GrExit!

The Kandanos baker's statement on Sunday!

Today we acknowledge two GrExits;- one historic and one that may have to be:

1. First, yesterday was the eighth anniversary of Greyrocks' Exit from the UK! The year has been the most complicated and harrowing of them all! It does not even merit a pie chart to show where we spent the time, and Greyrocks will probably suspend the practice of publishing one, for the last six months has been "all over the place" and often separated! Suffice to pour another glass of aspro krassi and toast tomorrow (avrio) which can - as the song says - "only get better!"


2. Second, we are still basking in the "no" vote delivered on Sunday! Many is the heated debate Greyrocks has had with everyone from a Cretan waiter to the BBC Radio correspondent in Athens! For those who don't know (Come on, catch up!) the Οχί shown here means "No!" and our summer nome of Chania  in Crete voted 72per cent for this! Greyrocks' position is that:

• Greek oligarchs and high-earning professionals have - for decades - evaded taxes with impunity
• Working Greeks have an understandable tendency to relatively minor financial and legal  infringement on the back of this which gets them a bad reputation
• Germany has never paid reparations for its evil during WW2, and has lent money for reckless defence projects for its own benefit. It even helped pay for post-war reconstruction of Germany! (and Merkel is a bully!)
• Greece was admitted to the EU too soon and to the Euro-zone at a silly entry date and level for political reasons
• All sorts of institutions have continued to lend to Greece irresponsibly
• Austerity as a mantra throughout Europe is a discredited invention of the neo-cons and will in time be exposed as such. Greece has suffered particularly badly from it!
• Greek politics has been dominated by self-serving - and nigh-on corrupt - people on both sides who have failed to address all these issues (The saddest case being PASOK whose resemblance to the UK Labour Party in terms of moral weakness and nasty former leader is striking!)
• Greece is at the front-line of immigration and getting precious little help from the EU
• The USA ignores the sins of Turkey for its own reasons
• Greece has a proud ancient history with incalculable contribution to Western culture and is being humiliated by philistines. (Did someone mention the Parthenon marbles?)

Three contributions have warmed the hearts of Greyrocks in this respect:

• The UK Independent newspaper's article using an old Monty Python sketch
• A German homage to the late-lamented Yanis Varoufakis recommended by Olga
• A Dutch rap we encountered by accident  - Enjoy!

We were so incensed by a pre-referendum report from Athens by Mark Mardell that we have entered into a complaints procedure with the BBC. So far just platitudes back but watch this space!

Here the atmosphere is strange! As yet Greyrocks as (albeit long-term and loyal) tourists can get cash and spend it on almost anything we might want, but there is less tourism than usual for this time of year - perhaps as people with hire cars are not coming this far off the North coast given some pressure on fuel. The fishermen are not going out as much - if at all- so there is less fresh fish around but this has always been a bit of any issue here with some pretence over what is, indeed, fresh and or/really local! Some brands of cigarettes and some medication are allegedly in short supply, and for Greeks the cash economy is less fluid day by day.

  This is a waiting game! Siga, siga!