Events & Experiences
The Sunny National Event on Crete by ESN Greece by Despina Vachari After long discussions and several interesting suggestions everyone in the National Platform of ESN Greece agreed that Crete was the place for OUR first National Event. The local section in Crete, ESN Tei of Crete is composed of some crazy and responsible men and a courageous treasurer, Georgia. The section is located in Heraklion, the capital of Crete, a city of dubious beauty, in which I personally would disagree as, sun and fun is always there and nobody would doubt this. The rendezvous was set to be at the port of Piraeus for the non-Cretan participants. About 140 Erasmus students and ESNers from Thessaloniki and Athens met in front of the ferry and were ready to depart for their trip. A long and interesting sleepless night was foreseen, as the participants were about to meet all together for the first time and start the journey to the magnificent island. For this reason our sponsor had already been waiting for us at the port and free energy drinks were distributed to the participants. We arrived early in the morning, left our tiredness behind and let the fun begin. (Εδώ μήπως να προσθετες πως ενοθήκατε με Τους Κρητικούς ερασμους και esners και τον τελικο αριθμό υποψηφίων?). First stop was Elounda where we took the boat for a short cruise around Spinalong, a historic island and ended up at Kolokitha, a small, almost private beach. The sea was a bit cold but not cold enough to keep us from swimming, diving and playing games in the sandy beach. Time to go? No, not before the barbeque! Food is always good and the way back to Elounda was short. One of the most famous beach bars of Crete was open only to National Event participants and despite our tiredness and our will to lay and relax on the sun beds music got loud soon and we took the challenge. Our first day ended
with an unforgettable party by the sea with us dancing and singing our favorite songs and watching the sunset on the background. For the second day aquapark was the main attraction. With a few absences (people who chose an alternative sightseeing schedule on the famous ancient palace of Knossos) we departed for Watercity. Waterslides with names like harry cane, black whole, high-speed fast and faster and other crazy staff but also lazy river and peaceful swimming pools soon were full of Erasmus students testing their limits, testing their friends limits or even testing our limits. We had much fun but time goes by so quickly and it was already time to get back to the hotel. We
had just few free time to get ready and enjoy the pre-party (there’s always a pre-party) next to the pool and a mythical party organized exclusively by “ESN Tei of Crete” took place at the ΤΕΙ. All you could see around was glowing cheeks from the morning sun and happy faces dancing to the groove. We slept for less than three hours but sleeping was not included in the schedule. So next morning, last day of the National Event and is already the time to check out from the hotel. Last stop Matala, a beach on the southern part of the island; known for the hippies that used to live the caves scalped on the cliffs. The sea is amazing there as it is an open gulf to the Libyan sea; the
sun was shining and the beach almost perfect. You could see the difference: on your right hand, the caves where the hippies used to live in the early 70s and on your left hand cute cafes and bars on pirate style are open all day and night long. So we had chosen one of these bars to say the last goodbye before taking the road to home. By early afternoon we found the best way to say goodbye to the beautiful island with a bikini party! Our yellow bracelets were still on our wrists and soon mojito started getting in our minds. Like this we started the hippie hippie shake and said some sweet goodbyes. It was already 6 p.m and we had to hurry to catch our ferry. Inside all of us were wishing to miss the ferry and stay in the island forever but we all knew that the office of “ESN Tei of Crete” was too small to accommodate us all… As one farewell is never enough, we continue our group hugs, goodbyes and promises to meet again next year at the port of Heraklion. Time to get in the ferry, the journey back seems shorter as we all sleep and dream we are still in Crete. We wake up at the port of Piraeus and the first National Event of ESN Greece is officially over. Special thanks to the “ESN Tei of Crete” for their great work, to Rania Chantzopoulou and the Greek web-team for the help with registration system, to Orestis Vlachos for the logos and the graphics, to the sections of ESN Greece for the support and to all the participants for the great moments.
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