This was the day when the fifth meeting of the project started. Students Evelina Kazlauskaite, Brigita Sinkeviciute (form 10a) and English teacher Jurgita Arbutaviciene participated in this meeting. Still being in Lithuania we were looking forward to this trip to the Czech Republic, as we knew that we will travel to the mother country of Jan Amos Komensky, whose name is given to the programme that we are participating in, also known as Comenius, who was a great Czech thinker, philosopher and writer, though he is best known as a pioneer of education.

Our partners arrived to Prague at different times that day, and as we were the earliest to arrive, we used the left time of the day to get acquainted with the surroundings of the Czech capital.

The topic of the meeting was the Gothic style and the main attention was given to the Gothic style buildings – “magic places”.

The first Gothic style building visited that day was Karlstejn Castle located about 30 km away from Prague. When we approached to the castle, we saw Disney – like castle perched on a hill, surrounded by lush forests and vineyards. Karlstejn Castle is a large Gothic castle founded in 1348 AD by Charles IV, Holy Roman emperor – elect and King of Bohemia. The castle served as a place for safekeeping the Imperial Regalia as well as Bohemia/Czech crown jewels, holy relics and other royal treasures.

In the afternoon we had the excursion in Prague visiting Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge and Town Hall Square with the famous astronomical clock. Our guide Dana told us lots of interesting things about Prague. We’ve learned that Prague has 1.3 mln. inhabitants and each year a million of tourists from all over the world visit it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Early in the morning students and teachers gathered at Pacov gymnasium. This educational institution started working in 1991 and has about 160 students, some of them come to the gymnasium even from the villages located about 20 km away from Pacov. In the gymnasium we were met and welcomed by its headmaster Mr. Josef Novak. We also had a visit around the school where we saw lots of the students’ works displayed simply on the walls in the corridor and the posters of the previous project meetings in Lithuania, Italy, Portugal.

The first activity we’ve had that day was the presentation of the touristic vocabulary in the Czech and English languages, we’ve learned some really useful phrases in the Czech language. As always, it was the activity which gave us lots of nice and positive emotions. After that we all started preparing for the Europe Day: all meeting participants were making posters and IT presentations about their countries. We also brought different souvenirs, booklets, leaflets and sweets representing our country, e.g. we brought Lithuanian “šakotis”, a biscuit – pie of quite unusual form and we were asked lots of questions about it. Of course, we ourselves asked the visitors of our table different questions about Lithuania, e.g. “What is the second religion in Lithuania?” or “What is the currency of Lithuania?”

After delicious lunch students took photos and made collages, and in the evening we had a dance lesson: we learned to dance the Czech polka and some Latvian dances.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This day we visited several “magic” places in Kutna Hora. We’ve learned that Kutna Hora began in 1142. It developed as a result of exploitation of the silver mines. In the 14^th century it became a royal city endowed with monuments that symbolized its prosperity, the town became the cultural, political and economic centre of Bohemia, competing for importance, even with Prague. In Kutna Hora Prague groschen were minted until 1547. The last working silver mint was abandoned in the 18^th century.

One of the “magic” places visited in Kutna Hora is Kostnice (Ossuary) or the Bone Church. It is that in the 13^th century, Jindrich, the abbot of Sedlec monastery, returned from a visit to Palestine with a pocketful of soil and sprinkled it on the cemetery surrounding the Chapel of All Saints. This direct association with the holy land led to the graveyard becoming a sought after burial site among the aristocracy of Central Europe. At the time of the thirty years’ war in the 17^th century, the number of burials outgrew the space available, the older remains began to be exhumed and stored in the chapel, and it’s estimated that the chapel now contains the bones of up to 40 000 people.

The other “magic” place visited that day in Kutna Hora was St. Barbara’s Cathedral which is the most spectacular Gothic cathedral in the Czech Republic. In the late 1300’s St. Barbara’s was founded by the rich mine owners of Kutna Hora in an attempt to further their religious independence from Cistercian monastery at Sedlec and compete with the grandeur of Prague’s St. Vitus cathedral. St. Barbara is the patron saint of miners, and many of the interior adornments reflect mining life. And one more place visited in Kutna Hora was the Italian Court or Vlassky Dvur which was originally built as a fortified castle to watch over the important trade route connecting the capitals of Bohemia and Moravia: Prague and Olomouc.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We spent the whole day in Cesky Krumlov, this magnificent town, which was first mentioned in 1253. From 1302 to 1601 Cesky Krumlov was the seat of Rozmberk family who became the most powerful clan in Bohemia after the king. The town is dominated by two great landmarks: the Chateau complex and the Gothic Church of St. Vitus. Cesky Krumlov chateau complex which we visited is one of the largest in Central Europe. Under the Castle complex lyes the old town with its The historical core is protected by UNESCO.

Another very interesting place visited in Cesky Krumlov was Seidl Photo Studio Museum. The building served as a family house with a photo studio until 1949, here you can see the extensive collection of photograph works by Josef and Frantisek Seidl. The museum tells the story of the beginning of photography and the touching story of Seidl family.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In the morning we had a meeting with the mayor of Pacov – young, intelligent and energetic Mr. Lukas Vlcek. Later we visited the art gallery of Jan Autengruber (1887 – 1920) located in the building of the Town Hall. Then all students divided into multinational groups started exploring different places in Pacov. After finishing the discoveries, students had to prepare presentations of their discoveries.

In the evening we had a farewell party and a disco.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Early in the morning the coach was waiting for us by the school. As usually it is hard to say good – bye to hospitable Czech students, their parents and teachers.

Our destination this day is Prague, but on the way there we turn to Blanik hill which is 638 m above the sea level. Our aim is to climb the hill… In the afternoon we arrive to Prague. We have the whole afternoon free and once again we visit the Charles Bridge and the Old Town (Stare Mesto)…

Our journey home starts early in the morning, and after the plane has taken off, we look through the illuminator at the Prague city which is receding… The city surrounded by still green trees looks beautiful… The journey home doesn’t last long: one hour to Warsaw airport, an hour of waiting for another plane to Vilnius, then one more to Vilnius airport, and here we are… Arriving close to Vilnius we already see different colours: trees are changing  the colour of their leaves into autumn yellow and reddish colouring…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.