Last Day!

Friday was our last day in Krakow and our last official day of the dialogue. We started off at the Galicia Jewish Museum, which I really enjoyed. Even though the museum was pretty tiny, I really enjoyed looking and hearing about all of the amazing photographs. The museum was set up into five sections and the exhibits were all photographs. The photographs were like a historical timeline starting with pre-war and ending with how we remember the war. Since I enjoy photography so much, I can probably say this was one of my favorite museums. Pictures speak louder than words. It was also really cool to see the same sights that we saw, but through someone else’s lens.

After the tour, we had a lecture from Professor Gawron who was a professor of Veronica’s when she studied in Poland. I really enjoyed what she had to say and also found it so great that we were able to meet and listen to this professor that Veronica had. After the lecture, Ryan, Jordyn, Theresa, Rachel and Elizabeth and I ran back to the hotel to grab lunch and get ready for our tour of the Wielicka Salt mine. We were picked up at the hotel and taken to the mine for a tour. The tour was so cool! We got to go 180 meter down into the mine. We saw some amazing statues made out of salt as well as an entire chapel equipped with salt crystal chandeliers. I even licked the walls. Overall this was an amazing experience and I’m glad we made the effort to do something on our own.

After we got back, we changed and the whole group headed out to meet Natalie and Veronica. We went and grabbed some food and some drinks as a final goodbye. Unfortunately Veronica is staying in Poland so she won’t be traveling back with us. This was our last night with her so we had to make the most of it. Overall it was a really fun night that we will never forget. Tomorrow is an early morning since we have a nine-hour trip to Berlin.

I can’t believe these five weeks have gone by so quickly. I am so glad I signed up for this trip and I will always remember the amazing experience I had. I couldn’t have asked for two better professors to guide us on this five-week adventure. Natalie and Veronica have been through so much with us and I cannot begin to thank them. They did such a great job with planning and executing this dialogue and I am so fortunate that I was a part of the first official Germany-Poland Dialogue. I have made some amazing friends and will never forget this experience.