There were actually 3 Auschwitz main camps and several smaller satellite ones.
The original or Auschwitz 1 is the original and smaller of the 2 remaining and we spent the most time there as it had more to see. Auschwitz 2 - Birkenau is about 10 minutes away and the shear size is staggering. A fair bit of it was destroyed when the Germans retreated but still heaps there to see. The famous sign is at Auschwitz 1
I need to check old photos again, the details of I and II seem to have crossed over in my mind.
It was the railway line I was wondering about.
My understanding was that the sign was over pretty well all camps. IIRC it was over Dachau too.
We spent some time there, but it was an Insight tour so you donât get all that much free time. 2-3 hours I suppose. I think we headed off to Warsaw from there.
On that, Iâm watching the German Doctor at the momentâŚitâs a movie about Mengele in Argentina.
I think the famous sign is at Auschwitz I while the railway line is at the front of Auschwitz II.
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Auschwitz I
Auschwitz II
So it has been a long day, and I took this post to look for a schnitzel place in budapest which was called Budapest Restaurant. Thought it was strange that a restaurant in budapest was actually called that, as well as the fact that there was also an Elsterwick station in budapest.
I even downloaded Doeâs menu and asked my wife which one she wanted.
â â â â â â â Italians, I swear to god. Itâs why I hate coming back here. I nearly punched out the woman at Europcar last night. I booked a car with a GPS âsorry, none leftâ. Well I booked it âwell what can I do?â
Well you fix it, you are the one who gave it to someone else, not me. Basically washed her hands with it and told me to go buy one. So I snapped her pen and threw it at her and told her to go buy one (it was the only thing I could reach)
Donât use europcar guys, or even Autoeurope car rentals. â â â â â â â horrible.
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Hot blooded latins !
And when you get the car, they just give you the keys and off you go, donât even check it. Lucky I know just how dodgy these gypsys are so I checked the whole car, took a video as well and made them come out and amend the contract.
Gypsys
Heading out to Tullamarine tomorrow. That counts as travel right?
If I have time iâll pop into EFC see if they are up to something.
âGypsysâ? Really?
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Europcar are on my banned list. Useless, thieving kents!
Last visit to Frankfurt we rocked up to pick up the car at the airport and the bloke says that our car hasnât been dropped off yet but he would give us a new Merc for only âŹ25 a day extra. I explained to him that we were heading to Eastern Europe and that Europcarâs policy forbid that class from entering that zone. He replied that it should be fine but if not there were a few other options (all more expensive of course) When I said that we would wait in his office until our car was ready, like magic our car become available instantly lol. Vehicle was great but filled up with fuel about 150m from drop off point and everything was signed off fine. About 2 months later I get a bill for âŹ20 because the tank wasnât full and then I get a âŹ210 speeding fine that I apparently got in Hamburg despite being nowhere near the joint. After several months of back and forth negotiations all charges were dropped eventually.
Have used Hertz no problems anywhere and next time we go back to Europe Iâm going to go down the Peugeot lease route again. That has worked brilliantly in the past
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How does that work?
Iâm a bit worried about the petrol thing because I usually fill up near the airport but because my last stop is Calabria I donât remember there being one so close to the airport.
Iâm just going to cancel my card anyway when I get back so â â â â them
I filled up literally within sight of the drop off point and showed them my fuel receipt and they signed off on it only to later get a bill. Itâs a quite regular scam in Europe by the rental company and I think the going rate is about $3.15/l plus some add a âinconvenienceâ tax of about $24. They obviously hope most travellers donât notice a small amount taken off their card
Book through Peugeot (others like Citroen do it aswell I believe)
You basically lease the car for the duration of your trip. Needs to be between 14 - 185 days so itâs only handy if you are planning to drive in Europe for over 14 days. About 20 locations across Europe you pick the car up from, mainly France but London, Germany and several other countries. One way rentals are allowed for a few of the drop off locations but some incur a fee of about âŹ100.
You âorderâ the vehicle model on line and choose the time and options just as you would a rental and then when you arrive in Europe you get a brand new Peugeot waiting for you. All insurance (with nil excess) is included plus roadside assistance and personal insurance etc so no more to pay. You then return the car and the contract is completed. The last one we did was for a mid sized Diesel and cost $80 a day for 4 weeks which can sound expensive but everything is included at that price and itâs hassle free. I kicked myself afterwards for not using them again the last time but I hadnât planned far enough ahead.
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Wow Bacchus- thatâs one amazing story. I canât possibly imagine what he went through enduring each part of his journey.
Well some of it is actually a myth, as Polish Officers were not stupid enough to charge a tank with a sabre and carbine, however the true story is called the charge of Krojanty and the âtanksâ were armoured vehicles. However it was a slaughter and many Polaks died and were captured and sent to work camps, which were not like the concentration camps for the Jews.
It was the first day of WW2, September 1st 1939
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Hottest day ever in Paris today. Was tough getting around the place but worth it all the same. Because the joint is just basically concrete and glass it really felt like you were baking. It a good thing it wasnât humid.