April 2015

With EasyJet flying several times daily from Luton, I was able to juggle my flights around so as not to take off any annual leave from work, whilst maximising time spent with my friends. I therefore left work a little bit early after working through lunch to arrive at the airport in good time for my flight - which was just as well.

Bare minutes after making it through security, on my way to collect my free newspaper and get the cheapest drinks from Boots, off went a fire alarm and all the security staff were evacuated, with the whole area being shut down for well over 20 minutes. Anyone who was already running late for their flights had no chance! Nevertheless I still had good time and was the first person to be sat down and buckled up on the plane! Like. A. Pro.

Arriving after the short 45 minute flight, I was met in departures by Sandy, and her boyfriend Arnold, whom I had stayed with three years ago during their Erasmus in Leeds. After a brief reunion I boarded my bus to the hotel I had booked on the outskirts of Amsterdam, and I would see the guys later.

Arriving at the hotel it was already 10pm, and unfortunately the lights in my room had blown meaning I couldn't see my way around. However after contacting the reception they came and sorted it out and I eventually went to bed excited about the next day.

Getting up at around lunchtime, Roel had finally arrived and after dropping off the stuff we made our way to the city centre. Having been to Amsterdam numerous times already the holiday was going to be somewhat different to my usual trips - more of a social event. However there was one particular sight I had never seen - the Begijnhof. And with Roel not even knowing about it we made our way there to find a lovely sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of the city, with traditional Amsterdam houses.

Heading down towards the Flower Market, we eventually made our way back to Dam Square where Sandy had joined us. We sat down for a catch up before making our way to find somewhere to eat, which ended up being once again the same Italian restaurant on Damstraat. After finishing here, we made our way to the highlight of the trip - the Eurovision In Concert in the Melkweg.

Held every April, I had been to the event twice before and had thoroughly enjoyed it, being much cheaper and closer to the action than the Eurovision itself. And by getting to the queue just over an hour before the doors opened, we managed to nab spots right at the front of the stage.

This year, 24 of the 40 acts this year were scheduled to perform, as well as songs from the host, Edsilia Rombley and the winners from 30 years ago - Bobbysocks. As luck would have it, we were also stood very close to the backstage door, and as the night progressed, some of the acts came into the audience who we were able to meet.

Bojana from Serbia

In front of the stage

After the event finished, we said goodbye to Sandy and made our way to the afterparty, which several of the acts from the concert were going to sing their songs again for a smaller audience.

We were fortunate enough to also be able to meet some of the artists more personally, as they were just floating around the venue. This included the German, Lithuanians and Norwegians, as well as hearing Måns from Sweden sing his Melodifestivalen songs.

Towards the end of the night I also saw the British guy standing around, and feeling sorry for him not being 'popular', I went to go and have a little chat about his career and how he got the gig. It was now getting on for half past 3 in the morning, and after some heavy partying, we decided to make our way back to the hotel.

With Alex from the UK

Rural Holland

The following morning we checked out of our hotel and made our way to the village of Spaardam, just outside Amsterdam, to Arnold's House for a catch up and to spend time with Sandy again. After having lunch and playing Mario Party I said my goodbyes after a great weekend and made my way to Schiphol for the return flight.

After seemingly no problems, before I knew it, my plane was delayed almost 4 hours and once again the airports were seemingly out to get me. Luckily I was not very affected by the delay, the only disadvantages really being that I would get home late, and could have spent some more time with my friends or in Amsterdam - but there are many times when it would have been a real problem.

Eventually arriving home safely I had fond memories of a great weekend, and am already looking forward to the next time!

I had visited Krakow three years before, spending a day there between Warsaw and Lviv in Ukraine, however I had not had the chance to visit Auschwitz or the Salt Mine, and being with four friends too, I was not so bothered as this would be an altogether different trip.

Arriving at Krakow Airport and being collected by our apartment's owners we were taken to our place in the Jewish Quarter, where we settled in before walking to the Town Square to see our first views of the city.

By sheer coincidence, my Maltese friend Daniel, who I had met with on my Erasmus experience almost three years ago just happened to be in Krakow on the exact dates that we had arrived. We therefore arranged to meet on our free days in the city, including the afternoon that we arrived.

Unfortunately as it was Easter Sunday, a lot of places were shut - including the 4zl bar, and the vodka bar. However we did find a bar where we decided to have a drink - that quickly became many. Whilst my friends were drinking and singing, me and Daniel had some great catch ups and reminiscing conversations about our Erasmus memories - it felt like no time had passed!

After a long stay, realising that we were incredibly loud and had cleared the bar, we decided to leave and make our way to find something to eat back in the Jewish area near our apartment. By now it was already getting on for 10pm, and my friends had been drinking all day long. We then went back to the apartment to settle in for the night, as the following morning we would need to be up to take our train towards our first excursion - Auschwitz.

Although Krakow is famous for Auschwitz, the town of Oświęcim is actually over an hour away. Taking the train there for around £3 each we eventually arrived to take a look around.

As I had previously visited Sachsenhausen near Berlin, I already had expectations of what we would see, and unfortunately I was a little disappointed. As Auschwitz is so busy, it was difficult to see things - despite being on a (compulsory) guided tour. The regulations at the camp was also very petty, which did dampen my visit.

We were guided around by a lady we named "Pauline" who at first seemed very miserable - however as we were led around the camp it was easy to see why.

Gas Chamber

Ovens

As with all concentration camps, there are some very visual moments that show the horror of the camp. These included not only the gas chambers and crematoriums, but also collections of personal belongings and hair.

Suitcases

Auschwitz Model

There was also the original model that I had seen in Yad Vashem some months before, showing a reconstruction of the process of the gas chamber system, from entry to exit. Auschwitz is actually made up of two camps - the older one where the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign is located, and the larger newer one, where the railway line goes straight into the camp.

They are located around 15 minutes from each other, and after finishing looking around the first we boarded the shuttle bus to take us to the other camp. It was here that the industrial scale of the holocaust was clear - the camp was almost entirely made up of huts and crematorium buildings - we were told these could kill 7,000 a day, and even these were not enough that open air pits were later built.

The weather was particularly bad, on our arrival in Krakow it had begun to snow, and today there were even hail stones. As we walked into one of the huts, it had begun to hail and some of this came straight through the roof hitting us below. Despite being freezing and not really "enjoying" the visit, this was a very clear way to show just how horrendous life must have been.

Our visit at Auschwitz soon came to an end, with a last visit into the Observation Tower at the entrance to the camp. From here the views over the camp showed just how huge the place was. After taking the bus back to the first camp, we boarded a bus to take us back to Krakow where we decided tonight would be our party night to not only enjoy our holiday, but also cheer us up after a day of death.

70%

After taking another meal and 'enjoying' 70% shots in the Jewish area, on what was turning into a very Jewish holiday, we headed to Krakow's Karaoke Bar where my friends growled through some classic songs, before getting wasted.

Karaoke

Lauren in particular had not only smashed her phone from the ladder to reach the DJ, but also needed to be carried home after everyone else had walked off. Despite taking over an hour and needing the help of a local Pole, we were still the first back home.

The following day was a very lazy one, with us not even leaving until 2pm, and so we decided to stay in Krakow to see the sights there.

Cloth Hall

In the Main Square

Kristian and Lauren headed towards the shopping centre, whilst Matt, Jenna and I headed towards the castle, where there are views over the river, as well as John Paul II's church and the crypt containing the dead president Lech Kaczynski. We then headed towards the Krakow Ghetto walls, before waiting for the other guys at our apartment.

Wawel Castle

Ghetto Walls

Feeling very lazy/hungover we missed the start of the pub crawl and ended up going back to the Karaoke bar for more growling, 70% and dancing with the homeless man outside.

The following day was our last in the city, and after dropping our bags at the luggage storage in the station, we headed on the train to the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

The Salt Mine is incredibly old and very impressive, and has now been turned into a kind of museum, with almost everything being made out of salt - the walls, the floor, the chandeliers and the statues - which we licked them to check. In the middle of the tour we found a salt lake which we were told used to be used for tourists arriving on a boat. However in the 1920s, one boat capsised, and become of the saltiness of the lake, those who were trapped beneath the boat couldn't dive below to escape and therefore drowned - just when we though stories of death on this trip were ever!

After making our way back to Krakow we ate our last meal together, took a look around the shopping centre, using our last "sharlotties" before heading towards the airport. As Daniel was also leaving today, an hour before us I caught him to say our last goodbyes, before we headed into the departure lounge to wait for our plane.

The other guys continued to drink their booze and when we got on the plane they were all rather tipsy. The cabin crew lady, who we quickly named "Audrey" proved to be very entertaining. At the fun end of the plane she joked along with us, and even ended up giving us a freebie for being so much fun!

A bit of light relief before landing at Stansted, saying my goodbyes to everyone and heading home for 5 hours sleep before work the next morning!

After taking the Ryanair flight from Luton we arrived at the tiny airport in Kerry and waited for the bus to take us the town of Killarney where we would base ourselves for the two night trip.

We had decided to visit Kerry as there had been nowhere particular in Ireland that we really wanted to visit - rather just an experience of traditional Ireland that we were intrigued. And with the flight from Luton and the Ring of Kerry, Killarney had settled that for us. As we had taken an afternoon flight, by the time we ate than then reached our room in a B&B, there wasn't much else we intended to do that evening, and so we just settled in before the next day when we had booked an excursion to take us around the Ring of Kerry.

Ring of Kerry

Celtic Cross

After waking up and taking a filling breakfast, we walked 5 minutes around the corner to the office to get our tickets and board our coach. Unsurprisingly it was filled with Americans - a staple of any tour, which provided my sister and me with a laugh.

On the way to the airport the previous day, we had seen a lady walking a greyhound - to which my dad but in my conversation to announce that "there's a woman walking her donkey". This had given my sister and I a good laugh all day, and as we began the tour of the Ring of Kerry, suddenly what did we see - a man posing with a donkey. Of course we were in stitches as this - and immediately started taking pictures to tell dad about the "man walking his dog".

The Ring of Kerry itself was nice, but not a lot to it - lots of nice scenery, but as the weather was bad there wasn't much else to look at. However the American behind me had clearly never seen a sheep before, and began pointing every single one out to her son (who had also strapped in a toy one on the coach).

After pointing out a baby sheep (aka a lamb), I began to joke with my sister making "Baa" noises - to which she told me, I was "good at sheep impressions" before telling me that she was going to London and needed to "get [her] some Pound!". I agreed that she did, before turning back around and laughing. Coming back to Killarney we took a little walk around the town finding Penneys as well as getting some souvenirs.

Our final day had an afternoon flight, so we spent the day walking around Killarney, starting with a walk down to Ross Castle and Lough Leane where there were great views as well as a lot of wind, before making our way back to the town to carry out some more shopping and enjoying the local culture to mark the end of our brief, but interesting trip to the other British Isles nation.