On Monday the 13th of January we met Elisabetta outside our beautiful B&B in the centre of Turin city. Upon our arrival we took part in an AMIAT company for waste collection presentation. This presentation was mainly for older students. These students were very engaged in the presentation, as they asked questions throughout. This presentation was very thought provoking and we learned about the various methods of recycling in Italy. That evening, we met the staff in a local bar for traditional aperitivo. We had a very enjoyable evening.

A lovely lunch prepared for us by our Italian Comenius hosts in Torino Hospital School

On Tuesday morning we took part in a tour of the hospital and wards with Giorgio. We met several students from different wards. It is a very different setting to our hospital as Torino hospital is a lot larger than our hospital in Crumlin! Later that afternoon, Giorgio and Elisabetta accompanied us to two charities associated with the hospital- UGI and Casa Oz. UGI is a parent funded charity which provides accommodation for families of patients attending the hospital long term. Casa Oz was a beautiful establishment located close to the hospital. Casa Oz was founded by volunteers and provides many different services throughout the day. These services include art and music workshops, after school tutoring, accommodation, meals and a quiet room for children and families to relax. Everyone we met in Casa Oz seemed to be very happy as they were enjoying their experience there.

On Wednesday, we led a group lesson with children of all different ages. We brought together children from primary, middle and secondary school for this group lesson. The children created beautiful postcards using recycled materials which we brought from our school here in Crumlin including newspapers, old boxes, ribbons and scrap paper. The postcards were based on an Irish/Italian theme. The children were very proud of their finished products. After a delicious traditional Italian lunch on Wednesday Simona and Teresa accompanied us to Museo del Cinema. We got to see Torino's Mole Antonellianna, which is a symbol and landmark of Torino and also is the tallest building in Torino. It is named after the architect who designed it. Inside this landmark building is the fantastic Museum of Cinema. This was a really enjoyable experience, we got to see many famous film props, posters, and earned about the evolution of movies and cinema. 

Postcards made by pupils in our workshop

On Thursday we were very excited to visit the incinerator of Torino with pupils, Giorgio, Giuliana, Franca and Sina. We were given a presentation about waste management all over Europe. Following this presentation we were given a tour of the incinerator which we found very interesting. Following this, we went to Eataly for a delicious traditional Italian lunch with Franca, Sina and Simona. On Thursday night we had a wonderful evening in Giorgio and Elisabetta's stunning home in the centre of Torino. We felt very welcome and a lot of the staff joined us for a thoroughly enjoyable meal. We were presented with a most wonderful Irish cake, decorated in our national colors and flag. 

The fantastic Irish Cake! 

On Friday we visited the mainstream secondary school Levi. Here we gave a presentation about our hospital school, and answered questions and led a discussion about Ireland in an English class. The students had lots of questions for us as they had previously visited Ireland. To finish our wonderful week, we enjoyed lunch with the school principal, Giorgio and Elisabetta. 

On the whole, we had a fantastic time visiting Torino city and the hospital school there. We thank the staff who were very warm and welcoming, and we hope to see them again in the future.

Orlagh and Jennifer,

Our Lady's Hospital School, Dublin