We spent our last official day of the trip in Podebrady, with our friend and outbound GSE team member Jakub Charvát. We hadn’t seen him since before our departure on May 8, so it was great to see him again. He wasn’t at the district conference in Košice because it was his wedding weekend.
We started off with a walk through the spa resort park, where we saw installations from the Rotary Club, and cool features like the clock where the date is “planted” each day. We also walked around the town square.
Next, we went to Jakub’s office which is in a castle! After talking about public transportation in the area, we got a laugh out of him casually saying he parks at the castle when he drives to work 🙂 Jakub works as a manager at the city’s cultural center. We liked hearing about the programs he organizes and the marketing and branding plans for the city.
Our favorite part of the day was wandering around the courtyard in the castle where an art installation with giant hearts for each country in the EU were located. The hearts were designed by art students in the Czech Republic.
After lunch we took a cruise on the Labe river, which was great! Since Sarah loves boats, she felt right at home. Our schedule is usually packed with activities, so we were so grateful for a relaxing afternoon with Jakub.
Podebrady is known for their mineral springs, and we saw several fountains throughout town where mineral water can be accessed. We didn’t all like the taste, but we had to at least try it.
After some yummy afternoon zmrzlina (ice cream), and a few more sites around town, we headed to our final Rotary meeting. It was great for us to connect with Rotoract members (college aged students), and get to know club members from various industries. Jakub’s wife Martina was there as well, so we were happy to finally meet her.
Read more about Podebrady here!
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