Lyseo’s new Erasmus+ -project, From Euridivision to Eurovision, continued in Italy at the beginning of February in 2020. Schools from Bulgaria, Poland and Spain joined us in Caserta to introduce and discuss topics concerning immigration. 

Off to a great start 31.2.2020

Our journey to Italy started at Lappeenranta’s train station around midday, and from there we traveled to Helsinki for our flight to Milano. At Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, we learned an important lesson: wearing combat boots to airplanes is definitely not worth it. We flew from Milano to Naples and arrived there late in the evening. The drive to our hotel was unlike any we’d had before: the driver drove fast, with one hand on the wheel and another stuck on his phone, and still managed to cut traffic and handle every curve with ease. 

A high mountain and an evening of adventures 1.2.2020

The trip continued with a visit to Vesuvius, where most of our group climbed up to see what it was like, while I returned to the starting place. They had their fun, and I had my pizza.

The first day continued with Viivi, Laura and me exploring the city of Naples and doing some shopping, whilst wondering where on earth are Anu and Mario adventuring.

Off to new places, to meet new people 2.2.2020

On the second day, we explored Naples a bit more and ate gelato. After having to run back to the hotel in order to meet our check-out time, due to being distracted by keychains, it was time to travel to Caserta to meet our host families.

At the train station, we met and left with our host families and settled in with them. In the evening our hosts took us all to Campania, a huge shopping center in Caserta, where we did some shopping and ate more gelato. 

Project day at Terra di Lavoro school and a night full of chances 3.2.2020

Monday started with the official Erasmus business, with the honor of having Carlo Marino, the mayor of Caserta, open our day with a speech. After this, we got to enjoy some music and signing from the amazing teachers at Terra di Lavoro. When the starting activities were finished, we continued with presentations, which were held by students from each country, with the center topic being immigration. Hearing all of the well-executed presentations made everyone hungry, so we headed out to eat at a restaurant.

Later in the day, it was time to divide everyone into three groups, which were lead by Laura, Viivi and yours truly. With these groups, we discussed multiple different topics, from the political systems of our countries to immigration.

After this, it was time to return back to our host families’ homes. My host took me and another girl staying with her, to an Italian style birthday party, whilst Viivi’s and Laura’s hosts took them bowling.

Laura’s dream: Pompeii 4.2.2020

After a night of having fun, with very little sleep, it was time to head off to Pompeii, where Viivi and I spent the day following Laura. We only had the time to cover about half of the entire area, but had loads of fun with remaking statues and trying to manage with our hair in the extreme wind. Also, there were cats and dogs, which was great.

In the evening, Laura and I went out with our hosts and their friends to drink iced tea.

A beautiful city filled with history 5.2.2020

On the second to last full day of our trip, we got the chance to see more of the beautiful city of Caserta. We got to see the royal palace of Caserta, which was filled with amazing art and architecture, that got all of us wondering how something like that was built back in the day.

After leaving the palace, we went to a silk museum, where we found out about Caserta’s longlasting past with silk making.  When we left the museum, our next stop was the old, medieval part of Caserta. The views there were amazing and the town was absolutely stunning.

Later in the evening, Laura and I went to another birthday party, where we had a lot of fun, and Viivi taught Yoga to her hosts.

Having fun and saying goodbye to dear friends 6.2.2020

The last full day with everyone was spent in Naples. There we went to Castle Nuovo, where we took loads of pictures, since the Italian project participants joined us on this trip. After this, we did some shopping, drooled over an expensive jacket and ate more pizza.

When we finally got back to Caserta, it was already dark, and time for goodbyes. We spent the rest of the evening with our host families, eating traditional foods from the Naples region.

All good things come to an end 7.2.2020

We woke up early to get ready for a day of travel and to say goodbye to our amazing hosts. Saying farewell was very emotional, but luckily we’ll get to see some of them soon, when Erasmus+ Fete continues in Finland in May.

Kuvaajat: Laura Linna, Viivi Riikkonen, Tinjamin Raittila, Marjo Haapavuo.