Violence and Relaxation
So as I'm sure you've noticed I havn't been exactly consistent with my posts of late. I'm going to fix that starting with this post.
Although pictures weren't allowed, I snuck this one. Sorry its not very good. But I think you can get the idea.
Friday morning we headed to the House of Terror. The House is a museum that used to be the old headquarters of old fascist and communist dictatorial regimes that controlled Hungary during the 1900s: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It was very stylized, with haunting music playing and suspenseful lighting. That said, it never felt cheesy or overplayed. Quite the contrary; many parts of the museum were very somber and beautiful. Beneath the building is a labyrinth of cells that were used to interrogate prisoners, sometimes for months on end. At the end of these cells in particular was a room devoted as a memorial. The room had dozens of iron crosses coming up out of the ground with lights in the center of them.
The next day we headed up to the Turkish Bathhouse on the Pest side. I had a little phobia of public pools I had to overcome, but then it was a really great time. We hopped around from many different pools of different temperatures, both inside and out. We also spent some time in three different saunas of varying temperatures as well. It wasn't until we decided to leave that we found the steam room (which they had said was out of order. Liars). It really was unfortunate that we found it so late because it was easily my favorite spot. The reason we left was that we were both starving, so we headed to a cheap falafel place a few blocks away. From there we walked a few blocks more to a recommended restaurant, Klassz, where we got dessert and wine. I got a cheese cake and Jacob got a chocolate cake. We both got the same dessert wine. We both agree that each item was the best of its class we had ever had. We then moved on to our third venue, a ruin pub. Ruin pubs are old buildings that were going to be destroyed but entrepreneurs stepped up and saved them, turning them into bars. The inside was very rustic looking. There was also a whole wall devoted to traveler's graffiti. On this wall I received some very deep important advice, "Drink beer, and become an ostrich."
The next day was spent getting up to Krakow. There first thing we noticed upon arrival in Krakow was the dirt cheap prices. I for one wasn't expecting this. We have been here for about 36 hours and I haven't spent more than 15 bucks. Today we awoke and left for the Old Town Square, where we began a walking tour of the city. The cool thing about Krakow is that most everything of interest in in the Old Town, a very walkable area. No public transport needed. After the tour we wandered the Wawell castle and saw the statue of the dragon that used to live here. We were told that every 15 minutes that statue breathed fire, so we waited. It was disappointingly anticlimactic. It kinda coughed up a quick spout of flame and then stopped. From Wawell, we walked to the one point of interest outside the Old Town, the Jewish Quarter. Here we got these crazy delicious toasted bread cheese things. Imagine garlic bread with tons of stuff on top.
Pots and bowls and cups all made in Schindler's Factory
After eating we made our way down to Oskar Schindler's Factory. Most of the building had been converted to a walking museum, telling the elaborate story of Poland's part in World War II, as well as the life of Schindler and his factory. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more original factory to see, but that didn't ruin the experience in any way. The exhibits had sound affects and dramatic lighting in the same way as the House of Terror, but, like the House of Terror, it was never over the top or cheesy. Everything really added to the museum.