Tortolì

Comenius Project Culture guide

Intercultural dialogue

through music Meeting in TortolÏ, Italy March 17th– 21st 2010

Tortolì Tortolì is situated near the sea along the Tyrrhenian coast of Sardinia. Today, it is the most important centre in the entire “Ogliastra” region.

It represents one of the most famous centres on the East coast and it counts about 12,000 inhabitants. the place is characterized by the suggestive beauty of the coast, with its particular cliffs of red “porphyry” and splendid white beaches.

The most popular are the beaches of “Orrì” and “Porto Frailis”, which leans out on the homonym bay. Tortolì‟s economy was once based mostly on agriculture, with the cultivation of citrus groves and sheep-rearing, today it concentrates mostly on the service industry, thanks to the presence of Arbatax harbour and to the new airport.

Numerous tourist villages, hotels and camping sites are situated in the most beautiful coves of the coast. They can accommodate thousands of tourists.

In the territory of Tortolì there are also a few archaeological areas of great interest .

Bulgarian view of Sardinia Sardinia… a mix of exotic…

Beautiful nature (much like the Bulgarian one) and that made me feel comfortable as though I was at home. The thing I most liked was that „making flowers/animals from vegetables‟. It was real fun. I even managed to cut my finger. :D

Of course, the food! Deliciously cooked as if prepared for my particular preferences… mmm… Culurgiones was my favorite. Yet I cannot imagine a life, eating so much pasta.

And last but not least, my hosts were great! These nice people always tried to make me feel good. I was such a lucky girl!

Sardinia by Veronika Nováková (CZ)

I became a member of the Intercultural Dialogue through Music and I flew to Sardinia, Italy and had the possibility to learn about the local culture and life of the local people.

We travelled a long time: we had to go by train, two aeroplanes and in the end by bus to the town where we were staying. The trip by bus was difficult. We were very tired and we had to go three hours on roads full of sharp curves because Sardinia is a mountainous region and that is why towns and villages are located in the mountains or along the seashore.

I realized that the car or bus drivers go very fast… Another difference as for the traffic is hooting. In Italy, it stands for greeting people whom the drivers meet on the way. They do not use public transportation services much; every family has more than one car and the parents take their children to school.

Finally we arrived to the town of Tortoli where we met the host families. Shortly afterwards I found out that almost no one could speak English and even people in restaurants could speak no English at all. However, I must say that everyone was very friendly and helpful. I lived in a flat on the last floor of the house. I was surprised that in the flat there was a paving and it was very cold everywhere.

Even in other households it was cold… I really do not know why?!

Besides Friday evening when we were at the concert, we were getting to know the local nature and sights.

There were palm trees everywhere, cacti and citrus plants.

We were at the seaside too but although the sea was cold it was fine as we do not have any sea in the Czech Republic. It was an amazing experience. We were in the region of Ogliastra, which is mountainous and people specialize in agriculture and traditional products. They breed cows, sheep or pigs so their hand-made products include cheese and many more.

They make wine, silk and hand-crafted products and they grow oranges and lemons.

Thanks to this, they have different food and national cuisine than we do.

It is an absolutely different country: different nature, food, climate, people behaviour and customs. Different but fine though.

Sardinia By Daniel PospĂ­ĹĄil (CZ)

I went to Sardinia for the first time and had known I had had to be ready for big changes. I went to Sardinia to find adventure. The inhabitants of Sardinia can be found exotic and special by tourists as they speak solely Italian (different to Italian spoken in the north) and have different culture. Everything in Sardinia is comfortable and great: the sea, great people and especially Sardinian food and beer. In the Czech Republic, we have beer and I drink it but the Sardinian one has an interesting taste. The Sardinians are smaller than the Czechs; I am 160 cm high which is not much in my country but is common in Italy.

Sardinian cuisine is also very unique and rich: Sardinia pasta is eaten as a starter every day and when Sardinian people invite foreign guests, my recommendation is “never eat something before the lunch, dinner and breakfast”: their dinners consist of four parts (the starter, two main dishes and a desert)... Sardinian people are great and they know how to enjoy life. Every evening they have a plan what day are going to do, whereas Czech people always watch TV or hang on the internet so there is a different atmosphere than in the Sardinian world. They have wonderful thousands years old historical monuments. In the Czech Republic, on the other hand, there are many castles and chateaus. Well, I am not saying that Sardinia is a better country than ours because I am accustomed to living in the Czech Republic. However, all that I experienced in Sardinia was a great experience and I will keep it in my mind all my life.

Sardinia by Tereza Janíková (CZ)

I was in Tortolì, Sardinia, with my classmates and teachers in March and I think I can say it was great. The weather was very nice and the people there were really pleasant and hospitable. The time we spent there made us happy and in the end we were all sad that we had to go back to the Czech Republic… However, you surely know the proverb “Home, sweet home“… The journey was quite long, we travelled the whole day: we took 2 planes, a bus and a train on both journeys.

We were very tired but next day it was better already. When we arrived there, families took us to their houses by cars. I think they travel only by cars or buses, maybe because Sardinia is mountainous with many curves. Sometimes they drive quickly, but they are good drivers. They still hoot which is something like saying "hello!“ They have many friends everywhere they come. When I was there, I met a lot of them.

The Italians also often speak a lot and they are sometimes a little bit noisy, but it looks they are always happy and friendly to everyone.

Except for differences in climate and language, there were differences in culture, too. In the family, restaurant or school we always had great food. What surprised me most were the habits regarding food: breakfasts are very small but lunches and dinners are huge with more courses. They can “mangiare� at 10.00 pm without a problem. The Sardinians are also very active in the evening and at night and in the morning they seem not to be tired at all. I also noticed that everybody lived in a house or house blocks, whereas in the Czech Republic a lot of people live blocks of flats made of concrete.

I think they concentrate on agriculture more than industry.

A lot of them have sheep or cows and make their own cheese and milk which are better than those from shops.

It is the same with wines or other alcohol.

I am very happy that I have been to Sardinia and maybe one day I will go there again.

Italy: Sardinia by Sรกra Milfajtovรก (CZ)

Sardinia surprised me pleasantly a lot. I liked the small town in the mountains, which was so beautiful as its wildlife and nature. During our trip I discovered something I had not seen before: a special disease of clover which makes it look like a black heart on green petals. It looked really great.

Meeting the goats in the mountains was very pleasant too; in our country, it is normal to see more wild hogs and deer in the nature than these.

I also really like Sardinian cones which are much larger than those in the Czech Republic.

They are very beautiful and I brought one as a souvenir.

I had expected higher temperature but at home we are used to much colder weather. It was a pity the sea was so cold; it really bothered me as I had hoped I would swim.

I really like Italian cuisine. It is a shame that we cannot buy so many types of pasta in our country. I cannot forget the Italian ice cream which was really great. It was almost impossible to choose one so you ended up with four and are sick of it later.

What was really different, was that my host family.

They ate from plastic plates and drank from the plastic cups. We usually use plates made of porcelain or ceramics and plastic plates are used only for garden parties. But this is just a trifle.

I would like to go back to Sardinia because I would love to see the country in summer.

Sardinia by Slovenia We started our travel to Sardinia, where the Comenius Project meeting was held. We came there the first and went back home last, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the beauties of the island of Sardinia. We saw a lot of interesting sights, the beautiful coasts, and amazing towns in the mountains.

Since our hosts were at the catering high school in Tortoli we had lots of chances to taste delicious Sardinian dishes. We were overwhelmed by our hostsâ€&#x; hospitality.

Every country, which took part in this project, performed songs and music which represented their cultures and traditions. There were a lot of good musicians and so we heard good music and great variety of melodies.

After the concert we all had a fancy dinner. The local students really showed what they have learned and prepared us a festive banquet. The food was delicious and the working staff was totally professional. That was a nice experience for us, who have never been to a banquet like this. We were served several courses and even had the pleasure to taste different Sardinian wines.

Our flight back home was in the afternoon, but we went to Cagliari early in the morning to be able to see this picturesque town in the south of the island. We spent part of our day sightseeing and shopping in Cagliari. After that we were sitting in the park talking and enjoying the weather with our suitcases and with McDonalds icecream in our hands, waiting for the time to pass by.

We had an hour flight to Trieste and than a few hours of driving to Slovenske Konjice. Although we had a great time in Sardinia we were glad to be back home, but with good memories and precious experience.

Sardinia by Germany It was the first time, that I went to Sardegna, but I loved it!

The singing with the others was great, and they were really nice.

Sardegna is very nice Island, I love the beach and the water. I want to go there twice!

Thank you for the nice time!!

Greetings from Germany, Katharina :D

St. George’s goes to Tortoli March 16, 2010, - in the early afternoon, we arrived in sunny Tortoli, travelweary and hoping for a rest. Caterina welcomed us and invited us to “the school canteen” before going to our hotel…

Did we really want to? We had set off at 3.30 am, and after our flight to Cagliari had endured the long and winding road to Tortoli. We just needed a rest, and in England the term “school canteen” does definitely not conjure an enticing image. So, reluctantly we went.

But then! Wow! We entered the most splendid and cool restaurant, with friendly, and in many cases, familiar faces among the waiters and cooks! And the entire presentation and content of the menu was absolutely delicious! Our mood lifted as we raised our glasses! What a fantastic start – and this set the scene for the whole visit.

What were the highlights? Well, the concert, of course, which was performed with such a generous spirit of support and co-operation between our partner schools. The “positive vibe” was palpable and continued into the night.

Several more “food occasions”, most notably the amazing banquet prepared for us by students and staff for the final night.

Thank you so much Alessandro and team! But on an earlier day we had all loved the chance to create presentation food with dough, using tiny cutters to make flowers, and real shells to imprint their shape.

A l t h o u g h w e c o Although we could not match Alessandro‟s skill with cutting fruits and vegetables into animals etc, we did try our best to emulate him, and some radish mice and fans of apple were quite acceptable in appearance…

T o r t o l i ‟ s

Tortoli‟s beach and the red rocks made a great trip, and the many, many murals at Orgosolo were amazing – as was the trip through the mountains to get there! Visiting the nuraghe – an ancient settlement involved a hill walk.

Thanks to the attractive quality of some Italian boys, our girls seemed not to find this an uphill struggle at all!

Just the day to day walk from the hotel to school and back became a familiar and pleasant routine – especially in such lovely weather. Tortoli‟s ice cream parlour was probably its most favoured shop with our students!

There are too many people to thank for our wonderful time that week . So, thank you Caterina, and thank you to all the other staff and students who introduced us to your beautiful island, and made us feel so welcome.

Sarah Russell

Sardinia by Poniatowa: Agnieszka Szwajgier and Kasia W贸jcikowska A few days ago we were in Sardinia - one of the biggest island on the Mediterranean Sea. Thanks to the fact that our school takes part in the European project named Comenius, we could go abroad to improve our English, learn about the culture of other countries and meet people from such European countries like Sardinia, Bulgaria, Germany, Czech Republic, England, Cyprus, Slovenia and of course Poland. We travelled by plane, so it wasn't very tiring.

It was beautiful experience to be with the people who love music as much as we do.

Italian families were so nice, that we wanted to stay there longer. We saw many beautiful places connected with Italian culture and we tried some typical Italian food.

The concert and the party which we had were the best opportunities to make friends.

Our performance showed that all groups are united by the language of music. It also proved that in spite of a colour of our skin, language, religion and the distance divisive all countries, we understand each other very well and we can be good friends. It was one of the best trips we have ever been to. We will never forget it.

Sardinia by Gdynia The meeting in Sardinia was great. I very much enjoyed visiting all the places of interests and making friends with our partners in the project. What I liked best was the art workshop and making fabulous decorations out of fruits and vegetables. The concert was really fine and all the groups performed really well. My host family were fantastic and I had a wonderful time with them. I wish I could meet them again.

By Marta of Gimnazjum nr 4 in Gdynia, Poland