Zakopane

Arrived at Auschwitz to be greeted by several people in the road waving at us all pointing in different directions. It took a moment or two to realise they were car parking touts - ignoring then all we parked in the main carpark.
The overwhelming feeling of auschwitz was how vast it was. An old army barracks that was extended throughout the war with rows of buildings all still intact where people were kept. There's an amazing number of photos showing actual life in the camp and what blows your mind are the thousands of shoes and other belongings such as false limbs shaving brushes suitcases all piled up in rooms filling the whole side of buildings, of all the people who were killed or who died there. Its so clear that they went there expecting it to be very different. The gas chamber and incinerator chimney both still intact were almost unreal to imagine what had happened there and there was an urge to pay ones respect to those who had suffered here. Part of it felt almost unreal like a museum rather than the actual place. It was hard to see all the children's things and made you realise just how wrong it all was. We decided to go in separately as we didn't know what to expect and after the kids re-enactment of the berlin wall in warsaw we realised that our 2 little explorers were actually taking more in than we'd credited them with. So i went first with zoe leaving ant to feed the kids then we swapped and i took them round the outside of the buildings for a while before ice creams and a barrage of questions. We then went on to Birkenau where most of the people were killed in the gas chambers. It was massive. A large part had been burnt down by the retreating nazis but you could see the outline and brick chimneys of about a hundred huts with 20 or so still standing... But the railway tracks were still there going under the arch to the unloading area where people were selected to work or not, and about 80% including all women and children sent straight on to the chambers and their deaths. There's a beautiful memorial on the site of the incinerators. The place was so huge it just absorbed the number of people visiting and it was easy to feel like we were there alone. We took the children with us this time and jem found it interesting though it was very hot which distracted them a little.
We left auschwitz in somber spirits at about 5pm and headed for zakopane.

The Tatras seemed to hold alot of promise when we first glimpsed them on the 120 km drive south.
However arriving at zakopane we realized it was going to be another town campsite, as we passed masses of partying tourists. A quick stop at the base of the massive ski jump to try to locate the exact spot for the pod krokvia camping was greeted by a parking official who's only english seemed to be 'go away' after we asked for 5 minutes to find the campsite on the map before doing a 360 and finding it behind where the guy was sitting.
Day 1 in zakopane we thought we'd use to get our bearings and decide whether to stay or move on to try to find mountains more accessible to our motor home, as the Tatras dont seem to allow any access to cars even at moderate altitude so you have to camp in town. We first picked up some info then headed for a short warm up walk to the cable car to try to get some mountains in. Charlotte continued the 'legs hurting' line that she'd started within 10 meters of us leaving the campsite but we managed the 1-2 hour uphill struggle after bev found she responded to a 'zloty per tree passed' tarif, earning enough by the time she got to the cable car station to buy 3 ice creams (she offered!). At the station we found a long queue which didnt move for 45 minutes and when it finally did we worked out it would be another hour and a half before we got on, with a similar problem at the top when we wanted to return, so gave up and walked 200 meters to at least get onto a hiking trail and have what was intended to be our post mountaineering lunch. We watched numerous people walk down past us in flip flops and trainers and figured the earlier delay must have been a cable car problem and people had decided to walk down instead. We then joined the march down (still in our full mountain kit to make it look like we'd done something that day) rather than walking up and having to turn round when Bevs money had run out as it was mostly dense pine. Returning to tho cable car station we played table air hockey (courtesy of charlotte) followed by a ride back to the campsite on a horse drawn carriage which the three of then loved.
Day 2 and we're so proud of jem and especially charlotte today after completing a pretty strenuous hike up to Nosel peak, the first hour and half being more of a scramble than a hike. Somewhat ironic really that over breakfast this morning we decided if we were to ever do any decent hiking on this holiday then we'd have to invest in a second back pack for charlotte or bring a hell of a lot more cash with us to pay her. Having spotted a mountaineering shop close by yesterday ant popped out to get one and to Charlottes delight "whats that makapaka for?" came back 10 mins later with an identical back pack to what we have but in red. We set off on the hike first stopping to buy what we thought were decorated cheese rolls which turned out to be solid smoked cheese - not so pleasant. Then when we turned off onto the national park charlotte found her hill legs saying it was fun because it was all wibbly wobbily. So holding onto mums hand did the full hike under her own steam some of the rocks being so large she had to get onto her knees to get up. Jem was in his absolute element and had to be persuaded to save his energy and not to come back down too many times. The view from the top was worth it jem saying "i don't know what to say its like being in the sky" . We even walked through the pass and took the extended route home. Zoe as all little Cooks enjoyed being carried on daddys back smiling at walkers going the other way and turning lots of heads. We stopped at a spring on the way down which was flowing at 700 litres a second (according to the map) and it tasted superb so we filled up the water bottles, and no-one fell in! A feed for zoe and play by the river then we were out of the park. Once back along the road heading back into town we came to a polish cafe so decided to stop for some well earned 'anything you want off the menu' jem was delighted to see that there was a pond full of trout at the back and fishing rods to catch your own meal, so helped by little sis caught their supper. Charlotte almost fell in with shock and excitement as their catch jumped towards her in the landing net. Ant at last got his Bigos and i got polish dumplings stuffed with cabbage and mushroom plus a little sprinkling of diced ham which was donated to the Bigos. Two beers, dessert and a Polish string folk band then it was time to leave for the remainder of the walk back, which this time did make use of the second back pack to transport a very tired girl home to bed. Jem having just enough energy left to make it back and our legs having given up the moment we'd sat down.