My Experience In Portugal

 

This is Panos again writing  from Portimão Portugal. My experience in the country so far has been amazing. Since I was studying in Barcelona during the previous semester, I decided to fly straight to Portugal a few days before the beginning of my work placement in Portimão and explore the country´s capital city Lisbon. This is my first-time visiting Portugal and I wasn´t sure what to expect, but Lisbon definitely exceeded my expectations. The city has a population of half a million people and is full of life all year round. It is a quite popular city and attracts a lot of tourists, even in quiet months like January and February. Because the city relies on tourism, the level of English fluency is very good and people are very open and friendly. There are many points of interest to visit such as the earthquake museum, the coach museum, the statue of Christ, the tower of Belem and monasteries. Portugal is the place that gave birth to the famous dessert Pastel De Nata. A delicious puff pastry-based baked custard that it is found in most bakeries and has many different variations. Naturally, that was the very first thing I tried on my first day out.

Pastel de nata

 Since my place of work is in Portimão, I had to take the bus there. It was a three-and-a-half-hour trip but it gave me the opportunity to observe the landscape of Portugal so I enjoyed it a lot. Portimão is a small city that is found in the Algarve region. It has a population of 55.000 people but according to the people I have spoken to, that number exceeds 250.000 people during the tourist season. Because the city has to rely on tourism, there are plenty of restaurants, bars and travel agencies in the city. Most of them hibernating and waiting for the tourist season to begin. My first week at Numa restaurant was very interesting. I spent a lot of time observing what my senior chefs are doing and learning about the menu and the ethos of the restaurant. My first real day at work was on Valentines-day where I was responsible for the starters and snacks during service. We were fully-booked and we were very busy but we worked well and didn´t feel under pressure. I really enjoyed it and I am I can´t wait for more.

                                                                Scallop tartar (lime, orange, avocado)

                                                                Melosa pudding (cinnamon, tangerine, basil) 

Until the next time….

Induction trip to Niagara Falls

As part of the international exchange student orientation, we went on a trip to Niagara falls on January 28^th with the Humber international office’s co-ordinating team. We left our residence at 8am and arrived at Niagara Falls Table rock which is a superb viewing point of the falls. The views were spectacular. We then went to the Sheraton where we ate lunch. The whole trip was complimentary of the college, and it allowed all of the International exchange students to have the chance to get to know each other better, and of course get to see some of Canada’s most famous spots, without the financial burden of trying to get there by ourselves. After lunch we were given a period of free time from 12.30pm to 3.30pm.

We took the free time opportunity to see what Niagara had to offer. I took the opportunity to taste some of the which Niagara is famous for, whereby they make wine from frozen grapes. There are over 120 independent wineries in Niagara, many of which make Riesling ice wine. I also got to see the many casinos that are in Niagara. I took the opportunity during the free time period to meet a friend of mine who I worked with at Camp Wayne for Boys in the Summer of 2022 as he is studying at the University of Niagara. Overall it was a great day and we were back at our residence at 5:45pm.

While I was at the Falls I learned many interesting facts about it. For example, it is over twelve thousand years old and is a result of glaciation. The region of Niagara is home to some 330,000 people. The Falls can be accessed from both the United States and Canada. The Falls are regarded as one of the World’s most beautiful attractions, and I certainly enjoyed seeing them.