In October another meeting of an international group of young people taking part in the Erasmus + project took place. This time in Aversa, a small town in the suburbs of Naples. The visit in Italy was to present the results of activities that had been going on since May. For the group from XI LO, it was the fourth and last trip in this project. The delegation was made up of teachers: Monika Bartos and Adam Jończyk, and students representing the project participants: Eugeniusz Diaczkow (3c), Kacper Ładoń (2d), Piotr Puchalski (2d) and Maciej Wiśniewski (2d).

Travel by plane to Italy took place without obstacles and yet it did not herald a series of adventures that awaited us on the trip. Truly spectacular heat and blue sky greeted us on the spot. The trip was carried out on an exchange basis, so the youth stayed in the homes of their Italian friends, with their families. The welcome was really Italian, hot. Participants had already got to know each other a bit via social media, and now they had the opportunity to really find out more and spend eight days together! Families hosted our students adequately to the fame of Italian cuisine and the warmth of a family home. In the evening, we finished the first day with a walk and a bicycle tour.

On Tuesday, we were warmly welcomed by students and teachers at the Liceo Scientifico Fermi in Aversa. First, we visited the school, saw the classrooms and found out what a typical student's day looks like. It surprised us that latecomers must stand in a long queue at the porter's office to report their arrival and have to wait in the hall for the beginning of the next lesson! They cannot just, just enter the classroom! And do you know that lessons in Italy are also held on Saturdays? After lunch, there was a walk around the charming, very narrow, old streets of the city and visiting the beautiful Romanesque Cathedral and underground catacombs. Apparently there are as many as one hundred churches in Aversa! We, unfortunately, could not see all of them.

After a busy Wednesday morning (as the workshops are very important in our project) it was time for the first trip. Our destination was the nearby town of Caserta, where we went by train. (Try to buy a train ticket in Italy at the station, where no one speaks any language other than Italian, if you do not speak it ... some of us still have sore hands - others have stomachache ... because of laughter ... As we know from history lessons, in the eighteenth century Bourbon line ruled in Naples. They originated in Spain, and they built their residence in the town of Caserta. It is a huge palace built on the model of Versailles, with an aqueduct and a huge beautiful park, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The park and the palace chambers were truly impressive, also thanks to the tireless students from the Enrico Fermi school, who made wonderful guides in the charming town of Caserta.

On Thursday we continued the soft skills workshops. We also had the opportunity to talk to those who did not come to Aversa via a videoconference. And then it was Friday and we felt how fast time runs during an attractive trip. Our Friday the trip began early in the morning, because the program was full of attractions. Some of us (definitely a bit older) had the opportunity to read a book by Zenon Kosidowski about the destruction of Pompeii caused by the Vesuvius explosion in 79. Now we could all spend the morning in the place of archeological excavations, where we saw what no book can describe: how big, rich and beautiful was the ancient city that was erased from the face of the earth in a few hours - and actually disappeared under a layer of dust and earth for many centuries. A stay in Pompeii was both a fascinating and moving experience. The next highlight of our trip was to visit Naples. Naples is an uncommon city, vast and amazing. And we could only spend a few hours in it so with a feeling of wanting more, we returned to Aversa in the evening.

Saturday was the day of the end of the official farewell. In the Bishop's Palace in Aversa, participants were awarded certificates and some announcements regarding the last meeting in the project were made. We used the free afternoon to relax in Sorrento, a picturesque town in the Bay of Naples. Built on a high cliff, with a harbor, a beach and a view of Mount Vesuvius on the opposite side of the bay - it captivates with the amazing beauty of nature.
The Sunday trip to Rome had not been planned, but what would the teachers of the XI LO not do if the students asked really nicely? After all we were really near Rome, only two hours by train! We went by the earliest one. Who would not like to see the Colloseum, the Roman Forum, the Angels bridge or di Trevi fountain for the first time (in the case of three participants) or once again? Well, we did it! Admittedly, we nearly treated ourselves to an additional attraction: a night at a station somewhere in Italy, at a small station ... Well, that was close! The thing was that we were supposed to change trains at a small station, for which we only had 19 minutes but our train was late ...  by 20 minutes. Only very the ability to run really fast saved us from sleeping rough that night.
On Monday, we said goodbye to our Italian friends and the charming town of Aversa in the rain, with nostalgia, but with the knowledge that it would not be forever. Long live Europe without borders! Long live the Internet with its communication capabilities!
And see you in five months, at the last international meeting in our project!
This time we are waiting for everyone in Krakow!

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Monika Bartos - a Polish teacher