3.28.10-4.3.10 – Czech This Out!

The first half of my two-week travel break was spent going on an adventure trip organized by DIS to the Czech Republic. We left at 6pm on Sunday evening from Copenhagen on an overnight bus that got us to our castle retreat at about 8:00am the next morning. I had never been on an overnight bus before, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Our trip leaders had several movies that they picked out for the drive, which kept me occupied for most of the time (including a silent horror film set in Prague – I still don’t really understand what happened in that one). Also as part of our overnight journey, we took a ferry to cross from Denmark to Germany, which also helped to break up the trip a little bit. The ferry also had a duty free shop on board, so we were additionally revitalized with cheaper chocolates and candy! I did also manage to sleep a little bit on the bus, however it is rather uncomfortable and I had a very difficult time getting/staying comfortable even with two seats to myself.

DAY 1: We arrived at our castle hotel at about 8:00 in the morning on Monday where we were able to check into our rooms (which were nicer than DIS portrayed to us), had breakfast, and prepared for our first outdoor activity.

FYI: This trip was located in the mountainous region in the north Czech Republic and revolved on a variety of outdoor activities and out final day spent in Prague.

Our first adventure was a three-hour mountain bike ride through the woods and hills of the region we were in. I decided to challenge myself further by going on the more intense of the two rides (we were given a choice). It was a lot of fun, and I kept up better than I expected. I must admit though that there were several larger hills where I simply could not make it, so I had to get off my bike and walk. Parts of the ride were definitely more difficult than others not just because of hills but also because several areas were really muddy or trees had recently been cut in the area. These obstacles caused some back ups (since I was in a group of about 20 other students from my group), but we all still managed rather well. This ride also sensitized us all pretty quickly to the fact that we were going to be getting dirty over the next few days. Since it was muddy and wet, we all ended up with some lovely mud splatter on our backs, legs, faces, etc. We also got a chance to see some neat scenery through our ride though including the mountains and countryside in the valleys. At one point we also stopped at a fresh water spring to get a nice cold drink. It might have been the best water I have ever tasted! (mainly because I was getting tired, and it was cold and refreshing).

After our bike ride, we headed back up to the castle for lunch and some group building activities for the afternoon. The group building activities were okay, however it had started sprinkling and raining while we outside, which complicated things a little bit. For example, we were doing these activities where we were competing one on one to try to grab a flag or doing a trust activity where one of us was blindfolded and would simply run and the rest of us had to catch them so that they wouldn’t get hurt or run into anything. However, with the ground being wet and slippery, it was very difficult to get push off from the ground and stopping without sliding into the ground was almost impossible. It definitely made some of the activities more interesting, but it also got sort of annoying too because we all kept falling on the ground. It was a little funny though ☺ After a while, we all took a vote and decided to head inside for the rest of the afternoon to continue our group bonding, including the human knot and trust falls – to name a few of my favorites. Our human knots only had limited success though because we kept ending up in multiple circles instead of one (once this was done by our guide even though we had it right the first time). It was definitely a good way to get to know each other, since most of us had never met each other before. People definitely warmed up to the activities more once we were inside and were not sliding all over the place in the mud.

That evening, we all headed to dinner (except one lunch, we always had breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining room at the castle). Afterwards, most of us had an early night (after a relaxing drink) since we hadn’t exactly gotten the best night sleep on the bus the night before and had already had one long day.

DAY 2: Our morning activity today was to go orienteering. After breakfast, we were given instructions for the course and how to use our tools (compass and map). We broke up into teams of two or three and each team headed out on the course in 2 minutes intervals.



While we would have had fun within our groups, my friend, Kassandra, and I actually joined up with two other groups on the course, so that there were 6 of us going through it together. I think it made it all the more fun and enjoyable in the long run. Our compass skills were actually overshadowed by our ability to read the map. We figured out which dotted lined showed the trails that ran through the woods, so we simply figured out which trails we could take to different markers. While perhaps not the most adventurous, we did only get lost once and made it to all the markers successfully. Later that day at dinner, we discovered that our teams had the slowest times, however four of the other teams got disqualified, so technically we didn’t come in last ☺

The afternoon activities consisted of a high ropewalk, zip lining, and rappelling. I had never rappelled before (and I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be the most thrilling in my book) so I decided to do that first. It lived up to my expectations. It was fun and interesting to do, but I didn’t feel like I was doing much, simply letting myself down. I think it was made a little more difficult because the rope was a little difficult to feed through, so that I could let myself down. I am still glad that I did it though.


(I didn’t get any good pictures of my rappelling, however I did get some of my friend Julie, who can be seen throughout this blog.)








After rappelling, I changed harnesses so I could get hooked up to the zip line and do the ropewalk. I always think zip lines are fun, but again you aren’t really doing much but hanging there. Also, when I jumped off the cliff we were on, I spun around, so I could only see the ravine below and not the beautiful view out into the valley. I then relaxed for a little on the other side of the ravine while a few others who were before me headed out onto the ropewalk. It was really nice sitting on that side because the sun was shining in my face, and I felt nice and warm.

Soon enough, it was my turn to head across the ropewalk. It is a wire line running from one side of the ravine to the other. We also had hand wires that we could hold onto to balance ourselves. It was probably my favorite thing to do out of all the activities, however others didn’t seem to like it as much as I did. The only negative about it was we were walking across the ravine away from the prettier view of the valley. Therefore, we had to stop halfway to turn around and get the view instead of being able to walk towards it the whole time.

After the afternoon of those activities and everyone getting their own turn, we had a little bit of time before dinner to clean up and relax. At dinner, we once again had a filling meal. Every meal at the castle started with soup and then a large plate of a meat plus a starch/grain. They were all good though, so I wont complain. Also at dinner, we learned who the winners were from our orienteering challenge in the morning. (We were actually timed and had marker cards to see who completed the course correctly with the quickest time). Our collection of groups got the last three places, however four teams were disqualified (so we really didn’t come in last).

After dinner, we had a nighttime scavenger hunt around the castle. We were divided into teams and we had to go to different markers, which were “hidden” all around the castle grounds. On each marker there was a clue consisting of multiple letters. Once we got all the clues we had to organize the letters into words to get the final clue. Some how our team failed to get the very last clue (#20) so we had the entire things figured out however we didn’t know what the last word was. It was making reference to a black “something”, but we didn’t know what the “something” was without the last clue. All of the clues were all mixed up too, so we didn’t know which marker was clue #20. We eventually figured out that it must have made reference to a black “knight”. One of our guides for the week was wearing a black cape, hiding, and trying to scare everyone during the scavenger hunt. Once we figured it out, we then proceeded to walk around the castle grounds to purposely be scared. It was sort of odd. It was also completely dark out by this time, so it was also a little scary. By the time we finally got scared, we were too late and a couple teams had beat us and got the last piece to receive the final prize (a key to get into the tall tower). It was goofy, but it definitely made for a fun evening.

Once we rallied after the scavenger hunt and figured out who won, we all made our way to the bar (at the castle) for a drink or two. I didn’t stay too long since I was exhausted from the day and still needed to shower.

DAY 3: Our day started relatively early because we were first driving part way to our location for rock climbing in the morning. It was probably about a 30 minute drive followed by a 30 minute walk/hike/climb up to the top of the hill where our rocks to climb were located. Overall, it wasn’t a bad way to start the morning, however it wasn’t exactly the nicest day outside. We could all tell that it was probably going to rain, but we were hoping that it wouldn’t happen.





Once we got to the top of the hill, our guides showed us our options for the morning (3 rock climbing paths and rappelling) as well as reminded us about the equipment and safety gear. When they were done with their little introduction, we all began to harness up. Unfortunately the clouds continued to head our way and eventually it did begin to rain rather consistently for most of our time up on the rocks. Luckily, I managed to get in my chance to climb before it got too bad, however the rocks were still cold and getting wet. It wasn’t too bad; the hard thing was that my hands went numb about two-thirds of the way through. I still made it to the top though ☺ After rock climbing and since I was already harnessed up, I decided to give the rappelling another chance (even though I didn’t think it was all that fascinating). This time, however, it was a little more interesting because the last half of the rock face we went down was simply hanging in midair and gradually letting your self down (still not that thrilling, but better than the day before).

After everyone got there fill of rock climbing and rappelling (and most of us simply couldn’t take being out in the cold, rainy weather anymore), we headed down to our lunch location. For the first time in several days we were eating somewhere besides the castle! It was a little local pub; we had traditional Czech cuisine – pork and dumplings (which look like pieces of bread). It was good, but a little for hearty for my tastes. It was nice and dry though, which no one could complain about.

Following lunch, we were supposed to go for a trek, however due to the weather situation no one wanted to be outside for much longer (including our outdoorsy guides). Instead, we headed over to a local cave excavation where we took a tour of the caves underground. It was interesting with all the different formations that were there. We also saw one of the underground lakes, which is this beautiful light blue color. A funny thing about the tour though, our guide didn’t speak English, however he had this tape recording about the caves. So he walked us around from one location to the next and would simply stop and press play as well as point of objects with his flashlight. It was goofy, yet still effective. It was probably one of those things where you would have had to be there for the humor.

After the caves, we headed back to the bus so we could get back to the hotel for evening. Once at the castle, most of us relaxed, showered, or begun to pack, since we were leaving the next day, before heading to dinner. Dinner was as filling as always. Then most people either headed off to bed or the bar.

DAY 4: We got up relatively early this morning, so that we could eat breakfast before we left the castle at 8:30am. We were leaving so early because we had about an hour and a half drive until we arrived in Prague where we were spending our last day. It was sort of ironic since I would be back in Prague with mom in a few days, however I decided it would be a good way for me to familiarize myself with the city.

We got to Prague in the late morning and technically had the whole day to ourselves to do whatever we wanted. DIS did have an optional walking tour scheduled in the early afternoon, which I decided I wanted to do (thinking it would be the best way to figure out my way around). Before the walking tour, I headed out into the city with a couple of friends, where we managed to see the Charles Bridge, the Castle (from a distance), and a rather interesting statute in front of the Kafka museum. We then headed back to the Old Town Square for lunch, since there was an Easter Market set up there, which had relatively cheaper food. I got something that was more like a dessert. It was this slow baked dough roll with cinnamon, sugar, and almonds. It was really good. I actually had another one later in the evening prior to getting on the bus.

After our goofy lunch in the town square, our group that we had been walking around with began to split up. A few people went to see some sights, others went shopping, and then me and one other girl went to meet up with the group doing the walking tour. It was about three hours long going all over the city to different areas. I really liked our guide, Emma. She is currently a student studying history at the University in Prague. She was not only informative but also gave us some random facts about the city as well. I did feel a little bad during the walking tour because I didn’t want to see too much without mom there, however we didn’t really go into many places (except for a couple churches). Therefore, it ended up being the perfect was to understand the city a little bit more and simply get oriented.

Once our tour ended, me and Julie headed back down to the town square to meet up with some friends for dinner. We were desperate for anything that was NOT Czech. After a little searching we found a nice little Italian restaurant. I had this really good mushroom tortellini and ended up finishing the whole thing. After dinner, we headed over to meet back up with our entire group (at least those of us who were heading back to Copenhagen; we had the option to leave the group in Prague if we wanted). As I mentioned a few of us got some sweet snacks at the Easter market before heading up to the bus. Once we got to the bus we began our overnight bus ride back to Copenhagen. I unfortunately didn’t sleep very well on the way back, but overall it was fine.

We got back into Copenhagen around 10:30 (earlier than expected). My friend, Kassandra, and I then made the additional trip up to Hillerod. In the end, I got home a little before noon and almost immediately began to unpack, do laundry, repack, and shower. I didn’t have much time since I was leaving to head to the airport around 5:30 to get MOM! That pretty much ends Part 1 of my travel break, and I cannot wait to talk about Part 2: Copenhagen, Prague and Vienna with Mom.