Text by the pupils of:                      Illustration & narration by the pupils of

-Szkoła Podstawowa nr 1                             Pamfila Primary School, Lesvos,

 Konin, Poland                                                 Greece

-2n ESO Rocagrossa School,                         Galip Öztürk Secondary School,Türkiye

Lloret de Mar, Spain

-1st Primary School of Myrina,                     2n ESO Rocagrossa School, Lloret de        Limnos, Greece                                                  Mar  Spain

-Primary School of Pamfila,                                 Szkoła Podstawowa nr 1 Konin, 

 Lesvos, Greece                                                    Poland 

 -Galip Ozturk Secondary                             1st Primary School of Myrina,                      School, Turkiye                                                 Limnos, Greece

    One day Victoria and Oliver went on an amazing balloon journey around the world. 

Their first stop was a modern city in which they noticed a large monument of a half-woman and half-fish, holding a sword and a shield. They looked around and  asked a man walking nearby.

- Excuse me, can you tell us where we are and what this statue is?

- You are in Warsaw, Poland. This statue is the symbol of our city. Do you want to know more about it? 

-Yes, please. We are travellers and we are interested in history of different European countries. 

- That's good! I'm a tour guide and I can tell you the legend about the mermaid. Listen carefully!

Unexpectedly the guide snapped his fingers and the children's surroundings changed immediately. Suddenly, they were in a small fishing village by the river called the Vistula.The man started his story. 

-It was the living place of beautiful golden-haired mermaids.  One day, one of them decided to rest on the sandy bank of the river. She liked the place very much and started singing. Then, a greedy merchant heard her beautiful voice and wanted to earn money by putting her on display at fairs. He tricked her, kidnapped her and imprisoned in a chest. 

Fortunately, a young fisherman from the village heard her crying and decided to set her free. In return, the mermaid promised she would always guard the whole village. Time passed by and the village changed into a big city- Warsaw. Now, the mermaid is the symbol of it and you can see her monuments there.

At that moment, the guide snapped his fingers again and everything went back to normal. Victoria and Oliver were amazed by his story. 

-Some people say that from time to time, the mermaid  emerges from the Vistula and looks at the ever-changing capital.

-Who knows, maybe you will see her?- the old man added. 

- Thank you so much for a Cult-Tour we had with you. Now we know more about Poland- the children said.

- It was my pleasure. Have a safe trip!

The children waved him goodbye and got into the hot-air balloon.

Victoria and Oliver were flying in the hot-air balloon, when suddenly a huge bird hit them, and they fell down, making an emergency landing in Girona, Spain. 

They were okay, but their hot-air balloon was damaged, so they went to the city to fix it.

While the balloon was at the repair shop, they decided to visit the city of Girona. 

Walking around the city, they found an unusual statue of a foot and its footprint surrounded by flies.

Victoria and Oliver wondered what that statue was, when they saw a man wearing very old-fashioned clothes approaching, he looked very frightened. He was carrying a wooden box and he asked them:

- What's going on? Where is the French army? Why are you not hiding?

Victoria and Oliver looked at each other confused and said:

- What do you mean? 

The man answered: 

- We are at war! The French are invading us. Follow me, we need to hide!

They arrived at the man's home, and when they entered, suddenly they were back in time...

Then they asked: 

- Where are we? What's in the box?

The man answered: 

- We are in Gerunda in 1285, and in the box I have collected Saint Narcissus' remains. The French army has spread it around the city, but I want to keep them safe.

He opened the box and, instead of the Saint's remains, lots of greenish blue flies as big as acorns came out. Their head had a sting.

Oliver and Victoria were really scared, yet the flies flew out of the house towards the French military camp and attacked them.

Victoria and Oliver ran outside the house to find themselves again in the future. 

They were shocked, but they needed to know more.

Not too far away, they saw the same statue of the foot. But this time there was a tourist group with a kind tourist guide explaining about the footprint.

They started walking, still a little shocked by what just happened. As they arrived, the tourist guide was finishing the Narcissus legend, and Victoria and Oliver ear dropped the explanation.

Victoria and Oliver connected the info and really liked this story, but it was time for them to continue their trip around the European continent.

When they found out that their hot-air balloon wasn’t fixed, they were disappointed, but decided to go by submarine, because all the boats and planes were reserved. 

Oliver loved the jellyfishes, and Victoria fell in love with the beauty of the sea and its animals.

And just like that, they were ready for the next adventure of their Cult-Tour…

Oliver and Victoria traveled by submarine to Limnos island, Greece and there they met an old man. He was a storyteller.

He told them the myth of Hephaestus, the god of fire. Hephaestus was the blacksmith and craftsman of gods. Hera, his mother threw him from Mount Olympus when he was small and he landed on the island of Limnos. 

Hephaestus broke his leg (or hip) when he landed on the island and remained lame ever after. The people of the island took care of him and in return, the god taught them his art of ironsmith.

Because of his skill, Zeus allowed Hephaestus to return to Mount Olympus.Hephaestus made weapons, armor, and jewelry using fire and metals. He even made lightning for his father.

Oliver and Victoria are now ready for the next adventure of their Cult-Tour.

Next, the kids took a boat to go fishing but the strong wind pushed the boat to Lesvos island and they arrived at the village of Antissa. The kids of the village took Oliver and Victoria for a walk in a big cave.

There they learnt the myth of Orpheus.

- This is the Cave of Orpheus, they told them. In ancient Greece Orpheus played the lyre so well that all the animals went around him to listen to his music. Also, the men did not work because they sat next to him to listen to his melodies.

So, the nymphs, Mainades, were angry and threw Orpheus in the sea. The people of Antissa found his body and lyre and buried him in that cave. The Cave became a temple and an oracle.

-The myth says that here the nightingales sing the most sweetly of all Lesvos because they learnt to sing from the sweet melodies of Orpheus.

- It is true! Because here ornithologists found a species of nighingales whose song is the sweetest of all.

- Thank you so much, friends! We had a great time in Greece!

- Now we must go on our Cult-Tour to explore new cultures! Can we take a helicopter, please?