The European partners 20 students and 10 teachers from Corfu, Romania, Slovenia and Germany attended the activity program prepared by 35 students in the 1st Gymnasium of Nafplio and 15 teachers belonging to the program’s pedagogical team. This mobility was also attended by 3 persons from pedagogical team of the Erasmus + Partnership Coordinator, the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of the Ionian Islands, including the Regional Director Mr. Petros Angelopoulos.
First Day Welcome Reception
The first day included welcoming the guests by the school choir, the pupils introducing their countries and schools, playing and dancing lessons at the Nafplio Sports Center. At noon an official welcoming lunch was held at the school with the amazing offer of our students’ parents and the coordination of all the teachers of the program’s pedagogical team.




















Argos - Epidauros
On the second day the students and their accompanying teachers were guided to Argos by the greek students looking for the traces of Kapodistrias in the city of Argos. They visited important monuments in Argos that declare the life of the Governor and his work. The day continued with the visit to Ancient Epidaurus and the greek students guiding the visiting partners.
Argos









Epidauros







Thematic tour and workshop
On the third day, the greek students and their teachers had prepared a thematic tour of Nafplio that concerned the life of Kapodistrias as governor of Nafplio until his assassination. After the thematic tour, the students were divided into groups and played Hidden Treasure Hunting Gaem in the Old Town of Nafplio. In the afternoon the activities continued with the Experimental Workshop on “Enemies and Friends of Kapodistrias”. The workshop was prepared by the greek students with the help of their teachers. At the end of this great day, teachers met in a coordinating meeting at the Harvard Center for Greek Studies and discussed the details of the program’s outcome.
Thematic tour














Workshop




Visit to Palamidi
On the fourth day of hospitality the visiting partners were guided by the greek students to Palamidi and were informed about the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the persons who played an important role in it. Then they visited the Nafplio Branch of the National Gallery, the Permanent Exhibition of Persons of 1821 and the Exhibition of Women Portraits. At noon the official closing meal where certificates were given to the participants. And in the afternoon, one of the most moving moments of the program was the theatrical event on the Assassination of Kapodistrias by the greek students.
Palamidi











Theatrical event











Visit to Acropolis
The last day was dedicated to the Acropolis of Athens and the Acropolis Museum. The students were guided by professional guides to all the highlights of the Rock and the museum. Then they left for the airport and said goodbye to their new friends!
Presentation of the activity program
Testimonials
Pupils from Bucharest
I liked this experience at the school in Nafplio,because I met a lot of nice people from different countries.I also had the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful Greek traditions and the everyday life of the most hospitable people in Greece.
The week I spent in Nafplio was an awesome experience because I met my host family, they were very kind,like the most peoplein Greece. I met children from different countries at the school in Nafplio and I visited beautiful places. I had a lot of fun with the children I met and I'm happy I was part of this project.
I loved my experience in this Erasmus project because I met such friendly and happy people that became my friends in just a few days. I had the opportunity to take a break from all the traffic in Bucharest and see a beautiful town with beautiful sights. I'm also glad that I learnt new things about this school and the educational system in Greece .
It was an amazing opportunity and experience, I saw great historical places and I found out new things about Ioannis Capodistrias.For me, learning and experiencing lifestyle in Nafplio for a few days was awesome. I learned a lot during my time there and my hosts were great people.
I liked to see my friends from Slovenia again. It was fun seeing how my friends in Slovenia live and what they do in their free time. We spent a lot of time together and had a lot of fun.
Pupils from Ettal
On Monday we met the other students. We presented ourselves, our countries and schools. The presentations helped us to get to know the other participants better. We continued doing that in the indoor gym where we played games and learned the most famous Greek dance, the sirtaki. This was so much fun! Back at school there was a huge buffet with such a great variety of traditional food. It was delicious. Thanks to all the Greek parents for all the preparation work! It was impressive that the Metropolitan Nektarios Antonopoulos, a very important person in the Greek Orthodox Church, joined us for lunch. He even gave us a book he wrote as a present.
This day was the beginning of a great week!
On Tuesday we went to Argos, a town next to Nafplio. We had a historic walk about the sites connected to Kapodistrias in the town. For example we saw places where, at the time of Kapodistrias, the National Assembly met or took the oath and a house in which Kapodistrias stayed. It must have been very beautiful once! We also learnt about the trick Kapodistrias played on the Greek to make them eat potatoes.
Then we went to Epidaurus where the Greek pupils told us about the sanctuary. There was a theatre where you can hear the sound from the stage everywhere. The day was really interesting and historical!
During our stay in Nafplio we saw many great sights for example a beautiful old castle from the 18th century. The view from the fortress at beautiful old buildings and the picturesque sea in the background was marvellous. In small international groups we also went on a treasure hunt through the town. This was fun! At the school we collected arguments for and against Kapodistrias to have a discussion. To put the different steps of his life into frozen pictures was interesting.
The trip was a very nice experience with the teachers and classmates and the students from our partner schools.
On Thursday we saw a theatrical performance at different places throughout the town. It was about Ioannis Kapodistrias’s life and the positive things he did for Greece. The scenes were performed by the pupils from Nafplio. It was very impressive to see what pupils can come up with in extracurricular activities.
On that special day we also ate very much meat because after this week they’re not going to eat any meat like Jesus for 40 days, because they’re very religious.
On our last day, we drove to Athens. There we saw the Akropolis. It was bigger than we had thought before. We were also in the museum of the Akropolis which was very interesting. We learned a lot about the gods of Ancient Greece. The guide told us that the Greeks in the antiquity already had ice cream. The museum was built in 2009 and in a way it's floating because under it you can see old stones which were maybe a store or houses of the inhabitants of the old Athens.
One of the many interesting things was that we were in Greece on Tsiknopempti (Greek: Τσικνοπέμπτη). Our hosts referred to this day as ‘meat day’. It is always celebrated 11 days before the beginning of the Orthodox Lent, which starts with ‘Clean Monday’. We also saw the carnival decorations in the town and the shops and primary school students in costumes who celebrated that day having fun together and dancing outdoors.