Last but not least. Our final meeting was in the Czeck Republic, in Luhacovice –which could be called the springs town, a quiet place surrounded by beautiful landscape, a tourist landmark for spa lovers.

 

On Thursday morning we all went to the school, where we were met by the headteacher, Dr. Karel Karel Milička. We were then, shown around the premises, we could watch students and teachers  at work and were surprised at the quality of some of their art creations. After that, we walked up to the town hall. There, we met the Major of the town PhDr. František Hubáček, who very kindly told us about the town, answered the questions we asked him  and gave us a souvenir. It was lunch time and we went to the school canteen, the food there is prepared and served by students supervised by some of the teachers. On arrival we met beautifully laid tables, the food was delicious and very well served. In the afternoon we had to work hard, first it was the students’ time, they all had to present what they had been working about since the last meeting and most of them even played (and/or sang)  a song from a different country. We were all very pleased with their performances. When students left, teachers continued working for a while, mainly discussing and deciding on the final product. Then, back to the school canteen for a tasty dinner. And after a good meal there’s nothing better than a nice walk to digest. We went around the town and saw many springs, some of us even dared have a taste of some water in each of them, water with different flavor and different qualities: some springs were good for the liver, some others for your kidneys… we were sure we’d go back home healthy.

 

On Friday morning we all travelled to Zlín. There, we enjoyed a Music matinee in František Bartoš Library, we were offered a concert in which all pieces had been written by Czeck composers. After the concert, we visited the library – a renovated building which has very modern equipment. The head of Board of Education of Zlín Region met us and showed us around. Next, we visited the Bat’a Institute, a shoes Museum we could say. We learnt about the Bat’a family and their importance in the region and we saw lots of different shoes from different periods, materials… It was very interesting. After lunch we had some free time for walking around the city centre and shopping, which some of us enjoy a lot, we tried to do our best and we managed to know the shopping area of Zlín quite well in a short time, so again we worked hard and accomplished our aims! Back in Luhacovice, dinner was waiting for us at the school canteen.

 

On Saturday we went to Vysoké Pole and visited a centre for environmental education. The road showed us a very beautiful rural landscape, different tones of green and yellow here and there and small fairy-tale-like villages. We learnt a lot about folklore, Easter traditions and village life. We realized some traditions are very similar in different countries although every culture gives a sort of personal touch to everyone of them. We even painted Easter eggs and although it was not easy, in the end, we were very proud of the result! Uherský Brod was our next destination. Jan Amós Komenský, usually known as Comenius, the man who gives name to our Project is supposed to have been born here. We had lunch in this small town and after lunch we visited the Museum of Comenius life and work, there we came to know this philosopher, grammarian and pedagogue a bit better. Dinner was a farewell celebration, we enjoyed –once more- the food prepared by the students and teachers of the school and the soirée was livened up by a folk group which played and sang for us. In the end we were all dancing traditional Czeck songs. We enjoyed the evening a lot but it was time to say goodbye. And as we say in Catalonia “tot lo bo s’acaba” (all good things have an end) our stay in Luhacovice was coming to an end. We had to say goodbye to the friends we had met in Lleida about one and a half year before and with whom we had exchanged experiences and enjoyed excursions, dinners, lunches and –why not- working meetings… friends with whom we had shared an interesting project and to whom then we had to say goodbye. The project was about to end, but we didn’t want to say good bye, on personal grounds we will say “see you soon” or “we’ll keep in touch”, so the project finishes but friendship remains.