Christmas Break in Poland

For our Christmas break this year, we traveled to Poland, excited for the Christmas spirit and hoping for snow.  Our trip started in the city of Krakow where we shared an apartment with the Jettners for five days.  Justin surprised us all on the first day with a limo ride equipped with champagne and kids sparkling wine.  We were taken around Krakow to see our first glimpse of the city while the adults toasted to Christmas in Poland and the kids toasted to friendship forever.

Over the next several days, we spent time at the Christmas market and nearby restaurants and rode in a horse draw carriage on the way home.  We also went to an underground tour which showed the remains of the city from medieval times that became naturally buried over time.  The current main market now sits directly above the ancient city.

One of our favorite experiences in Krakow was the "locked room."  We all went to a place where we were locked in a WWII-themed room and had one hour to try to find a "bomb," deactivate it, and find the code to get out of the room.  A series of props and hints were found throughout the room to help us go from one clue to the next.  It was really fun.

Although it was incredibly sad and not festive for Christmas, we felt we could not leave Krakow without visiting Auschwitz - now a museum about the horrific concentration camp during the Holocaust.  We saw beds and room where people were kept and learned about the stories that Jewish people were told as they headed to the gas chambers.  Photos of people who died were displayed on the walls, some of which one made it a month after arriving Auschwitz, and these were the people who were not immediately sent to the gas chambers upon arrival.  There were also rooms full of suitcases, shoes, and other items that were taken from the prisoners.  One of the worst rooms contained all human hair that was shaved off of the victims.  After about two hours of this tour, we decided to skip the second half (the more gruesome part of the tour) because there is only so much of the camp that could be taken in at once.

Our final stop in Krakow (and a much lighter experience) was to the salt mine where we went deep underground and saw the intricate mines that were once a major part of the city.  On tour, we learned how mining was done as well as the many other uses of the mine in general.  There were various statues and rooms made out of salt.  There is even an entire Catholic church that still holds masses every Sunday, and each wall, piece of flooring, art, and chandeliers are all made out of salt.  It was amazing!  People also get married in this church each year.  Our favorite part of this tour, however, was watching the girls go from room to room, licking the walls to taste the salt.  They spent more time with their tongues sticking out than in!

After Krakow, we traveled a couple of hours to the mountains and settled in the lovely, touristy ski village of Zakopane.  We stayed in the most amazing two bedroom apartment with a two-sided  fireplace that connected the living room with the girls' room. The apartment was very modern and a wonderful place to snuggle up each night.

While in Zakopane, we enjoyed many winter activities even though it didn't snow.  We had signed up for dog sledding prior to coming to Poland, and since there was not snow, we still go to interact with the dogs followed by a wheeled buggy ride led by some of the dogs.  The girls each found a dog that they connected with and loved the overall experience.  We also went on a horse-drawn sleigh ride one evening through the forest that ended in a small hut where some men played instruments, dressed in traditional Poland garb, and sausages cooked over an open fire.  It was authentic and amazing.

The girls' favorite winter activities, though, were sledding, ice-skating, and skiing.  There were patches of man-made snow at most of the ski runs, and one section was used for sledding.  We all had a blast shooting down the hill, and when he came to the edge of the snow, the sled kept going as we launched further on to the grass.  Kaelia even had a couple of spills there as she got daring and started to lift her hands up while Taelyn enjoyed flying off the ground a bit from a snow ramp halfway down the hill.

Kaelia loved ice-skating most of all.  She attempted to skate on her own for the first time and actually did okay with it.  Eventually, she got a hold of a wooden skating helper in the shape of a penguin, and she could not get enough of it!  She skated for quite some time with her penguin and got pretty upset when it was time to say goodbye.  Taelyn refused any help and skated on her own during the entire time.

Taelyn's highlight of the trip was skiing.  We enrolled the girls in ski school one day, and Taelyn really got in to it.  She quickly advanced through the various stages to the point where she could make it down the hill snow-plowing beside the instructor.  She asked to go again the next day, and by the end of that session, she learned how to go up the ski lift tow rope on her own and how to ski back and forth.  The next day, we left Zakopane, but Taelyn begged to let her try the slopes one last time, and this time without an instructor.  She went down 12 times that day with absolutely no problem.  She is now a better skiier than me!  Kaelia also went to ski school the first two days and had fun, but struggled a bit to go down without her instructor right there.  Perhaps next year will be easier for her.

Zakopane was a wonderful little town, and we are so glad we were still able to enjoy all of these activities even if there wasn't really any snow.  We did leave the town, however, as very faint snowflakes fell down briefly.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect trip!

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