The JaYmes Escape

In the last six weeks I’ve visited nine cities in seven countries and tried to speak seven languages. Now it’s Christmas eve and I’m in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Prague. The Czechs celebrate Christmas today so things have been fairly quiet, but I did get a tram into the city to join the hordes of tourists this afternoon. Unlike London, public transport runs every day over christmas here, and many restaurants and bars are open.

My last few days in Krakow were very interesting; I sampled some real fat-and-grease Polish food, they even serve bread with lard. I felt ill the next day. I visited the Wawel cathedral and castle, and I spent last Monday in Oswiceim (Auschwitz), probably the biggest and certainly the most sombre museum in Poland. The most striking thing about Auscwitz is the sheer scale of the place. The second camp (”Birkenau”) occupies over 2 square km and at the entrance it literally stretches as far as the eye can see in three directions (forward, left and right). Pictures are in the gallery if you can stomach them. For something more uplifting there are some more pictures of Krakow too.

Anyway, greetings of the season to one and all from Prague. There’s no snow here as yet; here’s hoping for tomorrow.