Greece Diary 25th -3rd May 2015 2nd General Lykeio of Arta SUNDAY We arrived at the airport on Saturday night, vey late and very tired, but also very anxious to see Athens next morning. So on Sunday, we got up early because we had a really interesting morning visiting the Acropolis Museum and the Acropolis. We could admire the Theater of Dionysus, The Odeum of Herodes Atticus, the Parthenon, the Erechtheion... It was amazing!! We were happy to see all these impressive buildings and wonderful sculptures, and relieves and we leant that most of them were very colorful in the past. In the afternoon we took a coach from Athens to Epidauros, where we could admire a perfectly preserved theater and then we went to have lunch to Nafplion, to a very nice restaurant full of orange trees, and after that we took the coach again to Arta. We arrived there late at night. The Greek students and their families were there, waiting for us. We had a very warm welcome and then all of us went to sleep. It had been a very hard day.
MONDAY Our first day of school. The students of the seven countries met at the school Meeting Hall and afterwards they did some warm up activities, to start knowing each other, and had coffee and cakes!! But later time to start working arrived. Students were arranged in groups and they started with activity nยบ 1 "Visualize your future" , after talking in their groups, they had to write a personal success short story. Meanwhile, teachers had their parallel meetings, the Coordinator and Publication Manager sessions. Teachers talked about shared documents, about how to improve communication among all the members of the team, about improving the preparation of next visits, about more constant participation in Twinspace... and about the May and August issues of our AVITAE newspaper. Before lunch, students presented their 10 minute coins' projects. There were very interesting facts about national coins in the different countries, it was really interesting. Then lunch at home with the families. During the afternoon students showed their 10 minute study cases projects, then we went to visit the Bridge of Arta and free afternoon for the students and teachers to know the town and have dinner.
TUESDAY The day started with more warm up activities: taking risks, are you fit to be an entrepreneur? "Take a step forward" game. After playing the game, students had discussion about the meaning of this activity. After that Claus continued with the work sessions that he had started in Denmark about innovation and branding. He presented the students "Dream Society- Creative man Strategies". Students, working in international teams, have to create their own branding projects. Then they have to explain them to the rest of the students and they have to write an article for the AVITAE issue of May. At the same time teachers met to work, Evaluation and Entrepreneurship, and Dissemination Manager sessions. Teachers also talked about the Ancient recipe activity for Slovakia. Students have to convert ancient recipes into modern ones and create a menu to be cooked in Slovakia and, of course, they will have to brand their menus. Teachers also will have to write their bimonthly report from Denmark to Greece. Before leaving the school to visit the Archeological Museum of Arta, the students got instructions for the visit, because it was going to be a treasure hunting during the tour. The emphasis of this visit was on coins, measures, weights and exhibits related to entrepreneurship. After going to have lunch we made a short visit to the Parigoritria Church, a byzantine church After lunch all of us met at the Castle of Arta, but we couldn't visit it, it was closed for refurbishment, we felt very sad about that. Then we made independent tours of the town, and we could see the archeological remains of a theater and the ruins of Apollo's temple.
WEDNESDAY Day trip to: Nicopolis, to see the archeological remains, the basilica and the museum. Actia Nicopolis was a city of Epirus (western Greece) founded by Octavian in commemoration of his victory in 31 BC over Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium nearby. Necromanteion, the only one known oracle of the dead, an ancient temple dedicated to the god of the Underworld, Hades, and his consort, the goddess Persephone. We visited the sanctuary-oracle of Hades and the river Acheron, and we had lunch in an open-air restaurant near this river. Parga, a touristic and beach resort town known for its scenic beauty. The colorful houses of Parga are constructed amphitheatrically along the slopes of a mountain, offering nice view to the sea. We had lunch here and did some shopping. Prevenza, a commercial harbor and tourist hub. We stopped here to take a rest and have a snack before going back to Arta.
THURSDAY Up to the first break, students continued working in their activities. They had to show the results of the Treasure Hunt. They had to create a piece of literature based on their visits, impressions, photos, imagination, knowledge and it should include a an entrepreneurial activity, idea or character. They had to think of a business they could have run in the past, or run in the present or future in the town of Arta or in its largest region. After the break, students chose and read the best personal story of success of each group, and these six ones will appear on the AVITAE newspaper. Teachers had a talk about "the Greek school system" by Ms Chara Gouva. Teachers also had the Website Manager and Education Managers sessions. Teachers talked about next meeting activities and dates for Slovakia. After the break, students worked on their assignments and chose the best piece to present to the teachers. Finally we had a whole assembly meeting, teachers and students. We were given our certifications of attendance and time to lunch arrived. At 21,30 we had the goodbye party because some of us would be leaving early on Friday afternoon.
FRIDAY A very special day, 1st of May. We went for a morning hiking in a forest near Rodavgi Village. It was a really nice walk. The forest was so beautiful and the views up there were awesome. Then we went to the Rodavgi to celebrate the 1st of May regional festival. There were lots of people having a good time. We were invited to have lunch with them. We could meet some local craftspeople. You could buy honey, handmade cakes, costume jewelry manufacturer, etc. There were local musicians playing traditional music and people dancing traditional dances. It was a different day, very funny and all of us were very happy and very tired at the end of the day. Italy and Finland left Arta that evening, they had to take a plane early next morning.
SATURDAY A very emotive farewell, goodbye kisses and hugs! and we had to take the bus to Athens airport- Slovakia had to take a plane- but some of us, Cyprus, Denmark and Spain still stayed there a little longer and had time to visit Sounion before departure. There we could see the ruins of an ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology. The remains are perched on the headland, surrounded on three sides by the sea. We had lunch there and then went to the airport.