Kraków: Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology Study Trip

I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Kraków, Poland, with other second-year Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology students during spring break, all of us excited to explore the city and gain a new experience.

Seminar at Jagiellonian University 

Our first day consisted of us checking into our hotel and promptly heading to Jagiellonian University for a seminar led by the institution. Through this, we were able to interact with students attending the university and talk about our university experiences, whilst also gaining knowledge on the lecturers' fields of study. After this, we had the whole evening to ourselves. I opted to explore the city’s shops (including a beautiful traditional Polish pottery shop) and try new Indian dishes, whilst others explored other food places and bars, such as a fancy Italian restaurant.

Exploring Kraków’s history and culture

Our next day in Krakow started with a hearty buffet-style breakfast and then a walking tour of Krakow. Our tour guide for the trip explained the rich history of the areas we visited, including spaces featured in the film Schlindler’s List. After a lunch break, we continued our tour to the Wawel Royal Castle grounds and then split off for the rest of the day. This day was one of my highlights from the trip, as I explored the old market, went to a cat cafe, had amazing ramen (at a really good restaurant called Ramen People) and then met up with my course mates to go on an evening river cruise of the city! Despite the weather being cold during our visit, we had a great time, and the prices for food and drinks were affordable for everyone.

Auschwitz-Birkenau and Wieliczka Mines

On our third day, we visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Our guided tour led us on an eye-opening and solemn visit, in which we all were impacted by the harrowing events we learned about.

We then took a coach to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, where our guide mixed deep knowledge with humour. As we explored the mines, some of us even licked the walls and we all took lovely pictures of the religious artwork carved from rock salt inside the church hundreds of feet underground. Afterwards we had the rest of the day to explore the city. My friend and I went to get burgers for dinner and then ended the night by trying a Chimney cake. It was so yummy!

Free time in the City

Our final full day was mostly independent exploration. After visiting a local vinyl shop in the Jewish Quarter, I went to a kimbap place (a Korean dish of cooked meats wrapped in rice and seaweed). I then met a friend to go to a Bunny café. All the bunnies were so cute and we had a great time! With more time to spare before our scheduled plans, I headed to St Mary’s Basilica. This was one of my favourite places I visited, the architecture was beautiful and insanely intricate! Later we joined as a group to visit the Oskar Schindler's Factory Museum. Our guide led us around the museum and shared her rich knowledge of Schindler’s life and role during World War II.

After this tour, we had the evening to ourselves. Most of us grabbed dinner, with me trying Pierogi’s for the first time, a delicacy in Poland! Later, I explored a bar on my own and stumbled upon a live experimental band playing not far from our hotel. Due to this being our last night together, a lot of us on the trip decided to go to a karaoke bar together to have a few drinks and end our trip celebrating together. We had so much fun!

Final thoughts

This was an incredible experience that I would recommend to every student in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology who has the opportunity take part. As someone who has found it hard to make connections at university, this trip allowed me to make new friends and speak to new people on my course.Not only did I speak to people I had never interacted with before, I also tried new food, new drinks, experienced a different culture and gained insight into a rich historical city.

One main takeaway from this trip for me is the importance of travel and history. Most of my holidays before this have focused on having fun and exploring but, due to the link between sociology, social policy and criminology, and the deep political history of Krakow, I not only felt intrigued by this, but found the activities revolving around this to be very interesting and further aiding my studies in sociology.

The School of Law and Social Justice made this trip so enjoyable! Not only were Dr Leon Moosavi and Shaun Greaves a blast to be around, but the trip was very well planned by the department as we partook in many activities and guided tours. All together, visiting Krakow with my peers and department staff allowed me to make new friends and was absolutely amazing. This trip has encouraged me to travel more independently and will be a core memory when I think back to my time at university!

About the author

Aaleyah Hussain is second-year Sociology student at the University of Liverpool’s Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology.