My most favourite school trip, which has now also become Allan's favourite school trip as well! The weather was perfect and Allan and I both had nice groups of kids that were good at skiing. This year I skied for two days with the older children and Allan skied for 1 day with the younger kids. Unfortunately no photo of Allan on the slopes, just one on the bus heading back to school.
I guess a trip to Europe isn't complete without seeing something a little unusual, so a day trip to Kutna Hora it was!
The weather wasn't great but we jumped in the car and headed to Kutna Hora, we've now been about 4-5 times so Lisa and the kids did the Bone Church and Gothic Cathedral on their own. We wondered through the little streets while Allan went to get the car because it was freezing cold and raining.
On our way home we stopped at one of Allan's favourite places 'Fashion Arena', nothing like a little outside shopping to really chill ourselves to the bones (ha ha ha)!
Because the boys endured ballet we thought we should even out the playing field participating in another Czech tradition by going to Ice Hockey. Little did I know, that I LOVE Ice Hockey. The whole experience was entertaining from the lighting, mascots, dancing, drumming and singing supporters, music and of course the hockey. We couldn't figure out all the rules but it was such a great game to watch! It's fast, it's rough, family friendly and great entertainment. We'll definitely be back.
The Czech’s found a creative way to use an old Russian
military base, they turned it into a giant play park for kids.
We had an absolutely fantastic day with some friends playing
in the tree huts, tunnels, petting zoo, bouncy pillows, high swings, zips
lines, ride in an old steam train and even a tank!
There were underground tunnels leading in all different
directions under the park which the kids loved exploring with torches.Some of the tree huts lead directly to the
tunnels so it was great fun climbing up and down literally from underground to
the tree level.
There were heaps of huts and funky type castles to climb through.There were also a couple of shows to watch
with horses and a samba band.The samba
band got all the kids involved in the performance, Leo loved using the drum
We were shocked at the number of military vehicles racing
around on the grounds on the outskirts of the park.There were all kinds of truck, helicopters
and tanks that you could ride in.Allan
took Corban and Leo for a ride in a tank.It was pretty exciting although Leo got a fright towards the end, if you
look closely on the right hand size down low you can see his sad face.
Best play park we have ever been to!We will definitely return in the summer when
it opens again.
There are some perks working in an International School, near snow ... the annual school ski trip! It was actually postponed this year due to warm weather and lack of snow. Thankfully we have had a small cold snap and there was enough snow in the mountains to hit the slopes for two days with 46 kids. We were literally on the Czech/German boarder and a great mountain with a good variety of runs. This was my group of 4 kids who were all better at skiing that me! Which meant I spent the trip leisurely skiing at my own pace while the waited for me at the bottom. By the end of the second day me legs were so tired, I ended up snow ploughing down a red slope while my legs were shaking trying not to crash. Pretty pathetic really, the kids whipped me.
We have visited both Karlstejn Castle and Kutna Hora before but thought it was a good day trip for mum as both cities have cool stuff to offer. Leo was happy to take mum of a tour of Karlstejn Castle and mum went for a tour of the Gothic Cathedral that took 600 years to build in Kutna Hora. Unfortunately we didn't quite make it to the bone church which was something mum was interested in seeing, I guess she'll just have to come back :+)
We visited Karlstejn Castle about 40 minutes out of Prague for a medieval festival. There is an Australian couple who started Riverside School this year with 3 kids who came with us, Corban and Josiah have quickly become great friends. The costumes, parade and show were all very authentic! Pretty cool going to a medieval festival in an actual castle. There was yummy food, great music and heaps of people. Corban and Leo especially like holding a baby owl! Leo loved all of the knights and armour, a beautiful and interesting day out!
On Saturday Allan and I took Corban and Leo out for a walk. While out and about we came across a Baby Drop Box ... I know babies are sometimes abandoned, but this really struck a chord with me. My heart goes out to any mother who finds herself in the position that she would need to put her baby in one of these. Yet on the positive side, the child will hopefully end up in an adopted home of a loving family. Some friends of ours (Pastor and School nurse) who we have met since living here have an adopted daughter who was abandoned, so I know that good can come of this horrible situation. It was interesting when I googled about the boxes, they are extremely controversial and I guess I can see both sides of the argument. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/10/unitednations-europe-news).
Well it has been an interesting few days with the flooding, it just doesn't seem real! These photos are of our Junior High School (yellow & white building) and Primary sports pitch. Only the Junior High was flooded, the Primary was untouched however there is no road access or power. There was no school on Monday or Tuesday and today we took the children to a sports facility where we played games in the afternoon. Tomorrow the Primary School is relocating to the conference facilities at the Diplomat Hotel where we will be for the next week or so. The Junior High school will probably not open until September in the new school year.
Prague was very well organised with the flooding and was quite protected however many towns/cities to the south and north have been practically destroyed. Considering the amount of water, speed it is traveling etc I think the death toll is quite low, it had the potential to be a lot higher.
Moving to Prague I imagined having a day off school for snow, not flooding!! Quite an experience.
