Today, the third day of our study tour, we took a trip throughout Moravia. The day began with a tour through the Punkva caves, located deep within a forested area through which we took a cable car. Here, we were guided below ground, where we were shown various ancient stalagmites and stalactites that grew all around us in shades of brown and even some greens and near-whites. The 
visit to these caves concluded when we boarded small boats that took us through an underground river with some areas running hundreds of meters deep. Overall, the sights here were breathtaking, and once we had had our fill, we headed through the trees once more toward lunch at a restaurant in the same area.(Upper picture by Katy Ettinger)
Video of the abyss during our cave tour
Once we had departed from the caves, we headed toward Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, where a group of us proceeded to visit the Spilberk castle, turned into a dungeon in the 17th century. Here, we were guided through dark, enclosed stone chambers which had once served as cells, and we also learned about various methods of interrogation over times, altogether making for an eerie and yet interesting visit. The dungeons, which had served as the most feared prison in the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were taken over by the Nazi Wermacht during the Second World War and, finally, were taken back by the state in the fifties and eventually became the exhibit through which we found ourselves walking.
Once we had met up with the rest of the group once more, we made our way to Kouty nad Desnou, where we had dinner at our hotel in the mountains through which we were to hike the following day. The view here was quite pleasant, and at night, a barbecue was held outside where we gathered in pretty cold temperatures to socialize before the next day’s much-dreaded (or perhaps anticipated, depending on who you ask) hike.
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