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My
trip to Poland and Germany
September
13
Yesterday we left Ørsta at 9 p.m. We travelled by bus at
night and reached Oslo at 7 a.m. today. We had to wait at the bus
terminal for two hours, then we went to Tangenåsen where we
met the other pupils. We were told that we were to go by a double
decker, but all we got was a lousy bus with little space for our
feet. Today we have been travelling through Sweden to Karlskrona,
and we have got plenty of time to get to know the other pupils.
Full of excitement we entered the ferry to Gdynia.
September
14
Today we entered Gdynia, there we had to stand in a big queue because
they had to check our passports. Afterwards, we drove to a very
nice city called Torun, where we did a lot of shopping and ate a
good meal at the restaurant Sphinix. In the evening we arrived a
little village outside Cracow, and here we stayed at Hotel Trojak.
The hotel was nice, but the breakfast wasn't good.
September
15
Today we went to Auschwitz, where we were guided around. It was
very interesting to see the camp, but also very depressing to hear
about all the terrible things the Jews had to experience. Everything
made a huge impression on me, but most of all, the children's clothes
made the strongest impression. When I saw them, I thought of my
sister's children at once. To see the personal belongings to the
Jews were terrible. In large display cases one could see their hairbrushes,
suitcases, kitchen utensils , glasses, hairs and clothes.
We also visited
Birkenau. The camp was enormous. The guide told me that it's 1700
square km big. The houses in Birkenau had a low standard.The camp
inmates were plagued by a lack of water, terrible sanitary conditions
and huge number of rats. Auschwitz was originally established for
Polish political prisoners, but Birkenau was built for extermination.However,
the prisoners were treated in inhumane ways in both camps.The guide
showed us the barracks, the ruins of the crematoria and gas chambers.
The gas chambers were bombed before the war ended in an attempt
to conceal the criminal activities there.
We also had
time to meet an "eye witness", but I couldn't hear what
she said, because I sat at the back row. We spent some time in groups
where we talked about our feelings from this day, too.
September
16
Today we went to Cracow to shop. But before we could start shopping,
we had to go and see the Wawel Castle. We were allowed to go shopping
the whole day. I went crazy because of all the stores. I bought
two trousers, one jacket, two sweaters and some trifles to my family.
After walking
around in Cracow the whole day we were worn out. At 8 p.m. we went
to Hotel Pollera where some dancers danced folklore. In other words
Polish national folk dance. Some of the dances were unknown to me,
but they were very good at dancing. As part of their performance,
they invited us to dance, luckily I didn't have to dance.
September
17
Today we visited the famous Salt Mines in Wielizca. It was incredible.
At first we had to walk down many stairs before we got down to the
exhibition rooms. In fact the tourist route goes as deep as 125
m underground. It was very dark and cold down there. In some of
the chambers there were a lot of nice sculptures carved by miners
in rock -salt. We walked in the salt mines for two hours. In order
to leave the mines we had to take a small and dark elevator .The
elevator trip was very funny,too.
September
18
Berlin, the capital in Germany. I have never visited such a big
city before. I felt that the air in Berlin was much more polluted
than the air is in Norway. We went to Hard Rock Café. It
was very cool there, but the food we got there wasn't so good as
expected.
After we had
finished eating, we went shopping. There were a lot of cool stores
there. I bought a pair of trousers. It wasn't so expensive there
as it was in Poland. But of course it was much more expensive than
it in Norway. We also visited Checkpoint Charlie…
September
19
Today was our last day in Berlin. We went to Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück,two
concentration camps not far from Berlin. Morten was our guide today,
it was much easier to understand what he said, than the guide we
had in Birkenau and Auschwitz.
After visiting
these two camps, we started the trip back home. Nobody wanted to
go home again. We drove to Swinoujscie and took the ferry to Ystad
in Sweden. There was a disco on the boat. The disco was rotten.
Everybody just sat at their chairs and didn't want to dance. I danced
a little bit, but it got even more boring so I went down to our
cabin and went straight to bed.
September
20
This morning we entered Ystad early. I think it was around 7 a.m.
Today we drove through the southern part of Sweden. It was more
quiet in the bus today. I think it was because everybody was dead
tired. I didn't want to go home now. I wish I could go back to Cracow.
It was absolutely great to be there. I have never ever had so much
fun before.
At 6 p.m. we
reached Tangenåsen. There we had to say goodbye to our new
friends. It was very sad. But I promised to keep in touch with Madelene
and Stine. When we arrived Oslo we had to wait there for four hours.
So instead of waiting at the bus terminal, we took some time off
to eat at the restaurant Peppes Pizza. Then we took the night bus
up to Ørsta again. Now this trip has ended. It's very sad.
The trip has gone way too fast. I'll never forget this trip. I'll
keep the memories in my heart…
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