On Monday 6th February, 36 students and 4 staff eagerly awaited at Heathrow Airport to board a flight to Krakow for what was set to be an unforgettable trip, learning about the global economy, internation-al business and most of all; to make new friends and create some amazing memories! Our arrival in Krakow was met with snowfall and our lovely guide Iza and driver, Kuba, who became the newest members of the St Dominic’s family.

After checking in to our hotel, the Wyspianski, we set out to familiarize ourselves with the city square and to fill our bellies before our big day. On our first full day in Krakow, we firstly visited the world’s smallest candy manufacturer – Ciu Ciu – where we watched how a small, family run business has become a global phe-nomenon thanks to the internet. We learnt first-hand how to make rock candy and marvelled at the array of flavours that can be used! Our biggest visit of the day was a 2-hour coach drive outside of Krakow, to the Fiat car plant in Tychy – who had just been given the world gold standard in manufacturing. We learnt more about how a car plant the size of a town operates every day and had the opportunity to ask more about the global economic climate and the impact this has on businesses as well as the impact of a potential Brexit and how this might affect the price of a Fiat 500 in the UK.

Our penultimate day was divided between visiting Auschwitz and the Wieliczca Salt Mines. We had the opportunity to pay our respects at Auschwitz and learn more about the horrors in-flicted upon humanity at the two concentration camps, which was both a sobering and educa-tional. After a traditional Polish village lunch, we headed to the underground salt mines where we descended hundreds of feet into a complex sys-tem of underground caves, including a fully functioning Chapel carved purely out of salt! There was plenty of wall licking… Our final day saw us wrap up warm against the -15 degrees temperature and complete our walking tour of Krakow city, including Wawel Castle and Copernicus’ own university, where we warmed up with some hot chocolate, before adding the to the Polish economy with copious amounts of souvenir buying.

Needless to say, the flight home was the only quiet time of the entire trip, with all 40 of us falling asleep before the plane had even taken off! Dziękuję to all involved and do widzenia until next time!