TITLE: WHAT A NICE DAY!
WHAT A NICE DAY !
Paul and Andrea were two kids who lived in Villarrobledo, a small town located in Albacete-Spain. Paul was eight and had purple hair and eyes. He also was kind and intelligent. He liked studying and playing with his friends; his favourite food was paella and gachas. Andrea was nine and had blue eyes and purple hair. She was also very active, hardworking and brave. She liked reading books and doing sports. One day they were playing at Saint Blas Square and suddenly heard a strange sound. It was a hot-air balloon. It was enormous and decorated with six flags: Those flags were from Spain, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey. After three minutes, a wizard appeared from inside the hot-air balloon.
After fifteen minutes the wizard said:
-My name is Eurowizard and I´m travelling around Europe reading stories to all children. -Do you want to come with me? Asked the magician -No, it is impossible we need to return home- replied the children. -If you come with me you will meet new friends and learn a lot about Europe- said The Wizard -Ok- answered Paul and Andrea The wizard said: Come on! Let´s go! But first we have to take a potion to travel faster. They decided to visit Greece, a beautiful country with many ancient monuments.
Andrea and Paul landed with a hot-air balloon on a beautiful village named ‘’Elateia’’ located in Fthiotida-Greece. Thirsty as they were they stopped in front of a wonderful spring with clean water coming from Parnassos mountain. In that area, at Saint Dimitrios square, near the church, they came across Harmonia and Achilles who were brother and sister of twelve and ten years old. These kindhearted and cheerful children offered to have Paul and Andrea stay over for the night. They accepted with excitement. That night they all went the village’s feast. Actually, it’s a Greek custom for the villagers to gather and celebrate on specific Saints’ name days. They eat and drink a lot, they listen to live music and they have fun. This feast lasted till early in the morning. The children ate pork, lamb, beef, feta cheese, herb and pumpkin pies, moussaka, gemista ,pastichio, choriatiki and tomato salad while the adults drank red and white wine, chipouro and water danced and sang.
The next morning, children’s grandfather Dias, told them stories about Ancient Greece and the worldwide popular monuments. So, they decided to visit the Archeological Museum of Delphi and admire Earth’s novel the ancient Greek buildings and statues in the unique breathtaking landscape. There, they hand the chance to attend a live theatrical performance of Aristophanes. Finally, the wizard asked the children to board the hot – air balloon for a trip to the Aegean and Ionian Greek islands. In addition, the wizard asked the children if they wanted to follow him to his next destination, to show them some of the most impressive monuments in Italy. He also suggested them to try Italian food such as pizza, pasta and ice-cream.
Paul, Andrew and the wizard leave for Basilicata and find which is the only Italian region to have two names. In fact it is also called Lucania, from the Latin Lucus because forested land; Basilicata, however, comes the Byzantine administrator called in greekbasilikos. The balloon lands in Matera, the city of Sassi. Here meets them Carlo Levi who explains that the Sassi are houses built in part in the tuff and who for years have been used as houses - stable for thousands of Materan people. Paul and Andrea are found in front of caves, hypogeous, palaces, churches, neighborhoods, stairways, balconies, flower and vegetable gardens all embedded in one another to form a unique and magical place. The writer says to Paul and Andrea that Matera has been designated European Capital of Culture for 2019. In giving this information greets.
After Matera Paul and Andrea arrive in Maratea where is the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The statue is situated in front of the Santuario di San Biagio, martyr and patron saint of Maratea, whose relics are conserved in the Basilica from 732 AD. This statue is the highest in Europe and the world, with its 21 meters high, It ranks in third place after precisely that of Rio in Brazil, and Cochabamba in Bolivia. From the ridge on which is placed the Christ, Paul and Andrea are in front of a breathtaking panorama: the Tyrrhenian sea is right there under. The Wizard calls them because they have to get to another locality.
Paul and Andrea on the balloon go up and come to Lauria. Here he goes to meet a lady named Rosita grandmother who greets them and tells them something about this charming town. Lauria is called the city of Blessed DomenicoLentini: priest who had
done so many miracles and lived in the eighteenth century. Then Rosita grandmother invites them to visit the Church of St. Nicholas of Bari, where lie the mortal remains of Blessed, the Sanctuary of the Madonna and the ruins of dell'Armo Roger castle that was probably built by Saraceni.Since XIIthLauria was certainly seat of a Norman feud in which were blooming handicrafts and trade. Lauria was the political and economic center of the Noce Valley. Grandma Rosita offers typical foods of this place to Paul and Andrea: the "rascatiddi, the" lagane with beans ", the" tripe, "pizzàtulu", the "picciddàtu", the "viscuttini" the "anginétti" and cookies to eight. The wizardinvites Paul and Andrea to resume the journey to Romania.
As they were flying across the Romanian land, Paul and Andrea noticed lots of different landforms, such as mountains, hills, valleys and plains. “This country has it all!” Andrea thought. They wanted to visit more beautiful and special places, so they stopped at the Danube Delta. Here, they met George, the son of a fisherman, who told them that they can spend the night in his small house near the river. He promised that the next day he would take them on his boat down the river. They were excited about this new adventure, so they hardly closed an eye during the night. In the morning, they took the boat and started rowing. Along the river, they saw many beautiful birds and plants they have never seen before – they loved the sound of wilderness and the peacefulness they felt while they were sitting in the boat. Paul started “talking” with the pelicans, the frogs, and the other little animals he saw from the boat and they all laughed when they answered back! George explained that this place is unique and special for the Romanians and that they had to be careful not to disturb this habitat in any way, because animals are extremely sensitive. After a very relaxing day on the river, Paul and Andrea wanted to see
something exciting, like a historical place. So, they went to a breathtaking
place – the Corvin Castle. They learned it was one of the largest castles in Europe and that it was considered to be one of the seven wonders of Romania. Paul and Andrea were impressed. They took pictures of the castle – they had to send some to their parents, but what they were going to find out about it was even more impressing for them! There were lots of tourists at the castle, so they found a little girl named Ana who asked them: “Did you know this castle appeared in video games and TV shows? It was an important part of a Halloween episode of Ghost Adventures!”. No need to mention how proud they were for being there. They were eager to find more about the Romanian history, so they also visited Sighisoara – a city of which people say it’s the most beautiful and well-preserved inhabited historical European setting. They loved the old churches and paved streets. They were hungry so they stopped at a terrace where they had Romanian traditional dishes – Paul’s favorite was the bulz, which is a kind of boiled hominy and cheese. After that, they wanted to see the most famous castle – Bran Castle, which is also known as Dracula’s Castle. They had heard about it many times and they were scared to see it but Paul was the bravest and said to Andrea: “Let’s see if everything is just legends about it!”. They didn’t have much time left to visit and they were sad about it, but they decided to go to a less-known but interesting place in the mountains – Vama Buzaului. It was a small village that had lots of special things. They saw the Bison Reserve; Paul started talking to the deer and bison like he did back in the Delta, but these animals never answered back. “You are so lazy and quiet” Paul said and left with a smile on his face. They also met friendly people who told them about the customs and traditions they still keep on important celebrations and holidays. They visited Urlatoarea, a beautiful waterfall that attracts hundreds of people every year, and admired the landscape from Buzau riverside.
Unfortunately, it was time to go. All these days were important for Paul
and Andrea, as they now realized how beautiful nature is and how important it is to keep it clean. They were sad to leave it behind but the wizard reminded them: “Let’s go to Turkey, we still have lots of places you’ll never regret seeing!”, so they went to their next destination.
The hot-air balloon landed on a clock tower in a city. - The wizard said: This is our last destination. The city you are going to visit is İzmir which is called “the pearl of Turkey”. It is the third biggest city of Turkey. It is situated around a bay and has a very big port. Behind the clock tower they saw a grand bazaar. It is a historical market from 16 th century. It is possible to find everything there. They walked along the street and bought some presents for their family and friends. After finishing shopping they saw the boats on the pier. The wizard said: -There is also a nice place at the opposite shore. Let’s go there. It’s called Karşıyaka. They took the boat to go there. The sea was very beautiful and there were lots of seagulls flying around the boat. They saw two children throwing them simit. Simit is a special round bread which is generally eaten with cheese. The seagulls were catching the simits in the air, but
sometimes they were dropping the pieces. This was very funny and they laughed much. Andrea and Paul wanted to learn these children’s names. Their names were Defne and Efe. They were at the same age with Andrea and Paul. They became friends easily and They wanted them to show their school, Türkbirliği Primary School. After 20 minutes boat trip, they got off the boat in Karsıyaka and saw the main street with lots of shops around. They walked 10 minutes and arrived the school. They visited the school and ate beautiful fruits there because İzmir is famous for grape, fig and especially olive. They were all delicious.
Andrea said that the weather was too hot and asked if they could go to a place for swimming. Efe said Çeşme is the best place for this and they can also visit a beautiful town called Alaçatı there. When they arrived Çeşme they jumped into the sea, the colour of the sea was wonderful turquoise. They also admired beautiful stone houses. They swam for hours and made
some jokes in the sea. They had a very good time together .They watched people surfing. Defne offered them to go to Kusadası because there are many interesting places to visit there. Ephesus is the most famous one. It is an ancient city which was built in the 10 th century BC. It was the trade centre of the ancient world. The ruins are a favourite international tourist attraction now. When they arrived Ephesus, they saw a very big Celcus library and statues. Ephesus is also believed to be the city of the Seven Sleepers. Children visited the cave where they slept. Defne and Efe told their story and they listened to them very carefully. After visiting Ephesus they wanted to visit Virgin Mary’s house where she spent her last days. They prayed there and made a wish. Virgin Mary’s house is the place where wishes come true. Visitors write their wishes on little pieces of paper and put them in the tiny cracks on the wall in hopes that the Mother Mary will kindly grant their request. They were very happy while doing these things. It was getting dark, Defne and Efe had to go home. They said ‘goodbye’ to each other and waved. The children thought ‘How wonderful to learn other countries and have friends from different cultures!’ The wizard felt wonderful when he heard that. Suddenly Andrea and Paul felt that, they were very tired and returned to the hot-air balloon, they felt asleep there. The journey which started form Villarrobledo was incredibly amusing for them. When they woke up, they found themselves in their beds and in fact everything was a wonderful dream..