Birkirkara pupils in exchange visit to Italy

For the fifth year running, our school, Sir Anthony Mamo Primary B, Birkirkara, has exchanged visits with primary schools in Piedimulera, a town at the foot of the Monte Rosa in Piedmont, Italy.

These visits usually take place in the first week of June. In the last five years, we have travelled up and down Piedmont - from Val Formazza to Turin and across various provinces to Milan and even Lucerne in Switzerland.

For most of the time of our stay, we were accommodated at "Villa Regina" at San Carlo con Vanzone. From our bedroom window we could see the Monte Rosa shining pink in the early sunrise. The hostel is surrounded with mountains, forests and waterfalls, an idyllic place in fine weather but which could be isolated in stormy weather.

The people are very friendly and hospitable. They are hard working and proud of their environment. They talk of their mountains, lakes, forests and rivers with pride and protect the flora and fauna as though their life depends on it, which in reality it does. The beauty of the place leaves you astounded and one never tires of seeing it again and again, year after year.

Two years ago the highlight of the tour was crossing a glacier. After going up to Macugnaga, we took the seggiovia. Then we started our arduous trek up the mountain. Sometimes we had to go on all fours to cross the big boulders, which are carried down by the glacier. A rumbling sound of thunder was continuously heard as the moving ice crushes everything in front of it.

After a tiring and dangerous three-hour trek we arrived at the refuge where we were given a warm meal of polenta and beef. On this occasion the children enjoyed pelting each other with snowballs. We also found patches of snow when we went up to Val Formazza, near the artificial Lago Moresco. The children found out that snow is not so soft and that it could hurt if a snowball hits you in the face.

Many gold mines have been dug into the mountains, the most important being found in Pestarena. We also visited the Guia goldmine in Macugnaga and the Lithoteca Museum in Domodossola. The mine was still being worked till World War Two.

Another different experience was panning for gold in the River Toce. The organisers supplied us with boots and pans and the children were so proud and happy when they found gold specks in the bottom of the pan. They were delighted to have their specks of gold in small glass tubes which they took home..

Some of the towns at the foot of the mountains were very important in medieval times and one can find many beautiful castles and churches. We visited Vogogna, a beautiful old town, protected by the Visconti Castle. With its winding, narrow and cobbled streets, it reminds one of Mdina. One finds both small old churches and niches on the mountains like the one at Omegna, and grand cathedrals like the Re Sanctuary in the Vigezzo Valley.

The people are very devout and returned migrants decorated their churches with silver relics and paintings in gratitude for a better life. The Germans killed many people in the area in the closing years of the last war, and one can find many museums dedicated to the Italian Resistance.

Ossola has a dense network of communications to the rest of Europe. Within two hours of driving one can find oneself in a completely different place from the tranquillity of the mountains. Last year, from here, we went to Milan and Lucerne. This year we went to Turin. These are very important cities full of palaces, churches, museums and beautiful squares. Every year we spend an unforgettable day on the Lago Maggiore and the three beautiful Borromeo Islands.

After touring museums and churches, we often rested in the beautiful and well-tended gardens and parks. Besides trees, plants, flowers and fountains, one can find many wild and domesticated animals. I found Villa Taranto in Stresa the most beautiful and the children liked Villa Pallavicino best.

The Italian teachers always prepared a full and varied programme and made sure that we did not need anything. The children start corresponding from the beginning of the year and they send photos and gifts. The Italians come over to Malta in March and we usually go after the Junior Lyceum exams.

I think these exchange visits are really worthwhile because the children easily make friends with their penfriends whom they meet in Malta and then in Italy. They quickly get used to shopping with a foreign currency and in a foreign tongue. The children rarely feel homesick because the parents can easily phone them up.

These exchange visits have proved successful, year in and year out, because many people had planned and organised things well beforehand. I would like to mention especially our headteacher, Ms Mary Anne. Zammit, who goes through all the trouble to organise these exchange visits and to accompany the children abroad with the help of two teachers, Ms Carmen Azzopardi, and myself.

I would also like to thank the Italian schools which invited us, the people who looked after us and last but not least the persons at the Education Department who make these visits possible.

I think these visits should continue because year after year we are complimented on the children's behaviour, since they make very good ambassadors for our country.