Tha adventures of the scarecrow in Greece

1. The Adventures of the Scarecrow
in Greece
1st Primary School of Melissia
Athens, Greece

2. Once upon a time, not long ago, there was a scarecrow. Her name was Athena. She
liked travelling a lot. She had travelled to many places around Europe on her flying
horse called, Pegasus: Italy, Spain, Romania and Poland. Her last trip was to Greece.
Pegasus took her to the capital of Greece, Athens.
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3. On her first day in Athens, she visited the Acropolis hill. She admired the Parthenon and the
Erehtheion, two ancient temples. At the top of the hill, she saw a very old olive tree. This tree is a
symbol of the olive tree that Goddess Athena, according to an ancient myth, had offered as a
present to the people of Athens.
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4. After that Athena walked around the neighborhood of Plaka. This is the old city of Athens. She
took photos of the beautiful neoclassic buildings. But she got so hungry that grabbed a typical
Greek delicacy, souvlaki with tzatziki sauce, at a souvlaki restaurant at the famous Monastiraki
square.
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5. The next morning, the scarecrow decided to climb up Mt Pentelicus to get fresh air
and have a nice panoramic view of Athens. There used to be a dense pinewood forest
but unfortunately it had been burnt by fires in the past.
Athena was sad and decided to take action:
save the forest by planting new trees!
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6. Happy but exhausted as she was after
the reforestation, the scarecrow
decided to calm down a bit at a
nearby ceramic pottery workshop.
There a professional potter showed
her how to use water, mud and a
special pottery wheel to produce her
own products.
But, the pottery needed to be
baked first in a special oven
before Athena could take it
back. So, she spent her time
at the souvenir shop buying
things for her family and
friends.
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7. On the third day, it was time for the scarecrow to go south. The sun was shining so what better
place to enjoy the warm spring weather than the Cultural Center of the Stavros Niarchos
Foundation. There, she visited first the National Opera. Next, at the National Library she took part
in science experiments and in an ecological treasure hunt together with a multinational group of
kids. The kids invited Athena to join them at a picnic. They relaxed at the botanical gardens and
played open-air chess and other games in the kids’ playground.
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8. The next day, Athena came really close to nature. She visited the Kokotos Estate. The hosts
welcomed her with cookies and a cup of hot tea collected from the mountains and guided her
through the domain. Athena walked around the olive trees, the vineyards, the winery and the
cellar. She fed the ponies, the ducks, the chickens, the geese, the hens, the turkeys and the
rabbits. She even learned how to make her own seed bombs out of soil, water and herb seeds!
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9. On the fifth day of her
trip, the scarecrow went
to the Mt Parnitha
National Park. She got
really excited because she
reached the top of the
mountain not with the
help of Pegasus but using
the teleferique. At the
shelter of the Greek
Mountaineering Club a
teacher of Environmental
Education told her about
the fauna and flora of the
mountain. While walking
into the forest she came
across a family of red
deer!
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10. The scarecrow was very happy in Greece. The kids she had met in
SNFCC invited her in their school. The 1st Primary School was in a place
called Melissia. So, Athena decided to visit the kids. The pupils showed
her around their school and spent time in the flower- and vegetable-
garden. This garden had been very dirty in the past. But, pupils
together with their parents and teachers had collected the garbage,
had painted the walls, had put a picnic table, had planted flowers, had
cultivated vegetables and herbs and had constructed DIY compost
makers. The school garden was something that everybody was very
proud of!
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11. At the school, the scarecrow took part in different projects. First, they made bars of soap out of
olive oil, cooking soda and essential oils. They also produced bath bombs using baby shampoo,
cooking soda, sugar and cooking colors. Athena and the kids participated in cooking workshops,
too. They learned how to cook sweet marzipans made of almonds, sugar and flour. They cooked
an anchovies spread following a traditional French recipe. They prepared a delicious fresh salad
using lettuce, fresh onions and dill that they gatherd from their school garden. They even baked
meatballs at the school dining hall using oregano, parsley and other ingredients. To end the day,
the pupils together with Athena sold their products in a school bazaar.
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12. 12
Just before leaving for her next trip to France, the kids had a
surprise for Athena. They showed her how to breed silkworms
for the production of raw silk. Athena witnessed the whole
process of the silkworm lifecycle: from caterpillar to cocoon,
then to butterfly and to eggs. The scarecrow fed the white
caterpillars with leaves from the berry trees in school and
cleaned their cardboard houses regularly. When the larvas had
turned into cocoons, Athena and the kids “sacrificed” a few
and boiled them in a pan with hot water. In this way, they
produced silk thread that the kids sent as a present to the
French kids. Athena’s trip to Greece ended with the most
splendid way.