nearly every 5th block. The nearly constant presence of the nuns and priests from the over 50 monasteries in the city gave it a holy and tranquil feeling. I didn't know that Pope John Paul II was a cardinal here! Your univeristy is also to be admired, it did train Copernicus after all, and is the 3rd oldest institution in Europe. To say the least, I was rather impressed.
We also did some historical sojourns. The old Jewish ghetto was a sad reminder of Krakow's horrific losses. With the Jewish population here now only in the hundreds its hard to think that nearly one in every five people in Krakow and one in every three in Warsaw used to be Jewish. We walked through the alley along what remained of the original wall to Oskar Schindler's old factory. Having watched the movie, it was especially moving to see the place itself. Although I was disappointed not to be able to go in, I am happier that the city is finally turning this run down building into a museum and giving respect to the lives it saved (nearly 1100). When I left, I had knot in my stomach. But it was nothing compared to our visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau the next day. Driving along the countryside and seeing the train tracks layed out I began to tear up just thinking about what it must have felt like being taken away from your home and torn from your family in a hot boxcar for days with no food or water to your imminent death. The museum at Auschwitz was horrific and I'm not sure that there are words to describe the complexity of what you feel there. I nearly threw up a couple of times. Particularly disturbing was the huge room of hair, taken from the dead to be used for textile material. I cannot even think about it without tears. I will not go into more detail here as it is a bit too difficult to talk about and I would rather focus now on the beauty of Poland.
We finished up sightseeing with a trip to the Salt Mines just south of the city. There happened to be a wedding that day in the massive underground Cathedral. So the red carpet was rolled out and white roses lavished on the alter. It was so beautiful, truly the highlight of the mine. The rest, I must say, was borderline cheesy. I mean, the gnomes flashing? Not so impressive.
Our last day in your lovely country was on the train that we took to Prague (Praha). The countryside is so beautiful! I'm glad that we didn't take the night train instead. I was rather scared when a bridge fell the day before causing the day train to crash. Quite frightening. I thought it would impede subsequent trains, but it seemed it was business as usual by the time we left. In any case, thank you again for sharing all the beauty and even the sadness of your country with us. It was truly appreciated and memorable.
With Kindest Regards,
Jeff and Mollie