On a very early Sunday morning a plane took off from Vilnius International airport and via Frankfurt headed to Porto. Ruta Turcinaviciute and Kristina Lavrukeviciute, students from the form 10a, and English teacher Jurgita Arbutaviciene started their journey to Portugal where they participated in the third meeting of the project.

When the plane landed, we were welcomed by modern Porto airport and pleasant warmth, we also had to turn our watches two hours back. We waited a little bit till Spanish Comenius team arrived to the Porto airport and then together we took a train to the centre of Porto where we had lunch and did some sightseeing. We walked along the Duero riverside admiring the bridge Ponte de D. Maria Pia designed by G. Eiffel and built in 1877. Then we took the Porto cable raiway and admired the wonderful views of the town.

Our final destination that day was Aveiro, it took us an hour to reach it by train from Porto. While sitting in the train and watching through the window, we enjoyed the breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean and the seaside with dark dunes, lots of lemon and orange – trees full of fruit on them growing near the houses in the seaside villages we were passing by… When we reached Aveiro, the host families were already waiting for us…

In the morning we all met at Escola Secundaria da Gafanha da Nazare which is located about 5 – 6 km from Aveiro. The first thing which we noticed when we entered the schoolyard, was a huge amount of bicycles that students had come to school by… Also the school hall was decorated with the flags representing countries – participants of the project, we saw the posters with welcome words in ten languages and stands with photos of the previous project meetings in Lithuania and Italy…

Together with Portuguese teachers Helena and Ivon we had a walk around the school and then met with David’s father who showed us the exposition of navigation tools located in one of the school halls. He explained us how these tools were used and it was really fun to try on the huge fisherman’s boots made of a very thick leather…

Later, Helena, a Portuguese teacher, divided students, the meeting participants, into multinational groups and we got the tasks which we had to fulfill till Friday. Then we watched and listened to the presentations about Vicopisano in Italy made by our fellow – students who participated in the Italy meeting in Pontedera in January…

After lunch in a spacious school canteen we visited Barra lighthouse located on the ocean coast. This lighthouse was built between 1855 and 1893. It stands 66 metres above the sea level and is Portugal’s tallest lighthouse. Its light can be seen as far as 48 km out to the sea. There are 271 wooden and several metal steps leading to the top of the lighthouse from where we all basked the sun and the warm wind blowing from the sea and enjoyed the beautiful views of the ocean, the dunes and the lagoon…

Later we visited Costa Nova located about 11 km from Aveiro. It is a former fishermen’s village full of fascinating striped buildings and houses which looked quite unusual for our eyes… Nowadays it’s a tourist attraction with lots of souvenir shops and cafes. Of course, we couldn’t resist the temptation to turn into some of them and then sit for a while in one of the cafes tasting delicious cakes covered with fresh fruit and berries…

On the way for canoeing in Aveiro lagoon our glimpse fell on the yards and houses of the local people. The houses were decorated with the tiles having different ornaments on them and almost in each house – yard we could see an orange – tree boasting with lots of fruit, a camellia shrub and several pots with the orchid blossoms… But what surprised us most was the local sort of cabbage growing in a sandy soil: a thin shrunk with several green leaves on it …

On the arrival to Aveiro lagoon we learned the canoeing is one of the most favourite pastimes in Portugal. The most courageous of us tried the canoes, others have chosen either a boat or a raft…

After lunch in a commodious school canteen the bus turned to Ilhavo town. The guide in the modern Ilhavo Sea Museum invited all the participants to get onto a fishing boat of the authentic size. She told about the peculiarities of the fishing and the equipment used for fishing in the old times. We learned that on the bottom of the boat full of salt the fishermen used to keep disemboweled codfish for many days. We also had a look at the models of the fishing boats and ships used for traveling, the navigation tools and shell collections.

The last place visited that day was the ceramics factory of Vista Allegre. It was established in 1815. The exposition in the factory museum presented the process of pottery making, then glass items and porcelain at last…

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On the way to Lisbon we turned to the medieval town of Obidos. The name of the town originates from the Latin word “oppidum” which means “a fortified town” – a town with a castle surrounded by a tall wall. In July a Medieval Fair takes place in Obidos, tourists can buy traditional handicrafts or watch medieval shows…

In the afternoon the meeting participants arrived to Lisbon and started their two – day  stay in Lisbon with visiting the Oceanarium. Oceanario de Lisboa is the second largest oceanarium in the world. We were impressed by the aquarium containing the same amount of water as four Olympic swimming pools. It’s the home for more than 200 sea creatures from the Pacific, the Indian, the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans…

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After breakfast all Comenius teams turned their steps to the object of the amazing beauty – St. Jeronimos Monastery built in 1459. Nowadays it is a museum, the architecture of which can boast of gothic and renaissance styles. The building was named after St. Jeronimos, the translator of the Bible into Latin, but this happened some centuries later after the monastery had been built. The façade of the building is decorated with mouldings and sculptures in manueline style following the motives of the Bible.

No less impressive place worth a visit was the Belem Tower. This monument was built according to the conception of the architect Francisco de Arrude. The Tower is famous for the statue of Virgin Mary holding a baby in her arms. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tower was used as a part of a defensive system at the mouth of the river Tagus and also as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon…

Finally, the meeting participants reached the Batalha Monastery which is one of the best and the most original examples of the late Gothic architecture in Portugal. The convent was built to thank the Virgin Mary for Portuguese victory over the Castilians in the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It took over a century to build this convent starting in 1386 and ending circa 1517, spanning the reign of seven kings…It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site too…

In the evening, after having spent two very impressive days in Lisbon, we returned back to Aveiro…

In the morning we gathered at school and started our work in multinational groups preparing presentations of the visited places and fulfilling the tasks we all got on Monday (March 5). Meanwhile, the teachers had a meeting in the agenda of which was to summarize the results of the visit in Portugal and discuss the tasks for the future meeting in Catalonia, Spain.

Later, after lunch we had a trip by moliceiro, a typical Portuguese boat, through the canals of Aveiro. Due to the system of the canals and lots of graceful bridges over them, Aveiro is often called the “Portuguese Venice”. It was a very enjoyable boat trip: we enjoyed the views, the moliceiro driver sang a song for us, we were waving the passers – by and getting their waves and smiles back…

In the evening everyone was ready for the final event – the international party at school. During the party Portuguese parents and teachers sang traditional songs reminding some kind of a dialogue between men and women. Our partners from Greece and Latvia performed several traditional Greek and Latvian dances, we also listened to national melodies played by Greek teachers. And finally, we all thanked to the host families, the Portuguese teachers and students and headmistress Maria Eugenia Martins Pinheiro for the well – organized meeting and warm care.

It was a warm Saturday morning and the teachers were ready for the excursion in Aveiro, the topic of which was “Art Nouveau style in Aveiro town”, meanwhile their students were spending the half of the day with the host families….

During the excursion the teachers visited the Art Nouveau Museum, one of the most fascinating exhibits there was a mechanical piano and, of course, the knowledge about the Art Nouveau style was important and interesting as well…

After the excursion most of the teachers said goodbye to each other and moved to Aveiro train station where the students and the host families have already gathered. Most of the Comenius teams were leaving for Porto from where they had to leave home very early the following morning…

After a night spent at “Paulista Hotel” in Porto, early in the morning we were at the Porto  airport. The plane via Frankfurt had to leave at 6 a.m. It was difficult to part with the country we fell in love as soon as we had arrived there. It is really an astonishing and amazing country, the country of travellers and discoverers.

Good – bye, wonderful Portugal! Hello, Spain!