Holocaust Study Visit: Day 1!

Welcome back to my blog covering Bann Maine West's Holocaust Study Visit to Krakow Poland. Kindly funded by Triangle Housing. In today's blog I will be covering our first day in Poland, from an early start in Cullybackey to a late evening in Poland!

5.30AM:

It was an early start on the first day, I got up at 4.30 to get ready and have a quick double check that I have got everything I will need. Then I headed to the Maine Spar in Cullybackey. To get the bus to Belfast International Airport. When I arrived on the bus there was already a few people on. There was loads of excitement in the air. However, you could feel there was a wee bit of nerves. We hadn't been together as a group since the pre-visit workshop which took place a month before. So, the bus ride to the airport was quiet to say the least (That didn't last long however) between not knowing each other and tiredness from the early start.

6.30AM:

After leaving Cullybackey at 6am we arrived at the airport at 6.30. The excitement was really starting to build, as it always does when you arrive at the airport. We got through security and everything and then we were free. As we were still unfamiliar with each other we did break off into smaller groups across the airport. Me and Natasha sat at the big window in the North Quarter and watched the planes take off and land which was really enjoyable, then next thing we knew we were on the plane!

9.20AM:

And with that we were on the plane and the only place to go, Krakow Poland. The flight was good; I was sat in a row with Alan N. and Natasha. The flight was very peaceful me and Natasha sat and read while Alan watched his tablet. The flight was roughly 2 hours and 40 minutes, but it did not feel like it because the excitement was reaching its peak! Then we landed and got off the plane, and we were in Poland!

1.30PM:

We got off the plane and went through the airport and on the other side was the team Prime Tours who looked after us while we were over. They were absolutely fantastic, and I can't recommend and thank them enough for the incredible work that they did in looking after us. We then we got into 3 minibuses to take us to the hotel. On our way the owner Ralph talked to us a wee bit about Poland's history and talked about what we will be getting up-to.

2.00PM:

We arrived at the hotel at 2 and we got our room keys and rooms sorted and then went straight into lunch. For lunch we had Broccoli cream soup with croutons. I was a wee bit apprehensive about it. But I actually really enjoyed it. Then for main course we had Pork roulade stuffed with julienne vegetables, Silesian dumplings, and red cabbage. I loved the Pork roulade and red cabbage however the dumplings weren't for me. Then for dessert we had Tres Leches milk cake. Which was absolutely amazing (It was so good I even had Natasha's portion!). Then we went up to our room and got ourselves sorted for dinner.

3.30PM:

We left the hotel and headed into the old town where we met our tour guide Joanna. Who again was absolutely outstanding. We started the tour just outside the iconic apartment from Schindler's List we then walked around the outside of the castle to the Dragon of Krakow. Joanna told us about the mythology behind the dragon which was very interesting. Then it breathed fire! We then got a picture under it and Joanna made us wait under it for it to breathe fire again, and a crowd has started to building trying to get a photo and right as we were all about to walk away it breathed fire and we got an incredible photo! We then walked up to Wawel Castle and got an incredible panoramic view across the river to the old city. We then continued our walk to outside the Cathedral. Joanna talked to us about how the castle had seen loads of changes over its lifetime and how a lot of it had been destroyed and what remains are buildings that were originally built by the Austrians during their control of Poland. The architecture however was amazing, and we all just looked on in awe. We then left the site of the castle and walked into the town. Along the way we stopped at an old church and we were asked what year did we think it was from, taking a random guess I said 1066, and actually it was 1089! our tour then continued, we went into this side allay that was lined with extremely lavish stores, however there was this extremely old wall and there was a massive drop. Joanna explained how the drop is what used to be ground level and over time it has risen. We then left the alley and went to the last stop of our tour. The magnificent St Mary's Chapel. Again, like everything it was gorgeous. We then were informed about the history of the Bugler and then again, we stood and wait patiently till the top of the hour for the Bugler to play and it was amazing (well worth the wait!) And with that our guided tour of the old city was over and it was absolutely incredible we all learned so much and it was an amazing way to get to see so much of the city!

7:30PM:

After the tour we got some free time in the Cloth Hall Market before we went to dinner. Our meeting point was at one of the corners and Scott was sitting on this marble slab bench and he turned around and said that the bench was in fact heated, so out of curiosity all of us that where standing sat on this bench and it was in fact heated! So then as people came to the spot, we got them to sit on the bench and they were amazed at how warm it was! We then went over to have dinner at the Biała Róża Restaurant which was just on the outskirts of the old town. For starter we had cream of leek soup which was delicious! For main we had Cod in cider batter. I was a wee bit apprehensive as I normally don't like fish however it was absolutely delicious! Dessert however, it was fruit crumble with ice-cream. The ice cream was lovely unfortunately the fruit part wasn't my cup of tea. With that the first night was nearing an end.

9.30PM:

We got back to the hotel at 9.30 and after long and busy day we were all exhausted so it was straight up to the rooms and a have a good night’s sleep as what waited us the next was going to be one of the most challenging parts of the trip, our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Thank you very much as always for reading my blog, I hope I managed to capture some of the emotions that we had on our first day in Poland! I would like to thank as always Triangle Housing for the funding, Bann Maine West for facilitating, Prime tours for looking after us and most importantly to the people I got to share this amazing experience with.

Lenny.