Portugal with Erasmus

Gondomar is a city that belongs to the municipality of Porto and it is known for being the capital of filigree and goldsmith. Cindor, the school that we go to, teaches making jewelery especially in those techniques. Today we saw the biggest filigree heart in the world and we were able to talk to the producers of filigree. The heart is huge and weights 23kg! The biggest filigree heart in the world!

The Dom Luis I Bridge is perfect place for evening walk. It is lit so at night the lights reflect on Douro river. The bri From the bridge there is a wonderful panoramic view. The bridge connects a vineyard district Villa Nova de Gaia with Porto. Author of the Dom Luis I Bridge project was a student of Eiffel, Francois Gustave Theophile Syrig.

After a long day of school and exploring the city we like to go on walks after dinner. For us in Portugal anywhere you go there is a breathtaking view, every little street is diffrent and each house has it's own style. All the time you go either up or down the hill. Walks like that can be tiring so you can always go to a cafe-snack bar that are everywhere. Trust us you don't have to look for them long.

When it gets hot we only go to the beach, on weekend we spend the whole days there and on week days we go straight after school. We spend our time at the beach tanning, then swimming in the ocean and jumping through the waves... when the day ends and the sun starts setting we enjoy the view. When it's not that hot anymore we love to play volleyball with new met people. Last time we even met polish girls that where also on erasmus, after talking with them we met portuguese and they told us so much about Porto and places we have to see. From the place we live we have only thirty minutes by metro! On more windy days there is a lot of surfers on the beach, because there is a lot of surfing schools near the beach. The beach we go to is in Matoshinios near Porto, if you ever go to Porto you have to visit Matoshinios!

Today we went to a beautiful beach near river Douro in Gondomar that belongs to the municipality of Porto. It was such a hot day, but sadly we coudn't go into the water because we had still a little cough after swimming in the Ocean last week☺We went on a long walk by the river and enjoyed the nature around us. After we drank cold lemonade with our hosts in a bar near the beach. When we were going back home, we stopped to see the organization that Carlos volonteers to. He showed us everything, the training room, the office... He gave us a lot of gifts from the organization.

Today we are celebrating the day of Europe, we are very thankful for living in Europe, because that is why we are now in Portugal and we can experience this wonderful adventure of getting to know new cultures, new food, new people, even a diffrent education system! We feel welcome here. It is great that European Union gives young people so much opportunities.