The final meeting of “Smart Wellness“ Erasmus+ partnership took place from the 7th to the 14th of May 2019 in Córdoba, where the host school was able to welcome and enjoy our partner school within an itineray full of events and activities to fulfil our project objectives.

The meeting started on the 7th May, Tuesday, when we had the chance to pick our Czech partner from Málaga airport and visit the Picasso Museum, the Alcazaba, the Roman theatre, the city centre and Pier One.

The 8th May, Wednesday started with a cooking workshop with the PTVAL class where half of students could cook a healthy breakfast while the rest of exchange students were having a workshop using the Recipe Book we had created within our partnership. Then, the groups exchanged the activity.

 After the break, the Czech exchange students were able to enjoy the Courtyards of San Lorenzo, San Agustín and Santa Marina neighbourhoods with our special needs PTVAL class. We also visited Viana Palace courtyards. Córdoba Courtyards Festival is a World Heritage Festival celebrated every second and third week of may.

The 9th May, Thursday started with a Food preservatives laboratory experiment. Then our Czech and 4º ESO partners headed to IMIBIC (Biomedic Research Institute of Córdoba) where we had the chance to know first hand what this prestigious institution is doing in search of improving our health. We finished the morning going back to school on the Sightseeing bus, which was an attention of our Main Hall.

The day finished with an amazing Evening visit of the Mosque Cathedral “The Soul of Córdoba“.

The 10th May, Friday was devoted to visiting the Alcázar of the Christian Kings, San Basilio Courtyards and the Jewish quarter.  

The exchange partners had the chance to have a great weekend together enjoying Antequera, Ronda and Gibraltar.

 The 11th May, Saturday started with a healthy hiking tour of El Torcal in Antequera, Málaga. Then, we visited Ronda and enjoyed the “101 km Legión race“ it was being held on that day. To finish the day, students had the chance to have a bath in the beach of Sabinillas before going to bed in Malnilva.  

The 12th May, Sunday started with a Gibraltar Rock tour followed by a visit of the city of Gibraltar. After lunch, we went Fuengirola, where students enjoyed the beach again for the rest of the afternoon.

The 13th May, Monday was the main day for the project final activities. We began with our Scientific Women Fair, which included visits of the 20 stands made by 20 classes, theatre plays, Kahoot game and votes.

After the break, we held a Breakout to use the Restaurants App. Students had to discover the challenges hidden in the Restaurants‘ App to be able to open the padlock that closed the boxes that hid the final challenge.

The morning activities ended with a Sevillanas workshop, where students and families shared our Andalusian dance. We closed the project with a magnificent Farewell party, where families cooked many of the dishes included in the common recipe book.  

The 14th May, Tuesday was just to say farewell to our Czech partner before they left for Seville and Barcelona on their way back home.

The two-year (2017-19) project of the school, funded by the European Union Structural Funds, has come to an end. Pacov Elementary School with its joint project was successful in the selection process in Spain and since September 2017 is working on the international project Smart Wellness within the Erasmus + program. Part of the partnership with the Spanish school IES BLAS Infante Córdoba included a total of four exchange meetings at school sites, so on 7 May 2019 a group of 20 pupils and 3 teachers went to Spain for the last meeting. The first destination immediately after landing was the city of Málaga - the second largest city of Andalusia, port and resort on the Costa del Sol. We visited the museum of the local native Pablo Picasso, the ancient Moorish fortress Alcazaba overlooking the harbour and the bullring. Finally we went to the promenade at the local harbour. In the evening we took a bus to Cordoba, where their partners and host families were waiting for the pupils.

The programme of the meeting included project activities that took place directly at the school. We worked together on the binding outcomes of the project - the Digital and printed Recipe Book (a joint trilingual cookbook), the Scientific Women (searching and publishing information about women scientists), and the Restaurant App (on special diets). All communication within the project took place in English, the written outputs are usually trilingual.

An interesting diversification of the current programme of meetings in Córdoba was a demonstration of chemical experiments and analysis of the composition of some foods, a visit to the IMIBIC (biomedic research institute dealing, inter alia, with the influence of eating habits on the human organism), a workshop of traditional cooking and a flamenco workshop. During our stay we had the opportunity to get to know the interesting places of the partner city, some of which are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We took a close look at the fortified Alcázar Castle, a place where Columbus apparently asked Spanish monarchs to support his expeditions, the famous mosque - the cathedral, a vast maze of nearly a thousand columns with amazing history and decoration, an ancient Jewish quarter including a medieval synagogue and other landmarks. During the stay there took place la fiesta de los patios de Cordoba, the local famous celebration (UNESCO's intangible heritage) of blooming "inner patios" (patios) and balconies. We could also see some of them. During the weekend a two-day sightseeing trip of Czech and Spanish pupils to southern Andalusia took place. First we went for a short hike among the rock towns in El Torcal, in the afternoon we visited the dreamy city on the rocks of Ronda, where we also saw the local Plaza de Toros, the best preserved original bullfighting arena in Spain. In the evening we saw the shores of Africa, stayed near Manilva and managed to swim in the sea. The water was cooler, but refreshing after almost forty degrees during the day. Fortunately, on Sunday it was cooler in Gibraltar, so we could comfortably explore all of its attractions and taste "real British" fish and chips. Only monkeys were hiding in the dense vegetation of local rocky dominants more than is commonly reported. We had a few of them, but they certainly didn't take snacks from our hands. On the way back from the Atlantic to the Del Sol coast, the temperature climbed steeply up again, so there was a short afternoon stay on Fuengirola beach and swimming in the waves. The last day of the stay was purely working and ended at the school with a closing ceremony with the presentation of certificates of participation, which also attended the parents of Spanish pupils. They brought refreshments, so the bending tables included local specialties, including oxtail or salmorejo, as well as an “attempt” of Czech dumplings or stew according to our trilingual cookbook. In the morning, we had to say goodbye to Spanish friends and we had a difficult two-day return trip. We took a bus to Seville, the capital of Andalusia, full of magnificent landmarks. We started the tour at the magnificent Plaza de España. We walked past the University, a former royal giant tobacco factory, continued along the Guadalquivir River Embankment to the historic South American gold dock, the fortified tower of the Torre del Oro, and past the local bullring famous for the toreadors to the old town center. Already in great heat we went through a tour of the local bell tower and the cathedral with the tomb of Columbus.We could not miss the local Alcázar, the pearl of the royal settlements of Europe, with a remarkable trace of preserved Islamic art and stunning ornamental decoration. In the evening, we managed to stop at the local train station for a “forgotten” cell phone, which meanwhile “arrived” again from Cordova, this time by high-speed train. Early in the morning we really did not manage to jump quickly out of the hotel beds, but we managed the morning first part of the flight home. Longer interruptions in Barcelona were used for a short tasting of the city. We quickly dropped our luggage into the storage and drove the subway to the unforgettable landmark of the Catalan capital, the fascinating creation of the Gaudi architect Sagrada Familia. Then we set out according to interest in the local great sea aquarium or a tour of the local FC Camp Nou stadium. Finally, we walked along the famous La Rambla and hurried back from Plaça de Catalunyas to the airport. Last farewell to the Iberian Peninsula, view of the Pyrenees, the sea, the French and Italian Riviera, the Alps and a smooth evening landing in the cold and wet Prague. We arrived in Pacov before midnight.This project, otherwise financed by European Union funds, was also financially supported by the founder, the City of Pacov, and gifts for Spanish colleagues - the teachers were donated to us by Mr. Zdeněk Rendl. Thank you very much for your support.We believe that the exchange and work in the project was an enrichment for our pupils not only in acquiring new information and verifying communication skills, but also in acquiring new experiences and competences, experiences, new places of interest, people and cultural customs. Perhaps everyone will remember the project and will stay in their minds for a long way. We would like to extend the horizons and competences of our pupils in the future through similar events.