Czech Trek
Over our Easter Break at DIS (March 27—April 1), I participated in the Czech Trek DIScovery Trip. This was a 4 day adventure in which we spent 3 days at Hruba Skala castle in Český ráj (an area 50 km northeast of Prague loosely translated to “Bohemian Paradise”) and 1 day exploring the city of Prague. Our DIS leaders were Cionna, Natalie, and Atanasio. During our stay at the Hruba Skala castle, a couple Czech locals named Hunzar, Sharka, and Tom also served as our guides and activity leaders.
The first thing to note about this trip was that both DIS students from Copenhagen and Stockholm participated. So I got to meet a few new people from the DIS Stockholm program. In general, the DIScovery Trips DIS offers are a great way to travel somewhere new and make new friends through fun, shared experiences.
Admittedly, the method of transportation was a little rough. We took an overnight bus both travelling to and returning from the Czech Republic. All in all, this amounts to a 12 hour journey both times. Meh. The seats reclined a little bit, but overall the seats weren’t that comfortable and there wasn’t much space or leg room. Fortunately, everything else about the trip and experience makes up for the less-than-stellar bus ride.
Before I describe our day-to-day activities, there are a couple logistical points I want to mention. First, they “lied” to us when we were told that the bar at the Hruba Skala castel/hotel only accepted cash. Turns out they do accept credit cards. Keep that in mind when deciding how much money of the local currency to withdrawal from an ATM. Also, try to plan out how much you expect to spend ahead of time because ATMs are rare outside of Prague–so you might only get one initial chance at an ATM for money to last for the first 3 days of the trip. Fortunately, the conversion rate for the dollar is very good and you can purchase a lot for cheap.
Day 1
Since we traveled by bus overnight, we arrived at the Hruba Skala castle/hotel in the morning on Wednesday, March 28. I think we were all pretty tired and suffering from a severe lack of sleep. Luckily, day 1 was a nice and easy opportunity for us to settle in at the castle. Since there were only 5 guys on this DIScovery Trip (including myself), we shared one suite which consisted of two rooms. The key to our hotel suite was ridiculously large (see the image in the slideshow above) but it did seem fitting for the atmosphere of staying at an old Czech castle. We spent the afternoon getting to know each other through ice breaker activities and participating in archery. I’ve never used a bow and arrow before, so this was a new experience for me. Not surprisingly, I was definitely one of the worst archers in our little competition. Still, I managed to at least hit the target 90% of the time (and only one of my arrows completely missed the target area and flew of the edge into the ravine—in my defense though, who thought it was a good idea to set up an archery activity for beginners right next to the edge of a ravine?).
Day 2
Throughout the first 3 days of activities, our entire Czech Trek group was split into 2 groups. Group A would perform one activity in the morning and then switch to the activity Group B did in the morning during the afternoon. Day 2 began with my group travelling to Suche Skaly, an elevated rock formation, in the morning. This is where we did some rock climbing and rappelling. The rock climbing spot furthest to the left on the rock formation was the easiest, the spot a little to the right with the yellow/green rope was a medium difficulty climb, and there was a very challenging rock climbing spot around the corner of the rock formation on the right for anyone advanced and daring enough to try it. I successfully made it to the top on the easiest and medium difficulty rock climbing spots! My hands were freezing though. The rock was wet to grasp, and it was fairly windy and cold at this elevation. Make sure to bring gloves!
In the afternoon on Day 2, my group headed out for a cave and rope expedition at Klokoci. Out of everything we did during the first 3 days of the Czech Trek DIScovery Trip, the cave and rope expedition was my favorite part. The expedition began with us exploring a cave to find some map and puzzle pieces. We then continued the expedition by following the path marked on the first map piece until we found more map pieces. The entire expedition was very exciting & adventurous. I won’t spoil all the fun in case you decide to go on the Czech Trek, but I will say that the expedition involved climbing/descending, some narrow/small openings you have to squeeze through in caves (prompting one member of our group to exclaim “Is this a joke?”), a little leap of faith, , and a couple times you have to climb across some nets (prompting the same aforementioned group member to exclaim “I tried walking, but crawling was easier”). Once we returned to the castle, we had a group treasure hunt at night. Sharka was dressed as a ghost, and she managed to spook quite a few of us during the treasure hunt by jumping out at opportune moments.
Day 3
On Day 3, we engaged in a guided trek through the trails around the castle in the morning. In the afternoon, we got to use a zipline and return to where we started by cautiously walking across a high ropes bridge. The high ropes bridge was absolutely terrifying, and I honestly got a little bit of rope burn because of how strongly I was grasping the side ropes to maintain my balance.
Prague
Finally, after enjoying the unique countryside, we got to spend Day 4 (our last day) exploring the city of Prague. We arrived near the Easter Market and then took a guided walking tour of the city. DIS gives you a lot of freedom on DIScovery Trips, so there were actually a couple students who chose not to participate in the walking tour and just explored the city on their own the entire time. Know that this is an option. Anyway, I chose to take the walking tour and learn a little bit of the culture and history of the city (including the synagogues, German occupation, where Kafka lived, etc.). Then we were set free to explore the city as we wished from 12:30—8:30 pm. I highly recommend doing a little research ahead of time. When you only have a day to explore a city like Prague, you have to pick and choose what you want to do since you won’t have time for everything. The interesting thing is that my experience is unique and distinct from how the other students on the trip chose to spend their day in Prague. My friends and I walked across the Charles Bridge to the Prague Castle, saw the interior of the St. Nicholas church, ate some local cuisine, chilled in a nice pub, and saw the Dancing House (also called the Fred and Ginger House). From a culinary perspective, I experienced (and can personally recommend that you try) the hot honey wine and trdelník. Trdelník is a very popular, sweet cinnamon-coated pastry. It’s shaped like a cylinder and filled with everything from ice cream to chocolate (see the pictures in the slideshow above). Other students chose to spent their time shopping, walking around the National Museum, or visiting some of the many museums (such as the museum of communism, KGB museum, alchemy museum, ghost museum, museum of torture…and even the sex machines museum if you’re into that kind of thing).
I had an incredible time in Český ráj and Prague. If you’re yearning for more adventure or a way to make the most out of one of your study breaks, a DIScovery Trip is a great option.
Danny in Denmark 