Hadrian's visit the land of Jason and the Argonauts

I had the great pleasure of visiting Volos, Greece along with my wife Susan and her colleague 'Griff' and his good lady 'B'. The mission was to audit and invigilate exams at Lavender International's partner company TQCC.

Volos lies 320km north of Athens on the coast of the Aegean. It's a port and a ferry terminal to the Greek Islands and was the departure point for the Argos crewed by Jason and his brave band of heroes on their quest to find the Golden Fleece (http://www.mythweb.com/heroes/jason/). Mount Pelion which towers above Volos, is also the mythological home of the Centaurs although we didn't see any on this visit.

We stayed in the Xania Hotel situated right on the waterfront and which turned out to be a lovely place to stay with nice staff and great facilities.






Aftera long, long journey and a wash up and brush up we met our hosts who took us to a nearby village for Tipparoo (my spelling). Tipperoo is a spirit which is quite like a mild version of Ouzo but the bonus being is that when you order a Tipperoo you also get a small dish of food. With each Tipperoo ordered more food is served - fantastic! This was the beginning of some of the most fantastic hospitality by our hosts Athena, Dimitris, Marita and Paulis which must have been very tiring for them but which was, and is, greatly appreciated.







B and Susan relax after a hard days work

A memorable part of our trip was a visit to Mount Pelion which towers above Volos for a meal with our hosts. The views were terrific and the villages were just fantastic. As a dry stone waller I really appreciated these villages and their buildings which are beautiful and a work of art.

The Ladies L to R Marita, Susan, B and Athena

I would just like to thank Athena, Marita, Dimitris and Paul for their hospitality, patience and time to make our visit wonderful and I hope I can return the favour some day. Also a huge thank you to Michael, the MD of TQCC who has not been well of late and was unable to join us.

L to R: Dimitris, Susan, B, Griff, Athena, Paul and Mirita