Alana Rowe (left), Evi Haitsma and Letitia Dixon travelled to Russia, Poland and Germany with a group of classmates.
Alana Rowe (left), Evi Haitsma and Letitia Dixon travelled to Russia, Poland and Germany with a group of classmates.
A "trip of a lifetime" has given a group of Tauranga Girls' College students a deeper understanding of European history.
A group of 21 college students and adults embarked on such a trip earlier this month - taking in Russia, Germany and Poland to complement their study.
The areas visited were sites significant to the Russian revolution, Hitler's Germany, World War II, the Holocaust and the Cold War.
Tauranga Girls' College trip to Europe.
Favourites of the group included the Peter and Paul Fortress, Lenin's mausoleum where his body is on display, drinking milkshakes in Krakow, and the Polish salt mines.
The Bay of Plenty Times spoke to three of the students, Alana Rowe, 17, Evi Haitsma, 17, and Letitia Dixon, 16, about their experiences.
Auschwitz was the first part of the trip mentioned by all three. Alana said visiting the former concentration camp was a sombre experience and Evi said she had no words to describe it.
Tauranga Girls' College students pose for a pic in Europe.
"Even though we've studied it, it was different seeing it in person. You just feel cold," Alana said.
Letitia agreed. "The first Auschwitz camp we went to, you were so busy just taking it all in you forgot to breathe. It was intense."
Highlights of the trip for Evi included visiting the Kremlin, Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral.
Tauranga Girls' College in Europe.
She said being in Russia was "a real culture shock".
Letitia said her favourite place was the Winter Palace. "I've always wanted to go there and it was better than I thought it would be."
Evi researched the Cold War this year, so was interested in visiting Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall. She bought a piece of the Berlin Wall as a souvenir.
The experience has given Alana the travel bug.
"I didn't think I would enjoy Russia as much as I did.
"You hear a lot of bad things about it which overshadow all the beautiful things there. St Petersburg was very European and very beautiful."
Russia, Poland and Germany were not places Evi had ever really considered visiting. "But it was the trip of a lifetime."
