Shopping (and all the rest)!

Apologies for the blog blackout last night – we literally did have a blackout! We’d just finished typing the blog and were in the process of transferring it to the site when a power cut hit the whole of Tolon! We did try posting this morning but things weren’t quite back to normal on the internet front. Sorry if you missed us!

We did get a chance to catch up on all the messages you’ve been sending us. Daniel, Iman didn’t break her ankle, she’s just sprained it, but thanks for your concern. Hi Laila! Fatimah – despite the plaster, Iman has been shopping like you wouldn’t believe so I’m sure there’s something in her goody bag for you! Mr Suter misses you all too, Tiara – he hopes you’re being good for Mr Whitaker. Civene misses you too Tala. Tamara, it’s hard enough to get Azfer to make sure he stands at the front so we can see him, we can’t concentrate on getting him to look at the camera too! Ahmed, we’re sure it is quiet without Amr, even if Mrs Churchill seems to think you are all noisy too – remember, we’ve got him here with us. Mrs Gikas, we’ve had souvlaki only once, but we have had lots of other wonderful food too. And yes, Mrs Williams was cold on the boat, but that was as we were on the top deck on the way home and it was a little windy. Finally, the only danger of any plates breaking on our Greek night were as heads landed on the table as people fell asleep! Keep the comments coming, it’s great to know you’re following our progress.

This morning we threw our windows open to the sound of the waves lapping at the hotel steps and watched the sun rise over the mountains. Jealous? You should be – it was spectacular. There was a general reluctance to leave Tolon – so much so that Azfer hid his room key in his pocket so that we wouldn’t have to depart! Eventually we set off on our way, heading for the theatre at Epidauros. We’ve been lucky on our trips – we have had two guides, Anna and Rebecca, who have been giving us running commentaries on the bus and around the museums and ancient sites. In fact, Anna was very flattered to be told that she was the nicest Greek person that one of the boys had met – even though she hails from the north of England! Rebecca is Greek, and regaled us with tales from Greek mythology all through the journey. If you don’t know anything about Epidaurus, it’s a theatre that seats 14,000 and has absolutely amazing acoustics – Rebecca ripped a piece of paper at the bottom and it could be clearly heard at the top, without any technical gadgets in sight. Abdullah was slightly confused by the whole acoustics thing – he stood at the top and shouted down, wondering if he could be heard at the bottom. We blame the teachers! We tried to encourage Amy to sing to us from the stage – bear in mind some of the most famous names in ancient and modern Greek theatre have performed on that stage – but in the end Mr Suter stepped up with Ben and they sang “Morning has broken” to the enthralled crowds. We sense Nurse Eileen cringing even from here reading that!

From there, we travelled to Mycenae, home of Agamemnon, the King who led the Greeks to Troy – Mr Whitaker’s class should know all about that. We visited a beehive burial tomb and then the main citadel, with its massive fortified stone walls and impressive lion gate. The views were spectacular, and we could see why its location had been chosen. We could almost imagine the amassed ranks of Greek ships assembling before embarking for Troy. Well, the teachers could – the children discovered lots of natural darts growing in the grass and had great fun firing at each other! We were slightly concerned for a while when Mr Suter went to explore a set of steps leading down into a dark narrow passage and didn’t come back for a while – well, Mrs Williams wasn’t that concerned as when Mr Suter emerged, she already moved everybody on!

We lunched in Mycenae on stuffed tomatoes, Greek salads, oven baked lamb and potatoes and ice cream – absolutely delicious. We’ve had two cooked meals each day, each of three courses plus salads, so it’ll be diets all round when we come back.

The catch word for this group has become “shopping” – we’ve never known anything like it! We no longer say “cheese” when posing for the camera but “shopping!” Even a brief photo stop at the Corinth canal became a frenzy of commercial activity! After a snoozy journey back to Athens, we dumped our bags in the hotel and went for a walk to Athens’ flea market – at one stage we had to go back as we thought we’d lost Mrs Williams, only to discover that the shop had run out of enough carrier bags to carry all the goodies she’d bought! We know one mum did tell the group to be sure to leave something behind for other tourists, but we’re very sure that they didn’t – the children will be coming home with twice as much stuff as they arrived with (Mrs Williams four times as much!).

So that’s it – we’ve finished our touring and tomorrow all that remains is to pack up and head off to the airport. We’ve had an absolutely wonderful time, and the children have been an absolute credit to themselves and the school. We’ve enjoyed every minute, but we suspect that we’ve a few children looking forward to a big hug from mum and dad tomorrow evening. Max has perhaps summed it up best: “I’ve been in BISAK for seven years, and this is the best five days I’ve had in that time.” What more can we say?

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside…

Time is flying by – it’s hard to believe that here we are ending day 4 already, and that we’re starting our journey home tomorrow! We’ve moved on from Athens and are staying tonight in the Hotel Tolo in, not surprisingly, Tolo. We’ve had a busy day, but first, our Greek night last night.

We were collected from our hotel and after a short drive, dropped off for a stroll through the area known as the Plaka (the area around the Acropolis and the oldest part of Athens). Despite exhortations at every opportunity to stop for the shops, we continued on to the O Geros Tou Moria restaurant (The Old Man of Morias). We were treated to a selection of traditional Greek starters and main dishes, and at regular intervals were entertained by Greek dancers. No one from our party was brave enough to venture onto the dancefloor, although Azfer looked worried at one time when he was coming back from the loo and got caught between them! It was a very entertaining evening, not least for the fact that at least three of our party couldn’t keep their eyes open…..to start off…, it got progressively worse as the night went on with the children dropping like flies. We almost stole the show as we became the center of attention. Time to go!!! Angus was asked this morning if he enjoyed the night. “Yes” – and after a pause “Did I miss many courses?” For the record, Angus, it was two you missed (main and desert).

Today has been fantastic. We started at the National Archaeological Museum where Mazyad has set a new photographic record – 150 photos in seven and a half minutes! Or to be more precise 1 ½ rooms. He was surprised when his batteries ran out towards the end of the visit. Some of the artefacts were simply outstanding, and any amount of photographs would not do them justice. We spent about an hour and a half there, before moving on to the Greek War Museum. We didn’t tour the whole museum, just a privately sponsored wing where a serial weapons collector had donated his collection to the museum. What was interesting was a gun that had been owned by a previous Greek Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou – it was given to him, according to the display card, by the Kuwaiti Royal family, but in fact had the Saudi Arabia coat of arms on it.

We then left Athens, and moved towards thye Peloponnese and a small village Isthmia for lunch. Our restaurant was located immediately adjacent to the start of the Corinth canal (aka, Isthmus) and we were treated to the sight of the bridge sinking under the water to allow a ship to pass through. Myrna enjoyed rescuing fish trapped on the bridge when it reemerged after the ship had passed. Lunch – mousaka and yiouvetsi (oven baked veal and risoni pasta) – was delicious.

We spent an extremely pleasant afternoon then wandering the streets of Nafplio (the first Capital of Modern Greece) a small seaside town dominated by an imposing Venetian citadel. Sadly, we didn’t get up to that (Iman might have struggled on the 853 steps, not to mention the teachers) instead we split into small groups for a bit of souvenir hunting. When tired of that… OK, the girls never tired of that, and actually weren’t seen all afternoon after entering the first shop. The boys strolled along the sea front, and were fortunate to come across Fantastic Freddy from Alaska, a tightrope walking street entertainer, who certainly appreciated his instant audience. Clement enjoyed being on his shoulders on a unicycle, and Angus, Bassil and Max were willing participants in a magic trick that went badly wrong – through no fault of their own.

We now safely ensconced in our hotel. The sea is lapping on the beach at the back door, and we look out of our balconies across, as Mr. Gikas said, “a million dollar view.” Mountains and islands – simply spectacular. Of course, the children are more interested in looking across he road at the gift shop, but sadly that was shut before we’d finished our dinner!

Tomorrow is our last day of touring – we’re off to the theatre at Epidaurus, and then the ancient citadel at Mycenae… but that’s all to come!

For a bit of a laugh: on the 2nd morning when climbing the Acropolis, Mr. Gikas carrying Iman piggyback and Jenna walking using the crutches, a guide approached Mr. Gikas and asked where we were from. When told Saudi Arabia, he asked “Are you a special needs school?”!!!!!!