No Swimwear

Day 4: Krakow (PL) – Warsaw (PL). We are amazing. No, no – not Karen and I – I mean our species: Homo Sapiens. In a relatively short (geological) time frame, we have achieved an extraordinary amount. We have learned to control and manage our own food supply, we have developed a diverse array of art & literature, we have eradicated the causes of many fevers and morbidities and we have even put a man on the moon.

But as a species we are also capable of the most atrocious evil. Last year on a motorcycle tour of South West France, Karen and I visited Oradour-sur-Glane, the scene in 1945 of the systematic genocide of 600 innocent men, women and children in revenge for the Vichy resistance as the Nazi's fled Europe. This year, as part of our travels, we visited Auschwitz – the scene of possibly mankind's darkest hour.

The weather matched the venue; it was cold, damp and flurries of snow lay on the ground. In emotional silence, Karen and I poignantly wandered the deserted camp courtyard and read stories of the camps infamous occupants – some sickeningly saddening, others brave and heroic. The camp remains as a reminder to humanity that we must never do this again.

As we came to leave the camp, Karen and I were in need of a mood lifter. This came courtesy of some odd signs telling you what you can and can't do at the Auschwitz Museum. Some of them were obvious and self evident; No Talking. No photography. No music. The one that made us chuckle was the sign that said No Swimwear. And by the fact Polish authorities deemed it necessary to publish such a sign, I am guessing that this was a serious problem at Auschwitz. It made me think of some surreal conversations that may have happened in Polish households, “Would you like to go the Auschwitz museum today, dear?”. “Yes, OK. Should I wear my solemn black overcoat or my polka dot bikini and take my beach ball?”

We climbed back into the Fiat Panda and headed North on our long 250 mile journey to Warsaw where we planned to pick up the midnight bus that would take us from Poland to the Belarusian capital of Minsk.