Madrid!

I don't think it's wrong to say Madrid is busier than London. I've only been in the Spanish capital for one day but the place is heaving. Even late at night, albeit it was a Saturday, there was barely any room to walk around Sol Square. I think it's Lonely Planet who say something along the lines of "Madrid is the most alive city in the world" and I do not think they are wrong.

It's a far cry from Warsaw which was pretty drab. Arguably had the most rude hostel receptionist ever as well. He reminded me of the comic book guy in The Simpsons. Fat, hairy, sweating from his seat, mono-tonal voice and unhelpful, unapproachable demeanor. The beds weren't the best either. I think my mattress was, quite possibly, filled with bricks rather than feathers. The pillow definitely was.

Fortunately Krakow left a much better impression on me. This is a brilliant city with a good days worth of sightseeing in the city centre and a day each for both Auschwitz and the Salt Mine. Auschwitz, in particular, was very memorable. Visiting the camp really put into perspective the amount of people that were murdered there during WWII. In one room there was a cabinet, about 8feet deep and 30 yards long full of female human hair from some of those murdered in the camp. Apparently the Nazi's cut off the victims hair as they entered the camp and sold them in the German market to help manufacture goods such as rugs. When you see this cabinet and the hair, some of which is still platted, it really does give an overwhelming perspective on the scale of what went on. Seeing the gas chambers, the rooms where people were starved or suffocated, the prisoners living conditions and seeing some of the personal possessions of those murdered was also shocking. But it is that cabinet full of human hair that I will never forget.

My trip into Krakow is also worth talking about. It was about an 8hour journey from Prague including a couple of changes. The last change was in the Polish city of Katowice. Here I waited for my train to Krakow. Being a inter city train we can normally expect new, clean and quick trains. But no. What turned up felt like something that had been top of the range in the mid 1970's. About 4 carriages (you could not walk between the carriages), hot, dirty, literally a hole for a toilet and a top speed of what felt like 20mph. It stopped off at a dozen small Polish stations that did not look inviting at all and every time the train tried to get going again it jolted and shuddered. I prayed we would not get stranded in one of these derelict Polish stations!

So I'm now in Madrid. I'll do a tour of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium tomorrow and then off to Barcelona for a few days on Tuesday. For now, adios!