In June of this year we, that is Polish representation of Bike Friendly Youngsters, decided to make a small trip of our own to see some world on our beloved bicycles. As Berlin is the closest grand European capital close to us, we headed towards Germany and started our 4-day bike-expedition on 24th of July. We also wanted to visit some neighbor IB schools but unfortunately, it was the end of their school year so we were not able to do that. Maybe next time, then.
DAY 1
Most of the day we spent on traveling - we set off in the morning and finally reached the hostel in which we were staying those days in the late afternoon. Its location was just perfect - we had a 10-minute walk to the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag and Tiergarten. And that was what we saw during the very first day when we went out in the early evening, this time on foot, to explore some alive Berlin. We spent the rest of the day wandering about, trying to get to know the city, admiring classic, yet modern architecture and tasting some nightlife.
DAY 2
The second day in Berlin we spent actively on rented bicycles on which we traveled throughout almost the whole city. This was the day we will surely remember for a long time. Our goal of the day was to see famous Berlin's museums - that is the Jewish Museum, and the Pergamon and others located on Museum Island, as well as to ride along the remains of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately for us, it was a really rainy day thus meaning we were both soaking and shivering from cold when we finally got to any of those. Nevertheless, we appreciated the art especially in the unique Pergamon Museum which is a collection of reconstructed ancient masterpieces of architecture in their original sizes.
DAY 3
During the third day, we firstly rode on our bicycles to Neue Nationalgalerie that is the gallery of modern art and then our ways parted - we created two groups, one of which decided to take a 25-kilometer trip to Potsdam, while the other wanted to explore more the city of Berlin. Both of them were glad of their choice - and both of them spent the day actively on bikes, seeing the world around from the two wheels perspective. Great gardens and history buildings in Potsdam as well as monuments, palaces and the Olympic Stadium in Berlin fully satisfied our hunger for exploration of the day and we gladly came to the hostel, feeling not so strange in the city anymore.
DAY 4
On the last day we left our visit to the Reichstag, German parliament building, where we could see Angela Merkel herself debating! The view of the whole city from the glass Dome on the top of the building was stunning and we fully enjoyed in in the bright light of the early sun. After some time in the city spent by ourselves, we finally met in Berlin Hauptbahnhof, found our train home, and not so eagerly set out.
This trip was a great experience that will stay in our minds and hearts for a long time. Traveling on a bicycle surely is a unique and special way of traveling. It makes us closer to the real world, without any glass surrounding us from it, and it enables us to really get to know a place, and not just to see it.
The days that we so long were preparing to finally came and passed in the blink of an eye leaving us all quite tired but so much richer in new experience. New friendships were forged, new territories discovered - and obviously new bike routs were made!
MONDAY
Monday, the 22nd was spent by the Polish students in our school, arranging last details, rehearsing and ensuring that everything is ready for the so long expected visit. This was also the day when in the evening our first guests arrived - the Turkish group.
TUESDAY
After the warm welcome, we spent Tuesday with our new friends in school letting them see our classes, getting to know each other and playing games. The day was also used for the very last preparations and then - the Italian group arrived! Soon after that, the Romanians joined us and we were finally all together.
WEDNESDAY
And then, on Wednesday the real fun began - after the short welcome from our headmistress everything started with the team-building activities made in our school when we all had to build the highest towers out of spaghetti pasta, marshmallows, a cord and a piece of tape. The competition was fierce and many innovative ideas were presented.
After that our Orange Vests - safety keepers - made a small talk about the safety on road (riding a bicycle in such a crowded city as Łódź is not so easy!), then we had a presentation concerning the Łódź's street art, we ate lunch (delicious pierogi, typical Polish food) and finally we were ready to go on our first route - THE MURALS.
Murals are a characteristic feature of our city, decorating many walls in the city center. They are enormous paintings made by artists especially on the old buildings, putting into them new power and energy.
The day ended in MS2 - the museum of modern art that is located in Manufaktura complex in which we could see paintings from such great artists as e.g. Picasso. After the dinner at school we had time off and could do whatever we wanted to ;).
THURSDAY
The next day again started at school but this time we had an official guest - the city's vice president Radosław Stępień visited us, gave a short speech about the city's trials to improve the traffic in the city and make it more sustainable. The presentation about the project in front of him and the media that gathered in our school to see both him and new Bike Officer that was very recently chosen was also presented by our students. After that, we and our guests from different countries showed our talents in the great Talent Show.
After another delicious lunch (this time Polish pancakes) we set off on our historical trip showing the multicultural aspect of our city. Łódź has always been said to consist of four cultures - Polish, German, Russian and Jewish. We followed the cultural track, especially seeing the Jewish history in our city. The places we've seen were the Old Town and its marketplace, Park of Survivors that was made to honor the ones that survived the ghetto that was located in Łódź, Radegast station that was the station from which people from ghetto were sent mostly to death camps, and Jewish cemetery.
After visiting Radegast the police escort that before was travelling with us, left us and from then on we had to divide into groups of 15 people and go by ourselves. Our Orange Vests made sure everyone is safe and we headed towards Łagiewniki forest where great attractions were prepared. The bonfire was made when we could fry our sausages, the Romanian group took their guitars so that we could sing while some of us played football or volleyball. The atmosphere of the evening was amazing and we all regretted that it had lasted so short.
FRIDAY
The last full day started with presentations made by our dear visitors about their cultures and homelands. After that we got on our bikes and went to Źródliska Park for a picnic. After chilling out on the grass by the pond and bathing in the sun rays that were shining bright we had a time off when most of us probably spent on the last shopping.
After that we met in the school to eat dinner and finally... the time has come to move, and move quite a lot! The grand finale of the exchange was the critical mass that turned out to be a great success - the number of participants taking part in it reached 1315! The route of the mass was 17 kilometers long and went through the used-to-be-industrial part of the city, where the former factories were renovated and now are the companies lofts, hotels or restaurants - the one that is the most well known is called Księży Młyn. The vice president of Łódź, Mr. Stępień also rode with the mass, manifesting his love for bicycles and desire to make our city more bicycle friendly. After critical mass we met in the evening in Bistro pub on Piotrkowska Street were every one received the diplomas of attendance in the project and flash drives with the photos of our whole exchange.
SATURDAY
The 27th April was the day of saying goodbyes to all of our amazing guests - Romanians left us in their bus at 7.30, Italians at 9.30 and Turkish group at around 9 got their train towards Cracow that they wanted to see before coming back home.
Many of us were tired after such an intense week but it was totally worth it. The exchange was a great success and we all really enjoyed it. We met a lot of new people, we went out a lot and we biked a lot. It was all possible to occur thanks to our wonderful and irreplaceable teachers that were main coordinators of this exchange - Mr. Josh Skjold and Mrs. Maria Janowicz! We are all profoundly thankful for everything they did to make our guests' visit the best possible and want to say enormous THANK YOU because without you it would not have been the same.
