POLAND Cracow June 2019





Trip to Poland.
 
 
 
 
 


On the 3rd June, 2019 – 23 members of the Ballinasloe Active Retired Group, travelled to Cracow, on a memorable trip to the beautiful historic City of Cracow. Poland’s royal city, its capital from the 11th century, until 1795. We had a pleasant flight and arrived at our Hotel in the late evening., and soon settled in to our new surroundings.


We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather, with temperatures of 28/29 degrees for the whole of our visit. Our Tour Guides had arranged for us to visit different places each day and gave us much information about each site we visited, including the following:-


The famous Salt mines of Wieliczka. Where much of Cracow;s wealth was built on the ‘white gold’. We had a guided tour of the mines, which included 3 hours of walking, taking in 300 steps of stairs, underground, which had to be manouvered in the process, this was quite a challenge for each of us, but we all managed it. We also saw the beautiful Church in the Mines , which was most interesting, with a beautiful monument to St. John Paul 11.


A walking tour of Cracow, which took us on a visit the main square in the City, with its beautiful historic buildings, the Jewish Quarter, with its 9 synagogues, which were never destroyed by the Nazis, and which is now slowly coming back to life. We also saw Cracow’s university which was founded in 1364. In our travels, we also saw where St. Pope John Paul lived, and our Guide gave us the whole history of his life in Poland. To this day he is very much revered by the Polish people . A guided tour of the Cathedrals was also included in our itinerary, where we saw the picture of St. Faustina, Apostle of Divine Mercy, beside a portrait of St. John Paul, in a prominent place.

A visit to the Jewish Museum in Galicia, was also organized, which was very interesting.

We travelled to Auschwitz & Birkenau, where so many Jews were brutally murdered in the war. With our guide, we saw the places where mainly the jews, but also Poles, Gypsies, and other inferior’ groups. lived, worked, and in so many cases died as a result of the treatment they received. One prisoner, A Franciscan Priests, Fr. Maximillan Kolbe, who offered his life for another prisoner who had a wife and family, died in Cell No. 18, from slow starvation. The visit to this place was quite painful and thought provoking, and very sad that such a terrible thing could happen in our lifetime.

On our last day in Cracow, we re-visited many of the places, some of us took a bus tour of the City, and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and the surroundings. It was with sad hearts that we said good-bye to the lovely Polish people and their beautiful Country, and who knows, maybe we may have the privilege of travelling there again in the future.








Report from
           Sr. Rosaleen (Colmcille)








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Trip to Westport/Clew Bay Cruise – June’19


Trip to Westport/Clew Bay Cruise – June’19



Once again the weather man was kind to us as 50 members of our group boarded Fahy’s Bus for our first days’s outing of the year to Westport.

On route, we stopped in McWilliam Park Hotel ,Claremorris for our usual Tea/Coffee/Scones. Our Mayo members in particular enjoyed the journey through their familiar landscape. We arrived in Westport and had an hour to browse and explore the many nice shops and cafes.

On boarding our boat at the Quay, we were given free binoculars followed by an on-board commentary which guided us through the history of Clew Bay from battles to tragedies, from the ice age to modern day.

The bay is home to a thriving seal colony, beautiful secluded beaches and breathtaking views of Croagh Patrick, Murrisk Abbey and Berthra Beach. We sailed past the many sheltered islands including Dorinish island which John Lennon bought in 1967 for 1700 euro. We also spotted the remains of the huts and dwellings used by the hippies that called the island home.




Leaving behind the beauty and serenity of Clew Bay, we boarded our bus for home. We enjoyed a beautiful dinner in the Ard Na Ri Hotel in Tuam on the way home. It was a nice way to end a very pleasant day out and was enjoyed by one and all.

Chris O’Flynn (P.R.O) June ’19






Chris O’Flynn (P.R.O) June ’19






Sports Ability Day 9th. June 2019


Sports Ability Day, 9th June 2019

There was a big turnout of our members – particularly our walking club members – at the Sports Ability Day held in the Emerald Ballroom on June 9th.

The event was an opportunity for all to see what inclusive sporting avenues are available in our community. It was also an opportunity to see some of the amazing talents of the many athletes participating in activities from wheelchair basketball to hand cycling

I think it came as a surprise to some of our spectators to see how fit and active our group were as we went through our keep-fit exercises. It was encouraging to see so many of the other participants joining in on the action..

We had great fun on the day and we were very proud to be able to demonstrate how important our weekly walk and exercise routine lends itself to a healthy and active lifestyle.

We would welcome any new members who would like to join us every Tuesday morning on the Athletic track at 10.30 ,and afterwards for the very important cuppa and chat in the G.A.A .clubhouse.









 
 Chris 0'Flynn   P.R.O.