This morning the children were divided into two groups. For half of the morning, each group did artwork for display at the final assembly, or
practised their music for it. For the other half, they walked through the town to a factory where wooden garden furniture is prepared and assembled. Teachers accompanied this trip and also put up the display in the town cinema.
The factory belongs to the husband of a teacher at the school, so he knew all about us and had prepared a warm welcome. We were given t-shirts and refreshments, shown the processes of the factory from start to finish, and then the children were invited to do some manufacturing themselves. They hammered and glued and used electric screwdrivers for all they were worth, making parts of small stools which were patented here, while teachers watched in admiration, taking photos. The best surprise of all was that while we were having our refreshments afterwards, we were presented with a wrapped stools for our schools which our own children had put together. How cool is that?
The weather was again kinder than forecast, so after lunch at school and a short break--time for teachers to update blogs and check the latest flight situation--we were able to set off by coach again for
Tvrz Bouda, an underground fortification constructed in the 1930s for defence against Germany, but never used as such.
Apparently it was used during the Cold War by the Russians.
This trip involved climbing what the English would call a mountain (nearly 1000 m above sea level) but the Czechs regard as just a hill. There is a wonderful view from the top as far as Poland, but we saw nothing because of the low cloud base. Then began a long descending hike to the fortifications, and a walk for an hour through the maze of tunnels underground, where it was cold (4.5 degrees). The guide was an enthusiast who felt he had to tell us everything! My impression was that I would have hated to live and work in such an environment as a soldier.
After surfacing and eating our packed tea we continued our descent, this time about 7 km to
Těchonín where Hugh and Chris, two of the English party, have been staying. The track was muddy in places and steep in others, but now we enjoyed some spectacular views en route in Alpine-type country before rejoining our bus for the short ride back to school and hosts, tired but happy.
This morning the children were divided into two groups. For half of the morning, each group did artwork for display at the final assembly, or practised their music for it. For the other half, they walked through the town to a factory where wooden garden furniture is prepared and assembled. Teachers accompanied this trip and also put up the display in the town cinema.
The factory belongs to the husband of a teacher at the school, so he knew all about us and had prepared a warm welcome. We were given t-shirts and refreshments, shown the processes of the factory from start to finish, and then the children were invited to do some manufacturing themselves. They hammered and glued and used electric screwdrivers for all they were worth, making parts of small stools which were patented here, while teachers watched in admiration, taking photos. The best surprise of all was that while we were having our refreshments afterwards, we were presented with a wrapped stools for our schools which our own children had put together. How cool is that?
The weather was again kinder than forecast, so after lunch at school and a short break--time for teachers to update blogs and check the latest flight situation--we were able to set off by coach again for Tvrz Bouda, an underground fortification constructed in the 1930s for defence against Germany, but never used as such. Apparently it was used during the Cold War by the Russians. 
This trip involved climbing what the English would call a mountain (nearly 1000 m above sea level) but the Czechs regard as just a hill. There is a wonderful view from the top as far as Poland, but we saw nothing because of the low cloud base. Then began a long descending hike to the fortifications, and a walk for an hour through the maze of tunnels underground, where it was cold (4.5 degrees). The guide was an enthusiast who felt he had to tell us everything! My impression was that I would have hated to live and work in such an environment as a soldier.
After surfacing and eating our packed tea we continued our descent, this time about 7 km to Těchonín where Hugh and Chris, two of the English party, have been staying. The track was muddy in places and steep in others, but now we enjoyed some spectacular views en route in Alpine-type country before rejoining our bus for the short ride back to school and hosts, tired but happy.
