May the odds be EVER in your favor.

If you are “friends” with me on Facebook then you are probably very well aware of the misery eight of us had to endure one frightful night in the Czech Republic last weekend. If not, then you are in for quite the tale! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It started out as a beautiful Friday morning with a day trip to some historical sights out of town. Let me rephrase that…it started off as a dreary, foggy, overcast morning when we had to board the bus for our field trip to the town of Lidice, which was wiped out from the Earth’s surface and inhabitants killed by nazi Germans.

There are so many unanswered questions when looking back at these dark times in our world’s history and these field trips only give me a glimpse into what so many innocent lives were forced to undergo. We got to walk through a museum in Lidice showing life before, during, and after these tragic events took place in such a simple and quaint town at the time. 

This is a memorial dedicated to the children of Lidice. The flowers are from the Czech and German president- the first time a German president has ever visited the site.

Inside the work camp.

We then went to Terezin, which was a kind of concentration camp, the last stop before the extermination camps. Terezin also served as the particularly cruel prison for resistance and political prisoners. The rainy day definitely set the mood for a trip spent visiting towns with such a frightful past.

After the long bus ride I hurried home, changed out of my wet rain clothes, made some tea and began planning the rest of  my life on Pinterest! If only that were the truth... Why would I pick a cozy evening when I could be hiking 35 miles through the stormy night with a bunch of incredibly fast-paced Czechs who wait for no one? Once we knew we were going to be late due to the traffic getting back from the field trip we were for some reason determined to not let anything stop us and called Jan. He then sent taxis so the crazy 8 of us could make it in time and spend the rest of the night pushing our bodies mentally and physically for the next 8-14 hours depending on which half of the group you were part of. The following video I have made will serve to somewhat explain that night:

35-mile Pilgrimage hiking tips!

1. Don't do it.

2. But really. Don't.

3. Even though its cold, you don't need to wear 5 layers when you have 15 hours of hiking ahead of you

4. When they say a flashlight might be helpful they mean to say "If you don't have a flashlight your chance for survival is slim, unless you have been gifted with night vision like most people in the Czech Republic apparently have been".

5. Make sure you have enough credit and battery on your barbie cell phone so you can use it as a backup flashlight, rather than wasting it to call people who will only tell you to "follow the red markers" if you are lost in the woods

6. Have a fully charged iPhone: If you find wi-fi at a miracle bus stop, czech-in on Facebook so everyone (including yourself) have some idea where in the world you are in relation to Prague.

7. Aragog may not be alive anymore, but who knows what else lurks in the woods of the Czech Republic so have some type of weapon

8. Don't go on 35-mile Pilgrimages because you will get delirious and die! Don't go on pilgrimages in the Czech Republic, don't go on pilgrimages anywhere else. Just don't do it, ok, promise? Ok now everybody take this giant wafer because that's all you get if you do the hike anyways.

The wafer you are given if you walk 15 miles like me, Sunny, Vanessa, and Jesse or walk 35 miles like Anna, Ken, Matt, and Nathan.

...but if for some reason you decide to go against hiking tips 1, 2, and 8 or just want that really disgusting wafer

9. May the odds be EVER in your favor.