Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Day 7... One week already

I can hardly believe we left good old Phoenix sky Harbor a whole week ago. It feels like yesterday...
Today was beautiful agian! It was nice and warm... but definately not too hot! We opted to chill around the house this morning. The kids wanted to talk to grandparents and friends. Then we ate lunch on the deck in celebration of summer! It was pretty much a short order house around here today. The bees ruined lunch. As soon as they smelt McKay's strawberry water they decided to join us... I tried to convince the kids that Polish bees don't sting, but they aren't stupid and therefore didn't believe me.
After lunch we took off to go to the Majdanek death camp which is located only 20 minutes from the house... if you know where you are going. But if you don't know where you are going then it may or may not be more like 1 hour away. So I just took pictures on the way. I can't decide if I love that people have their home on top of stores or not... but they do. And I think I kinda think its cool. So I took a picture to give an idea. Stores along the sidewalk downstairs, and apartments upstairs. Most buildings are like this. Its kinda weird when you walk downtown to go shopping and when you look up you see a man in his unders standing on the balcony. Just saying... its not like back home. I think it might take some getting used to.



This is a far view of the Majdanek memorial. It is HUGE! The camp is massive! You are driving along down this beautiful tree lined road and then out of no where there is a huge open field and a massive memorial! It is obvious what it is as you look out over the open field.

You pull in through a narrow barbed wire gate to park... or you may drive through it. The camp is definately that big! Majdanek was a death camp, which was different from the concentration camps, and is one of the most intact camps today. The German's didn't have quite enough time to dispose of it like they would've like to. It really is quite depressing.

The guard towers line the road way. The fences are still up. We got there later than we had hoped and so we didn't get to see very much before it closed. Bummer. We will be finishing our tour tomorrow. I will take more pics then. We literally barely got to the surface before we had to leave. I can't even describe how massive this place is.


Picture of the kids in front of the memorial gives and idea of how big the memorial really is.




After spending much of the day getting lost and then later in the afternoon at the Majdanek, I didn't want to make dinner and eat at 8:00 p.m. again. That gets old quick! So we went to dinner at Dulce Vita. It is the yummiest Italian food ever! Elders Plumb and Basha joined us. They were in Warsaw all day and so they hadn't eaten yet either. Plumb said he had eaten all the kabobs he wanted so he chose Italian and I was so happy he did. My spinach lasagna was amazing! Those guys are so fun to hang out with. Elder Basha reminds me of one of my fav people, Scott Holt. I get a huge kick out of him. I think he probably thinks I'm nuts because when he is talking I stare at him... it trips me out how much he talks like Scott. His manerisms are the same. It feels like Home sweet home! Plus I love his mother... she is a hoot!

Things I learned today:
1) Polish bees sting too
2) Death camps are very sombering
3) Today, the Polish people hate the Russians more than the Germans
4) Many of the Polish people were murdered along with the Jews. The Pols did not like what was going on and because of it, when they stood up for themselves they were taken out also.

2 comments:

Merilee said...

Just sit outside my window if you want to see someone in their undies. It's pathetic how the hubbs thinks no one looks in windows.

Marja Liisa said...

Amen to Merilee's comment...my boys are embarrassed at how they see their dad through the window. I love that you went to that camp...what a sobering part of history that your kids are able to see. Let us know what it's like when you go back.