This was the very first time we visited our new partner high school the Liceo Sesto Properzio (https://www.liceoproperzio.edu.it) in Assisi, in this beautiful and picturesque historical city in Umbria, which is a UNESCO cultural heritage site with amazing architecture and nature found on a hilltop. The weather was supposed to be springy at the end of April but to our biggest surprise winter came back for a few days with a lot of rain and temperatures dropped to unusual 6-8 degrees instead of the season specific 17-20 degrees. We reached Assisi by train from Roma Termini after an about 2 hours train ride that took us through the magnificent Umbrian countryside.

22 April MONDAY

In the first morning, after a very rich and satisfying breakfast at our hotel Monastero we got on board our private bus to go to Spello which is a site of local romantic movies. In the afternoon we went to Spoleto, which is on a par with Assisi in terms of its architecture and natural setting, its castle and the famous bridge that was currently closed for renovations. There we could breath the first warmer breeze of spring already on the way.

23 April TUESDAY

First day at school for the whole morning until 12pm to start with ice-breaking activities, orientation games and presentations of our AIC students to then go on with VR digital programmes in a library in the company of local students. In the afternoon after a packed lunch for reasons of convenience we went to Perugia by bus with a local guide from the host school who were a fantastic help in introducing the town to us as some students were new to Perugia where we visited the famous Perugina chocolate factory and shops beside the cultural landmarks.

24 April WEDNESDAY

This day was fully dedicated to school activities, Italian lectures in the morning, then volleyball competition in the Gym as PE where our students beat the locals. In the afternoon we went to the nearby small town Santa Maria degli Angeli to the Digipass centre to participate in the sustainability programme hosted by the Foundation Natura Green Open Hub with the active involvement of Properzio students.

25 April THURSDAY

It’s a national holiday in Italy, so there was no school, we had a full day to discover the town on our own and we also met last year’s Erasmus students at AIC since they are from that region and small villages. Our Cameramen Mr Reza shot video-interviews in breathtaking locations in the afternoon with our students who talked about their experiences. Our students also got a well earned free afternoon to enjoy themselves.

26 April FRIDAY

The last day with the hosting school and its students was equally action packed as the other days. After the morning lab practices we took a private bus and went to Bevagna to visit a medieval paper factory, a paper press mill where the whole paper making process was explained to our students by a museum guide who opened this workshop only for us. We even found some time to visit the “Antica Azienda agricola Paolo Bea” for the famous family owned organic wine making in Montefalco.

27 April SATURDAY

We were aboard a private bus in the morning to go to Orvieto to see the most famous Cathedral in that region. From Orvieto we went to Todi, another breathtaking, super-green high hill location where we also have a partner school of previous year’s students.

28 April SUNDAY

This experience of ours unfortunately came to an end and we had to get up early in the morning to catch our train back to Rome to take the plane to come back home. This mobility was so successful that it was planned to be exchanged in continuation between our schools in the coming years as well.

The mobility was fully funded by the European Commission.

The video we took during our mobility in ASSISI April 2024:

Written by: Steve Szabó

29. April. 2024.