St. Valentine’s Meeting in Portugal
The students brought along greeting cards and drawings which were exposed in the entrance hall of Agrupamento de Escolas de Santa Maria dos Olivais in Lisbon. As could be see the topic was presented in more or less the same way by young people all over Europe. This presentation of the project was completed by an exhibiton about the different regions of Portugal. Quite a number of colleagues from the Portuguese school allowed some of their personal belongings ranging from Porto to the Acores Islands being shown to the visitors.
Besides that an elaborated program took the Comenius gathering to the sights in and around Lisbon. At the first morning they paid a visit to the Ocenário which was built for the World Exhibition in 1998. During the guided tour the lookers on were made acquainted with the features of the five different oceans and their wild life. They were also informed that people are obliged to keep these habitats for mankind and as a heritage for the future.
In the rainy afternoon the visitors were taken to the national Palace of Queluz. Unfortunately the garden was not open for the public because of the heavy rain showers. But the guided tour inside the baroque palace was informative and can be regarded as a success. Mainly because of the scenes where actresses, a singer and dancers dressed in baroque costumes performed their parts.
It is understood that a guided tour in the city and the old town “Alfama” was on the program as well. The devastating earthquake of 1st November 1755 and the large fire of 1988 had destroyed Lisbon seriously; the results were new urban districts and settlements. Luckily enough there was no catastrophe needed to set off the amelioration of the old town, the “Alfama”. A walk through Chiado quarter, a stay at St. Roque and the Belverdere of S. Pedro de Alcantara completed the walk around the town of Lisbon. The day was finished at a typical Fado evening out in Chiado.
Places of UESCO World Heritage are also to be found near Lisbon: The picturesque village of Sintra and the National Palace Pena were the sights to be visited next morning. And in the afternoon there was a guided tour at the once monastery Capuchos after having had a short lunch (thunderstorm made it short) in Serra Sinta. On the way back to Lisbon there was a stop at the westernmost part of Europe, Cabo da Roca and the lighthouse Santa Maria. And finally there was a walk along the promenade of the well known resort of Cascais.
On the fourth day of the meeting students and teachers of the Comenius gathering were guided through the marvelous monastery of Jerónimos, paid a visit to the Cultural centre of Belém, the Museum of Coaches and the landmark of Libon, the Tower of Belém. In the evening a festive farewell party closed the project meeting were the headmistress herself, Mrs. Rosa Carvalho, performed some Fado songs.
Lisbon022011 por rafagg61
