Today began with all eighteen of us piling in a van at 6am, lunch boxes in hand. We had a long journey to the Polish border to visit a glass factory, which was unfortunately disrupted by a flat tire along the way. The delay resulted in a shortened visit only to the glass museum, which was quaint but unique. I think of us as really lucky considering this was our only set back the entire trip.

Following this we visited the Skoda factory, museum, and motorsports facility. Given our early start, I was lagging a bit today. However, last summer I worked for an R&D company that was partnered with VW, so I was still really interested to learn about the automotive industry of Europe. Also my dad is a mechanic so I am excited to share some of the photos and facts I picked up today with him.

The highlight of the day was unexpectedly the ghost tour. Following a cloaked man with a lantern through Old Town was not something I had before imagined. Though I do not believe in ghosts, I loved the stories. This whole trip has sparked an interest in history that I did not before have, and I am feeling really inspired to read more when I get home.

My advice for future travelers visiting Czechia (or maybe anywhere else) would be to do more of that reading before hand. Though we did research Prague before our trip, I regret not learning more of the language or just better familiarizing myself with some of the history. I did enter this experience with minimal expectations, which played out greatly in my favor as these past two weeks have been truly life altering. I would advise anyone to come with an open mind and an eagerness to learn and take away as much as possible from the experience.