In a few hours the time has come: 4 apprentices in horticulture and landscaping, 3 apprentices as carpenters as well as our two colleagues Michael Hemmes and Niko Simon will make their way to the airport and start their journey to Crete, arriving in the course of the evening. There they will take part in a 14-day inter-company training course of the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Agriculture on the topic of "Natural stone use and processing" in Kolympari. The group is again accommodated in the Orthodox Academy. This measure is supported by the EU program Erasmus+ Mobility.

Already since 1996 a partnership exists between the Orthodox Academy and the DLR in Oppenheim/Palatinate, in the context of which each year apprentices of the garden and landscape gardening complete this course and manufacture projects from domestic natural stones in the external area of the academy. This year, work is to be completed on a meditation path connecting the academy with the chapel of St. Makarios. For this, a bridge still needs to be completed, an altar erected, a floor mosaic laid and path work done. In addition, a fountain and another seating area with columns will be newly built.

For our prospective carpenters, restoration work on chairs and tables as well as the construction of a railing are on the agenda again.

Parallel to the natural stone course, a one-week further training course for educational staff will take place - also within the framework of Erasmus+ - in which Michael Hemmes will participate. In addition, the two vocational school teachers Sabine Kinn-Dippel and Jürgen Otten will also travel from the Euro-BBW for this further training.

On October 9, the finished meditation path will be officially handed over on the occasion of a big ceremony to celebrate "25 years of Crete". But we will report on this in more detail later.

We wish our trainees and colleagues a good journey and an interesting, exciting and beautiful stay on Crete! Come back safe and sound!