Blogfromthebarn

Effervescent depths and dispiriting heights...



So, back to the fray following a delightful week with four lovely ladies in the idyllic Hellenic island of Kos, too much food, too much wine, lots of sun and a few nice dives.
As always one finds a minimal amount of pretty fish in the Med but led by a really good Divemaster and with only three of us diving from a small Rib (Rigid/inflatable/boat) it made for a really friendly and relaxed set of dives.
I also enjoyed discovering the curious phenomenon of a sulphur bubble area, diving over underground (and underwater) volcanic areas we swam through great swathes of tiny gas bubbles, emerging in fine streams from the sand and creating curtains, jacuzzis and veritable snowstorms of bubbly fizz, a very beautiful thing when the light is right and it made for a new, and welcome experience, click on the terrified starfish on the left to link to the video... and if you're in Kos and fancy a nice dive or two may I commend George Chrisopoulos to you, a class diver and a fine, fun, fellow.

The downside of this trip, as is often the case,was the return trip. I've long since lost the childlike joy I'm sure I once felt when clambering into the great silver bird but this was a charter flight from a pretty pricey holiday resort, even by the ever-declining quality of experience of cut-price commercial flights it was pretty annoying.

A couple of hours of assorted lingering and queuing at Kos to check in was followed by a delayed, cramped, 4 hour flight with nothing but one glass of water, one cup of revolting instant coffee or one cup of tea to sustain 180 folk who've spent at least a week eating and drinking to excess. This, frankly, seems to be an unnecessary, gratuitous slap in the face of the departing guest and it must surely undo much of the good stuff that Mark Warner achieved to that point with a well structured, well run and enjoyable (especially for the young 'uns) holiday experience.

The explanation given by the flight staff (graduates of the ('Couldn't care less' school of customer service) was that "nobody had ordered refreshments" rubbing the "we think you're stupid" salt into the "and we still don't care" wound.

A wise chef who worked in a hotel once explained to me why he always supervised breakfast, " hotels are different from restaurants", he opined, wisely, "breakfast is the final experience save paying the bill, if it's a great experience the bill seems reasonable and the memories positive."

So, Mark Warner take heed, you can, and do, undo much goodness with the final act, arriving home starving, dehydrated, irritable and tired after a holiday is little bit of a let-down, don't make it your fault.

Labels: Kos Stuffy Oakwood holiday "mark warner" diving service bubble field holiday Torair "air travel"

posted by Stuffy @ 7:00 am