We had a wonderful summer holiday and now we want to share our experiences and memories with you !

Today is the last day of school. As we have studied hard, it is time for us to have a wonderful holiday.

Each of us will travel to a different place and learn new country and cultures.

Dear friends, I wish you all a beautiful holiday. Take care of yourselves and don't forget to take photos and bring some souvenirs.

Summer holiday passes and all friends return back to their school.

Now they are ready for a new school term. All are excited for the meet up as they will share their holiday experiences.

Welcome children ! How was your holiday? Where have you been ? Let's talk about our experiences ? Let's see what you have learned through your travel!

Shall we start with you Gezgin?

Yes, sure!

ŞEHİT DOĞAN SEVİNÇ SECONDARY SCHOOL

BURSA /TURKEY

I had a wonderful holiday. I went to Turkey, Bursa. Bursa is an ancient city with many historical and natural beauties.

I visited my friend Ali in Bursa. I stayed at their house. He is a real friend.

He is attending Şehit Doğan Sevinç Secondary School. It is has four floors with a big garden. It is both a sporty and eco friendly school.

They have many cups and medals from sports competitions. They are also eco-friendly. They do recycle. They collect paper, glass, plastic and battery separately.

It was a wonderful experience. We went to Ulu Mountain by cable car. I got very excited. Everywhere was white. The scenery was amazing.

Uludag (2543m), whose peak is 36 km far from Bursa, can be reached by car or cable car easily. It was used to be known as Olympus of Mysia in antique age and as the Mountain of Monk in the time of Ottoman. It is the first ski center of Turkey. In addition to its being an ideal place to ski between December and May, Uludag with its National Park having excellent scenery is among the places to see all along the year. 

Next day, we went to a Bursa tour with Ali's school. We visited Karagöz and Hacivat Museum.

It was really interesting.

Karagöz & Hacivat is a Turkish shadow play taking its name from its main character Karagöz. Traditional show theatre, where the shadow puppets of human and animal figures, cut out of leather and colored, are thrown onto a white curtain using a light source behind it.

Karagöz play is played depending on the talent of an artist. Moving the design on curtain, voicing them, dialects or imitations are all made by the artist.

The subjects of Karagöz plays are funny elements with double meanings, exaggerations, verbal plays, and imitating accents. There is always satire and irony.

Our next place was Historic Plane Tree.

Inkaya Tarihi Cinar is a memorial plane tree that is thought to be more than 600 years old. The tree is 37 meters tall and around 10 meters in diameter, its big (13) main branches provide around 53 meters of cool shade.

The tree is located at the village of İnkaya, one of the first villages of the Ottoman Empire, it is located on the way going towards Uludag around 10 km from the center of Bursa.

In the way to the tree, you will go through a lot of small shops selling seasonal fruits and souvenirs.

We also went to Cumalıkızık.

Cumalıkızık is a village in the Yıldırım district of Bursa Province, located 10 kilometers east of the city of Bursa, at the foot of Mount Uludağ. Its history goes back to the Ottoman Empire's foundation period. The historical texture of the village has been well protected and the civilian countryside architectural structures of the early Ottoman period are still intact. Because of this, Cumalıkızık has become a popular but still unspoiled center for tourists and is in the UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST.

The next day, I visited Ulu Mosque.

Ulu Mosque was huge with twenty domes. Muslim people come here to pray. It was built by Yıldırım Bayezid from 1395-1399. It is the biggest mosque in Bursa.

I went to Green Tomb next.

The tomb, which is located on the hill across the Green Mosque in Yesil district, was built by the architect Haci Ivaz Pasha in the request of Mehmet Celebi during the years 1414-1421. In the tomb, which was decorated with the excellent forms of Ottoman decorative art, especially turquoise ceramic tiles and embroidery on the wooden doors attract attention. 

The Turkish baths (hamam) are great places which should be visited in Bursa. The Eski Kaplica (Old Spring) of Çekirge district is the oldest in the province. The Karamustafa Pasa Baths are famous, and boast the best hot, mineral waters.

During my travel I had a chance to try Turkish cuisine. Bursa is famous for its peaches ,

İskender Kebap

and candied chestnut.

I also tasted Turkish coffee. All were great !

Yummy Yummy !

I also bought some souvenirs for you. Bursa is famous for its tile art, towels, candied chestnuts, Turkish delight and blue bead.

Blue bead is a superstition in Turkey. Turkish people believe that blue bead protects from evil eye.

I will definitely go to Bursa again!

What a wonderful experience Gezgin! Thank you for your presents ! Who is next?

You're welcome Mrs. Right !

SECONDARY SCHOOL HĂRĂU, ROMANIA

Hi! I am The Curious, the kite worked by the students of the third class. I travel through the clouds and bring a lot of stories with me.

I once accompanied the children to the Râșnov Fortress. It is a historic monument and landmark in Romania.

Râșnov Fortress is situated in Râşnov, Brașov County, in the immediate vicinity of Brașov.

The fortress was built as part of a defence system for the Transylvanian villages exposed to outside invasions. The only chance of survival for the inhabitants of the area, was the refuge inside the refuge castle at Râşnov. Compelled to stay there for decades, the people of Râșnov and the nearby villages turned the fortification into their long-term place of residence.

Here, We are at Dino Parc Rasnov, the only dinosaur-themed park in Romania and the largest in Southeast Europe.

A area is dedicated to dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals that lived in Romania’s Hateg region.

The park has and a sensory room with sounds of dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals.

The park has a replica of the largest dinosaur to have ever lived on Earth - Seismosaurus, a 45-meter long giant.

Asparuh, its your turn to tell us about your summer holiday.

Thank you! It`s a pleasure for me to tell about my summer.

Comprehensive school

Valeri Petrov

Pleven, Bulgaria

I had a wonderful and memorable holiday this summer. My first stop was Pleven, Bulgaria.

MEMORIES

I visited there my friends – 4th C class from Comprehensive school Valery Petrov. 

Together with them I visited interesting places in Pleven and learned a lot about the history of the town.

The town of Pleven is situated in the middle part of the Danube lowland, 160 km from the capital Sofia, 320 km from the Black sea.

The history of the town and the region dates back to thousands of years ago. The earliest evidences about  human presence in the region are related to the end of the 5th millennium.

We visited the Regional historical museum of the town.

The museum and the museum stocks are situated in an impressive two-story building - a monument of culture having national significance, on an area of 7000 square meters and a park with an exposition in the open on an area of 37 decares. The basic museum stock contains over 180 000 museum items.

At the museum we visited the archaeological department. The Archaeology exposition includes exponents of Prehistory, the Roman age and the Bulgarian Middle Ages.

We saw Valchitran gold treasure - the bigest Thrasian treasure. I learned the interesting story of its discovery.

The Valchitran Gold Treasure, which dates back to the end of the Late Bronze Age, consists of a total of 13 items with a gold content of over 88%, weighing a combined total of nearly 12.5 kg

It was discovered in 1924 by two brothers working in their vineyard, near the town of Valchitran, Pleven District. and is particularly interesting because of the peculiar shape of the cups and bowls. Archaeologists believe the vessels were used for rituals dedicated to god Dionysus. 

In the afternoon we visited Kailaka Park. The Kaylaka Park is a favorite place for relaxation of the Pleven residents and the town guests. It is situated at only 6 km south of Pleven. The park offers diverse options for walking, relaxation and entertainment.

The vertical cliffs, more than 20 meters high, are suitable for practicing rock climbing. The locality has given shelter to rich and diverse flora and fauna. The remains of the Roman road station of Storgoziya are also situated here. There are swimming pools, entertainment playground, tennis courts, a lake with boats and water wheels, places for relaxation and catering establishments. 

We had a picnic in the park and played football. This day I spent a wonderful moments with my friends.

A special memories with my friends.

We started the next day by visiting an art gallery Collection Svetlin Rusev. There are about 400 works of Bulgarian and foreign artists donated by the famous artist and collector Svetlin Rusev. 

On the first floor we looked at the paintings of  some most famous Bulgarian artists from the first half of the 20th century.

On the third level we found paintings by famous foreign artists including Pablo Picasso, Francisco Goya, Honore Domie, Mark Shagall, Renoir, Salvador Dali, Renato Gutuzo, Eugene Delacroix and small sculptures by Auguste Roden and Edgare Degas.

We had a great time with these wonderful works of art.

We planed a history trip around Bulgaria and Tsarevets fortress is the place to visit. It is located in town of Veliko Tarnovo.

Veliko Tarnovo became the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185 AD, after the uprising of the brothers Asen and Petar. The brothers made Tsarevets the main fortress and it was considered the most impregnable and the most important one in Bulgaria.

Near to Tsarevets hill we visited the Multimedia visitor center. Notable sculptures and paintings present historical figures and events from the period of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. It recreates the lives of different social layers in medieval Bulgarian society - monarchs, clergy, boyars, warriors and craftsmen

On the way back from Veliko Turnovo we stopped in Lovech. It was founded as a Bulgarian fortress in the Middle Ages. It has been known under the name Lovech since 12th century.

We visited the famous covered bridge, build by self-educated builder Kolyu Ficheto in 1876. It is a pedestrian area with shops on both sides. The bridge links the old town Varosha with the remaining part of the town. The bridge is 10 meters high and 84 meters long.

I tried some typical Bulgarian dishes.

Shopska salad Sirene po Shopski

Mekici Banitsa

All was very delicious!

I bought for you some souvenirs.

Rose oil - distilled from the flowers of Rosa damascena shrub grown in the Valley of Roses in central Bulgaria.

Bulgarian painted

ceramics

The dolls in traditional costumes

Bulgarian handcrafted seamstress

Lutenitsa - made of red peppers,

tomatoes, carrots, aubergine,

onion, garlic and black pepper

Sharena sol - the most popular

Bulgarian spice mix

It`s time for me to return back. My suitcase is full of good memories and fantastic experiences. I promise, I````ll be back!

GOOD MEMORIES

FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE

What an interesting trip! Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!

Thank you for your attention!

Hello!My name is Storky and I am going to tell you about my trip to Croatia.

These are my friends from Vladimir Nazor elementary school in Pisarovina.Together we traveled across their beautiful country and visited so many memorable places.

Croatia is a beautiful country, rich in history, cultural herritage and natural beauties. If you look at it on the map, it looks like a flying dragon. Its head is our biggest peninsula Istra.The body of the dragon, long and pretty tight, swoops down from high snow mountins to the one of the most beautiful seas on the planet – the Adriatic sea.In dragon's wing, in the middle of the country on the river Sava lays the biggest city and the capital of Croatia.

Zagreb is the capital and the biggest city in Croatia. It's located in the center of our country, at the bottom of mountain Medvednica and on the river Sava. A million people live in the the wider Zagreb area . In Zagreb you can spend days walking and sightseeing . There are plenty of parks, squares, churches and museums. Just like on Croatian flag, there are red, white and blue features in Zagreb. Red is for the Šestinski kišobran ( traditional Zagreb umbrella) and the Licitar heart. White is for the winter in Zagreb when the city is covered in snow. Blue is for Zagreb's  city trams and funicular, the city symbol and it is also the colour of Dinamo Zagreb football shirts.

We used the famous funicular and enjoyed the beautiful view from the Upper town of Zagreb.