The Saddest Spot on Earth?

Skip this post if you have a weak constitution.

While in Krakow I decided, perhaps against my better judgement, to take a side trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau not far away to see one of the most infamous sites in human history - a place where about 1.2 million people were cruelly executed in the second world war. I'll let the pictures mainly speak for themselves for themselves starting with the derisory inscription above the entrance to Auschwitz - Arbeit Macht Frei (work makes free).

The kitchen block.

Men separated from women and children. The men had some chance of survival, the latter none.

En route to the gas chambers.

Burning corpses.

Empty cans that once contained the ingredients of gas.

Thousands of spectacles, prostheses, suit cases, shoes and shaving brushes.

Some of the 'better' bunk beds.

Execution wall - by firing squad - with nearby shuttered windows to hide the awful fate of naked prisoners.

A crematorium.

Entrance to Birkenau, which was almost entirely a killing machine, with passengers making a one-way trip in wagons of the kind shown next to the alighting platform.

One of the crematoria blown up by retreating guards to conceal their atrocities.

A hollow that used to house the ashes of the dead.

Bunk beds of the 'worse' kind - the shack used to take 400 prisoners on 3 levels crammed together some of whom seemed to have left their signatures on the wall.

The wall in the mid-distance hides the blocks where women and their babies were killed.

AS

Around the centre of Krakow

I arrived in Krakow in south-western Poland a couple of days ago aware in advance that it is one of the more attractive European cities and my rambles through the city centre did not disappoint. Nor, obviously, did it disappoint the tens of thousands of people I came across. The streets were literally teeming with people of all ages, shapes and sizes, and nationalities. These images are mostly confined to the historic core, which unlike many European cities escaped war damage. Some of the buildings and sights are clearly ancient, perhaps going back a thousand years, but some of the newer buildings seemed to date from the 19th century as attested by the date stamps on their facades. Also, these images were taken on more than one walk around the centre in different lighting conditions. Apologies, too, for the first image which is kind of cute. I took it with the fish-eye setting on the camera before I realised my mistake! The rest of Krakow's buildings stand square.

This is street outside the front of the lovely hotel where I'm staying - right in the centre of the old city.

Just up the road is this beautiful church - both inside and out. I wonder if this is the church where the late Pope, John Paul 16th, preached before his elevation.

The streets teem with horse-drawn carriages like this.

The cloth merchant's hall, now a market centre.

And buildings strangely reminiscent of the main square in Warsaw I posted some time ago. Pavement restaurants are everywhere under large umbrellas.

And I still haven't worked who the dude is on the statue!

A band tuning up for a rock concert in the main square.

An elegant mansion, possibly tied to the Jagiellonian University, whose centenary is being celebrated this year. Oops, that's wrong. It's actually the 650th anniversary of one of the oldest institutions in central Europe.

An interesting spelling.

The central city lies inside a band of green parkland, which is very pretty indeed.

Another part of Jagiellonian university.

Lots of narrow winding streets.

The Wawel Palace - home to Polish kings. I gather that Krakow was the capital for some time.

Intriguing arches leading where?

Another church - there are indeed many.

Horse carriages everywhere! And nicely turned out.

Part of the old wall of the city with a lovely tower.

The Barbican - not spelt this way in Polish, but pronounced the same.

An Art Deco intrusion.

Try visiting here some time. It's worth the trip.

AS

Keynote Address

I was invited last week to address the Queensland Local Government Association annual conference in Hervey Bay, all expenses paid. It's a nice gig if you can land one, and this spot was rather nice as we shall see. However, it was my fourth visit to the district in three years so I knew my way around. The following images have little to do with the conference and there's no image of me strutting the stage!

After checking in at my hotel, I simply went for a walk and this is what I saw. First comes the view from by bedroom window down the street to the Urangan boat harbour.

Once there, the first object I saw was the car ferry, which hasn't a busy schedule at this time of the year - mid winter. For those in Britain who think that 24 C is a heatwave, the temperature during my walk was about 22 C ... in mid-winter!

A couple of guys launching their little run-about.

The conference venue was the boat club - rather nice, but a lot of presenters complained about the distracting view of yachts and Fraser Island in the background! Tough.

And here's Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world so I've been told. We had to cross the water to get to the conference dinner, but the sea was flat because the island intercepts the Pacific swell.

More boats. There's no shortage o money in this retirement spot.

And, I could live in one of these apartments.

AS