Fill the gaps in this letter with the appropriate form of the verb in parentheses, a preposition or another word. Most of the verbs are in a past tense as the letter speaks about vacation experiences in the past. Read the letter through once to make sure you have understood the general context of the letter, and then begin filling in the gaps. Be careful to pay attention to the various time relationships between the verbs.
Dear Jason,
Thank you so much for your recent letter. I really _enjoyes,read____ (enjoy, read) about your holiday _____ Spain. It sounds _____ you __hav___ (have) a wonderful vacation. Let me tell you about our summer holiday in Greece!
The flight _____ Greece ___goin__ (go) smoothly. However, we had some problems with the ferry in Athens! We __booked___ (book) a ferry crossing two weeks before we ___leaved__ (leave) and arrived at the port with our tickets in hand. _____, the ferry __bed___ (be) nowhere in sight! We rushed about the port __tryed___ (try) to find the ferry, but no one _____ (ever hear) of the ferry lines! Finally, after we _____ (wait) for about four hours, a man ___telled__ (tell) us that the ferry line ___changed__ (change) owners and had a new name and kindly ___directed__ (direct) us to the correct ferry. Well, we were pretty lucky as the ferry ___prepared__ (prepare) to depart that very moment! We hopped _____ board and __drinked___ (drink) a beer to calm our nerves.
After that, the vacation really _____begined (begin) to be fun. We arrived in Sifnos (one of the many marvelous Greek islands) and ____fined_ (find) our apartment. The apartment _____ (be located) directly _____ the beach with a marvelous _____ of the sea. We _stayed____ (stay) in a small village which __have___ (have) about 200 inhabitants during the year, but ____swelled_ (swell) to over 2,000 _____ the summer holiday months. We ____spend_ (spend) our days reading, swimming, napping and having a very relaxing time indeed. We also __taked___ (take) a number of long walks _____ the island.
I'll always remember one walk in particular: We ___wake up__ (wake up) early that morning so as to get an early start. I ____maked_ (make) coffee when my brother-in-law, who ___joind__ (join) us in Sifnos, _____ (burst) in saying, "Susan _____ (be) ill and we have to go to the doctor's". We __get into___ (get into) the car and, after a short journey up the road the nearest doctor's, Susan got the medicine she _____ (need). We _____ (return) to our apartment and Susan went to bed _____ the day. Daryn, my brother-in-law, and I _____ (decide) to go on our hike even _____ we __losed___ (lose) a few hours going to the doctor. By that time, the sun ___rised__ (rise) high in the sky and we _____ (set off) in blistering heat. A slight breeze ___blowed__ (blow) so we really _____ (not notice) the heat. After we ____walked_ (walk) for about an hour, the wind suddenly _____ (stop) and we found ourselves alone in the countryside without a drop of water. We decided we ____keeped_(keep) walking as we were sure to find somewhere to stop and have a drink and a rest. Unfortunately, as we later _____ (discover), the closest village was another five kilometers _____. We __carry on___ (carry on) in the boiling sun_____ we finally reached the village. We ____go ing_ (go) into the nearest bar to have something to drink. It was then that I _____ (realize) that I _____ (leave) my wallet in the apartment _____ I _rushed____ (rush) to get out the door and go on the hike! We were 15 kilometers _____ our apartment and __hiked___ (hike) through 100 degree heat and __have´t___ (not have) a dime (well, a drachma