http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33160 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33160 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32846 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32846 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32494 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32494 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32484 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32484 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32362 The theatre runs an annual Great Dragon Parade, one of them was made in cooperation with Wales, Ireland, Portugal and Czech Republic as a part of Myths and Legends of Europe Festival in 2007. There are Dragon Family Picnics held on the banks of Vistula River and lots of events for the youngest.
The Groteska Theatre is world famous and it is awarded on many theatre festivals around the world and it can be easily called the modern cultural centre.
It is in the walking distance from Main Square and I would strongly recommend to visit it. Their work is really worth seeing and admiring not only by people who love puppets.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32362 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32339 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32339 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32028 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32028 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30718 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30718 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30335 There are many fine buildings on this street and you will also find the former home and statue of Artur Rubinstein, born in Lodz 1887.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30335 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30333 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30333 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30334 I stepped off the bus into thick snow as it was a week before Christmas. Even in my four layers I was still freezing. Everything is very bleak in the first camp. Although the buildings are large red brick and very neatly arranged, everything seemed dead.
In Auschwitz, you can feel the silence. Nothing really moves. Even when my aunt would stumble in the snow or mutter something under her breath, I couldn't pay any attention. It was like something was stopping me from seeing this place in the 21st Century.
I'm seventeen with blonde hair and blue eyes. I'm not religious, I have no serious disorders and am pretty normal I suppose. My aunt is gay and very openly so. Standing next to her, realizing that I would never had been considered for a place like this where she would have been without question made me feel hideous.
Going to the Birkenau camp was actually a lot easier than Auschwitz. The landscape is so open and freeing that I couldn't quite get my head around the awful things that happened there.
To anyone going to visit the camps, I highly recommend taking a tour. It is a lot less stressful, you get every single piece of information you could possibly take in and they are very professional.
Also, I think it's best to go in the winter. A summer trip would be no where near as moving than standing beneath the entrance, freezing cold realizing that this was the last thing many people ever felt.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30334 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30322 It has very unique renaissance and baroque architecture - many thin tenament houses, neogothic castle on the hill, great "Krakowska" and "Trynitarska" towers, beautiful baroque Archicathedral (completely restored a few years ago - interiors are stunning). In the castle there is a Gothic chapel unique in the whole world - it is a church build in western Gothic style, but has original - eastern style polichromies inside - it is on the UNESCO world heritage list.
In the castle there is a museum of Polish art (well known Jan Matejko painting "Unia Lubelska" is here), weapons, and many seasonal exhibitions.
Old City in Lublin is a must to see at night.
Lublin lies on hills, and there is vast system of underground cellars connecting to each other under the "Stare Miasto" - part of it are available to the tourists]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30322 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30297 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30297 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30280 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30280 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30246 The whole area is now a World Heritage site and there is a castle, cobbles and horse-drawn carriages to beat the best of them. The Warsaw Historical Museum is in the square if you want to find out more. Afterwards, watch the world go by at one of the square's restaurants - try some serious Polish food such as pork knuckle with sauerkraut.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30246 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29862 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29862 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29716 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29716 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29279 He also worked massively on avant garde theatre before committing suicide himself and is a national hero/treasure.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29279 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29029 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29029 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28520 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28520