While in Germany on business, Keith's brother John was able to fly in for the weekend. It was good to have family to share Krakow with, and to have someone to talk to in English! We took a trip out to Oswiecim to see the memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It's difficult to say that it was the "highlight", but it is important to see, having traveled this far already.
We came across a tour guide, Marta, who helped make the trip quite pleasant. She drove us to the camps and answered all of our questions. When we asked her to give us tour of Krakow, she giggled and said since we lived here now, we had to discover the city for ourselves! Nice way of getting "the brush off"! She's right and we did head out the next day, on our own, in the snow! This place has been invaded and occupied so many times through the centuries, it's hard to keep track of it's history. We toured the castle cathedral and St. Mary's, even though the english audio would not be available until "next week". Having a description would have been nice, but we still marveled at the artistry.
The video below has John and Keith by the Ladislaus IV Bastion with the monument of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, listening to the Sigismund Bell. (John, we did a little research and found out that the guy on the horse was a Polish general who offered his services to the colonists in the American Revolution and among other things "fought with distinction under Gen. Nate Greene in the Carolina's campaign", Lad and Sig were Polish kings) In the next video we were watching the military enter the cathedral for the Independence Day Celebration.
John's visit was short and the weather left a little to be desired, but we enjoyed our time together and look forward to having more guests.
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