Krakow & Poland: Fascinating, challenging & beautiful

So four days almost to the minute since I was sitting on a plane predicting what I was about to see and experience in Poland.  It feels like longer than 4 days that I have been out of the country and the experience has made me think afresh about this country, as I hoped travelling here might. 

It is a fascinating country with a diverse history; indeed, its borders have shifted so much that it has only really existed in its current form for 70 years.  The sense of pride and belonging to the state can be seen everywhere.  It is undergoing rapid change and yet has been caught by many of the problems of the economic crisis in Europe.  

It is a challenging country with a very mixed history: not only through the concentration camps we visited but also in its recent past.  The architecture reminds us that the communist era only ended 30 years ago  though, I feel, wealth has been more equally increased since the late 1980s than, say, in the Czech Republic.  This is a country which is still living with scars of its recent past. 

It is a beautiful country and in places you would not expect: the castle & cathedral in Krakow are, of course, impressive; the countryside around Krakow has a rugged beauty; the alcohol (as you can see from the photo) has won me over; but the lasting memory is the beauty of the modern churches in Nowa Husta which will stay with me (as seen below).  Impressive, beautiful and saying so much about Poland and its population. 

And it is a country I will be returning to – and one that has reminded me to keep traveling through Eastern Europe.