Meeting in Greece

Dovilė and I are really satisfied with our trip to Greece and we would like to share our impressions with you.

We left for Greece on 9^th November. Having to get up at 2.15 a.m. was not a pleasant experience, however.. The flight was quite tiring as we had to change the planes in Copenhagen and to spend a couple of hours waiting. Greece welcomed us with the clear sky, bright sun and the temperature of +20 degrees!

We had again to spend a few hours waiting till the other participants of the project gathered at the airport in Athens. The first were a teacher and a student from Czech.

After everyone had arrived, our Greek host, Mr Panagiotis welcomed us and we were packed into a very comfortable bus. The trip to Kato Achaia, where the school participating in the project is located, took more than 3 hours and we reached it already in the late evening. On our way to the hotel we left students with their host families. Having dropped our things in the hotel rooms, we hurried upstairs to find a great Greek dinner! These people are really keen on filling meals! 4 or 5 starters and then an extremely tasty main course! After a long tiring trip and a long day spent on poor food it was a real blessing! As the hotel is on the sea shore, we had an excellent rest that night.

On Monday morning after the breakfast the teachers were taken to Vocational Lyceum where we met our students and hastened to share our impressions. Dovilė‘s presentation is going to get you acquainted with her personal experience, as the teachers and the students were not spending all the time together.

Having had a look around the school, everyone gathered in the school hall to watch some presentations of the participating schools as it was our homework to prepare one each.

Most of the time that day was spent getting acquainted with each other and simply chatting. During the second half of the day we were having long lunch near the sea shore and long walks admiring the sea.

Tuesday started in a similar way – the rest of the schools gave their presentations. I must say that the other teachers got really interested in our city after watching a video about Alytus. It’s a pity there is not going to be a project meeting here.. There was also a presentation of the activities of The Central Consulting Bureau and Consulting Bureau for young people.

In the afternoon we visited a winery of Achaia Clauss in Patras, established in 1854 by Gustav Clauss, the guide took us to the cellars with the oldest wine barrels.

On Wednesday Mr Panagiotis took the teachers and the students to Rion-Antirion Bridge, the longest cable stayed bridge in the world, which crosses the 3 km Corinth Gulf Strait. We not only looked around the small presentation hall, but also watched a video on how the bridge was being built.

Later we visited the Scientific Park of Patras. Its target is to establish an Innovative Business Area in the Region of West Greece. We were given a presentation on the activities taking place in the park and visited a few laboratories were scientists work on various innovations.

On that same day teachers spent a few hours strolling around the streets of Patras, window- shopping and having a cup of coffee in open-air cafes. We also visited the Cathedral of Saint Andrew, the patron of Patras. Its architecture is really impressive.

Thursday was an even more spectacular day, as in the morning at school we had a student workshop – the students from all participating countries gathered together to prepare a questionnaire about families. The afternoon was devoted for one important world event – Olympic games. We visited Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, which is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times. Walking among the ruins we could imagine how magnificent the buildings were in the past. The spirit of ancient sportsmen as if was flowing in the air..

Such a wonderful day could not end unstrikingly. In the evening, father of one of the Greek students came to the hotel where we were staying and brought a guitar with him. It appeared that there are quite many teachers who can play the guitar! So, we spent a pleasant evening, listening to Greek, Turkish, Polish, Czech and Portuguese songs.

Friday morning was devoted to a short excursion around the classrooms of the school and the two final presentations of schools were given. Afterwards, there was a reception at the Mayor of Kato Achaia. Teachers spent the rest of the day having a rest and walking along the sea shore. The sea was stormy, it was amazing just to stand and to look at the sea while our thoughts were wandering somewhere far away, maybe around our families and friends.. Some teachers and students already left for Athens that evening.

On Saturday morning we together with the rest of the teachers and students got onto a bus. We arrived in Athens at midday, quickly settled in and decided not to waste time on resting. An interesting excursion around the ruins of Acropolis was the most impressive experience for me during the whole trip. It is impossible to describe the feelings that those magnificent buildings and their ruins arise…

The farewell evening in a local taverna, listening to Greek music played live, chatting and saying good-bye was a sad moment, actually… During the week we really became friends and it was so sad to part..

On Sunday morning Dovilė and I with the help of a map managed to find The National Archeology Museum of Athens. It would take more than a day to study all the treasures it contains, however, we had only a couple of hours. If you want to find something about the museum, visit http://www.athensguide.com/archaeology-museum/index.htm .

Well, our visit in Greece was over. We reached the airport, long waiting between the flights and finally home.. Vilnius welcomed us with +3, which was quite a shock after +20.. J

Frankly speaking, it is impossible to share all the impressions after the trip, but I am sure about one thing – I want to come back to Greece at least one more time J