E+HIT

In the morning at 8 a.m. we all meet at the bus station and after half an hour we got on the road. When we arrived in Brasov we stopped to have a break and eat something. After we finished our break we got back on the road and had a few breaks until we got in Bulgaria.

Written by: Baba Marius Daniel (Colegiul Economic "Transilvania", 11th grade, profile: Hospitality)

In the morning we ate and got back on the road. On the bus we had a lot of fun, we sang, the boys played their guitars, we slept a lot and had a few breaks. The road to Trikala was exhausting so we got a little bored but boys were always there to cheer up our spirits with their guitars. When we arrived at the hotel everyone was exhausted and all we wanted to do was to sleep.

Written by: Baba Marius Daniel (Colegiul Economic "Transilvania", 11th grade, profile: Hospitality)

We arrived at the hotel at 5:00 a.m,the first impression of the hotel was very good,the hotel is very nice, the rooms are big enough and clean. We ate our breakfast at 7:00 a.m, which had everything what it should have. After that we slept and later we went to AKETH for the first time. There we have met Stefanos and Spiros who are both very nice guys. They explained us what we have to do in the future month and what is this project about. After that at about 4:00 p.m we have visited the city and it is very nice and clean with a lot of coffe shops and with nice people who are willing to help you every possible time if they speak English. In the evening we went to the restaurant where we eat every evening and where the food is tasty.

Written by: David Rares

We went to AKETH at 10:00 a.m and there we completed a questionnaire about what we want to do at practice and some information about us. The rest of the day we had free time and we walked in the city ,we went to the stores and after that we had a drink at a coffe shop. Later we ate at the restaurant and we went to the hotel.

Written by: David Rares

Our morning started with breakfast. After that we walked to AKETH which is 25 minutes from Ntinas Hotel. There we had some tests which were about IT and English grammar, which verified our knowledge. After that, we studied a little bit of Greek which was intresting. We learned some new phrases like: "Kalimera"(Good morning) , "Kalispera"(Good afternoon), "Yasu"(Hello/Bye), "Efcharisto"(Thank you),"Ti kanis?"(How are you?). We also learned how to count and many other phrases like "Pos se lene?" (What's your name?) and "Poso chronon ise?"(How old are you?). After we finished at AKETH we had free time and everybody did what they want. Some of us went to the shops, others went to the skate-park. At 8 o'clock, we went to eat dinner to a restaurant, were we eat very tasty traditional food . At night, we went out in the center of Trikala and enjoyed our night.

Written by: Ciuca Anca Larisa (Colegiul Economic "Transilvania", 11th grader, profile: hospitality)

Because we had a free day, we went to eat breakfast and after one hour we went to the swimming pool where we had a lot of fun enjoying our free time. The pool is situated in Kalambaka a town built at the base of the rocks of Meteora at the left hand river side of PinSaturday, just at the point where it enteres the Thessalian valley. The town of Kalambaka is the central town of an area with very important sightseeing objectives like Asptpotamus(white river), Chasia, Koziaka mountain and, of course Meteora. When we got home from the swimming pool we went for a walk and at 8 o'clock we ate our dinner and then we drank a juice.

Written by: Ciuca Anca Larisa (Colegiul Economic "Transilvania", 11th grader, profile: hospitality)

Ok, so Sunday was our free day. We went to a skateboarding competition in the local skatepark and we also went to the stadion were we stayed and looked at some people running and jumping. Most of the participants were girls so that was a good day. After that we went a little to the hotel and then we went to the restaurant and ate some very good food. I really liked the greek salad. After that we walked around the town and stoped for a drink in a local bar.

Written by: Marc Timis

On Monday we didn't go to Aketh in the morning as usual because Stephanos took us to see the castle in town. And from there you cold see the whole city, it was a very beautiful view. After that we went to the market to get some watermelons , then we got to the hotel and ate them. At 4 o'clock we went to Aketh for greek lesson and stayed there till 6. When we finished our classes we went to the hotel to chill a littlel then we went to eat. That day I tried tentacles at dinner , it was a mistake I will never do again: When we got back to the hotel we just stayed in our room playing guitars and singing songs. After a few hours we went to sleep.

Written by: Marc Timis

We woke up and went to AKETH at 9 o'clock and we left at 1 o'clock, then we went to take a meal at a very good restaurant. In the rest of the day we walked around the town looking for some shops. After that we took dinner and went back to the hotel where we slept till the next day.

Written by: Robert Szkaliczki

We woke up at 8 o'clock to have breakfast then we headed to AKETH. We learned about types of turism. After the class we went to pool and stayed there about 7 o'clock. After the fun we headed to have dinner. After dinner we went straight to the hotel to take a nap and after we went to play some videogames and at 11 o'clock we went back to the hotel.

Written by: Robert Szkaliczki

Today we learned at the Aketh about the hotel types and jobs. It was really interesting to learn something new, what we can't learn in school. We learned Greek today, we learned the most important words and senteces. I think we all became friends and we can understand each other. Our teachers are some extremly awesome people, I really like them. The Greek people are kinda strange but in a good meaning. They are really helpfull even if they don't know English. At night Marc came with an awesome idea. Let's go down to the street and sing, so we did it and it was really good.

Written by: Aron Szabo

Today at the Aketh, we learned about the hotels reception. It's incredible how much a receptionist has to do. Almost anything whats happening in the hotel they have to resolve it. After it, the teacher came with an idea. Let's imagine that you're the receptionists and clients and we did a role-play. It was really nice and I think this could be a good experience to the future when we will work in the hotel. At afternoon we've rent some bikes, and as always, the Greek people were really understandable and they gave us the bikes for free. I think Trikala is a little but a nice city with nice people and I would return here anytime.

Written by: Aron Szabo

On Saturday morning, we woke up at 9am and went to eat breakfast around 9:30am. Downstairs, everyone was enjoying their meal on the terrace. After we ate, we went back to our rooms. As it was weekend, we had nothing in our program. Our trainer, Stefano, told us about a store which allows you to rent bycicles for an hour. Therefore, Tania, Oana and I decided to take the bycicles and explore the city. After that, we came back to the hotel because here, it is very hot during the day. In the afternoon, we went to eat dinner at the restaurant. Afterwards, we decided to go out for a walk and we chose to go in the old city, to the citadel from where you can have a panoramic view of the city.we had a great time there, and after a while we headed back to the hotel.

Written by: Bianca Moldovan

On the last day of the second week of our staying, we went to breakfast around 9:30am, but because it was Sunday and there were no stores open, we decided to take a day off, to get some rest. We spent most of the day in the hotel. In the afternoon, we didn't have dinner, so we went to a fast food where we ate hot dogs and hamburgers. After that almost the whole group went out for a walk again, at the citadel. We stayed there a while, then we came back, in the city and spent some time by the river where there was a fish decorated with reciclable materials. The group named it Malaka. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel.

Written by: Bianca Moldovan

This Monday started with a lovely morning after a relaxing weekend. We were rested and with our batteries fully charged and we had breakfast on the terrace. After that we went to Aketh where we had courses about Health and Safety in hotels and about Software in Reception. It was interesting the fact that we could actually see how a receptionist works, how the rooms are distributed and how you can manage the check in and check out. In the afternoon we relaxed and enjoyed the silence for some hours. The evening was nice and we spent quality time in the citadel singing and watching the beautiful panorama.

Written by: Oana Rusu

This day was one of the best days here in Trikala. The morning passed fastly and at Aketh we had our last courses about hospitality. We did a role play which was quite useful because we were involved in real life situations such as making complains or a reservation. It was a little bit sad that it was our last session but we can't wait to start our work in hotels tomorrow. In the afternoon it started to rain and it was relaxing because the hot weather was terrifing and this atmosphere was like a relieve. The evening was fun and we spent time together in town, but there was no special event in town so we are still waiting for something new to happen.

Written by: Oana Rusu

We have arrived here, in this wonderful city named Trikala, 17 days ago. Back then, only a few of us knew about the Greek culture, about the mediterran life-style, or about the Greek people. As time passed we got to know each other better, we learned new things about our “professions” and we learned the famous habit of the local people 2-3 hours of napping every day.
Unfortunately, 2015’s July hasn't started as “Greek” as we expected. 1st of July in Trikala was more “British” … it has been raining half of the time. Despite the wet weather, our 14 participants woke up full of energy, with a big smile on their face and curious about July’s news. After we consumed our delicious breakfast at the hotel two girls went to AKETH where they developed their knowledge in IT, learning how to make their own website! The high school students in the hospitality sector met Stefanos, who revealed the secret, the work-placements where 12 of us will spend the left time of the project.
Except our polo-coach who will work at a swimming pool, the others will go to different hotels in groups of 3-4 where they will have the opportunity to gain work experience, and learn uniq tricks about the great and famous tourism of Greece.
When the sun went down our group had to answer the biggest question of the day: What should we eat for dinner? Later, some brave students have chosen the gorgeous and well-known traditional Greek dinner: traditional Greek salad with the most amazing feta-cheese and something remarkeble for the rest of our lives: moussaka. Creamy and yummi, just like in the National Gheographic’s shows about traditional food.
Tired of the new exitments, 14 teenagers went to sleep early that night and curious about what will bring tomorrow.

Written by: Darida Anna

Fortunately, we all woke up to a really sunny day and at 9 am we met at a gorgeous breakfast. This day was the first work-day for some of us in the hospitality sector, while the students with in the IT sector arrived to AKETH at 10 am where they continued making their own website, translating from English to Romanian/Hungarian and, of course, eating the softest warm pretzel with delicious chocolate cream right from the local bakery.
After an interesting but quite tiring work while the others were sleeping some of us arrived to their hotel/restaurant to learn more about hospitality rules and to get a sight-view how is in the real life working at a hotel.
At the dinner table we met our new teacher, Daniela Flueras, who we got to know better while we were eating (again) our creamy musaqa. She seemed really nice and we all like her.
Later we met at the hotel's restaurant, we talked with our teacher till 11 o'clock, then we went to sleep waiting for the weekend.

Written by: Darida Anna

Friday was our second day of practice. After we ate dinner at 9:30 we split in smaller groups, each of them heading to their work places. Even though it was just our second day of work we had a lot of things to do, as it was a pretty crowdy morning at the restaurant. We left our job places after four exhausting hours of work and went back to the hotel. We took a well deserved afternoon nap. In the evening we had dinner at the restaurant around 8.00 o'clock. After that Stefanos, the coordinator from Aketh, came with the idea to go to a pub named Barrock where we listened to good music while enjoying our drinks.

Written by: Tania Negovan

The first day of the weekend was a really hot one. We had the intention to go to the pool in the afternoon by we gave up on the idea due tot the fact that our working schedules are very diferent:some of us are working on saturdays, some are not. So we decided to relax during the entire day. We bought some frozen yogurt and took a long walk through the city despite of the temperature of 35°C. In the evening we went to the restaurant for dinner and after that the whole group went to the central square where we spent some time together with our greek friends.

Written by: Tania Negovan

Today was our free day and no one had to go to work. We woke up at 9 o'clock in the morning, got ready and went in the hotel's restaurant in order to have breakfast. We ate on the terace, outside and enjoyed the beautiful morning. At half past 10 o'clock in the morning we went to the bus station and took the bus to Kalambaka, the town the swimming pool is near to. We swam all day long and layed on our towels for getting a tan. In the end, after we had spent such a wonderful time at the pool, we took the bus back to Trikala at a quarter past 6 pm. We came back in our rooms, got ready and went to have dinner to the restaurant we enjoy most eating at. When we had finished dinner, we returned to the hotel and then went for a walk in this beautiful town.

Written by: Andrada Tatar

We woke up at 8 o'clock and had breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. After that, we started working at the hotel we are staying at, hotel Ntinas. We have served the clients, gave them water, cookies, we have cleaned the tables and the kitchen, these being the atributes of those who work at the bar. We have finished work at 12 o'clock and I have rested for half an hour and then went to do some shopping. I came back in the hotel's room at 2 pm and took a nap until 6 pm. I woke up, got ready, went for a short walk and then went to have dinner. For unknown reasons, we have changed the restaurant we were used to have dinner at and since now, the dinner will be served at the restaurant where some of our colegues work at. After that, we went for a short night walk and then return to our rooms to accumulate some energy during night.

Written by: Andrada Tatar

We woke up in order to have breakfast at half past nine. It was my and Andrada's (my roommate) free day. We came back to our room and then went shopping. I visited the local market. The others had to work until 2 o'clock. We gathered around eight o'clock and went to dinner at a hotel where four of us are working. At dinner we talked about the situation here in Greece. We all have noticed that since the “bankruptcy problem” there are more beggars on the streets, but the Greek people still keep spending money and enjoying themselves despite their condition. Never have I ever thought that I could admire a nation so much for their positive attitude. After dinner, we went out and had fun with some very friendly local people.

Written by: Andreea Micu

Yesterday we went to practice. Me and my roommate Andrada. Have worked at the reception. We learned how to book a room and how to deal with reservations. The receptionist was really nice and communicative. The others went to their work places like other restaurants, a cafe, the local swimming pool and a touristic agency. After work, we came back to our rooms and had a nap. Then we did some shopping and bought some gifts for our parents. We went to dinner at the hotel where some of us work. After dinner, we went out. Some people from Trikala showed us the train station. It was nice. After staying there for about an hour we came back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Written by: Andreea Micu

While we are going back to Trikala, I'm writing the journal for today,which was a great day by the way. In the morning it was the usual ritual, we went to have breakfast and after that we all gathered together and waited for Stefanos to take us on the trip. We were very excited because we were going to Meteora, which is a magnific place and of course, to the beach.
At Meteora we all had fun, wondered about the view and all those gigantic mountains which we could almost touch. And the best part was that we were on the top of the mountain, making us a little afraid but at the same time excited. We took a lot of selfies and photos with the beautiful view that Meteora offered us, had a lot of fun, bought some souvenirs for our families and then we got back on the road, impaciently waiting to get to the beach.
After an hour and half we finally arrived to our destination, platamon area (neoi poroi) aka the beach.We changed our clothes and went straight in the sea which was very warm. The day went by really fast because most of the time we were in the water splashing each other and having fun.
Now we were back on the road to Trikala and everybody is exhausted and sleeping like babies. Well, that is all about today...a fun day but exhausting at the same because it's not easy to stay in the sun and play in the water all day...

Written by: Huza Cristina Alice, Colegiul Economic "Transilvania"

Our day started with our usual breakfast and sleepy teenagers. At 10 o'clock everybody was at their workplaces. The afternoon went quickly, all of us just chilling in our rooms, some of us sleeping, others chatting around our cleaning their rooms. Today was a relaxing day that was welcome beacuse we were all tired and didn't want to do anything.
At 8 pm we went to have dinner, which was delicious by the way, and after that we came back to the hotel and relaxed a little bit in our beds.
At 10 pm we all gathered together to meet our teachers and after we went out to have a drink and a little fun, That's about today. I can't wait to go home to see my little buddy. :)

Written by: Huza Cristina Alice, Colegiul Economic "Transilvania"

Our time here is almost over, and we have got so used to this lifestyle it is hard to imagine we have only been here for only three weeks. And because of that we decided to make every second count. This morning we woke up full of energy and went downstairs to eat breakfast. Today some of us had work to do while others enjoyed a free day. This is because we work in different places, so we don’t all have the same schedule. I decided to enjoy this my day off by going to buy gifts and souvenirs for the loved ones back home. On Saturday, the shops in Greece close at about 2 o’clock, so I left the hotel later that morning, so I wouldn’t have to rush. I am pleased with what I bought and I hope they will like it too. In the heat of the summer I headed back to the hotel, but not before a quick stop. “home’s” is a small all-natural shop. They sell fresh juice, smoothies, fruit salads (with yogurt, muesli and/or honey) and all-natural cereal bars. That’s where I bought from an orange, kiwi and pineapple juice and a cereal bar with almonds. At the hotel, I had a quick afternoon nap. When I woke up, I went, downstairs, on the terrace to enjoy an ice cream form the hotel. At about 8 o’clock in the evening, we went to have dinner. This time, I decided to try the traditional Greek souvlaki chicken, which I enjoyed a lot . After a long day, we went back to the hotel, thinking how much we will miss Trikala when we leave.

Written by: Anca Delia Burduv

Finally, today was a free day for all, and no one had to work. Given that it was a very hot day, we decided to go to the swimming pool, in an attempt to avoid the wave of heat. We left at about 10 o’clock in the morning, heading to the bus station. There, we took a bus to Kalampaka, where the pool is situated. From there, you can see in the distance the unique mountains of Meteora. As we arrived there, we noticed there weren’t many people there today, so we went ahead and enjoyed ourselves, swimming and splashing, taking selfies and jumping into the pool. As we got out of the water to enjoy to sun, we noticed that more and more people coming in. The pool was alive with the laughter of children and adults alike, as families and groups of friends came here to enjoy their weekend. We played in the pool, got a nice tan, ate ice cream and basically had a great time. We arrived at the hotel early in the evening, preparing, to go eat dinner. Today I choose to eat fish, cooked in the oven, so good it melted in your mouth. But after the main course, a pleasant surprise awaited us: the restaurant gave us all for the desert sweet fresh melon. After dinner, we went back in our rooms to rest for a new week.

Written by: Anca Delia Burduv