Monday 22nd June 2009

Monday 22nd June

We woke up to our last full day in Chora Sfakion, with more hard work ahead of us.  We boarded the ferry to Loutro, as we didn’t go there on Friday, and immediately started asking the tourists on the boat questions.  After the 20 minutes journey we bought our tickets for the return to Chora Sfakion, determined to catch the 12:15 ferry back.  We split into 2 groups, one of which started at the far end of Loutro, and the other which started by the ferry.  The taverna and shop owners seemed more willing to answer our questions, in comparison to the other villages we had visited.  One chatted to Celia and Lucy not only about tourism, but about career advice and all aspects of life.  They were also offered a job, possibly the quickest job interview in history!  Although tempted by a life of sun and sea they declined in order to continue the work in hand.  The groups met in a café again with the usual cheeky ice-cream for the girls and a cheeky beer for the boys.  This allowed us a phenomenal view of Loutro, and it was clearly a more relaxing destination for tourists than Chora Sfakion or Agia Roumelli.  We thought this could be due to the fact that it was so isolated and was only accessible by boat and foot.

We caught the ferry with time to spare and headed back to Chora Sfakion to settle down to an afternoon of work.  We sat in the taverna by our hotel and got to work, sharing the notes we had obtained in Loutro. After this and discussing our video, we headed down to the beach for a well deserved break, and managed to get a few shots of us in the sea.  We had a group photograph at 7:50 and was ready to celebrate that we had all passed our first year. The group meal was an emotional experience for some, as the realisation had set in that we were going home tomorrow, to start our summer.  During the group meal many reflected on the trip, with a few of us listening to Ken’s amazing stories of his travels.  At the end we all gave some change towards a tip for the people running the hotel/taverna, and he seemed very chuffed with it when Alan Howard gave him the envelope.  After the group meal, and several glasses of the local wine, many headed to the beach for the last time for banter and a few beers.  At 9:30 tomorrow we will be leaving at 9:30 and travelling to Chania to look around, then catch our flight at 6 pm.

Now our trip has come to an end the good times are now a memory that will stay with us forever.  Now the walks that many had deemed awfully difficult are remembered as being fantastic experiences.  We have all been brought together as a group, and now there will be plenty of people to sit by in lectures.

Congratu

Monday 22nd June

We woke up to our last full day in Chora Sfakion, with more hard work ahead of us.  We boarded the ferry to Loutro, as we didn’t go there on Friday, and immediately started asking the tourists on the boat questions.  After the 20 minutes journey we bought our tickets for the return to Chora Sfakion, determined to catch the 12:15 ferry back.  We split into 2 groups, one of which started at the far end of Loutro, and the other which started by the ferry.  The taverna and shop owners seemed more willing to answer our questions, in comparison to the other villages we had visited.  One chatted to Celia and Lucy not only about tourism, but about career advice and all aspects of life.  They were also offered a job, possibly the quickest job interview in history!  Although tempted by a life of sun and sea they declined in order to continue the work in hand.  The groups met in a café again with the usual cheeky ice-cream for the girls and a cheeky beer for the boys.  This allowed us a phenomenal view of Loutro, and it was clearly a more relaxing destination for tourists than Chora Sfakion or Agia Roumelli.  We thought this could be due to the fact that it was so isolated and was only accessible by boat and foot.

We caught the ferry with time to spare and headed back to Chora Sfakion to settle down to an afternoon of work.  We sat in the taverna by our hotel and got to work, sharing the notes we had obtained in Loutro. After this and discussing our video, we headed down to the beach for a well deserved break, and managed to get a few shots of us in the sea.  We had a group photograph at 7:50 and were ready to celebrate that we had all passed our first year. The group meal was an emotional experience for some, as the realisation had set in that we were going home tomorrow, to start our summer.  During the group meal many reflected on the trip, with a few of us listening to Ken’s amazing stories of his travels.  At the end we all gave some change towards a tip for the people running the hotel/taverna, and he seemed very chuffed with it when Alan Howard gave him the envelope.  After the meal, and several glasses of the local wine, many headed to the beach for the last time for banter and a few beers.  At 9:30 tomorrow we will be leaving Chora Sfakion and travelling to Chania to look around, then to catch our flight at 6 pm.

Now our trip has come to an end the good times have become a memory that will stay with us forever.  The walks that many had deemed awfully difficult are remembered as being fantastic experiences!  We have all been brought together as a group, and now there will be plenty of people to sit by in lectures.

Congratulations to everyone on their exam results.  We wish everyone a great summer. Goodbye Crete!