The educational trip of Psychico College High School "CASA" Club took place in the Netherlands on April 22-26, 2024. The trip was attended by 37 student-members of the Club, the two responsible teachers of the Club, Mr. V. Dimopoulos and Mr. Ef. Kotronis, and two accompanying teachers, Ms. A. Katsarou and E. Baladaki.

During this period we visited the branch of the European Space Agency (ESTEC: European Space Research and Technology Center), located in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, which is the largest branch of the Agency in Europe.

Our visit to ESTEC was an unforgettable experience, as we learned about the research and activities carried out by the European Space Agency. These activities include the development of satellites to monitor climate change and detect gravitational waves, vehicles that will carry out future experiments on the surface of Mars, partnerships to maintain the International Space Station, selection and training of astronauts... We will all remember the International Space Station simulator and the vehicle that will be sent to Mars to detect moisture at a depth of a few meters.

Although our main objective was to visit ESTEC, we also visited three museums: the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where we admired Rembrandt's famous painting "The Night Watch", the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam, with many interactive experiments and exhibits about Science and the Maurits Cornelis Escher Museum in The Hague with works by the Dutch visual artist Escer.

The "mosaic" of our visit included sights such as the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Anne Frank's house, the "cube houses" in Rotterdam, windmills that were used in the past to drain lakes, and a cruise on the canals of the Amstel, the river that runs through Amsterdam.

Our exciting journey ended... with our flight from Düsseldorf, Germany back to Athens... or perhaps, just started with a new destination for next year?