VENICE MEETING 5-9 March, 2012
The fifth meeting of our project took place in Venice, Italy. It was a journey full of adventures :))
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| San Marco Square |
First of all, we, 3 teachers, 3 students, a husband and a baby started our journey very early on the 4th March; a very gloomy, windy, snowy, tricky, moody, hasty day; a very hard one... Our flight was canceled due to the snowstorm in Mardin. We had to move to Diyarbakır Airport in a very limited time. Finally, because of the icy highway, we were late for the flight which would connect us to the Venice flight from Istanbul!!
Luckily, we learnt that that flight was also delayed for an hour due to the weather conditions :)) All day long we rushed and rushed... At the end of the day, we were in Venice, breathing a mild and warm weather. That must be an award! Our kind host teacher Alfredo took us to our hotel (
Hotel Venezia) in Mestre for a good rest. The students were taken by their host families.
On Monday morning, all the groups met in the hotel lobby to be taken to the school Instituto Luzzatti where we would join our official opening meeting.
It was a very distinct building.
We gathered to share information.
We made future plans.
After all the partners shared their presentations and experiences about the project work (organising seminars, preparing presentations about patrimony heritage.. etc.) done before the meeting, we left the school for a looooong afternoon walk in historical Venice. It was really a looooong walk especially for our team :))
First of all, Venice is a fantastic, fabulous, wonderful place where we had lots of memorable moments. You don't have chance to take a taxi or a bus for sightseeing. You just need to walk and the very important thing is "never lose your guide" :))
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| This was taken just before the "long afternoon" :)) |
During a historical walk in the narrow but sweet streets, we hung out a market or somewhere else until we realized all familiar faces around were gone. We were 6 people and a baby. Our team member Bedrettin was lucky as he was with the leading group and he was the only survivor :)
First we didn't hurry as we were sure that we could manage to find the rest of the group. As the time passed we got that we were lost and we decided to make the most of that! For example we enjoyed the view of the Rialto Bridge (as we passed there 4 times :))
We photographed every detail during this leisurely looong afternoon we had.
We (think that) discovered almost every street of the Venice as we often got the wrong address directions (in English) from the natives. Anyone planning to go to Venice should learn what "turn right" and "turn left" means in Italian. But it was really very late for us :))
We had no phone numbers to call someone and no other contact information. We stopped to think how we would survive after approx. a 10km walk :)
Anyway, at the end of the day, when we couldn't manage to find the right way to the bus stops, we decided to take a boat. It was also a nice experience, we enjoyed a lot!
We first tried our tickets given us at the hotel, but no, they were invalid! Then we intended to buy tickets from the box-office, but no, there was no one inside! Then we looked around to find one but no, there seemed no place to buy tickets in that stop. Then, we had to be hurry as there was a boat approaching the stop and we didn't know whether it was the last or not as it was getting dark... So, ashamedly, we got on the boat and went on our trip without tickets as most of the people did in the boat!! So the main idea of that case was that "transportation was free in Venice!" :))
The second day, we visited the islands Murano and Burano. Murano is famous for its handmade glass objects. We were taken to a workshop. It was an artistic and nice show. The weather was cold and a bit rainy, so also the fire was meaningful for us :)
We walked around and discovered the beauties.
Burano was also a cute, colorful and fascinating place. Every house has its distinct and shining colour, maybe like the owners of them.
The third day started with a morning walk to get the Provincia Di Venezia. We often discovered that Venice has found very intelligent solutions perfectly appropriate with its nature. This greengrocer's is an example.
Then we arrived at the Provincial Government building.
It was obvious that it was preserved well and when it was being restored they sticked to its historical patterns (which is also one the subtopics of our project).
The ceiling of the assembly salon.
We were also put up by Minister of National Education.
After this official visit, we were taken to Istituto Barbarigo (a vacational school on cooking) for lunch.
It was a very nice activity in that the servants were the students of that school and they were being evaluated in a "practice lesson". They were proud as they were successful in their work.
The next stop was Palazzo Ducale.
The last day of the meeting started at school with a teachers' meeting. We made plans for the next meeting in Romania. We reviewed the work done so far and emphasized on the drawbacks.
After that work, we were taken to the other building of the school to listen to a music concert!
The songs were really very nice. Even if we didn't know the language we communicated with the musical notes...
The Comenius Teams livened up the concert by their exotic dance :))
What about sharing these moments??
After this cheerful concert we had to go on with a similar activity in our free afternoon. Yes! The gondola pleasure must have been the best choice!
We were enjoying the sun, glitters on the river and the historic Venezia...
Renting a gondola seemed rather costly at first but the price was worth it.
We also experienced its danger. Our gondolas crashed!
The last activity of our meeting was in a pizza restaurant. It was also a farewell dinner.
We enjoyed the geniune Italian Pizza!
It was really an unforgettable journey in all aspects! We thank the Italian team for this well-organized meeting.
Now, we are preparing for the meeting in Romania in May. Hope to see all friends there!
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