Erasmus is an exciting programme full of opportunities and unforgettable experiences. You never know what you might discover—or who you might meet. You may even run into not one, but two heads of state. A perfect example is the trip taken by two BUT students, Václav Široký from the Technika Brno Student Photo Club and Jan Kalina from Chicken Wings, who travelled to Tallinn, Estonia, to visit their friend Jakub Prvý during his Erasmus stay at the Drone Research Center.
“We met through our involvement in student teams, where many friendships and ideas are born. When Kuba left for Erasmus, it was immediately clear that we had to visit him in Tallinn,” Honza recalls.
Together, they planned trips to explore natural beauty, historic sights, good food and, above all, local student teams, hoping to bring back inspiration for their own teams at home. On the first day, Kuba introduced his friends to local Erasmus students at TalTech, and they explored the area to find their bearings in the city.
At the start of their travels, they set off for Narva, on Estonia’s border with Russia. “There was a slight tension in the air at the border, but we were surprised by how calm and clean the city was,” Honza says, adding: “The local sea, on the other hand, looked much more ominous and restless because of the wind.”
The next day, the group spent time in Tallinn. “We toured TalTech and found inspiration at every turn. Estonians can be a little shy at the start of a conversation, but a shared interest—for example in student teams—quickly breaks the ice,” Jakub says. Vašek adds: “We visited local student teams, including FilmiKlubi, Robotiklubi and FS Team Tallinn. Each team showed us their facilities, and we exchanged experiences from student activities.”
The students ended the day with a visit to the maritime museum, where they gathered inspiration for completing a student project involving an underwater drone. They then headed out into nature on the island of Saaremaa, where they discovered TalTech’s Marine Technology Competence Centre by chance and, thanks to the kindness of the locals, were able to look around.
“Our original plan was to visit the local fortress, the sea and the lighthouse. But when we discovered the TalTech branch, we simply had to at least take a look inside. After all, our friends from strojLAB have big plans involving submarines,” Vašek says.
The final day brought a sweet ending to the trip, as the students attended the official opening of President Petr Pavel’s visit to Estonia. “The president noticed the BUT flag that we had been carrying with us on our travels, so he decided to begin the public debate with us students. Estonian President Alar Karis also joined the short conversation. We talked about how we liked Estonia, where Estonians are ahead of us, and how we could take these experiences back home,” Kuba recalls of the unique encounter.