Krakow April 2.005

Yesterday, April 2nd we commemorated the death of John Paul II, the pope who has filled an important part of our lifes. In the beginning of that year 2.005, I started to plan my trip I wanted to make after the Holy Week, in mid April. On November 2.004 I visited the Südtirol, a region in the North of Italy which was lost by the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I. I got pretty shocked about the Alpine landscapes, so then, I was determined to visit Austria and get a good knowledge of the Alps on my following trip.

While planning my route to central Europe, I noticed that the capital of Moravia, i.e., Brnö is relatively near Krakow, so I felt so keen of going there, as well as Wadowice, the birthplace of John Paul II. And that is how we set our visit to Poland, approximately on April 7-8th of 2.005.

After the Holy Week of that year, the pope John Paul II died. It was on Saturday April 2nd about 09.00 pm. I was deeply affected by the death of John Paul II and my feelings were conflicting. In one hand I felt the lost of a father, and in the other hand I felt the Christian truth that Karol Wojtyła had finally reached the Eternity. Under these circumstances, I didn't feel very happy of going abroad. But we felt his presence everywhere... In every catholic church of Bavaria an Austria there were portraits of him and the flags of the Vatican fluttered from the most distinguished buildings of the cities we visited. From hostel to hostel we followed the news about the ceremonies and the impact of his death on the public opinion.

Although my trip mates and me were so keen to know about Austria we only thought about getting to Krakow and Wadowice, which were providentially added to our route, three months before, on April 7th and, above all, April 8th, the day of John Paul II's funeral...
When we reached Krakow on the evening of April 7th the streets were crowded... We first went to the Wawel Castle Cathedral. Then, we went to the Archiepiscopal Palace, which was totally sealed off. The following day we watched the pope's funeral through a big screen installed at the plaza behind the Archiepiscopal Palace. Then, we went to Wadowice where we met a lot of people.

I would like to share this footage as a remembrance of that indelible days we lived in Poland on April 2.005. You can find below the slide with some of our photos, too.























Did you like this post? Then subscribe to my feed RSS