Easter in Eastern Europe

One of the great things about the British education system is the amount of holidays within the school year. The end of the March marked the end of the Spring Term in our borough. We had two weeks off between the Spring and Summer Terms, including the Easter weekend. I signed up for a nine day tour with Protocol Teachers (the company that recruited me to work in the UK) for the second week of the holidays. I spent most of the first week in Colchester, trying not to spend too much money. I spent a few days in school to clean up my piles of paper in my classroom and attempted to add a little more colour to my walls with posters. Since this was also my primary internet connection, I was in school way too many days for the first week (4 out of 5 days!) I was able to bike around Colchester a bit, enjoying some of the wooded paths in the town. I also took a day in London to deal with passport issues and to visit the Natural History Museum in London. I was able to see most of the exhibits, but I could have still spent more time in there.
On the 9th of April I joined another 30 teachers (and family) on a tour to Eastern Europe with major stops in Berlin, Krakow, Auschwitz and Prague. I decided that it was time to go travelling where someone else planned where we staying overnight and how we were going to get there. As a teacher, I am constantly planning and executing the plan. On my trips, I do my own bookings and travel arrangements, planning my general itinerary and lodging. For this vacation, I wanted to sit back, relax and let someone else worry about that. I realised that I would have to also “let go of the reigns”, which could be somewhat frustrating. Knowing that some people have a habit of being tardy, I was also dreading sitting in the coach, waiting for the some people coming late (something I noticed while in London – a tour group waiting for half an hour or more without people showing up.)
Fortunately we had a generally friendly and prompt group of people on our tour. I really enjoyed getting to know fellow foreign teachers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Hong Kong. Due to numbers and past history of the 2 Canadian pairs, I spent most of my time with a group of Australians. I even was able to pick up some of their accent! (Why I can pick up an Australian accent in 1 week, but can’t pick up an Essex accent in 7 months is beyond me). It was good to simply make friends, which is something that I am lacking in Colchester. When we went to a new city, our tour guide (an office person from Protocol who has done a lot of travelling) would host a walking tour of the heart and soul of the city, and then we had the rest of the day and/or the next day to discover the city in more detail. It was a great balance of structure and flexibility.

Highlights of the trip:

Berlin

• The now defunct Berlin Wall (which was less than a foot thick!)
• Brandemburg Gate
• Visiting the Reichstag and the new dome
• Remembering my German
• Phoning a friend in Leipzig from the hotel (we haven’t heard each others voices for over 4 years!)

Krakow

• Prices cheaper than in Canada
• The St. Mary’s church – very ornate décor, with the focal point being the front alter piece carved by Viet Stoss (Wit Stwosz in Polish)
• Fire breathing “dragon” at the bottom of Wawel Castle
• Men’s toilette signified with a Triangle, Women’s with a Circle
• Perogies! (filled with meat, or cabbage and mushroom, or potato and cheese)
• Group meal in the cellar of a traditional food restaurant
• Tasting the “pope’s cake”: very rich and creamy
• Easter market with smoked goat cheese and sausages
• Auschwitz museums (sobering and informative)
• Chance meeting with my former German professor’s daughters at the Wawel Castle (one was a student at my last student teaching placement)!
  

Prague

• Prices much cheaper than in Canada (if you stay away from the over-touristy area)
• Architecture of the old buildings
• Charles Bridge in the early morning before the tourists clog it up
• Climbing the 287 steps to the top of the castle church
• Easter market with Potato pancakes
• The John Lennon Wall
• Art stalls all over the tourist area
• Museum of torture
• Astronomical clock
• View from the top of the Astronomical clock tower
  

Luxembourg

• Re-visiting a city to which I had been 5 years ago
• Ordering a Milka McFlury in German and getting something that was not Milka but still enjoyable anyway
• Walking through the peaceful and scenic gorge along the old city
  Easter Monday market
  

Belgium

• Chocolate museum (that’s all we did in Belgium!)
  
  

The trip was very enjoyable, with only a few down sides (e.g. bumpy roads in Poland, blisters from walking, long bus rides, streets packed with tourists in Praugue, and delayed ferry from France to the UK.) I really enjoyed it. And now I'm back in school, gearing up for the Summer Term. Only 1 week until friends from Canada visit!

Kevin