Poland is what is called ‘Bloodlands’, the part of Europe caught between Hitler and Stalin. History. That, and it had been a while since we had a proper wintery Christmas, and seen Christmas markets.
Our first stop was Krakow because a day trip from there was reason #1 for our visit to this part of the world. But before that, I finally found out the reason for my Eastern Europe fixation, thanks to Anna Funder’s Stasiland. She calls it horror-romance.
The romance comes from the dream of a better world the German Communists wanted to build out of the ashes of their Nazi past: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. The horror comes from what they did in its name.
Except for a two-hour delay in our return flight, which we spent parked in a Munich runway as snow fell around us, it all worked out very well!
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