A TRIP TO FAIRY ITALY

 Hello! Here I am again - Lavcho. Just to remind you that I'm “Hristo Yassenov” Secondary School‘s Comenius Mascot. This time I’m travelling to Italy. The date is 18/05/2014. Mrs Stefka Staneva, Mrs Maria Trancheva and Mrs Rumyana Penkova are with me now.

After boarding the plane and flying to Milan, here we are!A border! Buongiorno! ... And we're in Italy - the land of dreams. There are still 500 kilometers more to travel before we meet our partners. We are taking a bus to the Central Station of Milan. Whoa - oh, what a station – unique architecture! A few hours later we are on our way to Bologna. We have to wait a bit because the train for Cesena is delayed. A bus is taking us from Cesena to our last stop - Cesenatico.

Our kind hosts are taking us to a cozy hotel. The Adriatic sea extends a hundred metres away. Everything around us is a delight to the eye. Absolutely magnificent!

The next day - a nice meeting with our partners from Poland, The Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey, Croatia, Hungary, Italy. The hosts have prepared a busy schedule. Our tour stars from De Amicis primary school. It teaches children from first to fifth grade. In each class the number of students is different - from 15 to 28. We are impressed by the comfort, cleanliness, order, and discipline. The students are wearing uniforms: for boys - blue overalls and for girls – pink ones. They invite us to visit Pinocchio to attend class, then we meet Pinocchio again, but this time in an Italian language lesson. In the P.E. class students are preparing for the summer as they are practising a beach game - frisbee. It turns out that twice a week sports classes are led by a professional in sports games. Otherwise, the curriculum does not differ substantially from ours. In the Italian primary school children study Maths, Native language, English, Computer studies. The difference is that the school day starts at eight o'clock and ends at 12.30, there are no fixed breaks, and the school week is 6 days long. Yeah, that `s right - they go to school even on Saturday. We are visiting another primary school called Moretti.

We are attending a concert and enjoying typical Italian songs. Believe it or not, our teachers are singing with the students, too. Fourth graders are treating us homemade cakes. I’m meeting many students. They all like me and want to take a photo of me. And I 'm fascinated by them.

 I’ve learnt from Mary (the School Coordinator) that there are seven schools. They are located in different buildings, but are managed by one head teacher. All schools have a general administration.

The training day is over and our hosts are taking us to the parish hall for lunch. We can try traditional Italian dishes and desserts – the highlight of our hosts’ culinary delights.

After lunch we are visiting the printing house Bertozzi. We are told that the paintings are made with  natural materials, and the recipe is a secret. Everything is handmade.

In the evening the hosts are taking us for a walk. They are showing us around some sights of Cesenatico – the channels (painted by Leonardo da Vinci), "Preserve" street (there are deep pits, specially equipped for preserving a huge amount of fish), the monument to Garibaldi. During our walk we are treated with some ice cream. I have never tasted such delicious ice cream.

On the third day the bus is taking us to Rimini. We are on a visit to the park Mini Italy - true history. I am breathless and forget about for my companions. Unfortunately, on the fourth day we aren’t going to participate in the work of the team. We are going to miss out on a visit to another school and a presentation of the project "Our diverse places in a cohesive Europe”. We must say goodbye to our friends.

Early in the morning we - the group from Bulgaria, are on our way back to Bulgaria - Cesenatico, Cesena, Milan. We board the plane and fly to Sofia. A border! A good day! And ... we're back to Bulgaria.