LTTA in PORTUGAL

The first day started with the reception and institutional welcoming session in the school auditorium. There was an opening moment with Fado and speeches by the official guests. After the opening all the students could take part in some icebreaker activities. Later all the participants were shown around the school. In the afternoon there was a walking tour in the town guided by students of the Vocational Course of Tourism and Animation and a stroll through the town park.

The second day started with students' presentations and videos with grandpartnts on “Changes in eating habits over the years" . The next part of the programme was a MasterChef Competition. Students working in international groups were to cook a Portuguese dessert following the same recipe. The winning team was Bulgaria. In the afternoon there was a visit to the Textile Industry Museum. It is an industrial-archaeological museum that, besides showing an overview of the historical evolution of industrialization in the region, exhibits a fascinating collection of historical operative textile machines. The last part of the second day was a workshop on “Sustainable eating” during which the students could find out what are the examples of sustainable food, why sustainable eating is important and also learn some tips how to eat sustainably.

On that day all the participants travelled to Vila Nova de Gaia to visit the World of Wine Museum (WOW). The participants of the mobility could learn how wine is made and how environment, climate and grape variety have a defining effect on wine. From root and vine to grape and glass, understand how these processes combine before testing your own palate and preferences to understand which styles of wine you prefer and why. Finally, explore the richness and diversity of the wine producing regions of Portugal, a unique country producing almost every style of wine. Next there was a visit to the Cork Museum where the guide explained and demonstrated how this natural product has changed the lives . Portugal is by far the world's largest cork producing country, accounting for over 50% of global production, harvested from more than 730 hectares of forest. The next activity was a six bridges cruise in Douro River, a boat trip along the Douro River where we could admire Porto from another perspective in a traditional Rabelo boat. Later there was a guided walking tour around Porto historical centre (Aliados Avenue, Old town, Lello bookshop, Ribeira, Clérigos church)

On the fourth day we visited Guimarães (Its historic town centre is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001). We saw the Castle of Guimarães, Chapel of São Miguel and Ducal Palace and later tookthe cable car in Guimarães over 1,500 meters up to the Penha hilltop at 617 meters. In the afternoon there was a a dance workshop, students could learn Portuguese traditional dances which they performed during the farewell dinner. In the evening there was a farewell dinner at school with all the participants together with traditional dances performed by the students and traditional Portuguese songs.

On the last day we travelled to Braga, where we visited Bom Jesus Sanctuary (declared World Heritage by the UNESCO)and also the Sanctuary of Sameiro.