Seeing snow for the first time!

Last Saturday (18.11) was the day to make another dream come true, and particularly, I was very excited to check this item off my dream list: See snow for the first time

I woke up super early on Saturday – but I was going to see snow for the first time, so all the effort would be worth it – I put on all the snow clothes I would use, helping me not to freeze during the ride. I put on layers and layers of clothes, including thermal blouses and pants, snow jackets, snow boots, gloves, hat, scarf, I even wore a balaclava!

Trip to Pec pod Sněžkou

I left my house at 5:50 in the morning, took the train to Praha – Smíchov (one of the train stations in Prague), and continued on to Vyšočanská station, on the yellow metro line. There I met other exchange students and their respective host families, as we would continue our journey by car to Pec pod Sněžká (the town where we would stop the car, to climb the mountain on foot).

Pec pod Sněžkou

Snow and friends

First time seeing snow

Mountains

We arrived in the city at 9:50 am, and along the way, on the road, it started to snow! It was literally the first “snow” I had seen in my life. I was completely enchanted, it looked like a scene from a movie: the houses and cars with a small layer of snow, really looking like the beginning of winter.

Arriving at the beginning of the mountain, there was a thermometer, which read -2 degrees Celsius… it gave a feeling of despair. “How am I going to withstand so much cold?” I remember asking myself. But at that moment nothing would ruin my happiness at seeing snow (not even the layers of clothes I was wearing).
At 10 am we started the journey, I was pure enchantment, I looked around and tried to assimilate the fact that I was truly making a dream come true.

Outside of my comfort zone

After 30 minutes of walking, I started to feel desperate, because I was already getting tired from all the climbing (and the trail was not expected to be flat, because it was just uphill and uphill). I made several stops to eat and breathe, to recharge my energy and reach the top.

Halfway there, the wind started to get stronger, I felt a little weak. It was getting frighteningly cold, and at times, I thought I wouldn’t be able to reach the top! I even thought about giving up, I thought about going back… but in reality I didn’t have many options, because “going back” to the beginning would be more challenging, painful and difficult – as well as being more tiring.

So, fighting against my tiredness and my own mind, I chose, several times, to continue, continue and continue, because I knew that all the tiredness would be worth it in the end, and that I was completely capable of reaching the top.

Reaching the top

And that’s exactly what happened. After fighting a lot against my own head, I reached the top. Obviously, the help of the other exchange students and their host families was essential, because, perhaps, without them I wouldn’t have been able to do it. The reward was even more satisfying than planned; I felt proud of myself for not giving up when things got difficult and for knowing how to completely step out of my comfort zone to achieve my dreams.

Group photo in the mountains

Mountain view

It is finally snowing!

Winter magic

The snow itself is a separate case, I’m completely enchanted so far, all the photos seem like a montage and it’s still taking me a while to assimilate the fact that I really experienced it all. Intense and magical! Breathtaking views!
I built special memories, which will stay with me forever.

But it doesn’t end there! All of this just made me more excited to experience the real European winter