Over the Easter holiday, forty pupils from year seven all the way up to the 6th form visited Krakow in Poland. This is the second time we have visited Krakow, but this trip never fails to interest and impress. 

Getting up at 3.00 a.m. for a 4.15 a.m. departure for Liverpool airport was a shock to the system, I must say, but by the time we arrived in Krakow at 10.45 a.m. I had managed a snooze on the plane and was raring to go!!

 

Our guide, Ewa, met us at the airport and it was a bit like meeting an old friend, as she had been our guide on the last trip. She was, yet again, an excellent guide. We started off with a guide of old Krakow which, for anyone who has never visited, is a beautiful city. Unlike Warsaw, which was completely destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World War, Krakow was saved from any destruction because it became the centre of Nazi administration in Eastern Europe. Krakow was the ancient capital of Poland and the monarchs were historically crowned here.

Ewa our guide talking to the group at the beginning of the tour around the old part of the city

 

Probably my favourite visit at the square was to St Mary’s church, which is truly awe inspiring and the most beautiful church inside. Throughout the day, the lone trumpeter can be heard every hour from the top of the church. Legend has it that while the city was under attack, a watchman positioned at the top of the church’s tower took up the trumpet to warn of approaching marauders, but his warning was cut short when a well-aimed arrow pierced his throat. Nowadays, the trumpeter, provided by the local fire brigade, plays a sombre melody every hour, stopping at the precise moment when the watchman was killed.

St Mary’s Church and the tower from which the trumpeter plays.

The castle and cathedral in the background

The next day, we visited the castle with its amazing views over the wall and city, taking particular care not to upset the fire breathing dragon and the Jewish ghetto of Kazimerz. This is where much of the film, Schindler’s List, was filmed and close by is the original Schindler’s factory. Boys are always very moved by references to the holocaust and took time to sit and think in the memorial to Jews who lost their lives in Krakow at the site of the Krakow ghetto. This ghetto was immortalised in the film Schindler’s List. It was amazing to think that some of the buildings still standing were witness to such appalling atrocities. If they could but speak!

The only part of the original ghetto wall
The infamous entrance to Auschwitz

Probably, the most emotionally draining day was the visit to Auschwitz – Birkenau.

This, I believe, is something that everybody should try to do in their lifetime. Man’s inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze me and these camps are testament to that. The boys on our trip were very interested and moved by this experience.

The iconic gateway to Auschwitz, ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’, and the railway station entrance to Birkenau always manage to subdue.

 

 

Birkenau was made to look like a train station	This shows where the “selection “process took place.
A moment to reflect	Arial View of Auschwitz

On our next day, we enjoyed a more light-hearted tour down the Weiliczka salt mine. Again, an amazing experience! The hour took us on a two mile tour of the tunnels which periodically open out into amazing carved chapels and rooms full of eerie crystalline shapes and chandeliers. I was rather amused by Jack Sharpen who insisted on licking the rocks to check how salty they were. The highlight of the mines was the Blessed Kinga’s Chapel, 135 metres underground. Everything in this ornate chapel is carved from salt, including stairs, banisters, altar and chandeliers. The carving depicts the last supper is amazing. The salt mines put me in mind of what I imagine the mines of Moria from ‘Lord of the Rings’ would look like. Amazing!

_{The group down the mine.}

 

Throughout our trip, we visited Polish restaurants and enjoyed traditional Polish food. No burgers and chips to be seen! Hurrah! We were delighted to get cheese soup one night, especially made for us because we had enjoyed it so much last time. I tried to get the recipe, but was told it was secret!

The boys on the trip were a delight; good humoured, attentive and interested. I cannot begin to imagine how many photographs Jack Sharpen and Elliott Kenny took but it must run into three figures! Could they be the next Karsh of Ottawa?!  Ewa, our guide, praised the boys for their behaviour throughout, commenting that in normal circumstances, she would not take on such a large group. The boys did themselves and Mosslands School proud and I know that they got a great deal out of the trip.

 

S Coats