DISCOVERING MARCHE

From 8th to 10th March we middle school students lived a wonderful experience on an educational trip to some very beautiful places in the Marche region, accompanied by our Headmaster Antolini, by Professors Barbanera, Chesti and Dionisi and by Professor Diamanti.

On the morning of the eight we left for destination…Grotte di Frasassi, karst caves, which are located in the municipality of Genga and are part of the Unesco world heritage and inside there is a constant temperature. Afterwards we ventured uphill, but our effort was rewarded by the sight of an enchanting octagonal temple and a visit to the bats cave. We then visited the speleopaleonthological and archaeological museum of Genga, where it is possible to admire an ichthyosaur fossil. In the late afternoon we arrived in Pesaro, a city where there was an air of peace and calm, where our hotel was located. Dinner all together and our evening walk were full of fun and light-heartedness.

The next day we went to visit the museum of the Risorgimento in Castelfidardo, where each of us in the guise of historians was looking for information.

We were happy and at the same time excited about what awaited us next: Recanati; here we could learn more about many aspects of Giacomo Le- opardi, a poet we studied about and who, thanks to the beauty and depth of his verses, is one of the greatest exponents of Italian literature. It was very impressive to visit the museum which collects many objects, documents and writings and the Leopardi house made up of many rooms and a large library containing over 20,000 volumes. In this place the poet was born and raised and showed his literary vein. Our guide was a nice gentleman in the guise of Leopardi, who accompanied us on the famous hill, also mentioned in the poem "L'infinito", and in the rest of the city. Visiting this place turned our literary knowledge into an adventure into the past.

On the third day we went to Fabriano to visit the paper museum, unique in all of Europe. In the laboratory activity we have all become "master papermakers" and have created our own sheet of watermarked paper. There were three phases of construction, first we had to immerse a loom in a huge container full of water and cotton that collected the fibers and joined them, then the paste we obtained was placed on large woolen supports which were then superimposed and brought to a machine that compressed them so that all the water came out. They were then taken to another modern machine which dried them before being able to detach them and thus have the final result: a sheet. The second part of the visit was in the museum, where they showed us the old techniques of making plain and watermarked paper.

After lunch we left for Rome, at the time of departure we were sad to finish this adventure that passed too quickly, but also very happy to have done it, knowing that we have built several instructive and cheerful memories that will remain indelible in our hearts.