In Sri Lanka it was 28°C today, according to weather.com. London managed to boast a rather more unhealthy 19°C. However, inside the office at my desk, we managed a more impressive 33.5°C – so a partial win for London. In temperatures such as these most people can be found staring idly at their monitors, mouth open and eyes wide. It was in a similar catatonic state that I came to learn about the wonderful creature called the Loris.

The obscenely cute animal to your right is a Slender Loris, a nocturnal creature found in the rainforests of Sri Lanka. Whilst I don’t recommend writing to your local councilman this instant, to complain about these animals being under threat from logging, urban expansion, and all the rest of the usual culprits for rainforest depletion… I would highly recommend you stare at the picture a little longer, and exasperate an “awwww, but it’s so cu-uuute”.

I’ve never heard of these little primates before. So it was with a renewed sense of glee and excitement that I started clicking around randomly to find more about them. Apparently the Sinhalese have a proverb “unahapuluwa ge daruwa oota menika lu”. To you and me, that’s “the loris – young one is a gem to her”. Or more plainly, “see that baby loris? Only a mother could love that thing”. Well, yes, they might look like gremlins and maybe they act like them too. But look at those eyes!

That’s Sri Lanka firmly on my “places to visit” list then 🙂 Tell a friend about the Loris today.

“New born residents”, said my handy little tourist guide to Warsaw. “a llama”, it continued. I gasped a gasp of “oooh, a new born llama”. The tourist guide had apparently run out of things to say, because it didn’t respond any further. That, and it was made of paper.

So Warsaw Zoo has a new baby llama. I could hardly resist going to check that out now, could I? No – I tried and I couldn’t. So I did.

The zoo is on the opposite side of Old Town and across the river – which gave me plenty of time to go and do some last minute sightseeing on my way, though as my last day in Warsaw, I did want to take it easy and relax as well. It’s not like I’ve been doing very much of that, of course.

There are large areas of sandy banks on the River Wisla at the Warsaw end, which I hadn’t quite expected. Sunbathers and fishermen were all out in force, enjoying the absolutely gorgeous weather. I really have been extremely lucky to enjoy bright and beautiful sunshine throughout my entire trip. Well, except for that day and a half of thunderstorms and rain. But that was ages ago now 🙂 Regardless, it must have stayed at a constant 20-25 degrees or so, which is how I’m managing to pull of this incredibly healthy looking tan. Off-white, they call it.

As if being a zoo, and rather green isn’t enough, it is situated like so many of Poland’s greatest assets, within the middle of a park. The park also boasts at least one very large metal giraffe structure. I didn’t stumble across any other exciting metallic animals. But maybe they’re there hiding in the bushes.

As far as Zoo’s go, Warsaw’s really quite nice. Rough Guides describes the place as “run-down, yet attractive” , but it wasn’t really in evidence today. Maybe a lot has changed since the publication date of July 2005. Or maybe I have very different standards. Regardless, a large proportion of the animals are thankfully not confined to the traditional “cages”, but in the more modern-zoo style of Oklahoma and Whipsnade, opting for pits filled with spikes and electric fencing to keep the animals where they should be. If you’ve been to a few like it, you probably know what I mean – but it’s essentially the idea of not using a 40cm thick iron cage encased in concrete and buried in sand to keep the bunny rabbit where it should be. Speaking of, I didn’t see any rabbits! I’ve spoken of the zoo in Cyprus, and amazement anyone would want to see the cute widdle bunny wabbits at the zoo when there are lions and tigers. And I didn’t see any in Warsaw. Maybe they don’t have them!

So, I’ll stick briefly to the highlights. Briefly. Yeah. Because I go to Zoo’s every chance I get, and you’re probably all very very sick of hearing about them. Many animals were sponsored by local and international companies. The Puma’s for example, sponsored by … Puma. There’s a sign. I took photos.

The Panther cubs (though not quite cubs any more, I suspect) were extremely entertaining as they played around in the water, chasing and attacking each other. Spring is in the air so many animals were … erm … ahem … having fun. Which was highly entertaining to watch as the group of school kids screamed and laughed I at the elephants, while the teachers turned their heads in shame 🙂

There were pygmy marmosets! Enough said, I think. If you don’t what I’m talking about – you’re probably not aware of my trip to London Zoo earlier this month. So I’ll continue to leave you in the dark. And a baby giraffe. But s/he didn’t really come out to play, which was a shame.

As of last night, I also have the first guests in a room at a hostel. A family from South Korea have joined – and only the father speaks English – but they are stopping for two nights, before heading to Krakow, Prague, Budapest, Split and Dubrovnik.

So I’m just, like, Mr Knowledge King on four of those. I am not so sure this rumour about young people staying in hostels is true though. I think they’re all at the hotels, because they’re certainly not here.

The hostel meanwhile has been very helpful in its so-called bookcrossing. If you’re not familiar with the concept, you drop off a book – you take a book – everyone walks away happy. The Elephant on the Moon had the same thing and whist I didn’t like the look of any of the books – I dropped one off because they’re just too cool.

In Nathan’s Villa Hostel it works a little differently. “Tired of paying for overpriced English books?” announces the poster. It’s like it was reading my mind. “Only 20 zloty”. About 4 quid. So I’ve finished very book I brought with me – I go take a look. And they’re all second-hand, which is fine – and really poor condition. Like you’d pay 20p for in a charity shop for. Nothing interesting, either. So I went to a shop and paid for an overpriced English book. Tired of it. Yes. But not THAT tired.

So, there’s my Poland experience. I doubt there willl be another entry, unless I do one from the airport and something interesting happens between now and then.

If you’ve made it this far, then you really should have been working – not screwing around reading this garbage 😉

After my trip to Auschwitz, I leapt into the nearest bar that would serve me beer and food. It’s a necessary extension to the trip and one that should by all rights be included in the ticket price. But before we get there…

I arrived at the Elephant on the Moon Hostel. As I’ve said before, it’s the first time I’ve stayed at a hostel and the experience cannot have been better. Gregory and Kate are both fantastic and very friendly people who have been both informative and helpful in my stay around Krakow. The more I think back, the more I regret not just coming here in the first place, with the hotel and its building site next door, the room next to the lift, being 5km from most things of interest and seemingly nowhere near as knowledgeable staff. Still, not much I can do about that now 🙂

Upon arriving I was given the run-down of things to do and see in Krakow, a map (ye gods – 3 days without a map until now), a list of upcoming clubs and concerts, and a tour brochure with the helpful advice that they could happily organise a tour to Auschwitz, it left at 9.20 in the morning and all I had to do was hand over some cash. And that’s the last I did about it until 9am the next morning, 20 minutes before I needed to be at Hotel Novotel for the coach.

Gregory even packed up some breakfast for me into a bag since I was in a bit of a rush while Kate phoned for a taxi. By around 1 o’clock on the Auschwitz tour with no break, he had quickly become my favourite person in all of Krakow. Or, to put it another way – I was being well looked after. I’ve mentioned I don’t really have a point of reference for hostels, but the Elephant on the Moon is clean, tidy, with friendly people, perfectly comfortable and a fine breakfast (add some slices of ham and it’s exactly the same as the hotel, to be honest). I’m pleased with my choice, yes. I’m repeating myself and I get the point, I’ll move on.

Following the frankly appalling diet I’ve had over the past few days of hamburgers, steaks, mixed grills, pizza, hot dogs and kebabs – Kate took it upon herself to make sure I spent my last day in Krakow eating decent, proper Polish foods. Well, all I’ve seen people eat so far is all of the above, so it’s not really my fault – is it? Yes. Apparently it is. So, armed with my new map and a marking on it where to find a good cheap student hangout I was on my way. I was on a roll – straight down Al J. Slowackiego, turn right onto Krupnicka, and it’s on the corner of Garncarska. I say these names only to wow and impress you of all of their extra unnecessary letters. The Polish have a love for the latter half of the alphabet that we just can’t ever hope to replicate.

As I bounded into the restaurant with a massive grin on my face, pleased with successes of finding the place as well as the opportunity to eat some real food, everyone stopped eating, and talking to stare up at me. I walked up to the group of 5, yes 5, attractive waitresses and grinned.
“Uuuuuh, anyone speak English?” They all looked at one another, then back at me, eager for someone else to take charge.
“Yes”, replied the one in the middle “only reservations. No tables”.
“Oh right…” my big grin slightly fading. “Well… can I make a reservation then?”
Blank look.
“Or….should I come back?”
“Yes, yes”, responded the waitress. “Come back later”, a little too enthusiastically. “About four”.

I assumed that they closed at four. Or that maybe there was a shift change. Either way, I knew in my heart that I probably wouldn’t be returning at four. It would be a terrible inconvenience to walk twenty minutes out of my way. Whichever way that way might have been.

“Okay”, I replied, by huge grin returning. “Four o’clock”, as I bounded enthusiastically back out the door.

So, I didn’t partake in the recommended cuisine. But, my map had more. Kate had also written the names of the dishes I should be trying as well. This would be easy. All I needed to do was find another restaurant selling “Zurek w chlebie”, and “Pierog ruskie”. how hard could it be, really? Not as easy as you’d think apparently. The first one is a soup, the second – I still have no idea. My suspicion is that it contains cabbage though.

So, long story short – because it’s really long enough already. I didn’t find either. But I came close. Oh yes I did. I found Zurek polski z ziemiakami. Which is the same soup, but with potatoes and without the rather interesting method of putting the soup inside the bread (???). I didn’t understand either. But it sounded fun. It’s a traditional sour polish soup, and really quite nice – with bits of sausage, and in my case, chunks of potato as well (that’s the z ziemiakami part, I’m told).

Not really knowing what else to look for, I also went with Kotlet schabowy, or as we like to say on the English side of the menu … “Polish chop”. It had the word Polish in the name so I naturally assumed that maybe it contained something to do with Poland. It wasn’t as good a choice as the soup and that’s not a testament to the fantastic flavourings flourishing past my taste buds. I also doubt I’ll ever get to use that phrase again, will I?

It could have been better. It basically consisted of mashed up, breaded pork chop with chips and salad. Or as we like to say on the REAL English side of the menu. Tesco’s value meal – 2.49.

I have three days now, to find this magical Pierog Ruskie. But I am leaving Krakow tomorrow morning, and heading to Warsaw for my final stop at another hostel – Nathans Villa Hostel.

It’s incredibly difficult talking about Auschwitz in an uplifting way, but maybe that’s the point. Between April 1940 until the liberation of the camp in January 1945, it is estimated that somewhere between one and a half million to two million people were tortured and murdered at the three Auschwitz camps. Between 85-90 percent of these were Jews – a staggering number of lives to have been needlessly taken in aid of Hitler’s Final Solution.

The gates to Auschwitz display the mocking slogan “work shall set you free”, but only death would free the inmates who were brought there. The mood around the camp is that of pity, shock and horror for the suffering that these men and women endured, but there are scattered stories of more positive achievements as well. St. Maximilian, who offered his own life so that another could live. The man he sacrificed himself for went on to live a full life after being among those liberated by the Soviet forces. The inmates who smuggled in explosives from a nearby town and destroyed one of the furnace rooms is great testament to the human struggle for survival, as well as the very few but successful escapes from the camp. Also, the liberation from Soviet forces in January of 1945 preventing Hitler and his SS from torturing their captives any further. Yet their final act in their legacy of pain was to take any prisoner that could walk on a final death march from Auschwitz. Endlessly marching prisoners away from oncoming liberation forces so that the maximum possible would perish.

In the words of the German philosopher Theodor Adorno, “No more poetry after Auschwitz”. The gas chambers, the hangings, standing cells, furnaces, the huge mountains of shoes, hairbrushes and briefcases which represent only a tiny fraction of those collected from prisoners, all add up the memory of a terrible time of Polish and European history. All of the brave men and women who were killed in World War II, whether fighting or struggling to survive the tortures thrust upon them all add up to the world we live in today. There is no sense in exploring endless “what-ifs”, but whilst imagining the terrors inflicted at Auschwitz you cannot help but feel incredibly grateful for the life you now have and how lucky most of us really are – all of which is due to in part, to everybody who took part in this and all other wars throughout history – no matter what role they had. It is impossible to find the good in the needless death of millions – but the world that leaves behind is still something that should be cherished and celebrated.

So there we have it – that was essentially my trip to Auschwitz which, whilst wasn’t exactly jolly, I can recommend as a must-see to anybody. Now I sense it’s time for something a little lighter for the next post… 🙂