Easingwold U3A visit to Krakow

On Monday morning April 30th twenty nine U3A members from Easingwold, Thirsk and Haxby,  led by Mrs Angie Erskine-McCoy,  travelled by coach to Newcastle Airport.  Peter Glossop, our Chairman, was in the market place to wave us off.  On our arrival at Krakow airport we were met by our Polish tour guide.  We reached our hotel in time for  a short walk to a local restaurant where we had a chance to get to know one another over a traditional Polish meal.  Our Hotel, at which we stayed on a Bed and Breakfast basis, was ideally situated for us to access all the main places of interest.  The first day began with a guided walking tour of Medieval Krakow, once the capital of Poland.  At its heart is Rynek Glowny, a huge plaza reminiscent of St Mark's in Venice.  In its centre is the impressive Cloth Hall where merchants sold their wares. We visited St Mary's church with its huge Gothic Altar piece and wealth of paintings and sculptures. We heard the trumpeter, who every hour, sounds a bugle call from each  aspect of the tower.  At the Fransican church we saw  beautiful stained glass.    The Barbican with its three metre thick walls, and St Florian's Gate were part of the oldest city defences.   The afternoons were free to explore Krakow at leisure.  We had hot, sunny weather, up to 30C, and could stroll in the beautiful green parks encircling the city, visit museums and enjoy concerts.  We were there during two days of public holiday so could watch parades and street entertainment.Day 2. We walked to the imposing 11th C Wawel  Castle, overlooking the river and once home of the royal family.  Outside we admired  the three-story arcaded courtyard and inside many paintings and Renaissance tapestries. In the nearby Cathedral we saw the silver coffin of St Stanislaus and tombs of Polish Kings.  In the afternoon half the group visited the Auschwitz-Birkenhau  death camp where Poles, Roma, Soviet POWs, and people from all over Europe died  from starvation, suffocation, hard labour and disease.  Many were sent to the gas chambers, along with well over a million Jews. It was a very poignant experience to see the collections of their shoes, suitcases, hair and spectacles as well as empty Zyklon/B canisters used as a means of mass extermination.  We were shown the death block where prisoners were held,  including the cell of Pastor M.Kolbe who volunteered for death in order to save another prisoner's life. Still in evidence is the death wall, where the SS shot several thousand prisoners. At the vast Birkenhau site we saw the long line of communal latrines and the wooden barracks with the bunks each  shared by at least five prisoners.  Day 3. Today's tour was to the Kazimierz or Jewish Quarter.  Once a town in its own right, it was the centre of Jewish religion, culture and learning,  housing the city's large Jewish population before the war. At one Synagogue we saw the Cemetery where Renaissance graves stones hidden in the 17th C  were excavated after the war. We walked in a courtyard used in the filming of  Schindler's List and passed the re-built Schindler Factory. That evening we had our final Polish dinner altogether and the chance to thank Angie and our Tour guide.  For our last morning in Poland our visit was to the oldest salt-mine in Europe, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.    Even after descending 800 steps, and walking along nearly 4 kilometres of passages, we only covered 1% of the whole workings.  The miners had created an underground   world out of the rock salt, including churches , statues and even chandeliers.  Now there are large underground restaurants,  shops and a huge concert hall. We arrived  back in Easingwold at around 11pm, feeling we had learned a great deal on a very enjoyable holiday.  


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