During spring break, I traveled to Kraków to visit one of my theology professors from Notre Dame, who was on sabbatical with his wife. Because of the language barrier, they had been assigned a Polish graduate student with a car to help them navigate the country. That alone made the experience possible.

We spent our time visiting half a dozen churches in and near Krakow: St. Mary's Basilica (Kościół Mariacki), Dominican Basilica of the Holy Trinity (Bazylika Świętej Trójcy), St. Adalbert's Church (Kościół św. Wojciecha), Lagiewniki Divine Mercy Sanctuary, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Basilica, and the Basilica of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in Wadowice where Pope John Paul II was baptized. We also visited the Black Madonna (Our Lady of Częstochowa) at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa and spent a day at Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was sobering.

Kraków itself felt different from other places I had visited in Europe. It was March, and everything appeared gray and subdued. The language barrier felt more pronounced, and I remember struggling with the food. One detail stayed with me: the apartment where my professor and his wife were living had multiple locks on the door (six or seven) left over from the war.