Erasmus journey

The Erasmus Journey A collaborative story, written by the pupils of six european schools from France, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Italy and Turkey for the Erasmus+/KA2 project ''LIVE TOGETHER IN THE SCHOOL+: SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, LEARNING SKILLS AND CHILD RHYTHMS''

It was a warm spring day. Erasmus woke up with the sounds of the birds chirping happily outside. There was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. Her mom came to wake her up and told her that the breakfast was ready. She washed her hands and face and got dressed quickly. For breakfast Erasmus ate some cheese, olives and some bagel with honey and cream. Her father was reading the newspaper and sipping his Turkish coffee. After breakfast Erasmus packed her school bag and they all went out together. On her way, she admired the colorful tulips blooming everywhere. Her school was on the European side of Istanbul, so they took the boat to get to the other side. It was her favorite time of the day because she could feed the seagulls from the boat and enjoy the beauty of the Bosphorus.

Feeding the leader of the seagulls, Erasmus asked for his name. “Jason” replied the big seagull. “Jason? Like the name of the Argonauts leader!

Oh what a story from greek mythology! I want to travel one day in Greece!” Erasmus said. “Really? Let’s go” Jason replied. “Now?” the little girl wondered.

“Why not? Come and ride. I will fly to Greece. My wings are big enough to travel comfortable”Jason told with self confidence. Thus Jason took her on its wings and travelled, travelled, travelled along the neighbor country. They landed on a beautiful island Crete and Chania town, near a lighthouse. They were so tired and thirsty. A Cretan old man served them fresh orange juice, mandarins, cookies made by honey and olive oil and a sweet named xerotigana. “Delicious!” told to the Cretan man when they tasted them. Enjoying the new tastes, they saw an ancient greek boat, a triiris sailing… where was it going?

Erasmus asked the sailor where the ancient Greek boat was going. “Romolo” was the name of the sailor, like the founder of Rome. Erasmus decided to leave with him. During the journey a huge wave struck the boat and they fell into the sea. Luckily a roman ship save them, they were cold, so they changed their wet dressed. They arrived at the port of Anzio, near the remains of the Domus Neroniana. It was lunch time, they were hungry and tired. They met some pupils that were coming back to school and they invited Erasmus to take the bus with them. She visited “Collodi” school and she ate roasted fish and spaghetti with clams. When she returned to the port, Erasmus bought a piece of pizza for “Romolo” who was waiting there. He was sad because he need a new boat.

Erasmus had an idea: she asked Jason the seagull to help them find a swift and light ship. Jason found a sailing boat whose skipper was a young Frenchman. He agreed to take Erasmus and Romolo aboard, but he had to stop in Marseilles, in the south of France, before he could sail them home.

When they arrived in France, Erasmus, Romolo and Jason felt sad not to see Paris. They travelled in the high-speed train and enjoyed two fantastic days in Paris: the “Champs Elysées”, the “Eiffel Tower” and even Disneyland! But, on the last attraction, Erasmus, Romolo and Jason, exhausted, fell asleep.

Sleep was pleasant, deep and restful… When suddenly the rain began to drizzle, gust of wind rose. Erasmus, Romolo; Jason, a young Frenchman woke up. Looking up at the sky, they saw … a strange egg-shaped Klaabu flying. Klaabu shouted: „Hey, hello friends! Would you like to travel with me to Tartu in Estonia?“ Friends gladly accepted. Klaabu showed the way and Erasmus, Romolo; Jason, young Frenchman chased them by speedboat. Soon they arrived at Estonia. In Tartu they walked on the bank of Emajõgi and Town Hall Square. Then they saw a lot of people on the streets, who all moved in the same direction and were dressed in national clothes. It was procession that moved to the Song Festival Grounds. People were all very happy, playing musical instruments and singing. Klaabu with friends joined them. With procession they reached the Song Festival. It was a lot of fun to sing and dance together. At the end of the festival they were going on a hot air balloon flight.

After a long day at the festival the whole group fell a sleep. A cold breeze blew them into to north. When they woke up they saw a flock of birds flying to the island in the north to lay their eggs. Erasmus, Romolo; Jason, a young Frenchman and Klaabu were curious to see where the birds would end their destination. A few hours later they saw Iceland, the glaciers, geysers and the mountains welcomed them with their bright sunlight. The group landed in the city of Reykjavik where they met Freyja who joined them and the group felt completed. Freyja showed them around Reykjavik and in the evening they enjoyed the midnight sun and each others company.