Poland was our 25th country to visit as a family. We loved it! There was so much history, beautiful sights and fun activities. Most things were reasonably priced, there was a lot of English spoken and it was the perfect sized country to cover in a week!
Thursday June 12:
We headed out on an afternoon flight out of Miami to Paris. We had a short layover there and continued on to Warsaw, Poland arriving midday on the 12th. Warsaw was a good central location to start off our trip.
The weather in Warsaw was a bit cloudy, windy and upper 60's on the days we were there. It was a welcome cool down from the Florida heat. The big ornate building is the Palace of Culture and Science which was a "gift" to Poland from the communist Soviet Union in the 50's.
Our first stop after dropping our bags off at the hotel was Constitution Square. This square was designed as an example of socialist, realist architecture following WWII. After the war, Poland abandoned by the allies and left to be taken over by the Soviet Union. This square was designed with statues of the working class to showcase the strength of the communist party.
These apartment buildings housed the families of the working class.
We found a delicious Czech restaurant and had pierogis, schnitzel and of course, burgers and chicken nuggets as well. :)
Stay awake, Sis!
We loved the big ornate light fixtures in the square.
In the center of the square is the Museum of Culture and Science which you can see behind the Warsaw sign. With that, we headed back to our hotel and fell asleep by 8:00PM.
Friday June 13:
After a good night's sleep, we woke up and headed off for our Segway tour of Warsaw. We hadn't ridden Segways since Greece in 2022 but it turns out, we were all better riders than before! ;)
The first stop on our tour was the statue of Copernicus. It was erected in 1938 but during the war, the German forces placed plaques on the pedestal with a German inscription intending to "erase" Copernicus' Polish origin. The statue was later removed as part of the Uprising but was later found and restored.
Next up, we saw the presidential palace where the head of the Polish state resides. In 2010, the Polish president and his wife were killed in a plane crash over Russia. There are debates and theories that the crash was not accidental.
Throughout the parks there were benches that played pieces of Chopin's work. Chopin was born and raised in Poland before later moving to Paris. His body is buried in Paris but his heart is buried in Warsaw.
Favorite brothers!
Old Town Warsaw as completely destroyed during WWII and then reconstructed as realistically as possible afterwards.
You couldn't even tell!
After lunch, we said goodbye to Warsaw and hopped a train for the two and a half hour journey south to Krakow, Poland.
We had a quick pizza dinner before heading out to our evening activity.
Gun ranges are quite popular in Poland allowing kids as young as Cora (or even younger) to try them out.
The boys chose an Uzi, Scorpion, Glock and Shotgun from the brochure of weapon options. The employees were so nice and helpful. Cora decided at the last minute that it was much too loud for her liking, even with the ear muffs, so she just cheered us on!
Photo evidence that I participated! :)
Saturday June 14:
Saturday morning we slept in a little bit before heading to explore the grounds at Wawel Castle, just a short walk from our hotel. It served as a royal residence, place for coronations and burials and now as a place of history.
Wawel Castle has its very own dragon story. The dragon was said to be a beast living under the castle who terrorized all the residents of King Krak's town. We got to see him ourselves. ;)
Chimney Cakes were a favorite treat on our trip to Prague a few years back so both Rog and Cora were happy to find them again.
Our afternoon activity was a guided tour to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. We learned so much, saw so much and were challenged to think about the magnitude of everything that took place.
Our guide shared that prisoners would run into this electric fence just to end their suffering.
Watchtower
Women and children's barracks- they would sleep at least four to a bunk.
Birkenau was the sister camp to Auschwitz where much of the labor took place. Birkenau also housed more of the gas chambers of the combined Auschwitz-Birkenau complex.
Such a poignant day for our family.
Sunday June 15:
On Father's Day (more on that in the June post), we took a bus from Krakow to Zator to Energylandia. This amusement park interested our kids because it has a coaster called Zadra which is the sister coaster to Iron Gwazi here at Busch Gardens. Energylandia also features 18 other coasters which kept us busy on a very warm day.
The Ferris Wheel provided pretty views!
Besides the coasters, C and C enjoyed some other fun and crazy rides. We all really enjoyed bumper cars.
Monday June 16:
Our Monday activity was a last-ish minute pivot requested by Roger. We took a train from Krakow to the nearby town of Wieliczka to visit the famous Salt Mine.
The train station was so cute!
Wielicska Salt Mine is over 700 years old.
After a walk down about 400 steps we reached the second level of the mine which is about 210 feet underground. Later in the tour we descended another 400 steps to the third level of the mine which is about 400 feet deep. We got to see how the mine worked back hundreds of years ago. The miners were able to bring horses down into the mine to help with the work!
Look at the salt covering the walls and ceilings.
There is a big, beautiful chapel in the mine. Everything in the mines are carved out of salt.
Happy Father's Day! :)
Last Supper carved out of salt.
Mary and Joseph
We rode the tiniest elevator back to the top (ask me to see a video some time) and earned ourselves lunch, ice cream and a stroll around the park.
before a train ride back to Krakow.
We had a few hours to spend in Old Town Krakow which turned out to be our favorite European square yet.
The Krakow Cloth Hall is still filled with vendors in stalls and booths selling their goods. Unlike many other cities, Krakow was not destroyed in WWII so its squares are still original.
St. Mary's Basilica
We hopped a long distance train (5 hours) from Krakow to Gdansk and got a taste of the first class Polish train life. Gdansk is located in the very northern part of Poland on the Baltic Sea.
We arrived in Gdansk in the evening, had a very late dinner and checked into our cute hotel located right in the center of everything. Due to the time of year and Gdansk's location on the globe, it didn't get dark until 10:00ish and was light again around 4:30.
Tuesday June 17:
Today was bike day around Gdansk which turned out to be my personal favorite city of the trip.
Thankful that we chose E-Bikes for this ride though as there were some big hills (for gorgeous views)!
We started off at the post office of Gdansk. This post office was an important part of the beginning of WWII. After the Treaty of Versailles, Gdansk or Danzig as it was known became a free city-state. Gdansk was allowed control over the ports and their own post office. Hitler was determined to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and one of the first things he did was demand back Gdansk. There was a battle here at the Post Office where the workers held the Germans off for an impressive 15 hours before being executed.
We learned a little bit more about the Solidarity movement in Gdansk which played a crucial role in the fall of communism in Poland.
Gdansk was/is a major port city and the cranes are symbol of that.
Old Town Gdansk along the Motlawa River
Gates to the city
Sweet babies :)
Fountain of Neptune signifying Gdansk's relationship with the sea
Back to the Old Town after our bike tour and freshening up in the hotel. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe with the most beautiful views.
In the afternoon, we visited KartCenter Gdansk where the kids and Roger were able to ride high speed electric Go Karts. (Cruz)
Coco
Row
Poor Roger! ;)
The kids chose Subway for dinner and a night of relaxation in the room while Roger and I escaped for a little date night.
We had delicious craft lemonade,
Oven baked Pierogis
and gelato to finish off the evening. When we got back to the room, we walked back out with the kids to get them some gelato as well.
Wednesday June 18:
Early mornings (before the cruise ships arrived) were so quiet and peaceful.
Did you know that Gdansk was the site for the for the first battle of WWII? The Battle of Westerplatte on September 1, 1939 was the first battle in the German invasion of Poland.
Because of that, Gdansk has an incredible museum- The Museum of the Second World War. The exhibits were so cool and captivating and the audio guide was so informative. We spent close to two hours at the museum at honestly could have spent another couple hours. It was so well done.
We could have taken photos of everything but these are just a couple that I found extra interesting (from top left): striped uniform from a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz, a crucifix found in a pile of rubble with a single bullet hole through Christ's heart, Adolf Hitler Platz street sign, some propaganda encouraging hatred of the Jews which hung during early Nazi efforts, the swastika, hand chosen by Adolf Hitler to adorn all things related to the Third Reich.
We walked back along the river one last time, had lunch and headed to the train station for our train to Warsaw for our early morning flight.
Thursday June 19:
We stayed overnight at the airport Courtyard Marriott and were able to walk across to the airport in the morning. The boys found some Monsters which helped them with our 4:00AM wake up for our flight to Paris. From there, we flew to Miami and arrived around 2:00PM EST.
Our drive home was uneventful and my first ice filled Diet Coke was delicious. I'm so grateful for this trip! We truly had the best time. Poland is a hidden gem and I'm so thankful we had the chance to visit!
