So just a glimpse at our trip to Poland. BTW… how many pictures is too much?
This was our first time traveling with friends. We were a bit nervous because us Brown’s are quite the handful but I’m happy to say we are all still friends.
Our first stop in Poland was to Auschwitz. It was gray and wet.
The phrase which says “ALBEIT MACHT FREI” is one of a few signs that hang over the entrance of a concentration camp. Translated, it means, “Work will set you free.” I had never before paid attention to the “b” which is upside down. I read that this sign was made by the Polish Political prisoners and the upside down “b” was an act of “disobedience.”
They took everything they had. Their identity, their family, their hair, even prosthetic limbs. And finally their lives. To witness how ugly humans CAN be, is harrowing.
Their bunks.
You can see the worn brick on the fire place from the prisoners rubbing up against the sides to get warm.
The train tracks into Birkenau. It was often said to the newcommers that the only way out was through the smokestacks (of the crematorium).
I loved Auschwitz, however, I need to go back sans children. It was hard to take it all in with little ones in tow and a time restriction. I could have wandered around all day. In fact, we were some of the last ones to leave Birkenau that day. They had to shew us out.
After a day at Auschwitz, we spent the day in Krakow on bikes. 
We went with our friends, the Barney’s who also have 6 kids. SO there was 15 of us (minus Callie who was at Girls Camp) riding bikes through the streets of Krakow. An adventure for sure.
We rode over a bridge where there were hundreds of love locks. Rob and I didn’t have a lock so we just picked one. It was a bike lock. So fitting.
J liked the horn.
A shout out to Indy’s awesomeness! Always the extra hand when we need him and often not asked.
She loves her older(est) brother.
We visited a little town called Nowa Huta just outside Krakow. We are standing in the very center of town (now called Ronald Regan Center, once named after Stalin). This center is circled with apartment complexes. Each complex is just the same. On the bottom floor, stores. The upper floors, apts. Each complex has a playground, a grassy field in the middle & a school for the children. However, there was no churches in the plans. The wives stayed home, took care of the children and kept house and the men would come to this city center and catch the train out to the steel mill to work. It was supposed to be an “ideal” communist community. It was to show the people how great communism was. Communist propaganda. Back then, the city was immaculate, the gardens were neat and the town was pristine. Now, not so much. 
I love all the little details when visiting a foreign country. A magazine rack at the corner shop.
Krakow at night. The Cloth Hall.
On the way home we were going to stop in Prague but at the very last minute, we decided to head to Dresden, Germany. The city was bombed at the very end of WWII. After WWII and during it’s years under communism, Dresden was left to rot. After the fall of communism, Dresden decided to rebuild. Here is a picture of Dresden after the bombings.
They have been very concious of their efforts in rebuilding making it look just like it did back before the war. Brick by brick. It’s amazing how the city looks like it’s been untouched for hundreds of years. It’s a beautiful place.
Here are some of the remains of what used to be and what has been rebuilt in the background.
We loved visiting Poland & Dresden, Germany. I’d love to go back to Krakow & Auschwitz and see some of the things I missed and I know Callie would love to go for the first time. Then maybe she’d forgive me.
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