2014-1-BG01-KA201-001396 Gymnázium, Alejová 1, Košice, Slovakia DIARY FROM OUR GREEK
ERASMUS + ADVENTURE Code name C 3
DAY 1 OCTOBER 29th 2015 THURSDAY
The day has come at last! Our group of six students from Oktava lead by our English teacher and Erasmus+ coordinator Ms Alena Bačišinová are ready for the Greek Erasmus+ adventure in Athens - the third exchange of students in the frame work of our international project FACT.
KIKA BAŠKA MAŤO SAŠKA IVO JANKO We set off for our six hour journey to Bratislava by train. The departure falls on our two days´ autumn holiday, so luckily we do not miss that much of school and can explore Athens – the cradle of civilisation, before the serious project work starts.
Apart from observing our beautiful countryside and chit-chat to kill the time on train, we are pressed to revise our project presentations in pairs. Well, we are not going on holiday, are we? Our flight to Athens is at 19:00 and takes 2 hours. It is the first time on plane for Ivo, Janko and Sashka, and all of us enjoy it very much. We land at 22:00 as Greece lies in the Eastern European Time Zone, which means they are one hour ahead of us. DAY 2 OCTOBER 30th 2015 FRIDAY We wake up late at around 9:30 and have breakfast at Mc Donalds at Syntagma square. This is also the starting point for our exploring of Athens . We opt for the most convenient way - by an open air double decker Hop on, hop off with the City Sight Seeing Athens & Piraeus Company. We are lucky to get the special offer
• tickets for 18 Eur for 2 days • summer timetable, when the buses run until 21:00. • map with the clearly marked green and red routes • headphones with multilingual audio commentary available in 11 languages explaining the history from ancient times • (Our teacher makes sure that we take these audio lessons in English and Greek history and culture seriously, and is checking on us constantly. ) • 27 stops for both lines • possibility to hop On & hop Off from as many times as one wishes to have a look round and then rejoin a later bus. It is amazing to see all those famous monuments from the top of the bus: Parliament, Residence, Acropolis, Museums, Handrian´s Palace . Obviously with a bird's eye view one sees more of the quirks and interesting little corners of both Piraeus and Athens.
What's more, it gives you the opportunity to save energy for the museums, art galleries, heritage spots and last but not least shopping, that we plan to do during the following days. We take a few rides and during them hundreds of photos. Although it gets windy at the top of the bus, we absolutely love the views and beg the teacher to let us stay (and not go down).
The highlight of the day is changing of the guards in front of the Parliament. You can be photographed with them one by one, you are just not allowed to salute or touch the guard. Sure thing we need to come back during the daylight and Sunday when the ceremonial changes of the guards take place is best.
After the first very eventful full day in Athens we come back to the hotel very late and look forward to our next adventures.
DAY 3 OCTOBER 31th 2015 SATURDAY We wake up late and the teacher is not happy about that, as she needs to wait for us to get dressed and have breakfast.To tell the truth, we are still in our pyjamas when the hour when we are supposed to leave the hotel strikes.
We „ hop“ on the Hop-on, hop off bus at Syntagma Sqare again, but this time we get off more often and have a closer look at the remarkable sights . The first stop is Panathinaikos Stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. From there we continue on foot past the National Gardens towards the Hadrian’s Arch and Temple of Olympian Zeus completed in 131 A.D. There we get the chance to have a photo taken with the Greek master in karate who is having a photoshoot in front of Zappion.
At the Acropolis Stop we go on two walking tours with a funny bubbly guide-Euphrosyme. She gives us a lot of brilliant information about Athens and the different sites and lots of hints and tips on where to eat, where to shop etc. She doesn´t focus on the guide book information on how big a place is and when it was built, but spends more time putting Ancient Athens and its democracy into a historic context , whilst linking it to the problems that Greece has today.
At one point she picks up and shows us on her palm remnants of ancient potery and we all do feel its ubiquitousness. When we get to a place called Socrates Prison. Euphrosyme tells us about his message for posterity and also mentions his ugly and grumpy wife and the anecdote that he is alleged have said : „If one can deal with a wife like this, then he can deal with the rest of the world“.
We walk up the Aeropagus hill with a fantastic view of the city and stop by the engraved plaque containing an extract from Apostle Paul's sermon. In pre-classical times (before the 5th century BC), the Areopagus was the council of elders of the city, similar to the Roman Senate. The second tour takes us from Aeropagus down to Monastiraki. On the way we pass by numerous big fat cats and street artists.
In the afternoon we take the green route to Piraeus where after having Starbucks coffee we feel energised enough for a stroll along the coast where we observe lots of amazing sailing boats in the docks. Three of us Maťo, Baška and Kika can´t resist the chance and jump in the sea. The water is cold like ice but it is an unbeatable experience to be able to swim in the sea the last day in October ! Yes, we travel to the seaside resorts, but never in autumn. We hope to get back another day in November again for some more swimming. After the sunset and a short walk along the beach we manage to take the last bus back to Acropolis where we have a brief talk with the guard checking on us when we are fooling around at the Acropollis gate. Afterwards we enjoy our dinner at Caffee Centro on Omonia square where the portions are really huge.
Our third day closes with a visit to Benaki Museum which is open till midnight like most of museums on that particular day.
Starting at the bottom floor with the ancient stuff and going up through the various periods of Greek history, my favorite part is the third floor and the heroes of the Greek Revolution and the birth of the modern state of Hellas.
Amazingly , the entry in the museum is free as we get special bracelets for visitors from the Information Centre earlier in the day.
On the way home we are struck by the number of homeless people sleeping in the streets – many of them victims of harsh austerity meassures and unemployment. It really is unsettling to see something like that in the EU country. DAY 4 NOVEMBER 1st 2015 SUNDAY We all agree on devoting this day to visiting a few of the world-renowned museums and marvel at the ancient temples at Acropolis. We wake up late again and this time the teachers is really mad at us as we are going to be late for the big ceremonial Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that takes place every Sunday at 11am. We run like crazy and as we approach the Parliament building we can hear the brass music and see a huge crowd of gathered onlookers. Some tourists smile when they see the pompoms on the boots of the guards, but make no mistake, these men are part of an elite light infantry unit, the Evezone's. They are accompanied by a military band march from their barracks, just behind the Parliament Building. They provide a 24-hour honour guard, with an hourly sentry change, which is carried out in slow motion, that some say is to allow the troops circulation to resume after standing absolutely motionless. The ceremonial guard change provides an opportunity to see the three official uniforms of the Evezone's and it is really impressive. It is difficult to get through to the front as it is a very popular tourist attraction in Athens, but some of us manage to and take a few pictures and a video.
After the changing ceremony we head for Acropolis on foot and on the way we pass the Russian Orthodox Church and peek in during the Sunday mass. After the service the congregation stay behind, have a chat in groups and nibble on pomegranates served in front of the Church. We meet Father Grigory, who is very kind and offers us a guided visit to the church and showing us the catacombs.
At Acropolis we spend almost 3 hours. The word Acropolis means 'high city' in Greek. Most city- states in ancient Greece had at their centre a rocky mound or hill where they built their important temples and where the people could retreat to if under attack. Built in the 5th century B.C , it is the most important ancient site in the Western world. Crowned by the Parthenon, it stands sentinel over Athens, visible from almost everywhere within the city. As it is the first Sunday of the month, the entrance to Acropolis is free for everybody. We take out a guidebook and take it in turns to get enlightened about the history of this magnificent monument and all its famous sights: the Propylaea Gateway, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon – built for the goddess Athena, and the Erechtheum with its famous Porch of Maidens.
When we pose for a picture with a showl with our national colours in front of the Parthenon, we find out it is not allowed – as a guard appears out of nowhere and starts whistling. From Acropolis we take a short, pleasant walk past the Herodion and Dionysos theaters to the new Acropolis Museum that houses more than 4,000 artifacts from the Acropolis site, and its exhibits cover the Greek Bronze Age as well as the Roman and Byzantine periods. This visit complements the whole picture we get about Acropolis. It is already getting dark when we walk in the direction of the city centre through charming tiny side streets and shop for souvenirs. At Monastiraki we get to taste souvlaki - popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is served in a pita sandwich with garnishes and sauces, or on a dinner plate, often with fried potatoes. The meat usually used is pork although chicken and lamb may also be used.
We get to love Monastiraki square with crowds of people waiting to meet their friends or just hanging around, while the odd musicians and street performes add to the din. Monastiraki offers an excellent demonstration of the fact that old and new live hand-in-hand in Athens. The square itself is home to an historic train station built in 1895 that now accommodates the metro system, a mosque from 1795, a small Christian church dating from the 9th -11th centuries and the remains of the Roman emperor Hadrian’s 2nd century AD library or forum.
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As we are enjoying this melting pot atmosphere, we are approached by a Reggae band black guys selling bracelets. The teacher is not very happy about it, as she suspects they are typical bracelet scam guys. How does the scam work? While distracting you with a constant stream of friendly chatter, they quickly weave strings around your fingers and wrist and then brazenly demand payment for the friendship bracelet. They leave you with a parting piece of advice to smile and be happy –„ Hakuna Matata“ ! – that you might remember from The Lion King cartoon. Gullible Janko pays for the bracelet and we take mickey out of him for that a lot.
Back in the hotel we meet the Spanish group lead by their charismatic coordinator Mr Manolo Borego who everybody – even his own students, call simply Manolo. Tomorrow the official programe of the 3rd exchange starts and we can hardly wait to meet the teams from other four countries.
DAY 5 NOVEMBER 2nd 2015 MONDAY We leave the hotel together with the Spanish team. Our first stop is the Athens Central Market full of fresh meat, fish and various seafood ...you name it, with all the stallholders shouting out their wares. On the opposite side of the road there are fruit and vegetable stalls and in between stalls selling spices, olives, sweets and nuts of all descriptions. This is the real Athens and worth a trip just for the sights, sounds and smells.
Just a few minutes away is the the historical building of the Athens Polytechnic university and we take a tour of it. Next on our agenda is Motor musem, which offers an outstanding historical and contemporary collection in spectacular condition - a very welcome change from the 'ancient' tourist trail. My favourite car is a pink Chrysler Imperial.
National Archeological Museum houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and contains the richest collection of artifacts from Greek antiquity worldwide. Definitely worth spending a few hours there.
DAY 6 NOVEMBER 3rd 2015 TUESDAY
The main programme of the day is visit to the First Lyceeum in Athens - the Greek high school where we are welcomed by a crowd of open-hearted cool Greek students who show us their school and hospitality. It is a heart warming experience and I have beautiful memories of the young Greeks and our talk about differences and commonalities in our school systems.
In the following Sport exhibition each team gets to show off their sporty team members skills. The best prepared are the „warriors“ from Italy all in cool blue suits – who present and perform Taekwondo, Judo and to our amazement and amusement in the are all „knock outed“ by their charming coordinator Ms Savina Moniaci. Viva Savina!
And two turkish gymnast stun us all with their performance and beauty. Myself - in the role of a weight- lifter get to lift the main coordinator from Bulgaria - Ms Margarita Dobreva. An impromtu stunt that fortunately ends up well. OOOPA! We get to play basketball and dodgeball. A lot of photoshoots are unavoidable .
A handball match (international versus greek team) follows and we are having lots of fun together- Hungry like lions after all excercising, we have dinner again in Plaka with a beautiful view of the Acropolis.
As the sun is setting down the sky gets spectacular vibrant pinkish colour are we feel blissfully happy to be in this extraordinary city and enjoy it to the full. DAY 7 NOVEMBER 4th 2015 WEDNESDAY
Having had brunch at McDonalds , we meet the rest of our international party at Monastiraki. By Metro we travel to the Bulgarian Sunday school - very gracious to provide us with the facilities needed for our projectt activities planned for this exchange (since we happened to have no Greek partner school any more). It is the day and the time for sharing good practice and presenting all the project work we have done on sport since September.
The Bulgarian team start, followed by the Italian, Turkish and Spanish teams.
The students speak about their passion for sports and their achievements, their schools sporting activities, about the general decline of interect in sport in the young generation and revive the memories of various sports and games for children in the old days.
We learn about Taekwondo, Judo, kite surf, passion for volleyball, tennis, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, cable skiing.
Our team is the last one. Kristina and Ivo speak about Sport in Slovakia in general, Janko and Sashka give presentation on Kosice – The European city of Sport 2016, me and Bashka speak about Sport in our school and our school´s „celebrities“.
We have created a videofilm and a bulletin with their interviews in which they gush about their love and devotion for the sport they do in most of their free time. After much time spent indoors we embrace the opportunity to get some fresh air on the way to a very distinctive landmark of Athens – Lycabettus hill. According to journalist Adrian Brettos "Lykavittos means "where the wolves go," but the modern ancient Greeks in the know call it "path of the wolves.„
At 745 ft. (277 m), Lycabettus stands high above Athens, commanding a clear view across the Attica basin and the Aegean. Facing the viewing platform is Agios Georgios, the tiny white chapel of St. George.
We get up the hill by a funicular and enjoy the amazing sights of the illuminated capital of Greece. Janko loses his ticket (so typical of him) and has difficulties to get back with us by funicular.
After descending from the hill we all order musaka for dinner in a posh restaurant close to the famous Church of. It is a small piece of meat cake for 10 Eur, quite disappointing rip off.
DAY 8 NOVEMBER 5th 2015 THURSDAY In the morning we do some shopping for food as breakfast in the hotel is a no winner. We pay visit to the University campus and visit the National Library with over 2 million books and old furniture. The library staff are very helpful, they even give us the first lesson in Greek language and small cards with basic phrases in Greek. There is a reason why we go to library this day. About 3,000 students gather in front of it in the noon and take part in a demonstration in central Athens. Secondary education teachers are on work stoppage from 11 am to 2 pm.They demand higher state funding for state-run schools and universities and protest against the government reforms in education and very bad conditions in their sector. They shout slogans and during their march we can see them burn an EU flag in front of the Parliament building. The protest is not violent but quite a few protesters carry tomatoes and we wonder who they are addressed for. We are on vigil anyways as we can see the police with clubs and shields. The general strike will be on November 12 when we are back at home.
One can say that the situation in Greece is critical. Workers oppose austerity, creditors enforce it, government implements it. The consequence is clear: strikes, protest rallies, work stoppages. Trouble. Teachers and students take to the streets to demonstrate about the situation in the Education.
We feel solidarity with these young people inflamed by four years of austerity and political systems and corruption, but on the other hand are suprised at how full restaurants are and how relaxed Greeks are despite their austerity meassures.
The Greek crises seems to have an impact on our project as well. Our Greek partner school in Trickery withdrew from the project very unexpectedly in September, allegedly due to the Greek crises . We felt very sorry about that and also sad, that we will not see the Greek students who we hosted during the exchange in our school less than 6 month ago.
Due to the demonstartion, the public trafic is stopped in some parts of the city and we need to wait for a while for the tram number 5 to take us to the beautiful Kolonaki beach. There we enjoy almost summery sunny weather and warm sea water and take dozens of photos! (even Power Rangers photo!) We socialise and dine together with partners in the evening. The peculiar thing about our suppers is that we are normally hungry and want to have dinner at around 7 pm whereas our mediterraean friends prefer having dinner at 9pm and even later - one huge difference in our eating habits. And for us the main meal of the day is lunch, which is supposed to be something hot (not just a salad or a sandwich). The Italian guys are very funny, they call me Largo and we teach each other a few phrases in our languages.
You can tell that new friendships are struck up and one particular seems like a new international love story...but Shhh.... Anyways, I have also fallen in love !!!!....with Greek yoghurt - it ´s so yummy. Back in the hotel room we talk a lot before we get to sleep – processing all the experiences from our stay.
DAY 9 NOVEMBER 6th 2015 FRIDAY In the morning we pay visit to the National Historical Museum housed in the Old Parliament (1875- 1932). It´s very hard to find (as we get misleading directions from the passerbyes not admitting they do not know it.) At the square outside the parliament is a statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis - the leader of Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.
The museum covers the Greek history from 1453 when Constantinople fell to Ottomans, to the end of WWII, and many precious and interesting objects are on display. Numerous small rooms contain mostly guns, shields, swords, busts, ship models and some mannequins in traditional Greek clothing. It seems that curators themselves do not take the place very seriously, since tourists can sit in parliamentary seats.
During dinner in the restaurant the teacher reprimands us for being hooked on our mobile phones and not having a real conversation and there is some truth in it. We get free time for shopping and shooting a video about our stay in the greek metropolis. It is the main goal of the day along with shopping for presents and souvenirs. And yes, in addition to the city’s many monuments, you’ll come across a multitude of shopping opportunities along the tourist trails.: Plaka, Flea Market, Ermou shopping centre.
Right before the time we are supposed to get together with the whole exchange group, Sashka discovers that her purse with all documents is missing from her handbag. The police guard at Monastiraki offer to take us to the Lecharos police station to report the theft, but the staff there send us to another street and although the passerbyes we stop during our search try to be helpful, we just can´t locate the place. Not knowing what to do we stop the taxi and the taxi driver doesn´t know the location of the police station either. You could definitely call it a secret police. Having made a few enquiery phone calls he finally says he know where we need to go. He is a very talkative guy and during the ride flaunts his knowledge of our country, but says Slovaks really irk him recently with their attitude toward the Greek crises. He points out that Greeks voted for Slovakia to become a part of EU and now we threaten to kick out Greece from the EU.
The police say we should have stayed in the street we arrive from and find the „secret police“ at Drachacou, but we are lucky to be accompanied with the greek driver and fat last can report the theft. Having completed all the forms, we get back to the hotel after midnight very exhausted and quite frustrated. Tommorow is our last day in Athens and we need to get the substitue documents for Sashka
DAY 10 NOVEMBER 7th 2015 SATURDAY
The teacher with Sashka and Bashka take a taxi to get to the Slovak embassy at Georgiou Seferi street where distraught Sashka gets the replacement travel document for which she pays 10 Eur.The consul Ms Mojzúnová turns out to be a super lady who drives with us back to our hotel and is willing to show us the city from a new – her perspective . We are taken inside a few churches, we get to taste genuine greek coffee, Chillibox icecream, we are shown good shops with bargains. We can´t get enough of the excellent greek yoghurt. Unfortunately, Bashka´s mobile is stolen during our shopping spree.
We get back to the hotel just to pick up our luggage and dash for Metro from Omonia to Syntagma and there change for the route directly for the International Airport. At checking in, the lady says Johny´s bag hasn´t got the right meassurments, but in the end we get through the controls all right. We are leaving Athens one day before the 33rd Athens Marathon and 5 days before the General strike that is more violent than the one we have attended. The plane takes off beautifully and we have an interesting chat with our fellow passengers. Little do we know about the downing of a Russian plane just 3 days ago caused by ISIS. The teacher knws, but doesn´t inform us about the tragedy, as she doesn´t want to scare us before the flight.
As we have plenty time in Bratislava before our departure by night train back to Kosice, we go to Ikea where we get to eat first – (and realise the food at home is...well, just amazing! )and then do some shopping.
The journey back home is quite restful as we get to sleep in a sleeping carriage.
DAY 11 NOVEMBER 8th 2015 SUNDAY After our 10 day Greek adventure our parents pick us up at the Košice railway station and we are taken home richer for new multicultural, educational experience The trip is over, but the memories of the international group of people we met and the magic Athens will last lifetime. Erasmus + DOES open minds and creates new opportunities and and if you get the chance, try and get involved too. It definitely is worth it!
We are most thankful to Erasmus+ “The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”