AGS Students Travel to Porto, Portugal

Twenty-two American Graduate School in Paris students travelled to Porto, Portugal for a four-day visit on the 3-6 November, 2013. The visit was organized by the school's Graduate Student Association. This brought together students from the International Relations and Diplomacy Master's and International MBA programs at AGS in Paris.

This trip was a good way to complement and enhance the international experience provided by AGS in Paris. Gathered in small groups, students explored the sites, culture and cuisine of Portugal. Some students enjoyed a Porto wine tasting session in the Douro Valley; others visited the beach at Matosinhos, immediately north of the official City of Porto boundary; another group toured Estadio do Dragao, the official football stadium of F.C. Porto, while another one went to visit the nearby city of Guimaraes and its medieval castles and fortress ruins.

This trip was also a good way for students to get to know each other better and develop the life-long friendships formed during the program.

The AGS Graduate Student Association organizes a similar trip every year to a different place, taking advantage of Paris location of the school which provides a perfect platform for travel across Europe. Previous years' trips included Oslo, Norway, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Berlin, Germany.

Katherine Parsons, Co-president of the AGS in Paris Graduate Student Association, epitomized the majority sentiment, stating that “Porto was such a great escape. The relaxed vibe of the city was a nice contrast to Paris, and we really got to see a new side to our classmates outside of an academic setting. It was a blast!”

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