| Y Pant Trip to Poland 15th - 18th October 2008 |
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Our journey began at Y Pant School at the splendid hour of 2am. We boarded the plane from Bristol and touched down on Polish soil at 9.30am local time. We were then whisked away by our experienced and helpful guide, Paulina, and shown the beautiful architecture in the historic town of Krakow. If you ask me it was the most breathtaking town I’ve ever seen.
We all had a chance to wonder around the main square and taste the local cuisine; we opted for a very polish lunch, Subway! We met back with our guide and she took us to our hotel, the hotel Monopol. We all had a chance to unpack and relax and then we all met back up and were taken to the incredible Wieliczka salt mine. We travelled 135m underground where the world’s biggest museum of mining is located. We walk about 2000m in the oldest part of the salt mine and saw its subterranean museum. We saw royal caverns, some over 100ft tall and statues made purely of salt. After the tour we returned to Krakow and dined at the very enjoyable, Sioux restaurant. |
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| We woke early and drove to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. A cold feeling was present as soon as we arrived and it was eerily silent. We were met by another guide who led us into a screening. We watched in silence as we saw the true effects of the Holocaust and began to realise the horror of it. We were shown around blocks with rooms inside filled with millions of pairs of shoes and suitcases. There was a room filled of 2 tonnes of human hair, a third of what was found at Auschwitz. We were shown the suffocation and starvation chambers, death wall and the gas chamber. We all stood in silence and took in the pain and deaths caused here. We later travelled to Birkenau where we were shown the scale of the Holocaust, 300 huts, mostly now in ruins, that would have housed about 500 people. We saw rows of bunk beds where several people were made to sleep. The worst thing about this place was the lingering smell of death that still hung in the air. We walked down the same road millions of Jews and other prisoners walked down, many of them knowing what was happening, to the gas chambers and to their death. We stared at the blown up crematorium. We all left having had a life changing experience! |
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We caught the tram to the new shopping mall a mile from the hotel and bought all our souvenirs. We met in Krakow square and went on a golf buggy tour of the Jewish quarter, we drove to Schindler’s factory and our guides told us the history of the factory and about Oscar Schhindler. We got to the airport at 8am and said goodbye to the beautiful Poland and promised to re-visit. We boarded the plane and touched down in Bristol at 1pm British time. We later arrived at Y Pant and went our separate ways. We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip and would love to go back!!!
By Zoe Morgan Yr 10 |
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| “ You got to grips with the scale and horrific acts that went on there…………….I’m glad I went” Kirstyn yr 12 |
“ Auschwitz for me was a really moving experience. I had not realised the vast scale of the place.” Tom yr 12 |
“I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Poland. It was an emotional and overwhelming experience made very special by the group as a whole! I think Aushwitz is a place that should be experienced by everyone…it is very humbling, unbelievable and compelling. I think on so many levels each and every one of us left with some incredible and special memories.”
Mrs S. Burnell
If you are interested in going to Poland in 2009 - download the poster to the right.
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