Final Mobility to the Czech Republic, 8th-12th May 2023
My Trip to the Czech Republic - Report by Luis Benda, 4A
Day 1:
On Monday the 8th of May all of us – that is Anna, Katharina, Matilda and Theo (all from class 2B) and me - had to be at Graz Main Station at 10 o‘clock. After we had said goodbye to our parents, we entered the train and went to our seats. At 10:20 the train to Vienna left and our journey began.
We took a train to Ostrava, a big city in the Czech Republic, where we arrived at 5 p.m. Then a small bus took us to our destination: Melc.
My host family welcomed me at the bus stop and we went to their house. They showed me my room and after a little snack we did archery. I had never done it before but in my opinion it is a lot of fun and I even hit the target - at least some times.
For dinner the mother of my partner student Dominik made “Wiener Schnitzel”. It was really good but a little bit different from those in Austria.
After a good poker game we all went to bed and the first day of my trip was over.
Day 2
In the morning of the second day, we woke up, ate breakfast (bread with butter and jelly) and then went to Dominik’s school. He showed me his classroom and my my seat for that day. In the first lesson we learned some Czech words for food.
After that there was a welcome ceremony for us with dancing and singing. The last subject of this day was PE, so we went to the gym and played a game.
Then it was time for lunch which we had at the school canteen.
Afterwards we drove to a castle near Melc “Hradec nad Moravici“ which was beautiful and where we had a two-hour tour.
We said goodbye to our teachers and went to Dominik’s house. His family was already waiting for us because our next program item was a bike tour to a reservoir.
After two hours we were back home and very tired. For dinner we went to the restaurant of Dominik’s father and made pizza ourselves.
After that I watched a football match with Dominik and his father.
Day 3
On the third day we got up very early because we had to be at school at 7 o’clock.
After a two-hour bus ride we arrived at a cave near Brno called “Punkevni caves“. It was very interesting to see the different formations of stalactites and stalagmites there.
All afternoon was spent at the “VIDA - Science Centre” where we first had a workshop about electric light and we could then explore the whole centre ourselves. There were many interesting interactive activities to be done and you could learn about science.
We left the Science Center at 4 p.m. and went back to Melc by bus. The two hours ride felt like days but when we arrived Dominik’s father was already waiting for us.
When we were at home we did an archery tour through the forest with many targets.
As one of my favourite meals is Spaghetti Bolognese Dominik’s mother had prepared it for us. I was so hungry that I literally devoured the food.
To finish the day we watched a Champions League match: AC Milan against Inter Milan, a derby.
Day 4
This day was less exciting. We had two normal lessons and then two lessons with workshops.
At the first workshop we tinkered a keychain, the second workshop consisted of two parts: first there was a Kahoot quiz about the Czech Republic and then we did a few chemical experiments.
After these two workshops we went to the gym where we tinkered things of wood and plastic with local artists.
Just before lunch we planted rose bushes. Each country had its own rose bush to remember the partnership..
There was a program for the afternoon but Dominik and I were picked up right after lunch because his family and I made a trip to the longest suspension bridge in Europe. It is called “Skybridge” and there is also an observation tower called “Skywalk”.
After we had visited both of them we went down a summer toboggan run which was great fun.
Day 5
On our last day we went to Ostrava by bus.
We visited an abandoned coal mine at the outskirts of town. The tour there was really interesting and at the end we heard about a rescue operation in this mine and could do a training parcour ourselves.
After that we had to go to the train station, so we had to say goodbye to our partners and everyone else.
At 9.30 p.m. we arrived at Graz Main Station where our parents were already waiting for us. We said goodbye to our teachers and went home.
All in all this trip was a very interesting experience and if there is any chance to do a similar project again I will definitely do it.
