Our second full day was eventful, with a tour of an historic chateau, lunch at the base of a 13th century castle, then off to training, dinner and team building activities.
In the morning we toured Chateau Buchlovice, built toward the end of the 17th Century and was the residence of the Berchtold family. The Chateau served as a hospital during Napoleon's march north from Vienna, Austria and was the meeting place for the Russia Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministers to discuss the annexation of Bosnia and Herzogovina by the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy which was one major development leading to World War I.
The Chateau sits on about 10 square kilometers surrounded by beautiful gardens and elegant but hated hissing peacocks and peahens. The last owner fled in 1945 as the people's movement forced the ruling class into hiding. Besides, the last Berchtold is said to not have sired an heir.
The rooms were amazing in their craftsmanship, decadence and preservation.
After lunch of the shadows of the Buchlov Castle, one of the oldest Moravian castles, we headed for training at FC Slavacko's turf field. We trained on building attack with combination play, getting into the flanks and crossing and serving.
Tomorrow, we will train in the morning and watch the FC Slovacko Youth and Women's teams, who are coached by our guide, Yitka, who also coaches the U17 Czech Women's National Team, who just upset Belgium and England.
Here is a link to FC Slovacko: http://www.fcslovacko.cz.
Following the Women's game, we head to FC Brno to watch a Czech First Division game.
All the boys seem to be acclimated and anxious to don the State uniforms to see how we compare to the Czech players.
