2019 Baradene History Tour

Photos from yesterday showing students in the tunnel under the airport used to transport essential items during the siege. Following is a group photo on the City Hall steps.

Today we ventured through the old town of Sarajevo seeing many attractions such as the Sarajevo Roses, the Markale memorial, the memorial for children killed during the siege, and many others.

Above is a memorial to the 1000+ children killed during the siege of Sarajevo.

Below are the ‘Sarajevo Roses’ which are mortar sites where people died. The shell holes are filled with red resin to symbolise the blood shed. The Markale Memorial Rose at the city market place commemorates the death of 68 people, with another acknowledging 43 deaths only a few metres away.

We then all took off for lunch to enjoy some delicious, authentic Bosnian food including Cevapi and Burek. From here we were also allowed to go and enjoy the old town for ourselves, many of us deciding to go look around the local markets to buy some gifts and ice cream.

Wandering around the Muslim area was an interesting experience and showed how strong this faith is in its varying forms in Sarajevo. There were variations from full burka to very stylish and modern women with hijab/head scarf.

After lunch we got on the bus and were shown different parts of the city. We got to see the War tunnels, Snipers Alley, the frontlines and go up Mount Trebevic. From the top we stood in the Serb positions and gained a perspective of just how much this city was under siege. We did a walk on the 1984 Olympic Bobsled track which was a lot of fun.

Bullet-ridden house at the entry point to the Freedom Tunnel under the airport.

Mr Coutts jumping with joy on his history trip

Some of us were feeling a bit tired and even took the opportunity to have a quick nap with their eyes open……

Meg and Sarah

We enjoyed a short, prop-aircraft flight to Vienna. A great and slightly bumpy experience for the students.

We walked from the square to the site of Oskar Schindler’s Factory. It was yet another amazing museum experience with very evocative and informative displays. Our guide took us through the build-up to the invasion of Poland and the rapid deterioration of life for both Poles and Jewish people. Oskar Schindler’s efforts to save many Jewish lives were explained.

Oskar Schindler’s Office in the factory he owned in Krakow. He employed Jewish people, which saved them from the genocide.

We travelled by public tram to reach the museum which was an interesting experience with such a large group.

Zgody Square is where Jews were assembled to be transported to concentration and extrrmination camps. The moving sculpture of bronze chairs is a memorial to this tragedy.

We had a special guest for our last night in Krakow. Our principal, Sandy Pasley and her husband, Dave, called on as they were in Krakow visiting relatives. It was lovely to see her and to share our trip experiences thus far.

This afternoon we went to the Wieliczka Salt Mine which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, originally created in the 13th century, the mine was extended to nine levels and many huge chambers. Miners carved out figures in salt and even made an underground cathedral.

Today we went to the salt mine, it was an amazing experience however we did have to walk far to see the beautiful treasures krakow hand in store for us. This was a different outing we have done on the trip so far, but I think it has been a worth while 2 hour walk that seemed like it was a never ending path we were walking on, in fact over 11km. Overall the experience was great, we didn’t expect it to be this beautiful, it was really worth it and I hope one of us do get to have her dream wedding in the chapel *Mr Coutts words* .

Tyla

Today we visited Auschwitz I concentration camp where we toured the museum about the Holocaust. It was a very moving experience, especially when we all went inside the gas chamber and crematorium. We then busses to Birkenau Extermination camp and walked to the destroyed gas chambers and visited the prisoners barracks.

We started the day with an early start at 6:30am in order to have a quick breakfast and be on the bus at quarter to eight. Today we were moving on to our next city in Poland – Krakow. The drive was roughly four hours, with a few stops along the way. The length was soon forgotten as we had picturesque scenes on either side of us and most of us caught up on some sleep!

Once we arrived in Krakow we checked into our hotel which on the outside is a lovely, European style brick building with flowers crawling up the sides. We had a cycle tour at 3pm so we wandered across the road into what we came to see was a very Polish market for some lunch. Lack of tourists and English indicated we were in the heart of Poland in this market and we bought bakery goods and fresh fruit mainly through signing and the minimal Polish we do know.

We went into the cycling tour not sure what to expect as we hadn’t yet seen the beauty Krakow had to offer. A few wobbly starts and near misses with cars and teams saw us reach the Old Town in Krakow which really can’t be put into words and pictures don’t do it justice. We learnt about the rich history this area had to offer including Roman Catholic churches and a university that has over 70,000 students studying there. We rode through beautiful parks which were buzzing with people and budding artists sketching the historic buildings around them.

We moved through the south bank along Poland’s biggest river and then into the Jewish quarter, which before Nazi Germany’s regime was home to the Jewish population in Krakow. We saw synagogues in this area and memorials that honour the lives that once roamed these streets. We then rode through the city and to an area which was once a Jewish ghetto. Although not comparable in numbers to the Warsaw ghetto, the impact of lives lost was still so significant and this was commemorated by an installation of 63 chairs in the square that represent the 63,000 people that lived and died in this ghetto or concentration camps near by.

We ended the cycle tour at our hotel with a few stragglers coming in behind (Mr Coutts!) and had a quick dinner at the hotel.

Having all been in awe of the old town during the day we decided to head back at night to see it with all its lights on. The teachers let the reigns lose and extended curfew to 10:15 (!!) which allowed us to all go off and explore, get gelato, take photos, and generally soak up the atmosphere which was vast and varied from young families playing games in the square to spaces teeming with tourists.

Krakow has taken our breathe away and we can’t wait to see what the rest of Europe has to offer.