Krakow-Auschwitz-Prague MGS Virtual School Trip

New photos and essays

See the photo album opposite for the latest updates from last year's visit to Auschwitz. These photos feature the killing machines of the Auschwitz camp: gas chambers, crowded "dorms" and even stocks. Also, new essays from MGS pupils below:

Download alan_grant_lest_we_forget.doc

Download auschwitz_reflective_writing.doc

Download auschwitz_aidan.doc

Download auschwitz_emma_warnock.doc

Download auschwitzreflective_essay_kelly_mcgill.doc

Download higher_reflective_writing.doc

Download higher_reflective_writingalison_perry.doc

Download higher_reflective_writingjack_elliott.doc

Download my_confession_laura_womersley.doc

Place your comments below if you wish, having read the work of the pupils.

Visits around Prague

8:00pm – Most people looked a little more awake today at breakfast and ready to take on the adventures of Prague. I have to admit the lack of sleep was beginning to have an effect on me and I was feeling quite tired. Still, having been to Prague before I knew what beautiful sights awaited me.

9:00am – our guide came to meet us at out hotel and led us to the bus stop beside the hotel. It seemed easier (and probably safer) to travel around Prague on the public transport. We took the train to the nearby metro station, where our guide told us to “keep our hands on our valuables”, which obviously resulted in a great deal of hilarity. I was more concerned about the life threatening escalators which were just too steep and too fast for my liking. I mean no one is supposed to get vertigo from an escalator! From the metro we took a tram up to Prague castle.

10:00am – Prague Castle was enormous. When we first arrived various pupils in the group had the picture taken with the guards who, like the guards in London, are unable to show any kind of reaction, or deviate from their job so some pupils took advantage by making silly poses etc. Although, Ms. Bovill was probably the most outrageous! The guide took us around the castle telling us the history of the various buildings and art work. Unfortunately, we were unable to go into the cathedral as there was a mass on, but we could see just how spectacular it was from the outside.

12:00pm – when we arrived at Golden Lane (a street of tiny houses, now shops, inside the castle walls that once housed alchemists) out guide gave us half an hour to ourselves to explore the little gift shops and galleries. Being an English teacher, I was quite keen to see the little house that had once been home to Franz Kafka. It is hard to imagine he lived there when the whole house is smaller than my classroom!

12:30pm – we met up with our guide again at the bottom of Golden Lane and from here he took us for a walk through the city pointing out various buildings and statues. We crossed Charles bridge into the more tourist driven part of the city. Here our guide left us and we left the pupils to go and have a bit of exploring and do some shopping. Prague is full of interesting shops and markets.

2:30pm – we found a shop that sold cows! There was a large ceramic cow, wearing a strange leather costume in the window. The random cow had made another appearance. No more cows!!

3:00pm – we met up with the pupils and walked back to metro station to go back to the hotel. Everyone seemed laden down with many interesting purchases, and I had certainly managed to spend lots!

4:00pm – back to the hotel where we had an hour or so to ourselves. I have to admit I used mine to grab a quick nap and phone home. It was so nice to just stop for an hour after our exhausting day’s walk.

5:00pm – we had dinner that night in the hotel. It was made very special as all the pupils had had a collection and presented us with some gifts. They are far too generous! I have to say that I did love my gifts and the bottle of vodka went to show that the pupils know both Ms. Bovill and me too well!

7:00pm – after dinner we had to make a bit of a mad dash back into the city centre to get to the Black theatre. We snake walked our way to the metro station and then took the flight of death down to catch the train. We were running quite late and therefore had to take a mad dash across central square to the theatre.

8:00pm – we arrived at the theatre a little late and inevitably disturbed the audience as we tried to sneak into seats at the back. The “image” theatre was very…different. It was a story of a policeman and two robbers who acted out their story in mime interrupted by very unusual dance scenes. The actors were dressed in costumes that reflected the lights and some of their movements were almost hypnotic. I have to admit to feeling slightly spaced out afterwards.

10:00pm – after the show I think everyone was feeling a little dazed. The theatre was excellent, but did mess with your head a little bit.  We decided it was time to let our hair down a little so we took off and joined in the night life of Prague.

12:00am – after a couple of drinks in the cocktail bar we all gathered again at central square where we had booked taxis to come and take us back to the hotel.

12:30am – instead of heading to bed like normal people, most of our group sat up and had a chat in the hotel. Mr Brown befriended a small group of Germans who were in Prague with their football team and he was quite keen to show then his knowledge of German. I have to admit I was impressed!

3:00am – people began to get quite tired and headed off to bed. A few of the mad ones stayed up a bit later, but I was exhausted.

Journey to Prague - emotionally and physically exhausted

8:00am – fewer people at breakfast this morning. Possibly due to the late night and the emotionally exhausting day, not to mention a couple of hangovers (and that was just the teachers!). I decided it was worth getting up to prepare for another gruelling nine/ten hour bus ride. 8:50am – Carla was still in bed and had to be reminded that the bus was due to leave in ten minutes. She was not a pretty sight!

9:00am – everybody was on the bus, looking a little tired and groggy. Everyone, that is, except Mr. Wood. Trust it to be a teacher to let the side down!

9:30am – the boredom set in quickly this time and there were calls for a sing-a-long or some entertainment, so Aidan took up the request and positioned himself next to me at the front of the bus with the microphone. After half an hour of Alexei Sayle songs and a Star Wars tribute to the tune of “American Pie” most people were complaining of bleeding ears and Aidan was sent back to his seat.

12:00pm – After Aidan’s singing I think that most people resigned themselves to the thought of a very long bus journey so nodded off. As Robert would say “the banter simply stopped flowing” for a short period of time

1:30pm – a much needed stop for lunch at another scary looking Czech service station. Mr Brown tried to order us some hamburgers but instead we were served a very strange looking pork casserole on toast. One of the more interesting meals I think I have ever had!

2:00pm – back on the road again, but by this time I think we had all gone slightly mad. Talk at the front of the bus had turned to the “random cow” someone had seen in a field and the next couple of hours were spent trying to work out how we could include a random cow into this year’s Christmas pantomime. The random cow then became a topic for a limerick and this was perhaps the best effort from Mark: there was a random cow whose duty was to plough. He ploughed all day For little pay Which he spent on his sow. (I did tell you we had all lost our minds by this point!) We had to draw a line when people then began to spot random geese, pigs, horses etc. It turned into spotting Old McDonald’s farm! At the back of the bus, people were entertaining themselves by singing a number of dodgy rugby songs, including the Yogi Bear song. Unfortunately the lyrics to that one are just too filthy to make it to the web-site, but that didn’t stop Carla and Robert singing it for the rest of the trip! Ms. Bovill managed to miss most of this madness by sleeping in what looked like a very uncomfortable position at the front of the bus. I’m surprised she could walk again afterwards.

4:00pm – we made another stop at another scary service station. Carla bought a burger that looked like it was still alive and only took a bite out of it after a bet. The rest of us were quite horrified! Still, at least she threw hers away. Aidan insisted on eating his hot dog, and that was after it had winked at him!

7:00pm – we reached our hotel in Prague just before we all lost our minds completely. Any more talk of random cows or other surreal suggestions for my precious school panto and I would have snapped! We had about half an hour to freshen up before going out for dinner. I have to say I did appreciate having a little time to myself to try and sort out my belongings and my head!

7:30pm – after a very quick hour we were back on the bus for a very short trip down to the river Vltava. Here we went for dinner on a lovely boat, which cruised down the river. I think most people actually managed to find something they could eat as the buffet even had chicken nuggets on offer!

10:00pm after our two hour cruise on the boat, which had been fantastic, we took a short walk to central square where most of us sat at an outdoor café and had a drink before heading back to the bus. The old square looked amazing in the moonlight and it was a very relaxing end to the day.

12:00pm – the end of another exhausting day, and my bed was most welcome that night!

Socialising and sleep

10:30pm – after dinner the pupils were delighted to go and enjoy their free time away from us oldies, and to be honest it was nice to have some time to ourselves too. Or so we thought until we met a few of them at the theatre bar and Mr. Wood was dragged (well actually, I think he was quite pleased at the prospect) onto the dance floor. Aidan’s amazing dance moves help to win him a great deal of new credibility – Jarvis Cocker eat your heart out!

12:00am – we gathered everyone together to head back to the hotel but discovered that romance had blossomed between Carissa and Kyle, all together now – aaahhh! I don’t think Kyle realises what he has taken on board – a passionate romance with his English teacher’s sister is never going to be easy!

2:00am – I finally managed to crawl off to bed after a few drinks at the hotel bar. After such an emotional day I was in desperate need of some sleep.

Auschwitz Birkenau

11:20am - We split into two groups to make it manageable for the tour guides. The tour began with examining the maps of the camp and with our guide giving us a number of facts and statistics about the numbers of people exterminated in the camps. This information was then made to seem much more real when we were taken to the exhibits of the personal belongings found after the camp was liberated. Perhaps the hardest part of the tour for most people was to see the amount of female prisoners’ hair, the shoes, the suitcases and the babies’ clothing. At this point a few of us were quite visibly distressed as the true nature of these atrocities was brought home to all of us. We were then led to the various punishment blocks – home to the starvation and standing cells and the wall of death.

This visit was made more harrowing when we were led into the small gas chamber of Auschwitz I that had only been in commission for one year and when we saw the ovens used for the disposal of the corpses. I think everyone felt a little frightened by the number of people who were in the cham

ber at that time, and we were left to feel both horrified that these crimes ever took place and humble at the same time. I think it would be virtually impossible to describe the atmosphere amongst our group then, but I know that everyone was reflecting on their own lives and realising how important it is that we never let people forget our horrific past.

1:00pm – by now we had been around the exhibition in Auschwitz I and made our way to the small cinema to watch a short film. The film was particularly distressing with footage of prisoners being found after the liberation and the results of some of the infamous Dr. Mengele’s experiments.

1:15pm – after the film we managed to finally meet up with our Polish counterparts. At first the pupils seemed slightly reluctant to speak to one another, partly due to shyness, but I think part of it was due to the emotionally exhausting experience we had just encountered. However, eventually some of our more confident pupils tried to break some ice before we made out way to the coaches to take us to Auschwitz II (Birkenau).

1:30pm – I think everyone was a quite surprised by the scale of Birkenau. Although a number of the original wooden barracks were destroyed it was clear to see from the rows and rows of chimneys just how extensive the camp had been. We were taken into a few of the barracks to see the bunks were the prisoners had been forced to sleep and the incredibly unpleasant terrines that they were allowed to use to relieve themselves. Again this caused a great deal of upset amongst our group. It is almost impossible to imagine just how those who survived did.

2:30pm – we then began to make our way up to the end of the railway tracks to the memorial at the bottom of Birkenau, which is situated between the remnants of Crematoria I and II. Here we laid our wreath and both Mr. Brown from our school and the head teacher of the Polish school made quite moving speeches reminding the pupils that they now had the very real responsibility of passing on the memories of each and every victim and to make sure that this kind of evil was never repeated.

3:30pm – on the walk back to the coaches a number of us were struck by the image of a group of Israeli school children who were heading towards us. Every one of them had their flags either tied round their shoulders or were carrying them on poles. Their Star of David was on full view. It seemed as though they were showing complete defiance that after everything their people had gone through, despite the six millions Jews that had been wiped out by the Nazis, they were showing that they were not beaten and this image struck me as incredibly positive and perhaps a fitting way to end our journey around the camp.

4:00pm – before leaving Auschwitz we took a little more time to speak to the Polish pupils in the café and eventually everyone seemed to be more open to talk to one another. Our one funny incident of the day came when Linzi informed one of the boys it had been her birthday the day before and his reply of “Merry Christmas!” was met with hysterical laughter from everyone who realised he had got himself a little confused. Sadly it was time to leave our new friends behind and make our way back to the bus.

6:00pm – we arrived back in Krakow and had a very short half hour to explore a couple of shops and buy some Polish souvenirs from the Cloth Market before going back to freshen up for dinner.

8:00pm – we arrived at a beautiful little restaurant, which was adorned in traditional Polish decoration and had a small group of string musicians performing traditional songs. Most of us enjoyed the very tasty food, but as usual there were the odd few who just refused to even taste what was on their plates! So much for coming to experience the culture in all of its forms!

Arrival in Auschwitz

8:00am – incredibly, most of our group were up and having breakfast in time. I had visions of having to pry a few people out of bed, but it turns out they left that for Saturday morning instead (you know who you are!). We were then ready to assemble back onto the bus for our visit to Auschwitz.

10:00am – the atmosphere on the bus was quite tense. I think everyone was a little apprehensive about our destination and were unusually quiet. However, our bus driver’s inappropriate compilation tape of early nineties’ dance music seemed to fill the silence.

11:00am – we arrived at Auschwitz an hour late after the driver got lost in the town of Oswiecim and as a result we missed meeting the group from the Polish school. However, Ms. Bovill managed to ge5t in touch with them and we arranged to meet after our tour of Auschwitz I and before our tour of Auschwitz II (Birkenau).

Arrival in Krakow

6:00pm – I think by this point that the early signs of madness had begun to set in. various groups were keeping themselves amused with games such as charades and “Suck and Blow”, I am still not entirely sure what this game involved but it sounds slightly dubious to me!

8:15pm (approx.) – we finally crossed the Polish border and those suspect passports were out to be checked. I am surprised that neither Aidan or Carla were questioned over their seriously frightening photos!

10:10pm – hooray! We finally arrived at the Hotel Wyspianski in Krakow and were only two hours late. We were ushered straight into the hotel restaurant for some food before it closed. I was amused at the number of reactions to the discovery the boiled egg in the soup! That was followed by chicken and chips, a truly traditional Polish meal. They must have realised our group were a fussy bunch.

11:00pm – the group that were still standing after the days travelling decided to take a short walk into the main market square in Krakow and they all seemed a little surprised by how beautiful a place it is. We then went for a quick drink in the theatre bar where Mr. Wood befriended a mad polish man who informed Mr. Wood he was “the man”. He had obviously forgotten his glasses that night!

12:00am – back to the hotel for a much-needed sleep.

Czech out the driving!

2:30pm – after everyone had had a bit of a snooze on the coach we made our first stop at a service station somewhere in the depths of the Czech Republic. The pupils all seemed quite afraid of the log cabin café that was decorated with animal skins and heads and chose to stick to the sandwiches on offer at the garage. However, we teachers decided to risk it and, with the help of Mr. Brown’s German, managed to order a couple of portions of chips! Then it was back to the bus.

3:45pm – By this time I had become quite scared of the driver’s mad antics. He was a little too fond of his brakes and I had visions of us crashing and making the nine o’clock news at home!

4:30pm – another quick garage stop to relieve the bladders and the boredom.

5.20am - Departure

5:20am – Everyone had gathered at the airport ready to check in. a number of people looked very bleary eyed due to a 3am rise. Although I do think that Kelly had enough energy to keep us all going. How is it possible to be so hyperactive at that time of the day? The birthday cake that Amanda and Sarah had managed to bake for Linzi’s birthday also surprised me.

7:00am – not surprisingly the birthday cake was quickly devoured before boarding the plane. There was an element of nervousness as we headed through the gates, which could be blamed entirely on those of us who do not like flying and those people who had never been on a plane before.

11:00am (Prague Time) – after a relatively smooth flight we arrived a little late in Prague and the hunt was on for our bags. Whilst waiting at the conveyer belt talk turned to the “appetising” breakfast we were served on the flight – the dreaded mushrooms and some unidentified egg product!

12:00pm – everyone had gathered their belongings, had a toilet stop and made it to the coach before our extremely long journey to Poland!

Live the trip to Auschwitz

As the tirp to Auschwitz took place during the school holidays we are offering you the chance the follow the trip in real time, with daily diaries and photo albums. The trip will begin at 6am (GMT) on Monday 1 November, and coverage will continue through to Friday at midnight. You can read what students and staff felt, see what they saw in this week-long series of highlights. Also, leave your comments every day and the students from the trip will write back to answer your questions.

See you then for the 'live' trip replay, November 1-5, 2004.