Ski Weekend....without snow

This past weekend was supposed to be the Rotary cross country ski weekend in South Bohemia. Well, for those of you who have not been keeping up with your world weather, Europe is warm. Major ski resorts in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic are really hurting because there isnt enough snow to attract the tourists. I have seen that in my mountains, and it was noticable in the Sumava mountains in the south too.

I traveled to the Sumava mountains alone on Thursday, under blue sky and sunshine. It was a great break from the continuous rain and grey skies in Trutnov. My route took me through Prague, Plzen, and Klatovy. The meeting was in a TINY town in the mountains, Spicak. Normally it is busy with tourists who want to ski, but it is dead right now. Thursday night was just a chance to catch up with the small number of students who came, chatting and watching movies. Friday morning was a Czech lesson with Tomas (the teacher from language camp whom we all love.) In the afternoon we walked to a slightly larger town, Zelezna Ruda. By then, the rest of the students had arrived, a total of 15. Only half the group. We sat in the sweetshop for a while, then wandered around town. After dinner was more free time. Its amazing how social we are, never getting bored of talking. Saturday was a hiking day. We left by 10, walked to a ski lift (that looked like it was about to fall down), and rode half way up the mountain. When we had walked to the top, we had a snowball fight, then had warm drinks in a little restaurant. The people from warmer climates really liked the snow, but the weather was a little cold for them. Next, we hiked down the mountain to another restaurant, this time for soup. Czechs have a tradition of drawing out meals, so it is more unusual to be really hungary. Next, we walked to "Black Lake". It was a clear, cold, glacial lake. Some of the students decided that it was perfect for wading in. Crazy. The lake is famous because the Gestappo hid their records in it. The records were found in the 60s, sunk to the bottom. That night we had singing and dancing as a group. On Sunday, it was just another travel day. Once again, the weather was beautiful. I traveled with 7 other people to Plzen, then continued through Prague back to Trutnov

VERY IMPORTANT:

Tomorrow I move host families. It is only across town, but it is the beginning of another chapter of my exchange. For those of you who send me letters, please wait until I email out my new mailing address. If you do not recieve the email in the next week, let me know that you are interested in knowing. Thanks!!