Latvia Eramus+ students echange. Day 1.
On Thursday we flew from Prague to Riga. The flight was two hours long. Then we finally met our exchange students. We had lunch in Riga and then we went to the Saulkrasti sun set trail and to the beach. We waited for the sun to set. The sunset was really beautiful. We arrived to Alūksne at 23:30 and then we went to bed.
Michaela Jirčíková, Stela Zářecká
Day 2
Second Day of our exchange program in Latvia began with presentation about school in Alūksnē and our presentations about our school, Czech republic, Rychnov, czech traditions and language. After that we visited the school and had lunch in the school canteen. In the afternoon we walked around the town and the island. We saw the church, and also went to traditional dancing competition. The evening we spend with our hosting families.
František Mazánek, Ondřej Školník
Day 3
On Saturday we went by bus to Tartu in Estonia. Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia. Because of cold weather we went to AHHAA centrum firstly. It’s science centrum. Later we went to a tour around the city- we saw church, university, square and more.
Anna Schwengerová
Day 4
On Sunday 6th of April we had an orientation game in Alūksne. After splitting into teams we walked around Alūksne, took some pictures and completed all tasks. We then went back to our host families where we spent our afternoon how we wanted.
Tereza Štěpánková, Martina Frejvaldová
Day 5
Today, from the very morning, we played different games and continued getting to know each other. After that, we went to the school museum where there were many old things such as computers, musical instruments, and weapons. Then, after a short break, we visited the city museum of Alūksne. In the
evening, we had a joint evening activity at school (a school party) where we danced, shared our impressions about Latvia. The Latvian teachers prepared some traditional Latvian dishes for us to try.
That’s how our fifth day went.
Maksym Soldatenko, Jindřich Kačírek
Day 6
The Tuesday, 8th of April, we spent the day visiting several places in the Alūksne area and the neighboring Gulbene region. The program was focused on the history and culture of the region.
In the morning, we departed for the Jaunlaicene Manor Museum, where we explored exhibitions focused on local history and everyday life in the past. The museum had presented us its collections in an authentic way - not only did we get to see the exhibition, we also got to try out a few things from Latvian history ourselves. From trying out playing with toys typical of this region, to making our own squirrel toy from a piece of cloth, which children in this area often made.
After that, we continued to the Viktors Ķirps Ates Museum, also known as the “Vidzeme Country Farm.” The exhibition introduced us to traditional farming tools, old vehicles, and rural life in Latvia.
For lunch we visited Sonāte, where we could choose from a menu consisting of soup, three main courses and a traditional Latvian dessert.
In the afternoon, we traveled to the neighboring Gulbene region to visit Stāmeriene Palace. It was interesting to walk through the castle, so different from the ones we are used to in the Czech Republic. We could walk through it all by ourselves, without a guide, at our own pace. The building also had really nice nearby park.
We spent the evening with families. And then it was time to pack up, because this was our last night with families!
Karolína Solárová, Pavlína Neugebauerová
