Krakow part 1

From Warsaw,I came to Krakow. After some confusion at the ticket counter, I found out that all the seats on board were sold out. Except for first class.  But for some reason I only paid an extra 25 zloty which I was more than fine about.
Oh Krakow , where do I even begin? After finally escaping from the huge shopping centre you exit the station from, I made my way towards barbican, where I was going to meet my boyfriend Jonn. It’s not been easy while we have been together. My insane work patterns and constant night shifts meant that we usually only saw each other once a fortnight, which was really hard. But we texted everyday so at least we could speak to each other. It was more difficult when Christmas arrived. He spent Christmas with his family in Bristol, and then from there to Thailand, so it was over a month before I saw him again. We then had almost a week together. It was glorious! From my last day at work went straight to him in Bournemouth, we had Friday and Saturday night together, I had to go home Sunday afternoon for my works leaving do, which was really lovely, then he came early afternoon Monday, and stayed Tuesday night too. Wednesday he had to go home, and my god, that was probably the hardest goodbye of all.
But I got to barbican a little before him, and sat there, until I saw him heading towards me. It felt amazing to see him again. Time feels different when you are far away. After all, it had only been two and a half weeks since I said goodbye, but it felt much longer than that. I think also the problems around no WiFi and bad signals meant we couldn’t message everyday.
He had been to Krakow before, so he took me to a funky little student restaurant he had been in,  where we had a lovely meal. We stayed in antique apartments, and oh my god it was amazing. Such a quaint little room with a little kitchen area, a nice bathroom. The only dubious side was a bunk bed that was taller than me, and a vertical ladder to get into it. But we were happy on the sofa bed.
Saturday we had booked to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp. Words cannot fully describe the place. It was simply horrific. To see how these people were treated, forced to live like insects, crammed together with no food or warmth, constantly threatened and beaten, all the while seeing these trains appear, and people being sent to their deaths mere meters away. You can’t comprehend it. Having studied the holocaust, I knew some of the figures, but you just can’t process them in your head. Seeing the main camp and its satellite camps made me understand the numbers better, but I still don’t understand the justification behind it. Maybe we never will. But the place stands today to remind us all of the atrocities that can happen when you isolate, victimise and then persecute people guilty of no crime.
It was such a sombre experience, we  didn't really feel like going out for dinner, so we just grabbed a kebab and ate it back at the apartment. I’m glad I have seen it with my own eyes, but I don’t think I will ever be able to forget it.
Sunday we got up a bit later, and explored the old city a bit more. It is so so beautiful here, it’s simply picturesque!

We had dinner at this amazing restaurant, styled around grandma’s house! It was brilliant. Jonn managed to get a (terrible) picture of me with the big wooden grandma there.

Monday morning was a bit chaotic. The shower flooded the bathroom of the place and we ended up trying to mop it up as best we could with the towels! Jonn had a shower, and opened the door to come out, and there was just a tidal wave of water! We let the guy know at reception, and he was so good about it.
And then it was time for Jonn to go home. I couldn’t be it, how on earth can a weekend go so fast? But thankfully there was no more tears at the train station when we said goodbye, as it was simply a see you later. And hopefully we will a each other very soon too. And too be honest I know we will.