The local custom that has most resonated with me is more so the attitude of the locals than anything specific. Based on our reading before the trip, I was expecting to encounter locals who weren’t friendly to tourists. While there have definitely been some locals who would fit that description, I have been blown away by how friendly most of the people here are. They are willing to work with us and understand our English, accommodate us as a large group with no reservation, and offer directions or help when necessary. More specifically, it has really stuck with me how they use the honors system here in several different industries. On the public transportation, we just hop on and guards come to check if you actually have a ticket once in a while. Throughout these two weeks of frequenting public transportation, this has only happened to me once. It is very powerful to me that they can just trust everyone to pay for their ticket and more importantly, that it is clearly working for them. I would love to say that we could instate this system in public transportation in the United States, but I find it very hard to believe that people would continue to pay for tickets. Similarly, our hotel allows us to leave our physical keys for the rooms at the desk when we go out, and getting it back simply involves giving our room number. They are trustworthy enough to leave our rooms and key behind, and also trusting enough to assume people will only try to get their own keys. While it is a far stretch that someone would want to get into a room key, I just appreciate how trusting everyone is here. Clearly, that trust exists for a reason, and I feel extremely safe being in a country where the people are trustworthy enough for these methods to work.

In other news, today we went on another day trip to Cesky Krumlov. It was incredibly charming in this cute little old medieval town. We got to tour the castle and explore the cobblestone streets on our own. We went on a group lunch where we all tried a blueberry pudding with sweet dumplings dessert. It wasn’t my favorite, but I’m glad we all got to experience it together. Despite the rain we encountered on this trip, I had a blast. I especially enjoyed jumping in puddles and making the most of the bad weather!