Yiassou from Greece in the interregnum between bank closure and referendum!
Life here isn't rosy for all but the blindest tourists, but to Greyrocks it has aspects of Heaven on Earth! We arrived in Paleochora a week ago and can at last unpack after the departure from Fuerteventura on 20th April. And a lot has happened in our political environs in that time:- most of it tragic!
The post for May failed to mention the UK election! Greyrocks must have been trying to forget! Of course, we weren't expecting to be in the country, but circumstances meant we were! Stuck in the South of England outside London we were never going to feel surrounded by liberalism and communitarianism, so we took advantage of a week more or less to ourselves (and the need to have a day to go uptown for new passports) to go to Brighton. Phew! We watched the results pour in, and this graphic slowly emerged. (Just one Green and one Labour seat in the whole of the region - two of the three seats in Brighton and Hove and an overall outcome worse than the worst predictions!) Ruth spent time over the succeeding days writing a eulogy and buying black clothes:- the symbolism is there!
So Greyrocks tried to be optimistic, feeling a very strong desire to leave the country. Soon after though, we were able to facilitate this with a visit to the Passport Office near Victoria in London to renew at extortionate cost for both of us. Remarkably we can report that the process was efficient and fairly swift. We had to kill a few hours before collection and did so largely on the South Bank, and in the early evening we made a trip to Balham for post, then back to Brighton on a fast train, thus experiencing some of UK at its best.
At this point we can pick up on June, to record that the weather in East Sussex got no better and no significant cycling took place before a return to Hants overnight and a dash to Bristol on Ruth's birthday. In glorious sunshine we met up with Chloë and Jack for a fine meal at The Cowshed, but it was an early night for all as next day was the Big One:- Chloë became a home owner! We drove down to Easton from our hotel to help. It was a day of chaos and frayed nerves as completion itself was delayed, the idiot vendor procrastinated and various deliveries did and didn't arrive as expected, but the sun shone, a next door neighbour visited with card and wine, Jack's Dad worked for hours assembling a bed and other items and we came to understand why Chloë likes the community so much!
The next day we were down there again (having found a much better driving route) and it was all hands to the pump - now including Jack's Mum as well! It was coincidentally also the day after Ruth's father, sister and brother-in-law had scattered Viv's ashes in the hills near Dursley in Gloucestershire, so they dropped in on Clare and family in Bristol. (Her partner being our electrician!) They were due to visit to see the new house, so Ruth eschewed another trip to IKEA and got on with cleaning and archaeology in a freezer that had been left behind. This was not a good idea for an old lady with two severely arthritic knees, and the repercussions are still with us! By the time the visitors had come and gone and the others returned she was almost immobile and is still not right!
Later that afternoon the IKEA delivery expected next day arrived, and Greyrocks left C and J to their extensive assembly job. Getting Ruth to a restaurant was a daunting task, but the simplest option was one of the range at The Venue - part of the huge Cribbs Causeway retail area adjacent to the Premier Inn hotel we call our own! Somehow, taking ages and using a big umbrella as a walking stick we made into Las Iguanas and had happy hour cocktails and a good value Mexican meal.
On Sunday we stayed away from the new house but met C and J for Sunday roast at their local pub. It was excellent food, with good ale and jolly service. It has opened in this form fairly recently as an off-shoot of two other trendy Bristol pubs, and in conversation with us a member of staff said that a local had thanked them for opening and adding GBP20K to his house value! Nice!
With Chloë back at work we set off for some rest - this time four days in Bournemouth - being within range of strategic points, but Ruth's injury ruined most plans for interesting trips! Bob cycled to Poole harbour and Ruth joined him there by bus for fish and chips, and we also, by accident, had an afternoon in Christchurch instead of a planned cinema trip. We did a fair amount of sitting inside and outside pubs and bars in The Square, opposite the Bournemouth Eye - which was grounded by high wind and saw a remarkable number of stag and hen party groups, including ten cowboys outside Wetherspoons!
Greyrocks decided it was worth going to Bournemouth again in a better state of fitness! When time was up we drove back to Horndean and saw Ruth's Dad and other family for the last time this season and got in our last British Indian meal before heading back to Bristol again. We took Jack's parents out to say thank you on the first night back and Chloë chose a Greek restaurant on Whiteladies Road - as if we were not anticipating three months of Greek cuisine; but it was fine food from a Corfiot family and we got on well with the other half's parents finding we had a lot in common! On Tuesday we dropped round to the house where the electrical work was in full flow and it was not a place to hang around in and we went back up to Cribbs to repack the car and then for a very long and pleasant meal in Café Rouge, and that was it for UK Migration 2015!
Yvette is spending the summer on a farm near Bristol Airport, whence we flew to Heraklion on 17th. It was Greyrocks' first time out from there and we were pretty impressed! Certainly the most polite and swift security check and all parts nicely close together, but the most irritating forced route through a Duty Free Shop since Milan! And bar prices are a bit grim - made worse by a sudden "last call" announcement when we expecting a delay. Abandoned bottle and very fast hobble!
Sad events forced this protracted stay in UK - our longest in eight years - and we hope not to have to do it again. The weather was 90 per cent awful, the roads seem poor after France, popular TV and press stink, manners are rude and prices are high. And as for how people vote...!!! Only the beer, quality TV, unspoilt bits of countryside and some restaurant food hold any attraction in themselves, and of course we have family and friends to see! We are truly fortunate to be European pensioners with freedom of movement.
The next post will deal with Cretan japes thus far - including Matala - and what we found when we arrived in Paleo last week.
Life here isn't rosy for all but the blindest tourists, but to Greyrocks it has aspects of Heaven on Earth! We arrived in Paleochora a week ago and can at last unpack after the departure from Fuerteventura on 20th April. And a lot has happened in our political environs in that time:- most of it tragic!The post for May failed to mention the UK election! Greyrocks must have been trying to forget! Of course, we weren't expecting to be in the country, but circumstances meant we were! Stuck in the South of England outside London we were never going to feel surrounded by liberalism and communitarianism, so we took advantage of a week more or less to ourselves (and the need to have a day to go uptown for new passports) to go to Brighton. Phew! We watched the results pour in, and this graphic slowly emerged. (Just one Green and one Labour seat in the whole of the region - two of the three seats in Brighton and Hove and an overall outcome worse than the worst predictions!) Ruth spent time over the succeeding days writing a eulogy and buying black clothes:- the symbolism is there!
So Greyrocks tried to be optimistic, feeling a very strong desire to leave the country. Soon after though, we were able to facilitate this with a visit to the Passport Office near Victoria in London to renew at extortionate cost for both of us. Remarkably we can report that the process was efficient and fairly swift. We had to kill a few hours before collection and did so largely on the South Bank, and in the early evening we made a trip to Balham for post, then back to Brighton on a fast train, thus experiencing some of UK at its best.
At this point we can pick up on June, to record that the weather in East Sussex got no better and no significant cycling took place before a return to Hants overnight and a dash to Bristol on Ruth's birthday. In glorious sunshine we met up with Chloë and Jack for a fine meal at The Cowshed, but it was an early night for all as next day was the Big One:- Chloë became a home owner! We drove down to Easton from our hotel to help. It was a day of chaos and frayed nerves as completion itself was delayed, the idiot vendor procrastinated and various deliveries did and didn't arrive as expected, but the sun shone, a next door neighbour visited with card and wine, Jack's Dad worked for hours assembling a bed and other items and we came to understand why Chloë likes the community so much!
The next day we were down there again (having found a much better driving route) and it was all hands to the pump - now including Jack's Mum as well! It was coincidentally also the day after Ruth's father, sister and brother-in-law had scattered Viv's ashes in the hills near Dursley in Gloucestershire, so they dropped in on Clare and family in Bristol. (Her partner being our electrician!) They were due to visit to see the new house, so Ruth eschewed another trip to IKEA and got on with cleaning and archaeology in a freezer that had been left behind. This was not a good idea for an old lady with two severely arthritic knees, and the repercussions are still with us! By the time the visitors had come and gone and the others returned she was almost immobile and is still not right!
Later that afternoon the IKEA delivery expected next day arrived, and Greyrocks left C and J to their extensive assembly job. Getting Ruth to a restaurant was a daunting task, but the simplest option was one of the range at The Venue - part of the huge Cribbs Causeway retail area adjacent to the Premier Inn hotel we call our own! Somehow, taking ages and using a big umbrella as a walking stick we made into Las Iguanas and had happy hour cocktails and a good value Mexican meal.
On Sunday we stayed away from the new house but met C and J for Sunday roast at their local pub. It was excellent food, with good ale and jolly service. It has opened in this form fairly recently as an off-shoot of two other trendy Bristol pubs, and in conversation with us a member of staff said that a local had thanked them for opening and adding GBP20K to his house value! Nice!
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| The Bournemouth Eye |
Greyrocks decided it was worth going to Bournemouth again in a better state of fitness! When time was up we drove back to Horndean and saw Ruth's Dad and other family for the last time this season and got in our last British Indian meal before heading back to Bristol again. We took Jack's parents out to say thank you on the first night back and Chloë chose a Greek restaurant on Whiteladies Road - as if we were not anticipating three months of Greek cuisine; but it was fine food from a Corfiot family and we got on well with the other half's parents finding we had a lot in common! On Tuesday we dropped round to the house where the electrical work was in full flow and it was not a place to hang around in and we went back up to Cribbs to repack the car and then for a very long and pleasant meal in Café Rouge, and that was it for UK Migration 2015!
Yvette is spending the summer on a farm near Bristol Airport, whence we flew to Heraklion on 17th. It was Greyrocks' first time out from there and we were pretty impressed! Certainly the most polite and swift security check and all parts nicely close together, but the most irritating forced route through a Duty Free Shop since Milan! And bar prices are a bit grim - made worse by a sudden "last call" announcement when we expecting a delay. Abandoned bottle and very fast hobble!
Sad events forced this protracted stay in UK - our longest in eight years - and we hope not to have to do it again. The weather was 90 per cent awful, the roads seem poor after France, popular TV and press stink, manners are rude and prices are high. And as for how people vote...!!! Only the beer, quality TV, unspoilt bits of countryside and some restaurant food hold any attraction in themselves, and of course we have family and friends to see! We are truly fortunate to be European pensioners with freedom of movement.
The next post will deal with Cretan japes thus far - including Matala - and what we found when we arrived in Paleo last week.