7th Day in Portugal

This was our last full day in Portugal and it was dedicated to relaxing and enjoying ourselves. First item on our schedule was shopping. We were taken to a mall and were given 3 hours to freely run around the stores and shop to our harts content. After we finished shopping we were taken to the beach. It was absolutely stunning! The beach was beautiful and even sun began to shine after a full week of rain. We were again given free time to roam around the beach, take photos, etc. Me and Aljaž went to get some coffee at a cafe located on the beach took some pictures and enjoyed the sun.

After a relaxing day came the final dinner, which the Slovenian students left early because we needed to pack our thing due to us leaving at 3.00 AM. We went to sleep at about 2.00 AM when we were sure we didn't forget anything.

6th Day in Portugal

It's already day 6 and today we are going on a trip to Porto. So at 10.00 AM we leave out hotel fully rested and awaiting new adventures. When we arrived our first destination was the World of Discoveries museum. There was a nice greeting at the start then we set out on a guided tour of it but there was a twist, they have a boat ride that takes you around the museum. The tour lasted for about 40 minutes.

When we got out we had free time so we could look around the town and eat lunch. While we were wondering around Porto we found a nice little bar where we ate lunch. While we were sited we debated about what kind of vibe the town has. So then we paid for the meal and went to our meeting point. We met up with other students and teachers. Our teaches had better lunch than us so I envy them a little bit.

Next up was the wine cellar. The presentation and the staff were on point and then the wine tasting commenced (for everyone above 18 ....sadly) but nonetheless we could buy wine to bring home for our families. When we finished things at the wine cellar we went back to the hotel. 

Tonight was the night with the "Expensive" dinner. When I entered the room I was amazed. Several bottles of red & white wine were waiting for us, fish pates inside crab shells, etc. I was stunned when the main course came out... it was like heaven. So our main course consisted of steaks and boiled potatoes and squid tentacles with onions and fries. After everyone finished their meal we started to give out gifts to other schools and to our hosts. At the end, we ate cake with our flags on them. Bottom line it was fancy.

8th Day in Portugal

Today was the last day we were in Portugal. We woke up really early because we had a plane to catch. The flight was at 6.00 and we flew to Frankfurt for about 2 hours. And the next plane to Ljubljana was at 16.30 so we had to wait for it at the airport. We didn't do much that time - we were sleeping, shopping, eating and playing 'One'. And, at around 6pm, we finally arrived to Ljubljana where our parents were already waiting for us. This was an amazing experience and we would go again to this trip if we could.

Slovenian team got safe to the ground.

See you in Slovenia...

5th Day in Portugal

Day 5

Todays day started a little bit early, because we had to be on the train at 5.40. The train took us to Porto. In Porto we had to wait for the second train, which took us to Regu. From Porto to Regu was 2 hours long ride.  In Regu we had to wait 2 hours and that is why we went to the river museum. We liked the museum mostly because there was a lot of wine. At 12.00 o'clock the boat trip started. On the boat we had: lunch, beautiful view and some sunshine. We rode through two dams. Because the trip was long we talked to the Czech girls and played cards with the professors, Tjaša lost, she was the looser. The trip was long 6 hours. And when it ended we went through Porto to the train station. The train took us back to the hotel, where we went to dinner and to bed. We are ready for new adventures that will come tomorrow, but for now good night.

Laura

4th Day in Portugal

We started the day with breakfast and then we went to a museum about the iron and the bronze age. The name of the museum was Citânia de Briteiros. It was represented in two parts - one part was inside and the second one was outside. In the interior part of the museum lived a man named Francisco Martins De Gouveia, who  found a city 2km away from his home. And he was the first Portuguese man who did photography. In the outside part we saw the city. Then we went to Sameiro church, which is very big. In front of the church was a big and nice garden with giant statues. We had a lovely view of the city OF Braga.

At Bom Jesus we saw a garden and some statues, again. And we had a beautiful view of Braga, again. Then we went with a water escelator from Bom Jesus to a lower point on the hill. We were very excited because we though we would ride about 10 minutes but the ride was only a minute long. And that is why we waited for the rain for about 30 minutes. And because after the rain there comes always sunshine, we got our sun after lunch. And don't let me start on the lunch. It was so good. We went to Braga. It is a beautiful city with a lot of churches, which are everywhere, historical buildings, nice and interesting streets, parks and stores with mostly clothes. I really liked Braga because it seems like some kind of mixture of Ljubljana and Piran. 

When it got dark we went back to the hotel and to dinner. After a long day we were very tired and we went to bed as soon as possible because tomorrow will be a very long day and we have to get up early, at 4:30.

3rd Day in Portugal

3rd day in Guimäraes, 18.7.2016

The day started at about 7:30 when we woke up to go to breakfast.

Our bus to Fermentões departured at 9:20 where we took a look at a local school.

 The school system is quite different from ours, and so are the teachers and the students. The teachers are quite more strict during class, but far more relatable and calm during brakes, visits and conversations. The students are quite a bit louder and outgoing than most of my colleagues, and are quite keen on meeting new people helping them and cooperating.

Some Erasmus+ partners (all, but excluding the Czech republic) had presentations, in which they introduced themselves and their previous cooperations with Erasmus. For the most part, the schools had a introduction video made up of photos and occasionally text. Not bragging, but our school had a pretty nice and well executed PowerPoint presentation with a quiz and gifts.

Later, after we were done with the introductions we had lunch at the school,'s cafeteria. .

After lunch we had some time off to relax, or meet new people and get a tour around the school. We visited a couple of classrooms and had a talk with a few teachers. The classrooms aren't too modern, but have a projector and a computer, but the tables and seats are at least a decade old. The teachers enjoy a good conversation and give good tips to students and visitors alike.

Afterwards we had an hour and a half of sports activities, but some chose to sit and socialize with others instead. We had a chance to shoot bows, play football but most sticked to socializing.

Later we went to the hotel where we could write the blog(naturally I didn't) or go to sleep. We had to meet at 8:40 to go to dinner to Fermentões, and it was worth the drive.

We end our day here, tired and we can't wait to go to sleep. The day was awesome and we, as a team learnt a lot.

2nd day of Portugal

Day two, Monday 17.10.2016

History of the town?

Today started at 8 a.m., when we had breakfast. We started our trip at 9 a.m.

The town has a rich history so this was the theme we focused on mostly. First, we stopped at the Monumento ao nicolino statue. Then we went to the city hall, where we got a nice greeting and some gifts. The next thing was exploring the local fortress and a guided tour of a palace. We found out that the palace means a lot to the Portuguese. Their first king was born there... Our tour went thought the whole castle.

We were very hungry after the tour so we went to get lunch. Afterwards the gondola took us on the top of the mountain.

We saw a church and a fogy view of the city. Because we were kind of tired after that we had time to rest, before going to dinner at 8.00 PM. We stayed up late because we had to study for tomorrow's presentation of the school (you'll be able to find it on tomorrow's blog).

Mini park/garden between two roads

Fabulth

A fortress overlooking the city of Guimaraes

Reception at the town hall (*Ljubljana is the Green Capital*) :P

A natural pond on the mountain above Guimaraes

(The fog gave it a mystic feeling)