Day 16 - Harriet's Birthday and Homeward Bound

Today was the day we arrived back home in London! We woke up in time for buffet breakfast at 8:00am, then we went and packed our things and stacked them in the biggest apartment, it had 4 bathrooms, and 3 bedrooms and a lounge. We also had to clean the apartments properly. We then had time to either go to the shops, or stay in the apartment and chat and play cards etc. We all decided to stay in the apartment and play cards until we had to leave the apartments at 11:00am.

We left our big bags in the security room, and went out for lunch to celebrate Harriet’s birthday (No cheese and ham sandwiches!) we went to Restaurant Můstek where there was Czech food, but a lot of it was quite recognisable by now. There was, rabbit, duck, chicken, pork, soup, fried cheese and chips. It was different but familiar. I also had a big Birthday cake and everyone got a slice after I blew out the candles and cut the cake.

After we had ordered and eaten the yummy food, we went to get our bags from the security room so we could make our way to the train station.

When we got to the train station the leaders bought the tickets and we had to stamp them through a machine. The train journey went quite quickly, only 4 stops. After we got off the train we had to find the right bus stop and wait for a bus to the airport. All in all it was only 30 minutes from the city centre to the airport and our tickets cost 40p each.

As we queued up for check-in we wrapped our backpacks in bin liners to protect the straps. Then it was through passport control to hit the duty free shops before lining up for security ahead of our gate. Once on board we settled back for the two hour flight. Can you imagine our surprise when the captain made a special announcement for Harriet’s Birthday – the plane then sang Happy Birthday to her and she blushed!

We soon realised we had landed in England because it was raining (despite some thinking we were in Kazakhstan!) and we sang our way to the monorail and border control.
Ellie’s bag had a mini-adventure of its own - ending up on a different carousel – but they were soon reunited. Then it was through customs and out to find our coach. Throwing our packs into the back we boarded and sang our way back to London over the Border.

We said our thank you’s and the leaders got some lovely gifts from the girls and then, before we knew it, we were saying our final farewells and going our separate ways.
What a fantastic trip for everyone involved.
HB

Day 15 – Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town and Shopping

Today we all woke up at 8 o’clock to get ready in time for today’s activities. And then all of us met up in the leaders’ room for breakfast.


After breakfast we got the tram to the Prague castle and cathedral, where we decided to pay for a tour guide so we could really experience and understand about where we were. We all thought it was worth paying for a tour guide in the end especially when we had an exclusive tour of the Royal Crypt and the Wenceslas chapel. For lunch our leaders took us to Subway where we could spend up to a limited amount each. We then walked across the Charles Bridge to the Old Town.

We then split into groups so we could look around the shops and buy last minute souvenirs and presents. A whole afternoon of shopping, how lucky were we? After everyone had done their final shopping we all met up in the Old Square to return back to our lovely apartments. At the moment whilst I write this everyone is in their cooking groups cooking dinner for tonight. The plan for tonight is that after we have all eaten and put our plates etc into our dishwashers we then meet up in the bigger apartment to have a de-brief about our trip and maybe watch a DVD.
AG

Day 14 – Moving to Prague central and city bike tour and cooking

Today was the day we would leave from Camp Mechanice and we were going to leave to go to Prague. We got up at eight o’clock and had a quick breakfast of croissants and a few muffins. We left on foot and walked to the bus stop with our big rucksacks, it was really hot. It wasn’t far on the local bus and we got off at the Smichovske Nadrazi train station and got the metro to Mustek and walked through Wencelas Square to get to the apartments where we were staying. We got there around 11am so we left our bags there in storage cupboards because the rooms were not ready yet. While we were waiting for the rooms we did another guided bike tour like the one we did in Krakow. It was great fun but now all of our bums hurt because we were riding for over three hours!! We got back very exhausted and we were shown to our apartments by Kathy and we relaxed for a little while. Then we were split into groups to cook ourselves dinner. Two people from each group went shopping at Tesco and most of us had pasta but one group (I think) were planning pizza. After we had cooked dinner we went to bed and were pleased to hear we could have a lie in the following morning!
RL & AG

Day 13 – Ceský Raj and Rachele's Birthday

Today was a very special day as it was Rachele’s birthday. We made sure she had a great time. We started off the day by having a breakfast buffet in the restaurant at the camp site.

After that we got on the coach to Cesky Raj which means “Bohemian Paradise” and it’s a nature park. We hiked around it with our tour guide and he told us information about it like the stories behinds the rock formations and their names.
We also learnt about people climbing the rocks and the dangers of it. We saw a memorial of Czech climbers who died climbing somewhere in the world. After hiking for a few hours we got back to the beginning and walked around a few market stalls. After that we went to the castle to have a three course meal which was a real treat for all of us, especially Rachele. It was delicious!!!!

We then went into the town of Liberic and went shopping. We went back to the campsite after that and had supper of hot dogs, ham and cheese rolls and crisps. We then had chocolate birthday cake. Overall, it was a great day and very exciting.
Happy Birthday Rachele!!!!!!!!!!
EH

Day 13 - Cesky Raj and Liberec

We've finally had some good web access so have updated some photos and a few blog entries. Here's some photos of our day trip to Cesky Krumlov on Monday.



Yesterday we were exhausted following our Adventure Day! Although everyone says they are glad they did the canoeing and rock climbing.
This morning we had a Birthday breakfast for Rachel followed by a hike around Cesky Raj and a three course Birthday lunch in a castle.

More blogs to come. Off to Prague tomorrow

Day 12 : Adventure Day in the Sázava River Valley

We had an early start today as we had to catch a ferry at 7.15 am and we would meet our guide at 7.00 am however the guide told us at 7.45 am that he would be arriving at 8.00 am. This meant that although we had crossed the river ages before we then had to run to our 8.00 am train. We weren’t amused. After we boarded the train, which looked like a bus, we had to wait about 20 mins until our stop came up. The train worked its way along the valley. Once we disembarked we started on our hike down the valley towards the river. As we walked our guide briefed us on the upcoming day and he broke the news to us that he wasn’t providing shoes and our leaders knew our flip-flops were not adequate for the day’s canoeing and said they weren’t prepared for us to get our shoes wet. Fortunately as we trekked down to the river we passed a shop that sold crocs and Sharon and Kathy decided to buy us a pair each. They looked very lovely and colourful on our feet!

As soon as we reached the river we were given a safety talk and after putting our stuff into waterproof barrels and getting our packed lunch we were sent into the river in the canoes. After we had got used to steering and paddling we were sent into the rapids.

Very soon after starting some people were thrown out of their canoes, but we bravely ventured on. During the next hour and a half we battled against various rapids and many of us fell in repeatedly, and when we finally reached our first stop we were glad to be on dry land.

We walked to the Gold Mines, which were very cold for our wet skin.

After a little lunch break we continued in the canoes down a very rocky section. All very different from Fairlop Waters! After another 3 hours of canoeing we stopped off to do some rock climbing. This was very different to anything we had experienced at Chigwell Row.

After we had finished climbing we continued down the river to reach our final destination 1h30mins late.

We came back to the campsite by bus, Kathy & Sharon organised a treat at the camp restaurant (pizza, hamburger, omelette or sausage and chips followed by ice lollies) and then we were all grateful for an early night.
JW & EO

Day 11: Day out to Český Krumlov

We had an early start to the day as we had a two hour coach journey south to the Southern Bohemian District in Czech Republic. On the way we were told the history of Czech Republic and that Český Krumlov was the “capital” in the province. We walked through winding streets and visited churches which date back as early as the 14th century. Our guide, Kaisa, told us the beginning of Český Krumlov, how all the families fought against each other to be the head of the land and it eventually ended up with a family who had five sons, so there was plenty of five petal roses about the place. It was pretty and scenic - the town is on the UNESCO world heritage site so no modern buildings can be built in the town.

At lunch we were given free time to explore the shops and try some of local food but that proved tricky for a few groups because the town is more of a tourist site than anything else. The leaders managed some Czech pancakes and blueberry dumplings.

After lunch some of us climbed up the tower and were greeted with stunning views of Český Krumlov and the very narrow stairs, the low ceiling and the live bear that traditionally protected the castle (don’t worry, it was in the non-escapable moat). Shortly afterwards we had a walk round the outside of the castle. We walked through courtyards where royalty had once driven through in their horse and carriages, and out into the beautiful gardens. The tour was then ended as we headed back to the coach. Looking back, the town has a history going centuries back with a unique form of architecture. In the evening we had traditional Czech dinner in the campsite restaurant which was delicious. We then had some time for reflections which was on the River Vltava with the sun setting behind the hill. We then had an early night as we had a fun packed day ahead of us.
ED

Day 10 – ‘…and on the 10th day, the girls did absolutely nothing…?!’

After an extremely busy week, the leaders decided the girls were in need of a typical lazy Sunday. After waking up to find only sparkling water for breakfast, a convoy was sent to the local shop, which was promptly emptied of all their bottled water, bread, milk and cheese! At last, with still water and a hearty breakfast in our tums, we embarked on some highly skilled matches of table tennis, worthy of Wimbeldon, snooker and card games straight out of Vegas! After much persuasion, Lauren was dragged to the pool side to act as lifeguard, whilst we jumped and splashed about, desperately trying to tan our factor 50 arms!


Kathy and Sharon then led us in the Look Wider programme and a few Guide badges to broaden our Guiding knowledge and make sure that we did one thing productive on our ‘day off.’ The day was flying past at such a rapid rate we were soon sitting down to a lovely meal of meatballs, (which Harriet ate ten of!) and pasta. After dinner we were given some time to chat and have a gossip, and then it was off to bed, nice and early, ready for an early start tomorrow and a day of adventure!

Day Nine - Arriving in Prague

Hey folks

We have now nested into our accommodation just south of Prague. They are lovely little ensuite bungalows and it has a nice atmosphere.
We don't have so much internet access as we are outside of the main town - so sadly we wont be able to update the blog as regularly - but we are writing it, so will upload everything as soon as we can.
Keep sending us your messages as its nice to hear from you.
The train from Krakow to Prague was hot but there was a nice breeze through the windows when we were moving.

We got into Prague around 7am and after a toilet stop we found our bus stop and queued up to get the 361.
We then had a chilled out morning and early afternoon, playing cards, using the playground and reading. We also did loads of washing and explored the area.

In the afternoon we went to a nearby airfield where we went up in a plane - more about that later - it was fab and we couldn't quite believe we were flying over rivers and castles.

Then the leaders did a supermarket sweep at "Plus" shop and we came back to the site for a lovely pasta bolognaise and Swiss roll.

We then found ourselves really tired so we hit the sack and Sunday we had a long lie-in :-)