We are sailing, we are sailing…

No stormy waters for us. After a good night’s sleep, we were up early this morning for our island cruise.out to Hydra, Poros and Aegina. Quite what type of boat we were expecting to take us out I don’t think anyone can say, but probably none of us expected the huge three decker that took us out. We settled down below decks, serenaded by an international musician playing Zorba the Greek tunes for us.

Our first port of call was the island of Hydra. Today is National Day here, and we were treated to a march past of local schoolchildren, the youngest dressed in traditional Greek costumes. Like bees around a honeypot, the souvenir shops proved a huge attraction and with 21 children in tow we delighted the shopkeepers. With time limited, we managed a sea front stroll during which the children managed to acquaint themselves with all sorts of local flora and fauna, in particular donkeys, well fed cats and one particularly long and hairy caterpillar!

Our short voyage across to the island of Poros was eased with lunch. When we disembarked from the boat, we climbed up a narrow flight of stairs to explore some of the narrow cobbled streets behind the main sea front – once again, the shopkeepers took an assault! If you were worried they were thinking of you at home, you’d be amazed at how many times today we’ve heard “I’d like that for my mum”, “Dad will love this”.

We spent the next leg across to Aegina on the top deck – the sun was blazing all day, although it was chilly enough with the wind. Pretty much everyone in the group tried a “Titanic” moment, standing at the front of the boat leaning into the wind (and railings – don’t panic!). Amr did his best to lose his tour hat, seeing it blown up on top of the upper deck control room, but it was rescued by an obliging crewman. We had a delightful stroll along the seafront in Aegina, although Mrs Williams was extremely worried that she might not get another shopping opportunity. We explored the seafront, and then split into groups of shoppers (Civene was amazed at the staying power of the boys in the shops) and sunbathers/sea creature hunters.

Back to the upper deck for the trip home, the wind eventually drove us below decks where we spent the remainder of our journey. A short bus ride home, dinner and then bed – despite their denials, all that fresh air has exhausted the children (and teachers!) and beds were very welcomed this evening.

If you’re reading this back in school on Saturday morning with Mr Whitaker or Mrs Churchill, the children would like you to know that they certainly do wish you were here as they are having a blast. Unfortunately, Mrs Williams forgot to bring the spelling words so the test we promised them won’t be able to take place, unless Mr Whitaker emails them to us – but then we’re not sure if we’ll be able to fit them in between the Acropolis visit, Greek dancing, museum tours…

And a final apology for not putting pictures up – Mr Suter apologises for his technical ineptitude…

Arrival in Athens

Well, here we are, after what seemed like an incredibly long journey. Customs was cleared quickly and easily with no difficulties, and having been given a bit of free time to explore before our departure time most made their way to the ice cream parlour – at 2.30am in the morning! We have photographic evidence of all the culprits (anonymous at this stage!!) but sure mums will find the chocolate and strawberry stains on some white clothing. Rumours circulated that Mr Suter was seen at McDonalds but flatly denied it, claiming that Nurse Eileen would never let him eat so unhealthily. Again our resident detectives have the evidence.
The journey from Bahrain through Abu Dhabi to Athens was largely uneventful, although a few moments stick out: Azfer trying to “steal” his emergency lifejacket from the plane; Kyle taking the customs officer’s immigration stamp; Abdullah making every effort to stay on his feet and collectively the number of lollipops that were consumed in Abu Dhabi could have energized the entire Saudi Olympic team for the duration of the games..
Resplendent in our white ‘tour’ hats, after arriving at our Hotel exhausted and starving Mr. Gikas led us on an exploratory tour of Athens, to find a traditional Greek snack to tide us over until dinner. Souvlaki and chips, partly traditional – OK cooked in greek olive oil were, wolfed down with gusto. Despite the fact that the walk gave us some stunning views of the Acropolis framed by the tall buildings along the narrow roads, the highlight of this excursion was by far chasing the pigeons in the town hall square! Emre is still maintaining that pigeon poop on your derriere is luck!
Down town Athens has thrown up some sights and sounds we wouldn’t normally see in Khobar. A passing vendor selling hand made wooden toys thought his luck was in as the children were captivated by his offerings – he probably sold more in half an hour with us than he probably normally does in a week! A flower seller tried to continue in the same form – Amy and Cordelia were delighted to be offered flowers by a passing stranger, but didn’t realise the hidden tag of having to pay for them! Crossing roads has proved a nightmare – no one pays any attention to anything any other road user is doing. Imagine the worst streets in Khobar, and add in motorbikes going any way they like, whether on the road or the walkways, and you’ll get an idea! Luckily coming back to the hotel we were escorted – quite randomly, not because of our behaviour! – by four policemen and women who held up the traffic for us at every junction. So yes, all still present and correct!
Exhaustion has set in – an early night for all, as we look forward to tomorrow’s island cruise out into the bay! It’s been dry with some sun today, and we’re looking for more of the same tomorrow! Watch this space!

Greece here we come!

The excitement is building as children have left school for today, going home to make final adjustments to their packed bags. This is our initial Greece blog - we hope to keep this running thoughout the course of our trip. We encourage you to leave as many comments as you can!

Victorian Day

We hope you're all looking forward to Victorian day. Here are some examples of what you could wear and some links to some useful websites for some tips!

Click here to view a range of costumes (we are not recommending you buy one however).

More photo examples and information here.

New Bloggers Arya &Tribe!

Here we are new to the Blog. We feel both of us make a good team. What do you think? We would like to hear comments! We hope to be supervising children in the near future to help them create their very own blog.

Back on track

Dear all

Well we're not sure if many of you will continue reading our blog with the children now back in school, but we thought it might be nice to keep updating the blog - as a means of communication and to tell you what we're up to in school.

This week the staff had their photos taken - here are ours of the Year 5 staff. The children have really enjoyed being back and it's lovely to hear comments such as 'Yes, maths!'.

Please keep your comments coming in and if you have any suggestions for what you would like to see on this blog then do let us know.

School's back!

At last, we've reached the end of our home study period. We've all had lots of new experiences during this time, such as doing school work in your pyjamas! There have been positive things that have come from it, such as your ability to work independently at home. And you have all managed to use this blog well which shows your mastery of technology. Your parents have been fantastic, supporting you in your studies, although we are sure they will be more than a little relieved when you go back to school on Saturday. And as for us... Well, it's just not the same without you and we're looking forward to having you all back on Saturday!

As for our challenges... Lots of you tried to estimate Mr. Suter's height. Mrs. Williams has finally revealed that he is... 1m 84cms in his socks, so well done if you got close. Remember, an estimate is a sensible guess so give yourself a pat on the back if you were close.

How many of you have read the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien? If you had, you may remember Bilbo's riddles with Gollum under the Misty Mountains. The riddle "A box without hinges, key or lid..." comes from that passage of the story. Gollum had just as much trouble as some of you, but eventually realised that the answer was an egg.

A note from Mr. Gale for next week: Year 5 girls will be swimming on Sunday for 4 weeks. The arrangements for the swimming lessons will be that the girls are to come to school in their swimming costume under their PE kit and when it is their PE lesson they will come to the sports hall and drop of their school bag. They will then walk across to the pool.

Please make sure that you bring all your home study work back to school on Saturday.

That's it for our final blog for now - have a fantastic weekend, an early night on Friday, and we'll see you fresh and raring to go on Saturday morning!