After a long day of traveling we finally arrived at our hotel in Litochoro in the early evening. We checked in and started getting ready to meet the Greek students from Kato Milia Pieria high school. We were warmly greetedby a delegation of students and their teachers outside our hostel and walked to The Roll in Stone, a fashionable pub where the rest of the Greek students were waiting for our arrival.Greek and Luxembourg students were introducedto each other with a game in which each person had to write seven personal character traits on a sheet of paper and present themin front of everybody. After thisbonding game our delicious meals started arriving. The evening was a great opportunity to discuss and get to know each other before walking back to our guesthouse to rest after a long and exciting day

 

Feeling of the day:“We hit it off and it felt good to start a new friendship.”

At the beginning, both,Luxembourg and Greek Students were very shy and held-back. Through the game we also found some similarities and differences in the student’s interests. Even though we are all different in our own ways, we quickly started to hit it off and it felt really good to start a new friendship.

Our second day started with our visit of Kato Milia School. The headmistress and some of the teachers and students welcomed us.They introduced to a traditional pomegranate juice. Some enjoyed the drink and for some it wasn’t their cup of tea. After the tasting, all of us went to one of their classrooms, where we exchanged PowerPoints and videos. The Greek students taught us some mathematics theories as well as Greek history. The Luxembourg students had the possibility to introduce Luxembourg City with a video. To memorize that moment, the Greek students had a nice idea to put our handprints and our names on their school wall. Moments after, we shareda delicious brunch, prepared by the students and their families. We left the school to go to Dion, where a guide was waiting for us. During the guided tour we visited an ancient amphitheatre and various sanctuaries of Greek Gods: Aphrodite, Zeus, Demeter, Asclepius and the Egyptian Goddess Iris. After that we continued our tour by visiting a museum full of ancient statues and a some amazing mosaics. 

Afterwards we went to a fish restaurant since we were all starving. We enjoyed a good afternoon by exchanging interests between Greek and Luxembourg students.

In the late afternoon, we had the chance to meet Elias Tsolakidis at the Katerini Christmas market organised by his NGO Kapnikos. He welcomed us in his usualwarm and generous way. Elias showed us the different buildings of the Katerini solidarity centre, such as the social pharmacy, the library, a “mini” supermarket, rooms that stocked food to be distributed and a room used to read stories to young children. Elias explained to us how the solidarity centre operated.  After that we gathered around a camp  which we all enjoyed on this cold December evening. But unfortunately not everything that’s good lasts forever, so the Greek students had to leave us and we took our bus back to Litochoro. Because we were all hungry, again.., we went to an Italian restaurant where some ate pasta and others pizza. 

Feeling of the day:“On the second day of our visit, it became much easier to communicate  with the Greek students … “

Most of the Luxembourg students enjoyed the journey because we learned more about Greek culture, by eating and drinking their specialities and by visiting sites such as Dion with a very competent tour guide. Some of us were quite surprised by the students-teacher relationship. It seemed very close like a friendship between an adult and a teenager. On the second day of our visit it was much easier to communicate with the Greek students compared to the first day when most of us had been pretty shy!

We first visited an archaeological museum in Vergina. The museum was situated in a tumulus with different mausoleums. We could see the grave of Philipp III, the father of Alexander the Great,and the graves of one of his wives and his grandchild. Tools and treasures from the graves, such as the crowns of Philipp and his wife or armour and weapons, were on exhibition. We got a lot of additional information and fun facts about ancient Greek civilization from our passionate guide. The museum was a nice occasion to explore ancient Greece, their culture and art, their mythology and to see relics from ancient times in real life.

We could see how important Greek mythology and culture are for Greek people.

After the visit, we were very hangry (angry from being hungry) and went to a restaurant, where we had delicious traditional food. We sat on a long table next to a fireplace and we got lots of different dishes, such as filled mushrooms, several types of feta and meat dishes.

 At 4 o’clock we took the bus to go to Kapinikos. Elias (the representative of the NGO) was waiting for us  to introduce us to our work at the NGO. We could choose between building a Christmas tree made of plastic bottles and helping at thesolidarity pharmacy. It was a pleasant experience to do some voluntary work together with our Greek friends.

To continue our afternoon, we walked around the city of Katerini and went to a restaurant and experienced traditional Greek music, dance and food. It was a great evening (even if we ate late for our habits) and we had a lot of fun while learning the typical Greek dance Sirtaki.

Feeling of the day: “We had a great time because we worked for a good cause.”

Thursday was a very long and hardworking day, but we had a great time because we worked for a good cause. We also learned a lot about ancient Greek culture.  In Luxembourg we don’t have as many ancient archaeological sites.

We started our fourth day in Greece with a traditional breakfast in our guesthouse. Afterwards we met the Greek students on the bus. Our first stop was a museum about Mount Olympus, where we had a tour by a local guide. He gave us information about the different species of plants as well as animals which can be found on the mountain. The museum was an interactive museum, where we could listen to the noises that the animals make and look at pictures of the impressive landscapes.

Later, we visited an old monastery and its church. In the museum next to the monastery we discovered ancient relics of Saints. It was really interesting to see the differences and similarities of our religions. We learned a lot about their culture and history.

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After the visit we went tracking in spite of the rainy weather. We were lucky to have another tour guide to navigate us through the woods. The teachers and the headmistress of Kato Milia Piera high school were very friendly and nice and distributed little bags of nuts to everyone. The weather was not the best to go hiking. It was pretty cold, and it was raining which made the narrow mountain trails slippery. However, this did not disturb us very much. We enjoyed the beautiful and fascinating waterfalls. Because of the weather, we needed to shorten the hike. However, we visited a lot of different sites and a massive waterfall. On our way back, we were lucky enough to spot a fire salamander.

Shortly after, we had a bit of free time in our small village Litochoro. In the village, there were a few shops and cafés. In the streets, we noticed that there were a lot of streets dogs. Even though they were homeless, they seemed to be very peaceful and lovely. They were not afraid of us and we could pet them as they weren’t aggressive.

 Our restaurant was in a village. We had nearly the whole restaurant to ourselves and the food was delicious. As a starter we had a green soup. The main dish was meat balls with mashed potatoes. We also had a wonderful dessert, a traditional Greek orange cake.

Afterwards, we took the bus to the beach and visited the observation platform, which was built by Kapnikos in order to observe the woods during summer and thus prevent forest fires. Additionally, we had a little free time on the beach and even saw dolphins jumping out of the water.

Then, we visited an old café in a train tunnel, where the Orient Express used to pass. It was a very extraordinary and monumental café where we had a breathtaking view over the entire beach and hills.

The last stop of our trip to Greece was the Kapnikos Christmas market. We made ‘Gromperekichelcher’, a traditional Luxembourgish dish and offered these potato cakes to the Greek visitors of the Christmas market. We had an amazing time with our new friends from Greece. Our final night ended with a concert by two different student bands from local music schools. The first one was more of a pop band and the other one played traditional music.

 

Unfortunately, after the short concert, it was time for us to say goodbye. It was a very eventful trip that we will never forget, and we cannot wait for the Greek students to visit us in Luxembourg in March 2019.

Feeling of the day:  We had a wonderful party but were sad because our trip was drawing to an end. It was interesting to see the similarities between the Greekand Luxembourg students. Day four was a real highlight!