Poland

For my first trip of 2018, I went with my buddy Rick to Poland, which has experienced plenty of events in the last hundred years. From the 1918 Independence day, to the 1939 invasion of Nazi Germany, to the 1989 Revolutions, Poland is relevant.

Krakow

We experienced everything we wanted to do. After discovering Old Town and the Main Market Square of which I found the mood and setting to be romantic, we danced the first night away at Frantic Club with local Polish people.

We then explored the center of Krakow further, as we went to Wawel Castle, the Jewish Quarter, Oskar Schindler's factory and we also saw plenty of impressive buildings and monuments along the way, such as churches and medieval outposts.

The daytrip towards Auschwitz 1 and 2(Birkenau) was the most impressive and memorable for me, as the horrors of the acts done by Nazi Germany's SS division became very imaginative upon seeing these former concentration/execution camps.

It's quite surreal walking around there, going inside one of the actual gas chambers and realizing that this all still happened very recently in human history. I have seen acts of horror before in Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan, but this might over top them all in terms of human cruelty, hate and the enormous numbers of victims.

We also took a day to experience the Wieliczska Salt Mine, a unique attraction, and a major reason for Poland's national income.

Warsaw

At the capital, which is a modern, large and hip city, I had a reunion with one of my former Super Smash Bros. "partners" named Pawel, as we had brief evening dining and talking about transhumanism, technology and the future most of all.

We really wanted to see the Copernicus Science Centre, but we were told that the tickets were sold out, we had to make a reservation three days before hand, and our plane was leaving the day after tomorrow.

Still, just like Krakow, we explored the Old Town and it's Royal Castle, while we also visited the Polish Army Museum, of which I always try to include and experience in any country I visit. It consisted of recent times, but it seemed like there was also a medieval section.

While my buddy walked towards the largest park of the city, I instead went to the Warsaw Uprising Museum, where the ghetto jews did not get much love from the Nazi's, or sympathy from Joseph Stalin.

For the final evening, we decided to visit our local shot bar and get ourselves in the Polish mood by drinking over 15 amounts of vodka shots each. After exploring the night ourselves further and walking aimlessly while enjoying ourselves, we went back to the shot bar.

There we briefly befriended a group of Polish guys who were also drinking, and the alcohol did it's thing, but we also had a jolly good time. We actually wanted to go to some techno party, but soon after, I lost track of time and consciousness, and the hangover started kicking in :)

Perhaps it was a fitting ending towards this country in the end. Poland is a modern country nowadays and cheaper to consume than other European countries. It's definitely not only associated with alcohol, but also with beautiful people, and impressive sightseeing's.