For the first time during our trip, Jason and I treated ourselves to a sleeper cabin on a train - actually there were no other options for our journey to Poland. Ironically, this turned out to be one of our worst nights of sleep between incesent interruptions by various passport control authorities and a torrential downpour that soaked Jason's boots and socks. Prior to turning in for the night, we struck up a wonderful conversation with 2 Canadians. Pierre-Andre and Tonia really captivated us with their tales of travelling and their plans to go into the heart of Eastern Europe – Transylvania, Bulgaria, Croatia, etc.

The rain followed us straight into Krakow, where we showed up without a place to stay. Jason went on a reconnaissance mission to ascertain the particulars of our pending trip to Budapest and to find the whereabouts of an agency that was going to help us locate suitable accommodations. He finally returned 30 minutes later, alleviating all concern that my husband was kidnapped by a Polish terrorist group. Aside from the rain, all went without incident and we landed a killer room in a private residence right in the center of everything. We went back and forth for some time deciding whether to sleep or take the sight seeing plunge right away. Not wanting to miss any of Krakow's sights in the limited amount of time we had there, we quickly washed up and hit the pavement. Our first stop was the extremely crowded Wawel. As luck would have it, admission into the palace complex is free on Wednesday, and every school in Poland was there to take advantage of this when we arrived. Exhausted, impatient, and tired of being run over by loud, excited youngsters (who were all bigger than me), we opted for an early departure from the Wawel and a leisurely walk through the Old Town to the main square, Rynek Glowny.

Nothing could have prepared us for our visit to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. Jason and I were both amazed and appauled at what we saw in addition to what we were told by our somber yet informative guide. Some of the more disturbing facts follow:

1) The most conservative number of people murdered at Auschwitz/Birkenau: 1,100,000. 2) Seven tons of womens hair used to make textiles in Germany were found by Soviet troops on the day of liberation. 3) 36 warehouses at Birkenau were not enough to house the victims confiscated belongings. 4) Ovens in the cremetorium were manufactured with the intent to burn 5,000 bodies a day. 5) 85% of the SS troops at Auschwitz/Birkenau were never found to be tried. 6) The commander of Auschwitz/Birkenau was found guilty of war crimes and hanged on a gallows specially erected just outside of the cremetorium at Auschwitz.

Following our tour, Jason and I walked the many acres of Birkenau for hours in a state of horror and disbelief. We vowed to one another to take our children to other camps and walk through history with them.

We attended services for Shavuot on Friday morning at the Remu'h Synagogue. Once again, Jason was essential in making a minyan and was given the honor of an aliyah. We were fortunate enough to be invited for lunch, after which we walked around the Jewish Quarter and retraced the steps of the Krakow Jews as they made their way to the nearby ghetto. We also saw Oscar Schindler's factory and a piece of the original wall surrounding the ghetto. For Shabbat, we returned to Remu'h and were invited for dinner following services. The intense spirit and warmth that filled the room during Shabbat dinner made it very difficult to leave for our train to Budapest. We did so with hopes of creating more special memories in our next port of call.