It is sometimes an item at destinations list of Greek “mainlanders”, but only a few finally decide to land there. One of the discouraging reasons is the significant distance from the rest of the country; a traveler needs at least two domestic flights (unless they come from Rhodes), which are quite expensive. If I am not mistaken, there is about a direct weekly itinerary to Kastellorizo from mainland (Piraeus), and it lasts about 24 hours (maybe more?)…

It was October 2019, a year I visited almost a dozen of Greek islands, mainly off the Turkish coast, such as Samos, Fournoi, Leipsoi, Kos, to name a few. It should be highlighted that a seasonal flight from European cities to Greek islands is usually cheaper than a domestic flight. So, I took advantage of it by directly flying from Amsterdam to Rhodes. In the last days of October, you would see only a few tourists arriving there, only a handful of whom were Greek expats. After a (necessary) short stay (one night) on Rhodes, it was the big time to take off to the Southeasternmost place in Greece! A 25-min flight was still to take place, despite we were already (too) far from the mainland. You might think Greece is a small country, but it’s apparently not that small…

20 minutes before the departure time (07:00am), I was the only passenger at the relevant gate. I was wondering if I would be the only passenger of that flight… (the gate was still closed…) At the same time, I was thinking if I missed any announcement for change in gates at the Rhodes airport. Apparently not… In the end, 12 passengers got onboarded, 6 of whom were tourists (including me). At the same time, ground service guys shouted “don’t forget these two parcels to Kastellorizo” (otherwise their recipients would wait for quite a while). At that time, I was also wondering where are we going to? I guess similar feeling was the one of the other Greek expats – passengers.

The 25-min flight starts, most of it was along the Turkish coast in the deep blue, with only some small Turkish rocks, before we approached the Kastellorizo’s archipelagos and the islet of Ro. We finally landed at the airport, such a small apron… Unsurprisingly, we were the only aircraft there (probably no more space to host a second one…). The way out wasn’t via a building as it is used to… You go from the apron to the rural road… There was kind of a private taxi towards the main village that I decided not to take. The island is so small, so why not to discover it on foot? I walked towards the main settlement of the island. It is a 2.5-km distance. However, it took me much more time than someone would guestimate… I didn’t take the shortest route, to avoid missing small chapels, amazing views of island’s steep coasts, nearby islets, and the Turkish mainland.

After two hours or so, I reached the main settlement, by taking some rungs down to the coast / port. After wandering a bit in the picturesque port, I headed towards the hotel I had booked (“Megisti”, which is also the formal name of the island). It is an astonishing 4* hotel that you don’t definitely expect in such a remote place. A hotel with much more comfort you ’d expect and a wonderful view of the port and nearby islets. It is probably the only place you can swim in the whole island (yes, it is quite different than most of the Greek islands you might have in mind). It is worth noting that I was there during the last day of the season with only a few tourists, so it was quite calm, but sunny enough. The only disadvantage I would say is the daylight didn’t last much, as expected. The sea was warm enough, so sunbathing and swimming were the next steps…

After swimming for half an hour, it was the time to enjoy some delicious Greek food (I have missed that abroad). Some ouzo and frappe couldn’t be missed from my table. Being one of the handful Greek tourists on the island, I had the opportunity to talk to some locals and learn more about the lifestyle there. It is definitely quite different from the large islands such as Crete (I lived there in the past for 8 years) or nearby Rhodes. In the meantime, boats to Kas were operating all the time (maybe every 20-30 minutes from early morning until late in the evening). No boat to the rest of Greece until two days later (Friday) when I left…

As I was gazing the natural beauty, I was thinking I would have made the best choice of an island to relax. Watching some TV programs in Greek channels, it was probably the only way to get informed about current affairs (let alone the Internet). Of course, you don’t need them while you are on holidays, but it is an opportunity for an expat to feel he is back.

The following day’s dawn found me without plans. Obviously, you don’t need to have a busy agenda to catch all the attractions on the island. After slowly waking up and enjoying a tasty breakfast at the hotel, I decided to go towards the south part. It was roughly 4 kms (I had already passed by the tiny airport), when I was at a place full of bushes with thorns. It was a bit painful to walk through them, but not enough to make me quit. I walked for one more km when I was literally in the middle of nowhere. I knew I couldn’t go to somewhere else, the whole coast is too steep. There is nothing to see in the south except the deep blue of the sea. So, it was the time to return to the main village and enjoy swimming that I have missed so much here (in the Netherlands). The rest of the day was spend in the hotel’s comfy deck chairs and strolling in the center.

The next day was the last one I stayed on the island. As it is used to do so when traveling, I bought some souvenirs (my mum loves them, while it was an opportunity to support the local economy). Some last photos were taken before the boat anchored. It was a very large boat (one of them you see at the Piraeus port), with a much higher capacity than the island’s population! We were no more than 15 – 20 passengers who got onboarded. The boat had a day-long itinerary to Piraeus with Rhodes being the next stop. After almost 4 hours literally off the Turkish coast (you could easily see people walking along the coast), we arrived at Rhodes, on my way back to the Netherlands.

* This article is written a year after I traveled to the island (30 Sep 2020).

It was July 2018, a few weeks after I went to Iceland for a weekend, when I was searching for an interesting destination for that summer. I couldn’t have ignored the plethora of destinations that the Amsterdam airport offers. By hovering over kiwi.com’s map (which is my favorite website to help me decide for combination of flights), I remembered about Svalbard (Spitsbergen island) I had (forgotten) in my future trips list. If I am not mistaken, I got a calculated price for about 550 euros to fly from Amsterdam to Svalbard (Longyearbyen) via Oslo (a necessary transit). It didn’t sound that bad, but there was a very short layover (like 1:30 or so), and it was operated by SAS (Star Alliance carrier). Then, unavoidably, my next check would be the possibility to reimburse some earned loyalty points from my Aegean Air frequent passenger’s account. The total price for a returned ticket was less than 60 euros (quite a bargain!) and some points (I don’t even remember – I guess negligible ones compared to my desire to land there). Within 5 minutes from my search for flights, a return ticket was booked. Airbnb accommodation was immediately reserved. There are only limited options, especially if you don’t want to break the bank. Various activities were also booked within the following days.

It is 30^th of August 2018, when this trip started. My decision to take a (Flix)bus to the Schiphol airport wasn’t the most wise one for sure. The bus started its journey from Hamburg or Berlin, while the German highways were full of construction works (not a surprise for “roadtrippers”). I got on the bus with 1.5 hour delay… I was 90% sure I would miss the flight and subsequently all the expensive reservations, let alone the magnificent experience of the destination. The bus driver didn’t choose the shortest way to the airport, but he preferred the picturesque way over the Afsluitdijk dam. On top of the prior delay, the highway got closed for vessels to pass through the dam… Finally, I arrived at the airport roughly 40 minutes before the departure to Oslo. At that time, I felt so lucky and relieved that I had booked a business class ticket (due to the lack of economy seats). The benefits of that ticket included to arrive fast enough at the gate. It wasn’t more than 30 minutes when I joined the queue at the Oslo’s gate.

1.5 hour later, I was enjoying an amazing sunset over the Norwegian capital just before landed at Oslo’s Gardermoen. As I was strolling at the airport, I realized the rather domestic destination in Norway, Svalbard, is via an Extra-Schengen gate. I knew beforehand Svalbard welcomes every citizen without a visa, regardless of their nationality. Typical passport control, they seemed a bit “jealous” when I told them my final destination. The real adventure just started. The flight got postponed due to adverse weather conditions at the destination, while it would be safer to use a larger aircraft. I started wondering what an alternative could be if we couldn’t land at Longyearbyen 3 hours later. It is the only airport off the continental Europe. In the meantime, Oslo was fully dark.

31^st of August, around 45 minutes after the midnight, we entered the Arctic Cycle! It was quite impressive; some sunbeams of sunrise appeared at the west part of the plane heading to the North Pole. At 02:30am, we flew over the beautiful Longyearbyen and immediately landed at its small airport (about 900 km off the North Pole!). The airport is roughly 5 km outside of the main settlement, but you aren’t allowed to walk due to polar bears! Hopefully, there was a coach outside which drove us to the village. While feeling like a jetlag (24/7 sunlight until those days), I was searching for the place I had rented. After almost 2 hours wandering in the quiet village, I managed to find it and go to bed. It is worth mentioning all the buildings, including the airport, lack substructure due to permafrost. Of course, you shouldn’t expect traditional numbering in streets, but their numbering is too strange for foreigners to assimilate. A tour guide explained me later how they decide for house numbers, but I don’t really remember.

For the next “morning”, sailing to the ghost settlement of Pyramiden was scheduled. It is worth highlighting the settlement is accessible by boat during the summer, while someone can visit it by a snowmobile when the sea is frozen. Unfortunately, the 1-day trip was cancelled due to bad weather. I was lucky to be there during my last day on the island (3^rd of September). However, I got the opportunity to explore Longyearbyen, grab some food from the one super market, and enjoy some drinks from one of the two cafes. The working hours of those stores are very limited, so bad planning could lead to lack of food. I also walked to almost all the streets, around the valley until the settlement’s limits where it is allowed to be without a riffle or gun. Humans are in danger outside of the main settlement, where polar bears outnumber permanent residents. The first “night” was spent at a local bar, which was overcrowded with some local beers – an awesome “night” with board games.

1^st of September; For that day, a visit to a nearby coal camp was planned. According to the plan, our tour guide picked us up from a central location and we drove to a few km towards the airport. At the end of this dirty road, we entered an abandoned coal camp (in a mountain) with a lot of history. We learned a lot about the lifestyle and daily work of its personnel back in the days. For example, coal from the island has been used in vehicles of well-known manufacturers. It was a tough daily job with decades old equipment. However, they earned a lot of money and had nice evenings with a lot of alcohol when they were back to Longyearbyen. Above all, a fascinating experience for someone who has no idea about that occupation. That “night”, I decided to enjoy some local food as dinner at one of the two restaurants. Food of very good quality, but probably the most expensive portion I have ever tried.

3^rd day on the island with a buggy excursion in the agenda. After we got equipped properly, we drove buggies to a hill, about 13 km away from the main settlement. Our first stop was the old airport of the island, where we got informed a bit about its history, a fatal accident some decades ago, and the installed weather stations in the area. For example, this equipment helps scientists in continental Europe with more accurate forecasts, even in areas far away from the archipelagos. The rest of the short trip took place in the valley until we reached the bottom of a mountain. Interesting discussions with the tour guide included her past experience of snowmobiling and staying overnight in tents at the remotest places of the island, necessary licenses and equipment. Some of my questions to the tour guide were related to how they manage to walk or drive in full dark and escape polar bears in the middle of nowhere. Another interesting part of the story was that experience tour guides or licensed individuals visit places outside of the main settlement only as a group. The group has always shifts in vigil while camping to protect the rest of the group from a potential polar bear’s attack. Norwegian “mainlanders” were quite knowledgeable about managing extreme situations in full dark, compared to the rest of the tourists in our group. The last part of the tour was about dog sledding, while visiting their settlement (i.e. where those dogs spend their day while not “working”).

3^rd of September and the last day on the island; It was obviously a very long day with the postponed sailing to the ghost town to Pyramiden and a departure to Oslo - Amsterdam, which started after the midnight. Around 11:30am, we started sailing towards Pyramiden for about 2 hours. We visited some other coasts of the island and we saw our first polar bear at a coast while aboard. We also saw some glaciers in the sea, pretty close to the Pyramiden (ghost) settlement. Pyramiden is a Russian settlement, used in the past for coal mining. If I am not mistaken, Russians left the place after a fatal accident at the old airport in Longyearbyen. The place was abandoned for more than a decade, so some damages happened during that time. When we visited it, it had 4 permanent residents, employees of the facility. There is also a hotel there, but there is no signal for phone calls, Internet (as in the whole island apart from Longyearbyen). In addition to the hotel, there are a lot of facilities such as a basketball court, opera, and other abandoned buildings which are definitely worth a visit.

After spending about 5 hours or so, we sailed back to our base. It was the time to try the other (second) restaurant of the village and took the brave initiative to walk to the airport, while there was no alternative. During the walk of 5 km, I was thinking of potential ways to escape a potential polar bear, if any. Hopefully, I didn’t come across any bear, but the airport was closed. So, I took the time to enjoy my last “night” with daylight (while being at a “safe” place from polar bears).

It should be highlighted that the island has a lot more activities to participate in, depending on the season you go it (e.g., visit the research center, snowmobiling to Svea(gruva) (quite expensive), explore the Russian settlement of Barentsburg).

Article written: 01-Oct-2020

Before I start mentioning my slightly detailed experience from the year at Warwick, I would like to share a few - potentially useful - tips for future MSc students. The majority of them could also be applicable to other UK departments or/and universities.

How to take advantage of WBS studies at most? (mainly focused on the future corporate path)

1. Make a strategic plan for the future before the MSc starts.

2. Take into consideration that UK graduate schemes open early (the earliest ones open during the second half of August).

3. Apply as early as possible to increase the chances to proceed to the next round of recruitment.

4. Take advantage of the career service, which provides several sessions for applications and more. It is also available all year round (In October/November they are quite busy though).

5. Participate in competitions, industrial visits, etc as long as you have the student status.

6. Learn about opportunities and projects on campus, including societies.

7. Be Involved in consultancy projects which allow you to have a hands-on experience and valuable data (you wouldn’t have otherwise). They may give you the opportunity to be hired by the company.

8. Meet fellow students from all over the world and learn more about their culture.

9. Participate in Career Fairs, industrial presentations (the majority of them are before Christmas), guest lectures, and other networking events.

10. Try activities that you haven’t had the opportunity in the past (e.g., voluntarily act in a film).

11. Think of applying for companies in other EU countries, especially if you are an EU citizen or have the appropriate work permit.

12. Identify and grab the opportunity which suits you the most.

13. Don’t be panic when deadlines of many tasks are close. Don’t hesitate to ask for an extension, especially if you are not responsible for some delays.

14. Pay attention to timezone differences in case of international competitions, as you can be ruled out even if you submit before the defined deadline.

15. Many more…

The Board of Examiners announced the official (and successful) completion of my MSc studies (MSc Information Systems Management and Innovation) at the Warwick Business School (WBS), more than two months ago (10/11/2017). It was a reminder for me to start writing this article which constitutes an overview of my journey during my time at the University of Warwick, UK. However, a reminder to publish it was the graduation ceremony which took place about a week ago at the Warwick Arts Centre. Unfortunately, it was not possible for me to approach the Birmingham airport due to heavy storm which affected my flight from the airport of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Hopefully, I avoided such a flight! It is worth mentioning the the heavy storm led to the cancellation of bus and train itineraries across the country.

During the first months of 2016 when I was based in Heraklion, Greece, I decided to continue my graduate studies, by changing field from Computer Science to Information Systems Management. More specifically, I applied for MSc programmes of 4 leading Universities/Business Schools in the UK and Ireland. In March 2016, I received an offer from my first choice (WBS), under the condition of fulfilling the English requirement (IELTS score 7/9).

My hectic schedule in Heraklion led me to visit the Warwick campus and the city of Coventry during the (Greek-orthodox) Easter vacations to support my choice for WBS. The amazing campus and nearby areas confirmed my initial vocation to relocate to Coventry from October 2016. During the same week, I had arranged to take the IELTS exams in Nicosia, Cyprus, as the examination centres in Greece were unavailable. It should be noted that the only Greek IELTS examination centres were located in Athens and Thessaloniki at that period. Later, if I am not mistaken, the brain drain phenomenon in Greece may have led the British Council to organise exams more often in other major cities such as Patras and Heraklion (a practical tip for Greek students from these regions).

Visiting Cyprus for IELTS exams

As a Greek citizen with a curiosity to explore the island of Cyprus, it was the perfect time to arrange such trip. However, despite the close relations between Greece and Cyprus, the Greek bureaucracy and the imposed capital control were an additional overhead to pay the IELTS fees. Hopefully, some Greek-Cypriots employees of the examination centre in Nicosia solved the problem, despite some initial suggestions of them to be registered at the examination centre “North Nicosia”. It should be noted that Nicosia is the last divided capital in Europe, as a part of it is not controlled by the recognised Republic of Cyprus since 1974.

Then, I had the opportunity to take advantage of the only direct flight from Crete, Greece to Cyprus at that time, Chania - Paphos. The Paphos airport, located about 140 km away from Nicosia) is one of the two (recognised) Cypriot airports after the destruction of Nicosia airport from the Turkish invasion in 1974. It should be noted that the closest airport to Nicosia (about 10 km away) is the Ercan airport within the Turkish occupied area, which cannot serve flights outside Turkey (it is also considered as “illegal” by the Republic of Cyprus). The flight seemed like a domestic one (apart from a typical passport control) and the destination had only one main difference from Greece; Cypriots drive at the left part of the road as an outcome of the British colonisation. To sum up the trip to Cyprus, the country and especially its capital are worth paying a visit. The return trip to Greece (from the Larnaca airport) also included my “ticket” to be (unconditionally) accepted by the University of Warwick.

Saying goodbye to Greece

It was September of 2016 and I was feeling that the time to leave my base in Heraklion (since 2008) and emigrate from Greece had come. Despite the friendly environment and the close relationships in Heraklion campuses (University of Crete & FORTH), it had been the time to say goodbye. The last day of September was the last time for me (so far) to be considered an inhabitant of Heraklion, celebrated with friends until the morning of the next day. A couple of hours later, I greeted my then place (forever), again some friends, and my parents, before I directly flew to London Gatwick from the Heraklion airport. The traffic in the Heraklion’s apron gave me the opportunity to hark back to those 8 years and the about 50 previous takeoffs from that point due to my participations in national and international projects, and holidays, by glimpsing the islet of Dia.

Beginning of the academic year

4 hours later, the arrival at London Gatwick took place. A new (almost) 4-hour trip by bus followed to Coventry, the nearby city of the Warwick campus. Then, a check-in at an off campus student accommodation (Coventry centre) and unpacking constituted the last tasks of the relocation.

3 October 2016: The first official day at WBS gave us the opportunity to meet the rest of the cohort (67 students from 4 continents, about 50 of whom from China and 4 from Greece - the second largest majority), some faculty members, and staff. Some introductions, souvenirs, and an exploration of the campus through gamification took place during that day. Nevertheless, this was not the first contact with the department, as the Career Service provided several webinar sessions about career paths during the previous summer. Among other facilities, the University provides various sports facilities. Therefore, we had the opportunity to try Squash for several times throughout the year. The following day was the first day of lectures, starting with the Knowledge, Work, and Innovation module. It should be noted that module and course titles are constantly changing due to rebranding purposes.

Apart from the beginning of the lectures and assignments, various events about graduate jobs also started. Specifically, some of the leading companies worldwide visited Warwick to give industrial presentations or participate in Career Fairs or even invite selected students for dinner to discuss about graduate opportunities. Some of these events included gamification and attractive ways to entertain and encourage students to apply for their open positions, the majority of which had a starting date in September. It is noteworthy that most graduate schemes require approximately 4 stages during the recruiting process, some of which are known for the definitely low acceptance ratios (less than 5%). I was also impressed by the lowest acceptance ratio that I have ever seen (3.6 per 1000 candidates) related to a graduate position of a leading company in the financial sector. Regarding the industries, they varied, but the majority of them focused on consulting and computer science.

One of the first days of November had also something special; the School organised a visit to Bletchley Park, 50 miles SE of the campus and about the same distance NW of London. Specifically, the visit included a museum about old-fashioned computer and related peripherals as well as telecom equipment used by British allies to communicate during the World War 2. The rest of the day was devoted to visiting other exhibition areas, picnic, and sports activities (e.g., table tennis). Above all, most students with computer science background found this visit more interesting because of the potential curiosity emerged from their previous theoretical studies about the history of computers.

Furthermore, it should be noted that an uncommon group assignment followed for the module of Global Sourcing. Indeed, we were asked to outsource our assignment to a freelancer through a widely known website. The tasks were related to finding information for an offshoring topic and recruiting a freelancer to prepare the presentation without being allowed to edit it. We were allowed to create milestones and relatively abstract guidelines to the freelancer. Additionally, a reflection of Warwick students about this activity constituted the final part of the group presentation. Surprisingly, the quality of some of the freelancers’ presentations was inadequate, but an important lesson learnt for the future.

At the same time, the School asked students to prepare topics and proposals for the MSc thesis (or dissertation according to its curriculum), which usually takes place during summer. The unique content of the Global Sourcing module led me to adapt some of my ideas and experiences in that setting. Thus, when the official deadlines, including a written examination for a module, were over, I decided to mainly focus on thesis proposals, by also initiating discussions with my potential advisor and overseas organisations, including even one accelerator from Silicon Valley. It should be noted that this preparation also helped me understand concepts deeper and contributed to the module’s individual assignment. Thus, the year 2016 came to an end, when its last day flew to my hometown, Athens, Greece via Malta, where I had a great exploration of its capital, Valletta.

New calendar year

The following year, 2017, started with some submissions of individual assignments (Global Sourcing and Data Business Intelligence modules). Before the end of January, two new modules along with the 2nd term started (Enterprise Information Systems and Digital Business Strategy modules). The third module of this term, Global Finance & IT, started the first days of February. Moreover, the University incubator offered us the opportunity to learn more about entrepreneurial activities within campus, either student initiatives or research groups’ spinoffs. Further discussions with the organisers helped me understand deeper about their initiatives. One of the provided benefits which attracted my interest at most was the support of international (non-EU) students to obtain a specific visa to continue their startup project. At that time, I realised some benefits of the EU citizens we often ignore in our daily life. This term also included various challenges and competitions for students (mostly MBA students) in both national and international scope. Hopefully, as far as I remember, two challenges took place in the premises of WBS. I had the opportunity to participate in and finally win one of them.

WBS Case Study Challenge 2017

In this challenge, the teams - consultants, consisted of WBS MSc and MBA students as well as MBA students from the Canadian Sauder School of Business (University of British Columbia). The simulation was about importing specific edible products to Canada and included some material about the demographics and habits of Canadians, as well as meetings with our client. The role of the client was emulated by real-life consultants from leading companies, who graduated from WBS in the past. Some lessons learnt from this intensive day were the structure of short presentations to busy clients with a purpose to highlight the profit of following the proposed approach and avoiding the usage of calculations. Last but not least, the presentation style played a pivotal role in our win.

MSc Thesis

March is often the month when the first consulting projects officially “arrive” at the School from both multinational and startup companies of various industries. By using the word “officially”, I mean that some projects are finally withdrawn for some reasons. Based on the number of projects, some limitations are imposed in the system regarding the number of choices per student. Particularly, an interested student is needed to apply for a number of projects by submitting a CV and cover letter. The latter slightly differs from the ones for graduate jobs, but the Career Service provides support for the whole process. Then, the companies - “sponsors” which provide projects for WBS students shortlist a really small number of students for an interview.

Regarding the policy of the School about consulting projects, the selected student by the company - sponsor is responsible for the progress of the project and is the intermediate between the advisor and the client. In particular, the advisor of a project is assigned to a topic with his/her consent, based on his/her background. Another useful information is the separation of quantitative from qualitative faculty members within WBS. For example, a student with a quantitative topic cannot select an advisor who focuses on qualitative research.

Regarding my case, I had the pleasure to have been shortlisted by Jaguar Land Rover for the most prestigious - according to many students - project assigned to an ISMI student that academic year. The second and last step of the process included my interview with two Senior Managers of the company at WBS premises. It should be noted that I was the only student from the ISMI cohort who participated in the interview stage. The first part of this stage included a general overview of the project and some suggested changes against the official description to both myself and another candidate from the WBS MSc Business Analytics. On the contrary, the second part was a relatively typical interview regarding my past experience and potential ways towards a solution to the client’s problem. It is worth mentioning that one of the interviewers gave a guest lecture at an event of the School about two months ago, where I had the opportunity to discuss about this project to some degree in its Q&A part. Approximately half an hour later, an offer was reality.

An almost immediately positive answer from me was the beginning of my collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover. In other words, I started the preparation for the required academic proposal and documents about the collaboration in the field of business analytics. Regarding the content of the project, more details cannot be revealed due to a signed Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA). At the same time, an internal and typical challenge appeared, because the company asked for a solution of a real-life problem, not typically covered by the MSc curriculum. Finally, the issue was sorted out, as I have been assigned a knowledgeable and inspiring advisor for this topic.

During the following months, weekly remote meetings with the client as well as face-to-face meetings (mainly) at their premises in Whitley, Coventry every three weeks followed. The discussion was mainly related to the progress of the project, potential impediments, data exchange. In September and October, final presentations took place in meetings where senior members of the client actively participated and provided meaningful feedback. Regarding the academic part, the fruitful collaboration with my advisor is still in progress (at the time of writing), aiming at exploring various approaches and interpreting some emerged phenomena. Indeed, it is out of thesis’ scope, marked a couple of months ago with a really positive feedback and its report was considered as the best in class.

Relocation from the UK to the Netherlands

Apart from curriculum’s requirements and other activities, job applications constitute an important activity for students who want to follow a corporate path. Particularly, the UK setting provides organised graduate programmes for recent graduates, the great majority of which have a starting date in September. There is a fierce competition among the candidates, especially in leading multinational organisations. It is noteworthy that a great majority of companies do not sponsor a visa for non-EU citizens. According to statistics, only about 3% of overseas students achieved to find a sponsor in 2015. As mentioned above - but not exhaustively, there are various resources contributing to candidates’ preparation, depending on the role and industry. I will omit a detailed analysis of the recruiting process, but you are more than welcome to contact me in case you have specific questions. There is also a trend for work permit holders (lucky holders of EU passports) to also apply for roles in other countries of the EU, including Ireland and “Benelux” (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), known for very attractive opportunities. Unfortunately, the acceptance ratio in these countries do not significantly differ from the UK.

Regarding the decision for my next step, I had many meaningful discussions and interviews from a great variety of companies, mainly based across the UK. They provided me interesting insights about opportunities, corporate culture, and potential fit within their organisations. Particularly, onsite interviews allowed me see corporate premises and short discussions with employees. Finally, I decided to become an IBMer, by accepted a relevant offer in Groningen, the Netherlands and rejected one from another multinational IT consulting firm for a role in the UK. The HR process of the accepted offer consisted of 4 stages, included CV and cover letter screening, analytical (IPAT) tests, Skype interview, and onsite assessment centre, which held in September in Groningen. Three weeks later and after the successful submission of my MSc thesis, I relocated from Birmingham (I had some other local relocations from Coventry, started from early September due to housing contracts expiration) to Groningen by bus through the British channel tunnel. It was the start of a new chapter of life in the beautiful city of Groningen.

PS1: If you have any question, feel free to contact me

PS2: If you are Greek, you may want to listen to the London Greek Radio

Having relaxed for a few hours, before the dawn, we departed to Omalos (Xyloskalo), where the beginning of gorge is. After some delay, we entered the picturesque gorge, gazing it as well as the top of Lefka Ori mountain. The first three kilometers (from the overall 13.3 km) includes a descent from approximately 1,300 m above sea level). The big number of photos we took as well as the slow pace we had couldn’t be compared with the average hour needed to cross the gorge. Soon, we understood that the hiking would last many hours (much many the average of 5 - 6 hours). The fact that there were sources of drinkable water very often (every 1 - 2 km), it was an additional cause to delay. Fortunately, it was still morning and the temperature was at very low level (about 18 Celsius degrees). According to forecasts of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, the maximum temperature would be about 36 Celsius degrees. After we decided to speed up in order not to get dark while we were in the gorge, some relatively insignificant injuries occurred, leading to keep our initial slow pace.

At about the 7th km, after continuous descent and cross of a torrent under the hot sun of Crete, we met the abandoned village of Samaria. Since this place has become national park, attracting million of visitors, its inhabitants moved to neighbor areas, such as the exit of the gorge, where the seaside village of Aghia Roumeli is. The buildings which existed from then are used by the staff (e.g., rescuers) of the gorge.

Having been tired from the first 7 kms and the feast we had in the town of Chania the previous night, sleeping under trees was more than desirable. It was 2 pm and the worst time to start for the second half of the gorge. Unfortunately, in reality there was no other choice than continue crossing. The good news was that due to very tall mountains, the sun was hidden and the heat was a little bit sufferable. Being in a place with unique natural beauty, the route was becoming more and more interesting. After the 10th km, we were hiking without understanding the relative tiredness. Our goal was to arrive fast enough to the next source of drinkable water. At approximately 1 km before the end of the gorge, we met the last source under the shadow of trees, where we relaxed for some time, discussing at the same time with the staff of the gorge.

After 9-hour hiking, we arrived at the south end of the gorge, where we denoted our exit at the relative control. We had to walk for about 15 minutes at a common straight dirty road to arrive at the starting point of the local bus. The alternative option was to walk for 3 kms more. Having covered about 13.3 kms with some injuries, the only practical solution was to take the bus to approach our final destination, the remote village of Aghia Roumeli. We arrived very soon at the comfortable hotel that we had already booked, opposite the small port, where we relaxed. Having arrived without significant injury, next plans were under discussion; Is it worthwhile to visit the touristic village of Platanias in the north side of the island? Why not to visit the beautiful and picturesque beach of Elafonisi, after some extra adventure? Why not to approach the remote place of Loutro on foot? It should be noted that the common way to return is via Loutro and Chora Sfakion (by a small boat) and then via Chania (by bus). Finally, the recommendation to stop at the beautiful village of Loutro (by boat) predominated, because the approach is not easy from the north side, where we live. Thus, it was a unique opportunity to visit it.

The following day, the adventure started from the morning (about 8.30 am). In the beginning, we started searching for a path towards the west part of the island (to Aghios Pavlos - Koustogerako). Undoubtedly, we don’t have the required fitness to cross it, especially under the weather conditions we faced. This is a rough and dangerous (E4) path that a few experienced hikers and climbers cross. Once we were at an impasse and understood where the real path is, we headed towards the east part of the island. In theory, our goal was to approach the village of Loutro on foot. It is a more reachable path than the one to Aghios Pavlos - Koustogerako, following a seaside route. We walked for about 1 km, passing through pasturage, when we made the decision to come back at Aghia Roumeli. In fact, the departure time of boat was approaching.

Then, we took the boat for our next destination, the picturesque small port of Loutro. We approached it after about 40 minutes. It should be noted that there is no street near the port, because Loutro is not actually accessible by car. In theory, it is via a rough dirty road from Anopolis of Sfakia region. This route has been already inserted in our “todo” list for next excursion. After some time of hanging out at Loutro, we found the ideal place to relax. Being at the edge of the sea, under some tents and fans, a cold coffee was a must. Seeing that the cafe has backgammon, it was a matter of time to be on our table. We started playing some Greek backgammon games; portes and plakoto. The games finished until then with small difference (“single” win). Incidentally, I lost them all. It was boring for the other player too... We returned the backgammon, but we continue with chess… After some movements, checkmate was fact. We continue with some food. After that, we start again backgammon. However, the winner then had significant difference (“double” win). Thus, a weekend full of relax ended and a long-hour (about 6.30 hours) trip to return to Heraklion started (via Chora Sfakion and the town of Chania).

The direct flight to London Gatwick had started, but it was difficult enough for me to think about my plans. I was actually confused about the uncertain situation in Greece. More specifically, the unsteadiness and the adverse socioeconomic progress would have negative impact on incoming tourism. Thus, some opportunities for constructive meetings that I had in my agenda were eliminated. After a 4-hour flight, I arrived at a hotel that I stayed at near the London airport. Until I get my luggages straight, great amount of breaking news was transmitted from the Greek capital, Athens. As the following days, raw footage from the central square of the Greek capital, Syntagma, was prevailed at news flashes of the British television.

The following day, I had to check out at the hotel and head to the city center (near the Hyde park) where a University Hall of the ICL is located. I stayed there for the following three weeks. The common unpredictable British weather as well the facts that I got off the tube at a wrong station, by mistake, and I carried two luggages drove me to wander for much time at the center of the enormous city. After 1.10 hour of wandering near the Hyde park, I arrived at the Hall. Having relaxed for a while, I was ready for the beginning of the summer school. Undoubtedly, every day (mostly at night), I devoted some time to be informed about the breaking news of Greece. In fact, a couple of days before the referendum, it was unknown whether the Greek diaspora had the right to vote. Until the Greek government to decide, I was searching for cheap flights from London airports to the nearest area of the Greek dominance, the island of Corfu so as to vote.

It was Monday morning and I started walking, having as destination the building of Business School of the ICL, at the city center. After I received the entrance card for that building and some safety instructions (a common phenomenon for newcomers of UK’s buildings), the first part of networking with other participants just started. The first introductory lectures and tours in the campus also started. The launch time followed. It was the opportunity for me to meet a friend of me, alumnus of the University of Crete, my home university, and current PhD student at the Imperial College. In the final part of the first day was some more safety instructions and information about the University Hall and a welcome party. I met there participants of other courses, who came from many countries around the world.

The following days, the schedule was characterized mainly by some interesting lectures and workshops. The workshops, which took place every afternoon, contributed to the improvement of performance and creativity under pressure. I should admit that when I prepared my application for this summer school in February, I was feeling that I have strong enough technical background and some useful knowledge from some lectures that I attended at the Athens Laboratory of Business Administration (ALBA) in Athens, Greece, during the previous winter. Moreover, it should be noted that the campus that my home department (Computer Science Department, University of Crete, Greece) belonged to a really small campus with only Mathematics departments, during my undergraduate studies. In addition, the university of Crete does not have engineering schools. Thus, it leads not to interact with other sciences in my daily life. On the other hand, I focus on specific topics of Computer Science and Mathematics, because of my master thesis.

It was the time of the first workshop, the second day of the summer school, and the subject was about Biotechnology. We were in groups of 5-6 students. However, nobody was involved in this science. It was immediately assigned to us a topic of biotechnology and we had to propose a novel solution. We had to show a draft version in less than 20 minutes. Thus, we internally assigned specific roles to every member of the team to prepare something in a more efficient way. As it is reasonable, the proposed solution was not the most innovative one. Given the fact that there were Biotechnology graduates and professionals in the room, our mission was even more difficult. Finally, we achieved - to some extent - to support our solution to a science that we were not involved until then.

The following day, as it was scheduled, there were some insightful lectures about useful business tools. The second workshop followed, with topic about “Copycats”. It was a more accessible topic, because of my background and the opportunity we had to be prepared somewhat. Thus, we were more competitive than the first day. In fact, the proposed solution of this day was the (first) idea for the final presentation. More specifically, the idea was about a web platform connecting passengers of flights with some allowance and some others with additional luggages (or with extra weight/size). By doing some market research, we observed that we were actually innovative. By coincidence, the most direct competitor just constructed its website the previous day. After some time of analysis, we strongly believed that it was a really profitable service. However, it seemed that it had a significant disadvantage; the endangerment of safety, as some other participants denoted. Despite the fact that we had already taken into consideration this issue, it was proved that it was not adequate. About a week after, the committee of our final presentation would immediately reject this solution for the aforementioned reason, when it was informed about it. According to Mahatma Gandhi, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”. However, we did not want to disagree with the committee for educational reasons. Apart from that, we were intrigued by thinking of a new breaking idea.

The lectures would continue the following days. Some of them were given by directors of leading companies such as McDonald’s and Facebook. Their topic was about finding ways to be innovative and sustainable by improving user experience. For example, McDonald’s modifies the environment of its restaurants by introducing mobile devices and chargers in order to enjoy working or playing and eat at the same time. A useful lecture from a designer involved in great projects such as the credit card portal of Barclay bank was also given. He highlighted the difference between User Interface (UI) and User eXperience (UX) and mentioned the variety of people needed ideally to design a user-friendly website or mobile application. The last two workshops were about education and health. In fact, we proposed solutions in an analogous way as the first days.

As the busy week came to the end, we visited the city of Brighton, at the south of the UK, on Saturday. We started the journey (about 50 minutes) by taking the southern service train from London Victoria to Brighton railway station. As we were discussing during the trip, we did not understand how quickly we approached Brighton. The first part of our visit included sightseeing in picturesque lanes as well as the Royal Pavilion. Then, we headed to the coastal zone, where many people were in the beach. We were impressed by the Brighton Pier on the sea. There were lots of activities to be involved. After spending much time in this place, we visited the local market. There were many old rare objects in relatively low prices. The fact that I spoke Greek for a while rewards me (and the other Greek guy that I spoke to) some delicious Greek food by the Greek diaspora who lives there. Finally, we enjoyed some songs from a local orchestra performing at a park. This trip, except for enjoying Brighton, help us to know each other better. During our way to London, I was thinking much of the time about the difference in constructions between Greece and the UK. Having impressed by the funfair on the sea, as I already mentioned, I could write down lots of reasons about the fact that Greece cannot take advantage of its endless coast to construct a similar one. The next day, Sunday, I had some free time to visit the heart of London. My tight schedule together with the fact that it was the third time that I was in London led not to sightseeing much. This period of time, the results of the Greek referendum were announced. About 61% of Greeks voted “NO” in the measures to be taken. The majority of Europe (and not only) observed them with significant anxiety. Moreover, a Hackathon about Biotechnology took place this weekend in the ICL campus. There were participants from some departments of the College, outside the College, and one team from the course.

The following (second) week of the summer school also started with lectures. During this time, I was deeply thinking of how this theory could be applied in practice. In fact, we selected the aforementioned idea to develop, on which I applied the theory. In addition, we participated in a 3D printing workshop, in which we constructed a small protector for a laptop web camera. Despite that I am not quite interested in 3D constructions, it was really useful as it is a field of tomorrow. The time of the final presentation was approaching without having concluded to a topic, accepted by the committee. The pressure both inside and outside the team to do our best increased. Whatever we suggested, soon it was rejected, because it is not considered as a disruptive and billion-dollar idea. The other teams was working, but we were out of schedule in our preparation for about a week. Our teaching assistant suggested us devoting more time, which led the half members of our team to work during the lectures. More specifically, even during a task about an innovative idea for an energy topic in Mexico based on hybrid entrepreneurship. Thus, only three of the six team members worked for this task. We had 20 minutes to present our innovative solution. By doing our best and using our valuable knowledge and experience, we achieved to present something different, something that the committee remembered even after all pitches presented. Thus, we won the specific minor competition. It was even more significant fact that we won by participating one the half team, which the rest of participants did not know.

Finally, we pivoted our idea to a new one about more efficient marketing campaigns by using Instagram and relative services. We persuaded the committee and we worked the following days (even on Sunday) on this idea. Market research took place as well as we decided about the competitive advantage of the new service. Some low-fidelity mockups were drawn. Simultaneously, the slides of the presentation were preparing as well as the part of finance. Furthermore, a first algorithm about efficient promotion was designed. Then, some first rehearsals took place. We submitted this piece of work to receive some feedback, as the relative deadline was approaching. After receiving some valuable feedback from our workshop assistant as well as members of other teams, we improved our presentation. At the same time, we gave feedback to other teams to be improved.

Despite all this work, the scheduled included a cruise party at the Thames river. We saw from the river some more places we did not have the time to see such as Canary wharf and O2 stadium. Undoubtedly, it is a really different experience to have city tour by sailing in the city. We could not miss it, as it was the last opportunity to meet all participants of the summer school. However, some participants of the Finance course missed it because of a forthcoming midterm. Prior to that, concerning the social program, we visited Oxford the previous Saturday. As a foreigner in the UK, I was truly impressed by arrangement. For example, the train service had announced strike the previous days and the power reported that our trip would be affected. Thus, they arranged to rent a bus in order to visit Oxford. The city of Oxford is well known for its old buildings and the university. However, I really enjoyed more by punting along its river. Except for the aforementioned activities, the schedule also included a tech tour. We visited some co-working spaces and places that entrepreneurs arrange meetings and social events. Last but not least, some tips about improving pitches were given in order to be well prepared for ours.

The time of the presentation arrived. It was Thursday noon and we presented in front of other participants and the committee. The presentation was quite good given the conjecture. Apart from that, the last three days of the course, I devoted the majority of my time to study about the final exam. After many hours of studying, my grade about the final exams was excellent, as it was announced some weeks later. This part was the end of the summer school. I arranged to fly to Heraklion, Greece the evening of the next day. Thus, I took advantage of the opportunity to rent a bike from a dock at the city center. Many Londoners use bikes as a means of transportation. Despite that driving in the UK takes place at the right part of the road instead of the left existing mainly in Europe, I was quite familiar as I lived for a month in such countries (UK and Ireland). In the beginning, it was strange for me to drive at this kind of roads. I wandered some of the most central streets of the city. Then, during the night, we hanged out for the last time in London. As in this case occurs, we were kind of upset, because it was the time to say goodbye to our friends. It is quite probable that we may not meet some of them in the future. As a consequence, we returned back to our rooms during the dawn. Having slept for a while, we had to check out from the University Hall. Then, I met again my friend from Crete, Greece and after discussing for some hours, it was the time to go to the airport. Thus, my stay at London as well as my holiday period from my duties at Heraklion, Greece has been over.

To synopsize, the contributions of the Entrepreneurial Smart Camp were manifold. First of all, it helped me to think deeper by also taking advantage of the experience I obtained from entrepreneurial projects that I have been involved. Moreover, I improved the skill of evaluating more accurate some conditions and I learned some useful business tools to fight for sustainability, complementing my technical background. In addition, I saw in real life the kind of opportunities appeared in London as well as co-working spaces, where meetings and networking events take place. I am now more familiar about sources of startups’ funding in the UK. I also experienced for three weeks the daily life of one of the leading universities in the world. I met participants from four continents (except for Oceania) and broadened my horizons. What is more, I improved the skill of being persuasive. Some of my views about corporate entrepreneurship were confirmed by experienced lecturers. Last but not least, we recognized the importance of failing fast.

PS: Living in such a large city with state-of-the-art technology, you may see innovative solutions in real life. More specifically, I impressed by contactless cards and checkouts without cashiers in supermarkets, which cannot meet in Greece (until the time that I am writing this text). Moreover, as this post is about entrepreneurship (and this paragraph about supermarkets), by discussing with people from other countries (international experience), you can recognize some niche as well as understand that some solutions could not apply to some countries. For example, Italians are used to changing the location of some products in super markets, leading not to apply efficiently localization techniques in mobile apps.

It should be noted that due to my hectic schedule at that time, I applied for EU-XCEL only a few hours before the deadline. The options for Scrum were in Munich (Germany), Cork (Ireland), Poznan (Poland), Cartagena (Spain), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Athens (Greece). As a Greek (and especially Athenian), choosing Athens seemed like a strange option, because of feeling of returning to hometown and the fact that rarely a Greek city was selected for such entrepreneurship projects. This option had both advantages (it is near Heraklion and I would have easy access) and disadvantages (I would not learn a new culture). However, due to time overlapping (I would be in London, UK for summer school at the ICL Business School), the last 3 options were rejected immediately. Undoubtedly, it was probable for time overlapping to be also exist to all other options, because of my commitments in Heraklion (e.g., examination period as an M. Sc. student).

Despite the fact that my schedule would be even more hectic, it was difficult for me to resist accepting such an offer. More specifically, I always wanted to start cooperating in global level and work for such a project, living on the beautiful Greek island of Crete, located at the southeastern borders of Europe. I want to highlight that the small island of Gavdos, which belongs to the region of Crete, is the southest point of Europe. Moreover, it would be a great opportunity to discuss with people from many countries from all over Europe (and not only). It is well known that in these cases, participants recognize needs of other countries and/or find solutions for their own problems. Cork as destination was an additional motive for me. As you may know, Ireland has been chosen from multinational tech companies for their European Headquarters (e.g., Apple, Facebook) due to its environment.

A couple of days before the scheduled arrival to the distant, as it turned out, city of Cork, I received my boarding passes and some useful instructions from the organizer of the AUEB. Without any exaggeration, the journey was expected to last for approximately 19 -20 hours. Yes, it was not a misprint. It was a journey by air from Heraklion (Greece) to Dublin (Greece) via Athens (Greece) and Zurich (Switzerland), and then by road (3.30 hours trip by bus to the south part of the country, where Cork is located). In the beginning, I was affected in a negative way as my “todo” list was becoming bigger and bigger and I was thinking that I would need a 20-hour trip for a European destination. Soon, I changed my attitude and I was thinking positively. After some months, due to my limited free time, I would have the opportunity to meet my parents and some good friends at the airport of Athens. Moreover, I would have a unique opportunity to cross a great part of the island of Ireland. In general, I am fan of islands, living the last 7 years on an island.

I will focus below more on Scrum, because if I continue the above meticulous description, I might write a book (I am exaggerating a bit).

The journey started even more positively, as I traveled with company from the airport of Heraklion, Crete. I met the other participant of the Cork Scrum from Crete. By discussing and listening to music, we arrived at the Irish capital. At the airport of Dublin, we also met the rest of the Greek team, who paradoxically started their journey from Athens by taking different flights (via Copenhagen, Denmark). Apart from that, we also met other participants at the local bus to Cork. In the beginning, we charmed by the beauty of Dublin, but we could not stop to enjoy it. After a pleasant journey with much discussion (and at the same time disturbing the rest of the passengers by continuous talking), we arrived at the passenger terminal of Cork. After an unofficial “dinner” of the Greek team (do not imagine anything special, we just hanged out at the first Mcdonald's restaurant we came across), we arrived at the reception. It was 2 am (local time).

It was Sunday and after enough sleep, the Greek team with some other participants from other European countries, as we were gradually knowing each other, we started walking to the city center. As we were wandering around beautiful neighborhoods of the city, we decided to use Foursquare to find a cosy pub. As some of us were speaking Greek, it was not difficult for the Greek-Cypriot participant to recognize us in an alley and join our company. Moreover, I decided, after some times of postponing in Greece, to taste the Irish coffee. It was a nice coffee, but I could not unfortunately include it in my preference list because of being served as hot coffee. However, having traveled many times outside Greece without cold coffee, I had already in my luggages some Frappe coffee. After some hours of enjoying the Irish coffee, we attended a local religious parade with great participation of native and immigrants of the region. Each national group had a characteristic local dress. Furthermore, I impressed by the excellent organizing in modifying traffic jam by the local authorities. It is a rare phenomenon in my home country, Greece. In the meantime, we used again Foursquare to find a restaurant with delicious food, which finally, I could say, became our haunt. It should be noted that as we were discovering the city of Cork, the Greeks tried to understand how the unregulated reconstruction of the Greek capital, a city with rivers in the past, affected it negatively (and especially the natural habitat).

After having relaxed for couple of minutes, the first official gathering, organized by the hosts, took place. We met the majority of participants and consumed a great amount of alcohol in a comfortable atmosphere close to a river. We were knowing one another and discussed about plans of entrepreneurship. In addition, as being from Greece, a discussion about the Greek crisis, a topic which was one of the breaking news, could not be omitted. Thus, the second day in Cork has been over.

Monday dawned and the duties started in our venue, University College Cork. It is an enormous campus with awesome buildings - castles. After some introductory lectures, it was the time for the Marshmallow Challenge. We divided into groups of 4 - 5 participants and the challenge was to construct the highest stable creation in 20 minutes. By the way, we constructed the highest creation (59 cm), while the second one was 58 cm. Next some time of networking, we officially inform the other participants about ourselves. Every participant had exactly one minute to talk about her background, interests, and plans. Apart from the usual networking, there was also a goal to create complementary teams, members with different background. Then, an entrepreneur story followed. Every afternoon, we had an entrepreneur story, mainly from UCC’s graduates, about the companies they had already found. They talked about some problems they faced during the first year after the launch. It helped us to think about some problems that we could not think of. It is always very useful to listen to others’ experience before you launch a company in order to be more prepared for a potential setback. At the end of the first day, we wrote down some innovative ideas under specific categories (e.g., Internet of Things). Concerning the social program, we visited some of the UCC’s buildings and we had a tour in the city, arriving in a pub - pizzeria.

The next day (Tuesday) started by playing Six Thinking Hats. Then, we pitched some ideas individually so as to persuade other participants to create teams. A mentor-grouped work followed in order to shortlist the existing ideas. At the end of this day, we had to conclude to almost final teams with an idea to develop. The majority of participants were kind of nervous about the success of forming teams. There were some limitations such no more than two participants could stem from the same country and the size of the team could be between three and five. There were also some additional problems. Some teams lacked of experts of a specific field or some participants did not believe any of the ideas of which the teams needed more members. Fortunately, all the teams formed successfully. The goal of them is to create the most profitable and realistic business plan with a great Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the final of November, again in Cork, Ireland.

The following day (Wednesday), we attended some lectures about virtual teams and collaboration and we had time to discuss more about the great idea we selected to develop. My team decided to develop an online platform about rewarding athletes for their practice and the members are based in France, Ireland, Poland, Cyprus, and me from Greece. The day finished with the social program, we visited some of the UCC’s buildings and we learned about its history as well as the first Professor of Mathematics at this College, George Boole.

During Thursday, we attended a case study about designing and developing a prototype and then we discussed with mentors to get feedback about the selected idea. We also had a tutorial about using the platform of the project. Some guidelines about the pitch followed and some team rehearsals followed. Last but not least, we filled a draft business canvas in order to agree about its main points so as to work remotely more efficient.

Friday dawned and it was the time of presenting our Scrum final pitch. Having presented all teams, the director of the Business school had the final talk before the Scrum was over. We had a final live team meeting to assign some final roles for the period we work remotely. After saying goodbye to many participants that they had to leave because of the flights schedule, some of us headed to the city center for a final tour and shopping. As it got dark, we arranged the night hang out. We returned back to our rooms at approximately 3.30 in the morning. We prepared our luggages and we took a taxi to the bus terminal station to catch the bus of at 5.30. We slept in the bus, as we were going to Dublin airport. We arrived at about 8.30. Then, we said goodbye to the half Greek team that it was arranged to fly to Athens via Copenhagen, Denmark. The part of the team came from Heraklion, Crete had to wait until 14.00 to fly to the island via Zurich. At the airport, we came across other participants, so the time passed very quickly. At about 19.10 we arrived at Heraklion airport, feeling the atmosphere much hotter (from 7 Celsius degrees in Dublin to 27 in Heraklion).