How the Italian Students remember Dolni Dabnik, Bulgaria…

During our trip in Bulgaria we slept in Pleven, the sixth largest city by population in Bulgaria. The first day we visited the most important tourist attractions here: the historical museum, the “Panorama” and the city centre with two beautiful churches. The panorama is a building that contains a paint which represent the war of independence of Bulgaria and some historical objects used during this war.

1879. In this city we visited the castle of Tsarevgrad Turnov that is

 Bulgaria.

Etar is an open-air museum which shows Bulgarian customs, culture and traditions. We visited the museum, saw some typical dance and ate delicious Bulgarian bread, visiting  the village was one of the things I enjoyed most.

Velico Tarnovo was the capital city of Bulgaria from 1185 to 1393 and from 1878 to

the third day we went to Etar and to Velico Tarnovo, the old capital of

a medieval fortified town  rebuilt in the 20th century, from the castle there is a wonderful view of the city.

We spent our last two days in Sofia the biggest city In Bulgaria and the capital city too. The first thing we saw was the Technology museum, this visit is connected to our project because we saw the technological development in Bulgaria. After this we went to the city centre to visit the other attraction in Sofia: we saw a lot of churches from the Roman to the newer one. In Sofia there are different types of churches: Mosque, Catholic churches and Orthodox churches.

At night we walked along the biggest pedestrian street in Sofia.

The second day we visited the art museum and some Roman ruins  which are inside a luxury hotel in the city centre.

                                                                      Martina

ERASMUS PLUS: Friendships

In March I participated in the project  Erasmus + "Youth of Europe Connect to a'Right' Net" where I worked with other students of 7different nations to learn to use Internet in a safe way.

The second meeting of this project took place in Bulgaria in the school of Hristo Botev at  Dolni  Dabnik, near the city of Pleven.

At the beginning everything was really awkward, because I didn’t know anyone and speaking in another language is difficult, especially if all the people don’t know  English very well. I had to forget my shyness and immediately I got on well with the Greek students in particular.

The second day we learned how to make a Blog and it was really interesting because all the nations were divided into different groups. In this way I had the opportunity to interact with the other students that now are my friends.

The following days we had some free time to spend together in the centre of Pleven and there we went to visit the park, some shops and we laughed and spoke a lot.

This experience was amazing, I had the opportunity to see different lifestyle situation and learn different cultures and languages. With this project I could bond with extraordinary people that I will never forget.

                                                                  
                                                                   Michela

TRADITIONS

When we arrived at the school we have been welcomed with an opening ceremony.

We saw a typical dance. The children of the primary school wore traditional dress and they had a decoration of flower. There was also a girl who sang and a little one gave us a piece of bread.

The school offered a traditional food: Banitza. It is made of eggs and piece of sirene cheese between filo pastry. 

On the second day after some workshop we did some traditional Bulgarian things.

We painted some vases and we created some bracelets. They are called Martenitsa. The Bulgarian teachers told us the meaning of this red and white yarn bracelet. They are small pieces of adornment, made  in the form of two dolls, a white male and a red female. Martenitsa are worn from the first day of March until the first sign of spring is seen: a stork, a swallow, or a budding tree. When people see this things they hung the bracelet on a tree.

On the third day we visited Etara and Veliko Tarnovo. Etara is an open air archeological and ethnographic museum.

When we were there some children made a show. They recited and jumped over a fire.

In Veliko Tarnovo, the ancient capital city of Bulgaria we visited Tsarevets hill, a Medieval stronghold located on a hill. We ate a typical cold soup made of yoghurt, cucumber, garlic, walnut, dill, oil and water. It was called Tarator.

                                                                                                       
                                                                                                           Anastasia

                                                                

My travel experience to Bulgaria epitomizes my best diaries ever. Such unforgettable memories were the lifetime I enjoyed to the fullest. It was Thursday April 26, when we woke up early all excited to visit the capital of Bulgaria: Sofia. We took our bags and we put them on the bus because we had a long drive back to our destination. We left Pleven at 8.30 and we arrived in Sofia at 11.00: a beautiful country that gave us a lot of passion, garnished our memories, and embellished our diaries. I remember that we walked a lot to adjust. The first place that we visited was the MUSEUM OF TECHNOLOGY. It was one of the oldest structures of the museums in that country. It was established in 1957 and it has been housed in its current building since 1992. The number one mission of the Museum is to find and preserve movable cultural heritage in the field of technology and to study the development of engineering and technology in the Bulgarian lands. 

We had fun in this building as we tried and touched a lot of instruments. Right after we went to have lunch in a big shopping centre called Sofia’s mall. Then, we got back on the road. With all the Churches that we've visited, we decided that we would never enter a Church for a whole year, but deep inside we lived new experiences. All the Churches had something special; in fact, two are the Churches that struck me: the CHURCH OF ST. PARASKEVANOVA, it has a structure that was erected in honor of  ST. PARASKEVA, a healer and hermit in Thrace in the 11th century. The church interior was not wall-painted, but it featured remarkable iconostasis and boats characterized by wonderful acoustics. 

The second one was ALEXANDER NEVSKY CATHEDRAL CHURCH. The foundation stone was laid in 1882 by KNYAZ A. The Crypt at the cathedral exhibits one of the most representative collections worldwide of Orthodox icons and pieces of art, more than 200 Bulgarian icons, frescos, church plate etc. After all such visits, the teachers gave us a break so we went to a coffee. At 18.30, we got on the bus to go to a HOTEL called AKORD. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget. In short, I have learnt a lot from my travel to Bulgaria. This new experience has shaped my personality and added a lot to my knowledge. 

                                                                          Hela’s report