Italy

Saturday:

Our trip began on Saturday. We were all excited for our trip to Sicily as we left our hometown

of Pieksämäki by rail to reach the capital of Finland, Helsinki. Traveling from Pieksämäki to

Helsinki was efficient and comfortable. We had to spend a night in Helsinki, because our

flight left so early the following morning. After we checked into our hotel, we spent the rest of

the evening at the shopping center Jumbo, where we did some shopping and had dinner.

From the very first moments we realized that our group got along perfectly and this trip was

going to be one to remember.

Sunday:

After resting for the night we had to wake up early in the morning so that we wouldn’t miss

our flight. We had breakfast at the hotel, then we quickly packed our bags and began our

journey to Helsinki-Vantaa airport. After check-in and security check, we boarded our flight to

Budapest. The flights were spent sleeping and playing the card game UNO, which worked

as our entertainment during our trip’s long bus journeys. Our connection in Budapest was a

lot shorter than we expected so we didn’t have time to eat lunch at the airport. Once we

arrived in Palermo, all of us were super hungry so when we reached Palermo centrale, we

ate at the first restaurant to appear. The first we came across was McDonald’s, so we would

still have to wait a bit before we could eat some traditional Italian food. Not for long though.

Not an hour later we were welcomed to Cefalu. We met our Italian hosts as well as the

Lithuanian group which had arrived before us. Pretty much immediately after our arrival we

were seated at a restaurant ready to have a large dinner, even though our bellies were still

full from the previous meal. The food was delicious and we were quick to learn that dinners

in Italy are huge with multiple dishes served. We had a lot of fun getting to know our hosts

and even though we were super tired from our travels, one of the locals still gave us a small

tour of the extremely beautiful Cefalu.

Monday 29th. November 2021

Monday started with breakfast. In the hotel we stayed in small groups in separated

rooms. At breakfast we met, and we had a conversation about how we had slept and

what was to happen in the day to come. What comes to breakfast it was pretty much

different from what we are used to in Finland. There was no porridge and no berries,

but there were cakes and butter croissants.

In the morning we needed to be ready at 10 am. Of course, we from Finland were

ready as well as the others. The time had come, but our Italian teacher was not there.

We learned something new about Italian culture, like we had learned about the

breakfast. Few minutes later our leader arrived, and we started to walk to the old town

of Cefalu. The morning was beautiful. Sun was shining and everyone was excited. We

visited a local church, we saw the city’s historic attractions and admired the sea views.

Then unfortunately it started to rain, and we had not got prepared, we got soaked to

the bone. Luckily, we found a museum where to hide from the rain.

Then it was time for lunch. The restaurant was the same than last night. We hadn’t any

idea what we would eat because they had made the decisions for us before. We had a

lot of food, and we spent maybe three hours at lunch.

At 15.30 we started indoor activities in the sports hall of a local school. Because it was

still raining, we could not walk so we got a car ride. The ride was speedy. Roads were

narrow and winding. If I had been behind the wheel, I would not have driven that fast.

However, we got to our destination. The school’s sports hall was nice. Local young

people came also to play with us, which was so cool. Time felt like flying. It was time

to leave.

Late at night we still had a huge dinner. The dinner took maybe three hours again.

When we finally got back to the hotel, we were so ready to sleep.

Tuesday:

On Tuesday we went to school and we had for the first time all project partners in the same

place. We got name tapes and every country had a presentation of their school. After school

presentations we ate pizza at the school. Then school of Sicily had a presentation about online

slavery.

After school we had lunch in a restaurant. After lunch we went to a hotel getting ready for a

football tournament. The football tournament was inside a different school building than the

presentations. In the tournament we had three teams and we played a couple matches.

When the football tournament was over, we had a few hours of free time. We went for a walk

with students from every country. At 20.00 o’clock we had dinner at a restaurant.

Wednesday

On Wednesday morning we meet everyone in the hotel lobby. Then we took a walk to the

school. We had a tour in the school and a teacher told us about it. We started to plan our work

of the day which was made of metal. We were a bit tired and we found a coffee machine from

the school and then we took cups of coffee. Students from the school didn’t have lunchroom

so we didn’t have school meal like in Finland we would have. We had a coffee break and

after that we continued our works. We put a first letter of from our names on the piece of

metal.

When we had our works done we headed up to lunch which were in the same place than other

days.

Wednesday:

On Wednesday 1st of December we explored our host school and climbed on the Rock. One

student of Cefalu said that he had climbed to the Rock dozens of times. We were glad that it

were sunny day to climb there because the ground would otherwise have been really slippery.

We were hungry and little tired after climbing so then we had tiny free time. Glad we had

time to go take a shower because we met the Mayor of the city. We met him at the Town Hall

and he had a speech to us. After that we had a big dinner together in the same restaurant with

our Erasmus+ Project family.

Thursday:

We had to get up early on Thursday. As soon as we got dressed and had breakfast, we caught

a bus to Mount Etna and the city of Catania. The bus ride was pretty long, but the views of

the mountains were amazing.

Mount Etna was our first destination. Our time on the mountain was around 20-30 minutes,

during which we bought souvenirs and snacks from a small store located there. The weather

on Mount Etna was very windy. The temperature was around 2 degrees Celcius, and there

was snow on the ground. After the quick stop, we hopped back to the bus that took us to

Catania.

On the bus, our guide told us interesting facts about Catania.

Our visit to Catania was way shorter than expected. We had an hour to explore the town. We

Finns spend it eating Lunch at a cafe. The only attraction that stuck to mind was the Elephant

in the town square.

Following our stop in Catania, our bus took us back to our hotel.

At the hotel, we had a short break to change clothes or to rest. Next, we caught the bus again

to a nearby small village, where we had dinner. We ate a lot of meat that evening, and the

dinner took three hours.

As soon as dinner was over, it was time to go back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the

next day.

After Thursday’s trip to Etna and Catania, we were a bit exhausted. Despite this, we were

both excited and sad about our last day in Sicily. Once we became accustomed to the culture

and natural surroundings, we couldn't let them leave. Thus, we decided to make the most of

the last day.

Friday:

Our trip to Palermo began as early as nine in the morning. While on the bus ride, we once

again experienced spectacular views from the window. As for the city itself, it wasn't to be

missed. There were many old buildings. Nevertheless, they didn't lose their historical power.

Unfortunately, we only got to enjoy Palermo's sun briefly due to unexpected rain. We were

able to find rain cover at the closest pizzeria. As we couldn't resist the chance to taste Italian

pizza, we stayed a little longer to satisfy our appetites. After our small food break our next

destination was the local shopping mall. Due to our limited time there, many of us did not

manage to find something to buy. We did, however, get to taste real Italian ice cream, and it

was absolutely delicious.

In the evening we enjoyed a huge farewell dinner with a folk show. Despite having been in

Italy for a week, we were still amazed at the level of energy the Italians possess. Folk show

was one of the most memorable experiences we had during the trip. We even managed to sing

some of the played songs! Eventually, some people began dancing to the music and others

greeted them. Our dinner ended with a certificate ceremony in which everyone received a

certificate for participating in the Erasmus+ project. Once we said our goodbyes to everyone,

we went back to the hotel to pack.

Day 6 (Saturday 4th December 2021)

We have been having the time of our lives, seeing the sights, and tasting the flavors of this

beautiful place. We will miss the bright sun of this place, and we will look back on our time

in Sicily with fond memories. But it is time to say our goodbyes and head home. Our

departure date begins early in the morning with a minibus ride to the airport.

At the airport, we checked in and left our luggage in the hold. Our first flight was to Riga (it

lasted a couple of hours).

When we landed, many started to get hungry, so we decided to eat food at the airport. We had

a little time to shop at the airport, so some of us decided to look around and buy souvenirs.

On the second flight, we went by propeller plane. It was an enchanting experience.

When we arrived at Helsinki-Vantaa airport, we took a bus and headed to our small city. In

the middle of the trip, we stopped for dinner at Jari-Pekka. While we ate, our minibus rider

told us that the bus's transmission didn't work and got stuck in second gear. Then our bus

driver called his colleague to come pick us up.

Our first minibus driver made it to Hartola where another bus driver picked us up on the bus.

It was so late in the night, like about 11 pm. Luckily we all had fun during our minibus ride

so it wasn’t that bad waiting. After we got to go like a few hundred meters in the other

minibus, the other minibus driver called that one of our luggage fell off the ride. The bus

driver drove back to get that lost luggage.

We got an idea to bet on whose suitcase fell off the ride. It was amusing. The bus ride was

such an adventure and entertaining.

Overall, we all were so tired but happy when we finally got home at 2 am. Our whole trip

was an incredible experience.