Athens Academy the past couple of years has expanded its learning environment from Athens, Georgia to several other Continents. Within the last year students traveled to Correggio, Italy and South Africa. This upcoming year, Athens Academy has made plans to travel to Costa Rica, the Galapagos, and Quebec.
This past Thanksgiving I think I may have found Athens Academy’s next best destination. I was fortunate enough to explore Lisbon, Portugal, and after just a week I have deemed it Europe’s secret gem. Portugal is a country rich in culture. Music is played on the corner of every street. Strangers gather together to sing and dance just for the fun of it. In fact, Portugal invented the genre Fado music. The city is covered in beautiful street art, expressing scenes from its history and also the city’s current events. Each building is made of colorful hand-made tiles, its architecture unique in comparison to any other major European city.
Another thing to love about Portugal is its history. Lisbon is one of the oldest European cities. It is most famous for its prosperity during the Age of Exploration, and is also the last Western European country to have a dictator.
One of my personal favorite things about Portugal is its food. Their famous Pasteis de Nata is to die for, and so is their cod, fruit, coffee, and juice! Portugal has proved to be a safe, beautiful city to explore and learn about and should definitely be checked out by our students!
