53rd Trip to Karpenisi and Athens. Greece 8th - 14th April 2023.

Saturday 8th April. At 1am all the Scouts meet at the Moutayiaka Scout Hut ready to go for an epic adventure. Once all were there, we set off by bus for Larnaca Airport, everyone was excited including me. The flight was short. Once we arrived in Athens, we picked up our language and went to the bus. The drive to our destination was long. The bus drove us to Livadaki, our cabins in the forest Mountains of Karpenisi. Once at Livadaki we unpacked and had lunch. We also had time to play rugby. In the afternoon our hike guide, Fotini, took us on a hike to the village of Mavrilo. It was a nice hike in the quite forest and seeing an old ancient bridge. Once at the Village our bus came and took us back to Livadaki were we prepared for dinner, which was Chicken and chips. At 9.30pm we went back to our Cabins to rest and sleep. By Artem.

Sunday 9th April. Day 2. 7am, we woke up and got ready for breakfast. It was delicious, a lot of options to choose from. After breakfast we got on the bus to go to Dipotamos for rafting on the Τρικεριώτης river. Once we arrived, we meet up with Scouts from the 1st Lamia Air Scout Group, who were joining us today. We meet Lefteris, Leonidas and Christina who were awesome. The rafting was so good, we almost tipped over but had a trusty river guide that helped us all the way. When we finish the rafting, we had sandwiches at Dipotamos and then when to see the Virgin Mary’s Footsteps in the rock, Πατήματα Παναγίας. From there we went to the Village of Karpenisi and visited the Museum together with the Lamia Scouts. At the Museum we learnt a lot of things about the area’s Churches and bridges. Finally, we had free time in the Village center and went Shopping for two hours. After we had pizza for dinner which was scrumches and then back on the bus for Livadaki to sleep, we were all very tied. By Victor.

Monday 10th April. Day 3. Rise and shine at 7.30am. By 8 we were eating breakfast and 9am on the bus for Dipotamos. Our activities today were rappelling off Dipotamos Bridge and archery. Once at the bridge we were split into two teams, one rappelling and the other archery. Fotini our hike guide was on the archery. The rappel was scary but fun. When everyone had finished both activities, we went to the Holy Monastery of Prousos - Panagia Prousiotissa. First, we went to the Clock tower to find a Geocache and then to the Monastery. We had lunch and then got on the bus to go to the start location of a mini hike along the Klavsi-Kefalovriso Trail. After the hike we returned to Livadaki to rest and have free time. By Maral.

Tuesday 11th April. Day 4. Today was a very busy day, because we were going to do many activities, such as mountain biking, horse riding, geocaching and exploring. Firstly, we woke up at 7am to pack our equipment and then eat breakfast, which was really tasty. After tidying our rooms, we left at 8.45am by bus for our destination. When we arrived, we were split into two teams, one went mountain biking and the other horse riding at the Saloon Park. I did the mountain biking along the dirt track from Ayios Nicholas to Karpenisi. Went we finish our bus took us to the Saloon Park to meet up with the others. Once we were all together, we went on a small walk to an old bridge to have Lunch and find another Geocache and leave one of our travel bugs in the Cache. It took us 10min to find the Geocache. Lunch was sandwiches and chips. We then walked back to the bus and set off to visit Megalo Chorio where we had free time to explore and shop. We then went to an interesting Museum about the village and life in the olden times. Then back on the bus for Livadaki to pack our things and get ready for the next day. For dinner we ate beef burgers and chips and had a game night. At 10pm we were all in bed to rest for tomorrows long day. By Nicholas.

Wednesday 12th April. Day 5. We woke up at 7am and went to eat breakfast. After breakfast we put all our suitcases in the bus and went to Athens. On our way we stopped at the Memorial of Leonidas and 300 Spartans Statue. After the statue we stopped at a café to eat. When everybody finished their Lunch, we got back on the bus for Athens. Our first visit in Athens was the Olympic Panathenaic Stadium where we had a race and then we went to the museum which was all about past Olympic Game and the torches use. Next, we went to our hotel and had some free time to rest, unpack and take showers. At 6pm we went out to eat and explore Monastiraki. After some shopping we went to Lycabettus and took the cable car up to the view point. By 9.30pm we were back in the hotel and went to bed. By Isabel.

Thursday 13th April. Day 6. We up and had breakfast at the Hotel. Then we got dressed into our full uniform to go to the Akropolis museum. We walked for about 30min until we got to the there. At the Museum we walked around and looked at the artifacts and different archeological finds. They were very interesting. After the Museum we went to the Akroplois and looked at all the different buildings, the highlight being the Parthenonas where we posed for a photo. After spending about 45min exploring the Akropolis we walked back down and had lunch at McDonalds. We each got a Happy meal and a drink. Next, we walked for about 30min to the Scout Shop. In the Scout shop we got many things like badges and woggles. On the way back we stopped in the park and had free time to explorer. There was a pond and different animals in the park. After we stopped at the Tomb of the unknown soldier where we saw 2 soldiers dressed in traditional dress marching in sync and guarding the Tomb. Finally, we went back to the hotel to change, have showers and rest a bit. At 6.30pm we went to Monastiraki to have dinner at a place called Thanasis and after free time to shop. At 9pm we went back to the hotel for our roof party. We had such a nice view and fun playing card games till it got late and we went to bed. By Adel.

Friday 14th April. We woke up at 7am and packed all our things ready to go. Breakfast was at 8am and by 8.45pm we had left the Hotel. It took us 25 min to pull all our suitcases up Ermou street to Syntagma Square where our bus was waiting for us to take us to the airport. By 10.30 we were in the airport and checked in ready to return to Cyprus.