Athens stands for ‘Advanced Technology Higher Education Network, Socrates’. Every year in March and November, Europe’s leading universities open their doors to one-week student exchange programs that offer students the chance to get a taste of student life in another country.
On a Saturday in November my Athens course in ‘Sustainable Low Energy Housing’ kicked off with a brief guided tour of Milan, Italy. After a dull walk through the city the group wandered back to the youth hostel the university arranged for them. In what turned to be a very wise decision, I had decided to arrange for my own housing via www.couchsurfing.com, so I left the group and headed to my couch for the night.
Alex, my host in Milan, was a very sweet girl and an excellent cook. After dinner and several bottles of wine we headed off to the Navigli: this is where the action takes place in Milan, packed as it is with bars, cafes and clubs (I recommend Scimmie, Via Ascanio Sforza 49).
Nightlife starts late in Milan and the Athens schedule starts early, so the next morning the traces of the wild night hung over me as I showed up for the guided tour. We saw some historical buildings, climbed up to the Duomo’s roof and visited lots of churches.
The next morning we took the train to Lecco, where the main part of the course was held. After a short introduction by a professor who didn’t speak English, the group went to check into their hotel (I of course had another couch waiting for me). The rest of the week was packed with lectures during the day and (for me) excellent food and wine at night and snowy mountains views in the morning. Let’s just say that if you’re couch-surfing around Lecco and Alessio’s couch is available, you’re the luckiest couch-surfer alive!
We also took two half-day trips to Como and Lodi, which consisted of lots of bus/train rides and very little sightseeing. The last day in Lecco was devoted to the final workshop, in which we worked together in small groups with local and international students from the Politecnico Di Milano. The workshop was surprisingly effective and by the time the dust settled everybody had quite nice concepts to present to the other groups. Then the wine was opened for the aperitivo, after which the group went back to their hostel and I continued wine tasting well into the night with my host and some of his friends in a bar in Lecco.
On the last day we headed back to Milan for a visit to the Brera Art Gallery, which shares its location with an art academy. The museum and academy are located in a spectacular building in Milan’s most expensive quarter. The coexistence of the classical museum with the rebellious spirit of the academy in the same building is quite interesting, but the really great thing about the Brera was the cafe on the street corner (outside and on the right), where I enjoyed the best cappuccino ever at an extremely reasonable price.
Applications for the Athens program are to be submitted to TU Delft’s International Office before January 25, 2007.
On a Saturday in November my Athens course in ‘Sustainable Low Energy Housing’ kicked off with a brief guided tour of Milan, Italy. After a dull walk through the city the group wandered back to the youth hostel the university arranged for them. In what turned to be a very wise decision, I had decided to arrange for my own housing via www.couchsurfing.com, so I left the group and headed to my couch for the night.
Alex, my host in Milan, was a very sweet girl and an excellent cook. After dinner and several bottles of wine we headed off to the Navigli: this is where the action takes place in Milan, packed as it is with bars, cafes and clubs (I recommend Scimmie, Via Ascanio Sforza 49).
Nightlife starts late in Milan and the Athens schedule starts early, so the next morning the traces of the wild night hung over me as I showed up for the guided tour. We saw some historical buildings, climbed up to the Duomo’s roof and visited lots of churches.
The next morning we took the train to Lecco, where the main part of the course was held. After a short introduction by a professor who didn’t speak English, the group went to check into their hotel (I of course had another couch waiting for me). The rest of the week was packed with lectures during the day and (for me) excellent food and wine at night and snowy mountains views in the morning. Let’s just say that if you’re couch-surfing around Lecco and Alessio’s couch is available, you’re the luckiest couch-surfer alive!
We also took two half-day trips to Como and Lodi, which consisted of lots of bus/train rides and very little sightseeing. The last day in Lecco was devoted to the final workshop, in which we worked together in small groups with local and international students from the Politecnico Di Milano. The workshop was surprisingly effective and by the time the dust settled everybody had quite nice concepts to present to the other groups. Then the wine was opened for the aperitivo, after which the group went back to their hostel and I continued wine tasting well into the night with my host and some of his friends in a bar in Lecco.
On the last day we headed back to Milan for a visit to the Brera Art Gallery, which shares its location with an art academy. The museum and academy are located in a spectacular building in Milan’s most expensive quarter. The coexistence of the classical museum with the rebellious spirit of the academy in the same building is quite interesting, but the really great thing about the Brera was the cafe on the street corner (outside and on the right), where I enjoyed the best cappuccino ever at an extremely reasonable price.
Applications for the Athens program are to be submitted to TU Delft’s International Office before January 25, 2007.
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