Breakfast started early- 6:30 a.m. – because we have a long day with an extended bus ride. We will be in three countries in these fourteen hours – Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. The Hotel Francuski had its usual buffet of Polish delicacies – I also noticed pickles, radishes, and creamed herring in addition to the smoked sausages, ham, cheeses, hard boiled eggs, cucumber slices topped with assorted salad spreads, assortment of breads, croissants, a chocolate covered donut, fresh and canned fruits (including watermelon and fresh cherries), a not very sweet cake with cherries, a bundt style cake and LARD!
We rolled our luggage several blocks to meet our bus and we were off well before 7:30 a.m. On the way to our visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau, Katka reminded us of the tragic history surrounding these sites of mass extermination of 1.1 million individuals, mostly Jews but also Poles, Czechs, Roma ( “gypsies”), Jehovah’s witnessed, gays, political prisoners, Soviet POWs, as well as citizens from France. Italy, Belgium , Netherlands and other Slavic countries.
(Auschwitz )
(Entry gate to Birkenau – was seen in movie Schindler’s List)
It is difficult, nay almost impossible, to understand the cruelty and inhumanity of the Nazis – with mass killing of innocents in their quest to create a pure Aryan race and eliminate “undesirables”, not only based on religion but on sexual preference, disabilities, political beliefs, and ethnic status.
It is frightening to see the parallels between Nazi Germany and what is happening in the USA as well as in many countries in Europe – the rise of “nationalism”, the fear of immigrants, the rise in hate crimes against religious sects, the intolerance and ignorance of other points of view, the use of propaganda under the guise of news (Fox News, Breitbart) to mislead an uneducated/ undereducated/ apathetic and politically unaware population, the suppression of the free press, the instillation of fear of a “deep State”. It was exactly these things – fear, intolerance, and lies- that were used as tools by the Nazis to overtake the German government in the early 1930s. Even though Hitler was supported by only about 30% of the Germans, he and his minions were successful in hanging the course of world history in such a tragic way, with the needless loss of so many millions of people. It was the apathy of the German majority, and perhaps also fear of retribution that led to the rise of Fascism. Walking through the Schindler Factory yesterday and visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau today, it is so evident that the fate of our democracy is at such a crucial point. The actions and words of Trump and his followers are frighteningly similar to those of Hitler, Mussolini and the other far right authoritarian political leaders. Holocaust deniers should be forced to visit a concentration camp and walk in the steps of those doomed to the gas chambers. Our society is losing the virtues of empathy and civility. It is so important to understand history so the mistakes of past decades are not repeated.
It was a sobering morning, and it was fitting that the day was overcast with threatening skies. Back on the bus, Katka gave us time to try to assimilate what we had experienced.
As we proceeded on to Slovakia, she brought out a couple of bottles of a Polish vodka, Zubrowka (bison grass) that has a blade of grass in the bottle. 
One had a choice of apple juice as a mixer, but straight up one could get the sense of a grassy essence. A bag lunch from a deli (Chimera) from Krakow was distributed – two sandwiches, bag of fresh veggies ( celery, pepper, tomato) an apple, and a piece of rhubarb crumble/crisp- was enjoyed on board the bus. We passed through rural Poland- rolling fields of wheat and potatoes, small towns, homes scattered throughout the countryside with their red tile roofs or red metal roofs on the newer homes. The houses have three stories, one for each generation, as multigenerational homes are common. The bus drove through Wadowice, the home town of Karol Woytyla, the future pope. A traffic accident in the mountainous area of southern Poland delayed us for about an hour, and construction delays were frequent, but people read or snoozed or played a card game or worked on a blog😉. It has started to rain – perfect for a travel day. There hasn’t been much sun on the past four days, with rain on and off or scattered thunderstorms earlier in the week.
As we leave Poland, we are passing through ski resorts in the Tatra Mountains, with peaks of 10 000 feet. These resorts are quite popular with residents of Kraków as it only takes 1- 1/2 hours by public transportation. Buses go from the villages to the ski slopes. Average slope ticket costs $80 for a week. We bypassed Zakopane, the town frequented by Pope John Paul II before he became the vicar of the Catholic Church. He was quite the avid skier and hiker.
Nowy Targa was our last stop in Poland – bathroom break and an opportunity to spend our Polish zlotys (coins). The Tatra Mountains are named after the Tartars who invaded this area in the 8th and 9th centuries from the Gobi desert/Turkey. Wild mushroom harvesting is quite popular in these forests. The two lane road now becomes quite tortuous with switchbacks as we cross the mountains into Slovakia.
The villages appear much less prosperous as we descend into the valley. We passed by a Roma community near the village of Poprad. 
The Roma (gypsies) make up about 10% of the Slovakian population. They live in ramshackle settlements, have large families and discourage education for their children as they fear that it will encourage their offspring to abandon the community. As we proceed we are now constantly climbing up a mountain road on our route to Hungary. With a truck hauling logs ahead of us, our driver deftly maneuvers the bus down the narrow and windy road.
The last rest stop of the day was in Texas……errr, I mean Slovakia, with the ambience of the Old West. 
As we bellied up to the bar, Katka treated us to a drink – beer, wine or maybe even Kofola! It looks like Guinness and is even found on tap. 
A group of children were playing soccer outside with a very talented dog that was quite adept at “heading” the ball. Back on the bus after our 30 minute break, the road wound down the mountain with amazing vistas.
We finally arrived around 9 p.m. in Eger, a town of 50,000, about two hours from Budapest. This is a wine producing area with many wine cellars. We are staying at the Codman Hotel, a little outside of town. After bringing our luggage up to the room, we went to dinner at a restaurant/wine cellar across the street- goulash (a soup with meat and potatoes), stuffed cabbage rolls, a spaetzle type pasta with a meat sauce and sour cream, pickled veggies, strudel, and a blintz-like crepe. Wine was included. We all sat at one table. 
Much laughter accompanied this hearty traditional Hungarian meal. 
What a treat after this long and emotional day!
Camino Musings 