The Lancaster’s Great Europe Adventure

  Tosh : I won't write much about Slovakia because I don't feel like I really visited the country. We came straight to Starý Smokovec and hiked the high Tatra Mountains. If I were to write about Slovakia, in my estimation, it would be like flying to Aspen in the US, hiking or skiing for a week (with all the other very rich folks who can afford Aspen), and then writing about what America is like.  After the Auschwitz tour and a day of bus travel to get to Starý Smokovec, Slovakia; we decide to take a rest day. So, we pretty much stay in our aparthotel (kinda like a VRBO apartment) for the day and watch TV and movies, and Johanna cooks a meal so we can get some veggies. The next day, we begin detailed planning of a hike through the mountains, and try to make some reservations at the chatas (mountain huts/chalets). We manage to book four beds at the Zbojnícka chata for the following night. We plan for a three day hike, staying at Zbojnícka chata then marching on to the next ...

  Tosh : I'm totally surprised how much Krakow has to offer. It's a beautiful, affluent city, and I had no notion of its history as the royal seat of Polish kings for many centuries. The basilicas, cathedrals, royal castle and city square are as ornate as they are grand.  After arriving and checking into the hotel near old town, we go out walking around the ancient city to find dinner. Johanna picks the best meal, some mushroom and beef pierogies. The next day we visit the Wieliczka Salt Mines. These are so deep and extensive that our guide explains the entire Eiffel tower could fit under the earth here. People have been mining here for nearly a millennium and made some amazing things underground. The most impressive, I think, is the chapel hundreds of feet below the ground.  The next day we tour Auschwitz. A stark contrast: visiting something that took humans nearly a thousand years and cooperation across a hundred generations to build, and the next day visiting a place ...

 Warning: This post contains some descriptions of the concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau and autrocities that were committed there by the Nazis.  Jo: This is hard. Today has been hard. We did decide to bring the kids to Auschwitz/ Birkenau concentration camps (contrary to the vast majority of online opinions of concerned parents, strongly recommending against it) on a 7+ hour long tour of some of the darkest and most evil part of the history of man kind.  I am no writer, and to put the past 12 hours into any kind of relatable written language is therefore completely beyond my capabilities. I will try nevertheless: At 6:30 AM we get picked up by our driver with an unpronounceable polish name ("call me Jack"), in a brand new Mercedes van. Jack is a man of few words and fewer facial expressions. He pushes the start button of an educational video about Auschwitz/ Birkenau that soon starts playing on our screen in the back of the van. The ride to Auschwitz is 1.5 hour...