Sušice

I teach at Gymnazium Strakonice, which has partnerships with two German schools. A couple weeks ago, colleagues from a secondary school in Nabburg, Germany came to Strakonice to visit. Next year the Czech teachers will go there. This tradition has been around for over twenty years. In addition, German students will come to the Czech Republic in the spring for a week, and Czech students will go to Germany for a week.

Germans, Czechs and I in Sušice

The German colleagues arrived on Friday afternoon, toured the school, and ate delicious cakes that the Czech teachers made. I met up with them at night for dinner at a restaurant called Hangár. It was a pretty neat restaurant because the word hangár is the same in English; it's the place where you store airplanes. This restaurant had a giant airplane replica hanging from the ceiling! These are some of my colleagues at Gymnazium Strakonice that teach English.

Top: Me, Jana
Bottom: Jitka, Romana

The Germans spent the night at some of the Czech teachers' homes then we all went to a town called Sušice, which has a museum of the Šumava region. 

Museum

Although the museum was small, it was extremely interesting. The ground floor included artifacts from the original local settlement and an exhibition dedicated to Sušice's match industry. I was awed by the detail and creative thought put into the design of early matchboxes. I was only able to take two pictures before I got yelled at for using my camera, but at least I got those!

The matches, and their boxes, actually came in all different sizes. Apparently matches were originally rounded in their shape, not flat like the ones we use nowadays, which are made very cheaply in Asia.

The first floor was an exhibition dedicated to Šumava's glass industry. I saw some of the most beautiful glasswork in teals, blues, and pinks! In the photos you will also notice some 19th century decor.

I realize the above two pictures don't show off the glass too well. So here is a picture I found online of the types of glasses you would find in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic.

There was another exhibition located on the ground floor, but I wanted to save the best for last. This is a miniature Sušice village that depicts its history. It was built in 2004.

It is home to a very large nativity set as well, which my father would have greatly appreciated. I like that it includes an elephant!

The most fabulous aspect is that it moves, so you can see the people carrying out their typical daily activities! This is just a picture, but you can get the idea. Men from the logging industry are transporting trees down the Vltava river, which will later be used as firewood to heat homes, or for lumber.

Then, we were able to go onto a narrow landing on the roof of the museum, where our guide discussed some more of the historical aspects of the town. By the way, I forgot to mention that the tour was in both Czech and German, but not English. I was given a pamphlet and my colleagues translated for me.

After the museum tour and lunch, we took the Germans on a 7km hike in the Šumava mountains. 

Of course, we stopped half way because it was quite cold on this day.

Most of us ordered coffee or tea, but then my principal order shots for everyone as "a little something to warm us up". Of course, here you sip shots slowly because you want to enjoy the spirit (liquor). He bought us shots of Jaeger, which I've discovered seems to be the male's favorite whenever I go out. 

This lodge in the Šumava mountains has an otter rehabilitation center as well. The previous two times I was there the otters seemed to be hiding from the public. This time I saw them! 

Although it was quite cold, he decided to take a bath anyway.

We ended our day with dinner at a pizzeria, which although not the same as New York, is pretty tasty because it's made in a brick oven. :)