3rd Short-term Exchange: Barcelos

On Sunday, November 5th, Greek and Spanish participants set off for a new adventure within our Erasmus + project. This time our destination was Portugal, and more specifically, the city of Barcelos, in the north of the country. There we had to meet our Portuguese fellow students with whom we are working on the project. Our arrival was extremely nice because the Portuguese had came to welcome us at Oporto Airport.

On Monday we met at the school, the three delegations had a first meeting and then our hosts showed us around. It is a modern and spacious building, being concrete and glass the main elements. They have a huge gym, a bar where students can have lunch and even an athletics track. There is also a botanical garden that was designed by one of the teachers of the original school more than 30 years ago. Later, our Portuguese colleagues also took us to tour the city of Barcelos, which is very beautiful and has many things to see: from medieval buildings (a castle, towers, chapels and bridges) to churches and Baroque gardens.

In the afternoon, we did our first activity directly related to the project: a visit to Biocelos, a company dedicated to organic farming, where they explained to us what the work they do, how they should work so that they Its fruits and vegetables can be certified as an ecological product and what advantages and disadvantages is this type of production compared to that used in pesticides and other chemical products.

Returning from Oporto we stopped at Frulact company headquarters, which is dedicated to the development, research and innovation for the food industry and specializes in the transformation of fruit for its use in the elaboration of other products such as jelly, jam, yoghurt, juice, etc. This company has industrial and commercial facilities in Portugal, but also in Canada, Morocco, France and South Africa and is a provider of companies so well known as Danone, Nestlé, Yoplait, etc. During the visit to the facilities, we were explained the different phases of the production process of the fruit compounds that these companies later added to yogurts, juices, etc. to enhance the flavor and aroma. We saw the machines where the fruit is processed, the laboratory where the aromas are created and we made an olfactory taste. They also explained the research they are carrying out to find the nutritional applications of insects that, as we were told, in the future will be an important source of protein that will provide a lack of other resources. We finished the visit with a tasting of juices with seeds, which are one of his latest creations.

On Wednesday morning we met at the school and went by coach to Braga, a city with two thousand years of history. We started our visit to the "Arco do Porta Nova" and went on the city and visiting its main monuments. After lunch they took us to a pedagogical farm where we learned the properties of the aromatic plants (oregano, rosemary, sage, etc.), the culinary use of flowers (nasturtium, tulip) and we learned about some of the species autochthonous livestock.

In the evening we went back to school and we prepared for the last activity of the day: the international dinner. Each delegation had to cook some of the typical dishes that we plan to include in an electronic recipe which the three partners are working on. Fortunately, the Spanish students had already practiced a little before the trip thanks to the kitchen workshop that they had organized at their school in October. In Portugal we invaded the kitchen of the institute to prepare our national dishes: Catalans cooked potato omelettes and bread with tomato. The students from Thessaloniki made a "Greek salad" while our Portuguese hosts cooked a traditional "green broth" and "feijoada" and brought a whole range of delicious home-made desserts. Students, teachers and families gathered in the cantine to have a nice dinner and so end the day in a very festive way. However, some students still went to a hockey game before returning home with their Portuguese host families.

Thursday is a special day in Barcelos, because it is when the largest weekly market in the whole province takes place and people come from everywhere to buy or just to visit the stalls where they sell artisanal products made of ceramic, wood, iron, wicker,etc. Barcelos is known as the Capital do Artesanato and this market is a true tourist attraction. Afterwards, the official reception at the Town Hall took place. There each one of us received a very special gift: a small ceramic rooster, which is the symbol of the city (and all of Portugal) and we were explained its legend . Later we went to visit the local ceramic museum to get to know a little more about the artisan tradition of the city.

In the afternoon, we moved to the Vila do Conde Environmental Monitoring and Interpretation Center where we participated in a workshop on the use of seaweed in the food industry. Here we were explained the different types of algae and their applications in food industry.

On Friday morning we had the traditional dance session we had been preparing for so long. In fact, before the trip each school (Barcelos, Thessaloniki and Torreforta) had already shared a tutorial prepared by their students to teach the other partners how to dance a traditional dance of their country. When we arrived there, we already knew the basic steps of the Greek koftos, we had some slight knowledge of the Portuguese rigadinho and also of the Catalan sardana. But it was during this session and with the help of students and teachers that we learned and taught these dances, we could exchange a part of our cultures and we had a fun time!

In the afternoon we visited another local company, this time an even more appealing one: a chocolate factory! Obviously, the most interesting was not the explanation of its history, the origin of cocoa, the manufacturing process or the visit to the facilities but the demonstration of how to create their chocolates and the tasting. We ended up licking our fingers!

Our last day ended again at the school, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of its magazine and had a ceremony to launch the last edition, deliver diplomas and bring together teachers, students, alumni and families.

On Saturday we took advantage of the last few hours to be with our families and our new friends from Portugal who had welcomed us so gently this week and with which we had shared so many good times. The truth is that we were not looking forward to returning home and saying goodbye felt so hard ...