Today’s a cold day, a morning colder than the other mornings for a while. And the sun’s gone missing. Oh dear.

Realized this morning that I should have read another chapter for my property seminar today. Shit. I’m screwed. And I’m hungry. And cold. what a combination.

Eyelid keeps twitching. Irritating.

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What a bunch of confuddled emotions!

Augustsnow is now properly white.

Quite unfitting, considering that the previous template name was termed “Chaotic Soul” when snow in all its whiteness is supposed to be the epitome of purity and calm.

First seminar of the term, and I have to say. I am sufficiently bored. (:

Yay!

Okay, a Polished up entry.

Forgotten about Polish pictures, till I read Maymay’s comment. All the nice edited pictures sitting there on my folder all ready to be uploaded.

A Random Theatre in Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmiescie (I can never ever pronounce this road name!)

Right in front of the Presidential Palace, Krakowskie Przedmiescie

New buildings in the Old Town. It’s quite an irony, coz most of the Old Town is no more than 40 years old, whilst the New Town is about 400 years old. Most of Warsaw was destroyed during the War right at the end when the Germans were retreating, and about 85% of Warsaw’s finest buildings were destroyed, including the Royal palaces and the surrounding buildings.In the guidebook it says, “Most of the rooms in the royal palace are gaurded by a team of eagle- eyed old women, and all of them are almost always older than the building itself”. LOL.

Beetroot Borsch Soup, with mini meat dumplings, and Sour Rye Soup. This place was a really good Jewish restaurant, in the New Town area. I think I had venison that day for lunch, and Sue had a plate of cold herrings. And kick ass prices also. Mains averaged 7 pounds, starters 3.

Little Children’s Corner in the place where we had desserts after our jewish meal. It’s called “I like” in Polish, and it’s apparently the only cafe/ coffee house which the locals respected. Cakes averaged 1.5o pounds, drinks 2. (;

A snowy Warsaw on our third day. Woke up to snow pouring down, and at least it ebbed a little when we went out.

Pierogi goodness! This is a staple Polish dish, with flour dumplings stuffed with all sorts of fillings, the most popular being wild mushrooms, cabbage, or meat. This was at a Communist milk bar, popularised during the Polish’s Communist, where food was sold at a highly subsided rate. This was about 3 zlty, which is about 80p, and good for a meal (:

Palace of Culture and Science – A massive building with 2 musuems, a library, office space and god knows what. This was a present from Stalin to communist Poland. Apparently the local do not like that place. Nicknames included things like the useless cake, or the White Elephant. But the only redeeming feature is that sky view at the tip of the building, where a panoramic view of Warsaw awaited you. And in the guidebook, it says “That’s the only nice thing as that’s the only place you can get a view of Warsaw without the building in it”. LOL.

Pawiak Prison Musuem – Momentoes and Name plates of the dead of the Prison. Pawiak was a high security political prison right in the middle of Warsaw’s old Jewish quarter, and most of it was bombed when the Germans retreated. All’s left is the front area with the bombed cement walls still remaining, and the barbed fenced walls as well.

Snowy Snowy Warsaw

Polish trains – This was definitely a fun thing! The first day we reached Krakow, we took off for Warsaw straightaway, and bought tickets on the express train to Krakow which would take us there in 3 hours. However, there was an accident on the way there. I think it was the electrical lines on top of the trains that snapped, and one of the lamp on the poles next to the tracks snapped off as well, and went straight into our wagon. At that time me and sue were out cold, coz we had a very tiring morning (reached the Airport at 12 midnight, and sat ard till 4 am before we could check in), and so we decided to fuck it and crash on the train to warsaw. And yea. we were stuck on the tracks for like… 3 hours or so? An adventure coz we didn’t know what the announcements were all about, and I had to go asking the entire wagon of passengers what they were saying. And after the Intercity trains came, and we had to drag our luggages off, down to the tracks (which were about a metre down) and hobble on the rocks on the tracks, and climb up the next train and drag our luggages up. By the time we go to Warsaw, we were ABSOLUTELY knackered.

First lunch at Babci Manci –

from the left clockwise: Pierogies stuffed with cabbage and mushroom with lard, polish pork chops, hungarian goulash in a bread bowl, and my deep fried fish with mash.

A cathedral in the town square – they play a bugle call on every hour, and this has been the case for a long while. The call will stop abruptly midway, and continue after a while. A long time ago, during a war, Krakow was saved from disaster by a watch man who alerted everyone to the invasion using his bugle, but he was shot in the throat by an arrow, at the point where the music stops. Afterwards, he continues and finishes the song. And thus to commemorate his bravery, they have been playing the bugle call every hour, complete with pause.

In the middle of the Town Square

Wawel – in the royal Cathedral, where most of Poland’s influential historical figures are buried in. A lot of kings, queens and whoever knows resides in the catacombs below. LOL.

The old Krakowskian palace

Residence of Poland’s resident Saint

Traipsing in Krakow’s Jewish quarter, looking at old cathedrals, and cemetaries.

Outdoor Painting sale (:

The infamous slogan, “Arbeit Macht Frei” – or Work brings Freedom. Considering the fact that prisoners had to march through this gate to work, and back, it was definitely very very ironic.

Rows of electric fence surrounding the camp at Aushwitz

Cell blocks, now turned into exhibition halls.

This gave me creeps. The block on the right was nicknamed the Block of Death, where a court would pass judgment on the prisoners, and the “guilty” ones were dragged to the wall right in the middle and shot there. The basement of the Block of Death houses the torture chambers, where prisoners were punished in a variety ways. Like. there was a Suffocation room, where prisoners were shoved into a small room about 50 at a time, with just a small hole 10 cm by 10 cm at thet top of the room for slight oxygen. There was a standing room also. A tiny room of about 1 metre by a metre i think. 4 or 5 prisoners were put in there overnight, and they couldn’t sit, nor sleep, and after a night in the room, they were made to work, and the thing repeated over and over. I couldn’t remember the rest. I wanted out of that place asap. It was so creepy, and I didn’t dare to look much into the rooms around me. I was mentally willing the person in front of me to walk faster.

This was in Birkenau, about 3 km away. Basically this was their toilet, where they did their stuff before and after work. Just like that. -shudders-

Again, long long rows of electrical barbed fence.

The ruins of the Birkenau Gas chambers, where up to 2000 people could be gassed at a time at maximum capacity. It was a death factory. After being gassed, prisoner workers would have to remove their items and also shave their hair off, remove all gold tooth fillings and cremate their bodies. And the ashes were dumped in a pond or sold to the neighbouring farms as fertiliser.

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AND, that basically sums up my trip in a few pictures, and words.

Haven’t been updating;

Been occupied with stuff lately. Start of school, a couple of house parties, and much sleep. and the sweetest dog called Ellie.

First, Poland. It was overall a very good trip. I had plenty of fun and good food (and I didn’t fall sick, hah). And the Polish are amazingly friendly. Shopping malls stay open till 10, and they have ladybird stuff there too. Any place with ladybirds is a good place in my books (:

Had the most amazing foods in Poland. Their beetroot borsch soup with dumplings is -omg- heavenly. And their pierogies, and their pork cutlets, and their crazily cheap Communist Milk Bar food, complete with grounchy staff and cheap interior.

And I went snappy snap snap with my film cam. I need to finish another roll before I can go “wash” them.

And Poland opened my eyes to the realities of how greed, jealousy and insanity can deal onto humanity. The intensity of Aushwich and Birkenau left me utterly speechless. And thoroughly revolted.

I remember there was this room in the building (ex cell block) which housed all the exhibits which constituted all the evidence of the massacre of all the people imprisoned. Once killed (at up to 2000 at a time), women had their hair shaved off, and their hair was used for other items like mattresses or soldier uniform collars. And in that room, in about a glass enclosure of 30m by 5 metres, and AT LEAST a metre deep, was just a sea of hair, with identifiable plaits and some with clips still on.

I felt like puking.

And whilst we were walking through the gas chambers (omg. scary), I felt so cold, even though I was wearing 3 layers with a coat. The hairs on my neck stood, and I kept shivering throughout that short walk through the gas chamber.

I still can’t believe how many people died at that spot. It still freaks me out.

Birkenau wasn’t that bad, coz it was a more open area. But there was the place where the killings really took place. Women and children were immediately sent to the gas chambers after getting down from the trains. I can’t ever imagine that fear, knowing that you were going to die in just a little while. Seriously, we’re damn lucky to be living in this age. I don’t think I’d have survived that era. Of uncertainty and constant biting fear.

That day was tough, crazy intense stuff forced onto both of us.

on the other hand, Mud’s back up. Getting the hang of it again. Feels good to be back in DET and hanging out and talking nonsense. ha.

Loughborough Sat! Jaslin, if you’re reading this, I will be in Loughborough at about 10:39. (: See you then. and Please sms me your new no!