One of our English teachers, Ana Rodríguez, is currently taking a course in Porto, Portugal, under the title of: “Improving School Management: from a Single Person to a Common Strategy”. This is an ERASMUS+ KA1 Staff Mobility Course by DOREA which is taking place from the 16th to the 20th of May 2022.

On the first day we've gone on a tour around Porto.

Our tour has started in one of the most charming monuments of the city, the Cathedral of Porto. Located on the highest part of the city, its construction began in the 12th century. The Cathedral of Porto is considered a National Monument, for its religious, architectural, and historic value. 

Crossing the famous Aliados Avenue, surrounded by a vast architectural complex with Art Nouveau and Art Deco façades, we have continued our tour towards the São Bento Railway Station. This place may be one of the greatest highlights of the tour - this train station seems like a true tile museum! Its tile panels tell the history of the North of Portugal through dazzling blue and white tiles. The main atrium is covered by more than twenty thousand tiles!

We've taken some time to appreciate the most exquisite landscapes of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, while crossing the iconic D. Luís I Bridge, built by one of the disciples of Gustav Eiffel - the French engineer who participated in the construction of the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Vila Nova de Gaia is famous for the stunning Port Wine Cellars, so our next stop has been a wine cellar. We've had the opportunity to visit a Wine Cellar and learn all about the winemaking process that has lasted for centuries and that is the basis of this world-famous wine. A Port Wine tasting was included, the perfect opportunity to savour some of the best. 

After that we had some free time and we met again for the welcome dinner, arranged in one of the  most traditional restaurants in Porto, where we could try some typical portuguese food.

DAY 2

The course began today with nine students from different nationalities, such as Italy, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Finland, Estonia and Spain. Our schedule is from nine to two with a coffee break around eleven. We've been doing some ice-breaking dynamics and after that we've been discussing on the topics of Leadership and Management. To finish, we've been comparing the OCDE surveys on Education performance in different countries.