The capital of Poland, Warsaw is a much bigger city than Gdansk, Krakow, or Lodz, and was decked out in large-scale Christmas decorations. It is common in big European cities for organizations of young people to organize free daily walking tours. In Warsaw, there is one called the “orange umbrella tour.” You meet at a specific point in the city at a specific time, find the man with the orange umbrella, and off you go. Anyone can pick up and join the tour at any time. It was a great way to see much of the city with one day off. 

The castle and Old Town in Warsaw are both unfortunately, also not original. Seeing this added to the reality of how devastating WWII was for much of Europe. The Old Town had burnt down several times throughout Warsaw’s history, and the castle was repeatedly bombed and attacked in the Second World War.

The first time the German army bombed the Warsaw Castle was on September 17, 1939. It was exactly 11:15am when the bomb hit the clock tower, and the clock stopped. When the castle was finally rebuilt in 1974, its commencement began at exactly 11:15am, and the clock began working again at the same time it was cut off from the bombing. From then on, every day a trumpet player plays the Polish National anthem from the top of the Castle Clock tower at exactly 11:15am. in memory of all that was lost to the Germans, and all that has been rebuilt and regained. The orange umbrella tour strategically meets by the castle at 11am, so that each attendee has the opportunity to hear the trumpet player and experience a bit of history. 

Some other sights we saw were St. John’s  Archcathedral rebuilt (after destruction in WWII) with an effort to include as many original bricks as possible, and a huge bronze bell displayed in the middle of a street near the cathedral. It is said that the bell has never been utilized in a church or tower, but the Polish people believe it brings good luck to those who circle it three times. 

We also walked by the “narrowest house” in Warsaw, a clever architectural design by its landlord, making the house triangular shaped, so that the front wall is extremely narrow. Maybe its no coincidence that at the time of its construction, property taxes depended on the width of a building’s external front wall.

Being with two friends who also play mermaids in our show, we were excited to find the Warsaw mermaid statue in the center of Old Town Square, and hear the Warsaw mermaid legend. 

The rest of our day around Warsaw was equally enjoyable, as we walked a bit more around the Old Town and fortress walls, found a delicious bakery for lunch, and stopped in stores to try on old hats on our walk back to our hotel. Our company had its Opening Tour Party that night, and a day later began our last week of shows in Polish. 

It was good for our souls to spend the day after our Auschwitz trip in the city center of Krakow. Krakow quickly became one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to; it feels as though it is directly out of a fairy tail. We took our time strolling along the river, and I was amazed that I could capture a group of swans, a castle, and a hot air balloon in the frame of one photo. 

Krakow is known as the “Rome of Poland,” as it is filled with beautiful Catholic cathedrals, and quite a large convent. It was fun to constantly here the church bells, discover the beauty of so many churches. The main Cathedral lies within the castle grounds along with places to eat, beautiful gardens, and look out points over the river and the city. 

Many of the restaurant doors lead you to a set of stairs that take you underground, where walls of stone make for a medieval feel and cozy European environment. 

Sights on the streets of Krakow: 

Another day off in Krakow took us to the Polish Salt Mines. I never knew such a thing existed, but just outside of the city, miles underground lies a different world carved into walls of salt (seriously, we licked the walls). Yet, these mines are infamous for the fact that the Polish government hid much of its precious artwork in these mines during WWII, and miners (and their work horses) could live under the grounds of salt for days at a time.

Amazingly, to allow for a good quality life amongst the salt underground, it was necessary for men to build areas of worship in the mines. Several chapels and a huge cathedral are carved into the salt; hundreds of meters underground, people celebrated the sacraments and worshipped. I was blown away by the beauty and intricacy of the salt carvings that created a space big enough to serve as an incredible Cathedral. 

Most people living today have at least heard of the terror of Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and the attempt to exterminate the Jewish race. We read about it in text books; we watch movies that have re-created individual accounts and events; we read personal accounts; we see photos; and we can try to understand the extent to which humans created and caused utter terror for other humans. But no grasp of understanding is comparable to that of walking the grounds on which these horrifying actions occurred, seeing the remains of those who had their lives, human rights, freedom, and identities stripped from them, and simply being among the space in which they experienced the worst of human capability. 

Auschwitz is the largest and most well-known concentration camp in the south of Poland. An hour from Krakow, a large group of our cast and crew took a day tour with an absolutely wonderful guide. We were taken through the two main camps, and told about where and how families were brought here, and the initial actions of entry. We saw what was taken from them, where they slept, what they were required to do, and what they were (or were not) given to eat, and how they were killed. None of us could have expected how each of us reacted. 

When I was in Argentina this past summer, I visited two locations in which the "disappeared" (people who opposed the military government regime, and were taken and hidden by the government without notice or documentation) were brought to live in terror. Written at the entryway of one of these camps is, "No olvidar para no repetir," meaning "Never forget as to never repeat." At Auschwitz Concentration camp, some of the worst crimes against humanity in the history of mankind occurred. The space is now utilized in the best way possible, so that we may fully grasp the horrors of what happened, pay respect to and recognize that the victims were people just like us, and never forget the terror so that it may never happen again. While my day at Auschwitz made me physically sick to my stomach, brought me to tears, left me at a loss for words, and forced upon me a humble perspective towards everything I should be grateful for, it is a day I will never regret nor forget the experience. 

Poland is beautiful, and Polish people are simply lovely. Much of my time in Gdasnk has mostly been taken up by work. Here, we are having rehearsals to create a brand new section of our show. As a training line captain, I played a much bigger part in the rehearsal process this time around, including teaching new performers, learning and teaching the steps of new numbers to everybody, documenting changes in the show, and organizing all of our new costume pieces. Every day has been long, and some were overwhelming, but it has been so rewarding to work closely with the original director and choreography of our show. I haven’t worked with either since my very first rehearsal process two and a half years ago, when everything was brand new to me!

Thankfully, our hotel was within walking distance in Gdasnk, and it was a beautiful refreshing walk to work each morning. I often ran into the same people walking their dogs along these paths. I fell in love with the tiny garden houses and privately owned plots of land with the sole purpose of gardening. The air was crisp and cool in the most refreshing way. Seagulls from the nearby coast were a frequent sight. 

Also close to our hotel were various adorable neighborhoods, beautiful parks, and a tram stop to get just about anywhere in the city. 

On one of our few days off, we made it into Old Town Gdasnk. Most European cities have an Old Town area that originally served as the “city center” where people would go to get everything they needed. Unfortunately, many of the Old Town’s in Poland (Gdansk included), are recreations of the originals because the buildings and structures were destroyed in WWII. You can tell the building fronts are newer, not so “old,” and not so original, but the entire Old Town area is quaint, fun, and picturesque nonetheless.

A friend and I tried our share of Polish traditional eats with smoked salmon over potato pancakes at one restaurant on the river, and a plate of Polish perogy’s, and beetroot soup at another restaurant in town. One of my favorite ways to try local foods is “restaurant hopping” – one place for an early appetizer or soup, another for a main dish, and maybe another for a drink or dessert. J

My own video of the sounds on the streets of Old Gdansk: