A Last Dip in the Libyan Sea

At the last full moon some friends met at Castello at sunset to celebrate the life Mike Warren. We brought along some pink Crocs to place on his chair as he was famed for wearing his (even brighter) pink Crocs on the beaches, and thus being visible for 500 metres!
Steve says it all in Millie's YouTube video

After the camera battery went flat Greyrocks played a recording of Fairport's "Meet on the Ledge" - both for its message and to remember Cropredy, which Mike also loved!

A very sad loss!
This season has also seen the demise of two notable Paleo locals;- Michaelis from the cake shop that used to be next door to Yannis' Place died in June, and Spiros of the taxi firm died a few weeks ago.

 

RIP

In contrast we became involved in a marriage! We have German neighbours well into their seventies. After coming to spend one summer a few years ago in response to a small ad, the lady has been fully resident; and they recently got married. We saw them at their little party in the Votsalo and were given some very nice fruit pavlova!

.. and rejoice! On 16th August - the day after the dreaded Bank Holiday - the Blue EU Safe Beaches flags were hoisted on the Stony Beach and Limnaki. The status has been there all summer with full details on the noticeboards, but the flags themselves arrived only now. Not that tourism is that important to the municipality!

 

"What is the English for Rampensau?"

From the Urban Dictionary: "Rampensau

3 up, 2 down

Colliquial German for a person, who has got a large history of being on stage either as an actor or actress or a singer or musician or conferencier. A person, who is almost addicted to having an audience, who 'cannot live without being on stage'. It actuall means stage pig - rough words but meant nicely! This actor is such a 'Rampensau', he feels at home at once o any stage." It was "word of the week as we prepared for the night! As teachers (past and present) we sought evaluation afterwards. The negatives were: nowhere to sit, poor sound system and no answers to the quiz! We learnt that it is quite hard to operate Media Player in Greek!

Wine, Chessmen and Song

Greyrocks is just about halfway through its Cretan phase 2012, and this is likely to be the most memorable year for all the wrong reasons. We are still both ailing, and failing to make the most of the beach and sea. Still.. mustn't grumble! During these two months the village has seen some interesting events, and here are some of them:
First we had a tasting evening for Cretan wines. Three companies turned up - keen to demonstrate that there is more to this than the tetrabrik/ box/ barrel/ bucket stuff we like to consume en place for no more than three euros per half-litre! This was quality! For a fiver each we sampled a fair number of the offerings, and would gladly drink any of them again - but not often on pensioners' incomes!
In planning this post Ruth came across on YouTube a promotional video from one of the producers. Here is a truncated version as we don't want to promote the nameless restaurant where the second night took place! (If this video fails you could go direct to  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66XsrYrPOGE, but it is a bit long!) Afterwards we partook of one of the meze plates on offer at Kapetan Dimitri's, and it was good! If you remember the old Captain Jim's this may surprise you! It was transformed last year to become a very sophisticated restaurant with novel twists on Greek cuisine, and particularly good for vegetarians.

A previous year - when prom was used

Second, we have had the annual Chess Tournament organised by the society in Chania. In a development from last year's short notice we this time had no posters up until the first day; but it did cause a stir in the High Street:- particularly on Blitz Night (see the text from the link!)

and finally: our magnus opus:

This arose from a regular practice of the Hamburg posse which has a night of wearing themed T-shirts - typically football. They decided this year to develop this and celebrate the Stones' anniversary, so they had advance notice to bring suitable attire. Günter arrived in the village ahead of most, met Greyrocks and we were soon on a mission, as above. Heidi took wonderful photos. Baited breathe for the next post!

The Euro:- In, out, shake it...

Wishful Thinking!

Greyrocks has little interest in football, but a lot of interest in the future of Greece, and the welfare and spirit of the Greeks! Thus it was that we could not ignore two events from our first month here:- the latest election and Euro 2012, and nor was their near synchronicity missed by headline writers!

Talking to people we know in the village brought home how much loathing there is for politicians in general in this (as one is frequently told) "home of democracy". In particular mention of PASOK -the traditional Socialist party - brings forth a torrent about broken trust :- sound familiar? A couple of notables told us of how they would be supporting Syriza - even if this meant leaving the Eurozone; many others said they would have to vote  for the establishment, but would do so holding their noses :-sound familiar?

We didn't come across any open supporters of neo-fascists "Golden Dawn"; but a few days into our stay we went to the local buffet breakfast cafe (excellent value at 6 euros a head!). On the TV was a non-stop loop showing what happened on live TV on June 7th. Watch the whole caboodle here! 

How could he?

Here in the village the election made little impact on everyday life! There was even less campaigning than we saw in France, but plenty of locals came back for the weekend to vote, and this included our landlord, Spiros! He rang the indoor bell whilst we were still in a state of undress, so Ruth hid, and Bob conducted a very strange dialogue with the elderly man wearing only a torn Goan sarong. (That's Bob - not Spiros!) At issue was an over-the-counter contract he wanted Bob to sign. To say there was little shared language is to completely understate the problem, but numerals and dates were passed backwards and forwards on paper, and we took away his offering mumbling things about spiti, avrio (tomorrow) and Kyria Maria's taverna. In fact he returned before that with anglophone professional reinforcements and we were ready with translated and transliterated  personal details. We are still not sure what we have signed:- perhaps liability for the entire national debt!

How could she?

Anyway Greece got a government, and Paleochora got 12 large screens in the High Street on which to watch Euro 2012, and on 22nd June Greece played Germany. Three of us who play cards together felt such  longing for the elation that would follow a Greek win that we placed a bet on it, and Ruth ventured for the first time into the betting shop, where the lady assumed it would be on Germany, and on hearing the contrary beamed and said "Poly Kala!" Politics and football came together too in the form of supporter shirts. New Prime Minister: Samaras! National hero (and Celtic player): Samaras!. We didn't know this and were surprised to see so many youngsters enthusiastic for an unpopular PM! For a very special 5 minutes or so (at 1-1) it looked like something wonderful might happen, and the entirely partisan crowd of which we were part at the Chicken House went wild, but then it all fell apart, and only the German supporters down there at Yannis' Place could be heard, so passion was redirected towards Angela Merkel and her tasteless, undiplomatic and unnecessary behaviour. All we wanted was an overall winner from amongst the PIGS nations.
Pity, though, for the Austrian and Swiss tourists:- innocent parties loathed on account of their language!


Joke of the month:
A Merkel goes on holiday to Greece. A official asks name etc. "Occupation?", "No this time just a holiday!"


Seriously... some of our best friends are Germans! By the time Germany was due to play Italy Gunter had arrived in town and asked where we would be watching the match. We match-made him with Jorgen and Sabine from Berlin. They had brand new shirts and banners etc for the occasion! The rest is history! We watched at Monika's, giving a good view later of despondent German supporters after the match. 

Schadenfreude!

.. and of course as Spanish residents we wore yellow and red with pride on July 1st and were not disappointed!

Spiti!

σπίτι is "home" in Greek, and this post covers our first month or so in our new one! It also references some frustrations and health issues... read on!

Our new sea view

On arrival we were faced with the boxes, bags and general clutter we had dropped off in October, some useful items left by departing friends, cadged extras, some recent UK post, the very old and tatty furniture and personal items from years of tenancies, and the packaging from the brand new washing machine and cooker (fortunately - and thanks to some nagging now recently, and perhaps safely - installed). The electricity was naturally off! We looked at the fuse box and any memories we had of what was what 8 months ago fled. Eventually we tentatively poked everything and there was light - but not at the cooker! We eventually solved that and set about installing ourselves. This involved a lot of dust and a lot of lifting and shoving:- with consequences! After a while we had had enough, declared it a young person's game and needed a beer; but first we needed to identify the immersion heater switch and turn it off! Oh dear! We ended up with everything off and unable to get the master switch back on again, so we went off for a delightful afternoon at Zygos where we spent a delightful time with a succession of old-timers - none of whom knew anything about Greek fuse boxes!

That evening we bit the bullet and went round to Kyria Maria's to explain with graphic gesticulations and use of words like problema, spiti and electrico! She phoned Athens, a neighbouring English speaker was briefly found and Ruth was told to wait. Soon KM emerged and with comparable linguistic ingenuity conveyed that Ruth should go to spiti and in 10 lepta the electrologo would arrive! Indeed he did - in more like 25 minutes - but 10 lepta has been known to mean three weeks, so we were lucky (or Spiros has influence!) The competent artisan poked and prodded downstairs in Bob's presence, came in and shook hands and pushed one switch. Sorted! We hadn't been brave enough to push hard enough! He identified the water switch, gave us the look we deserved and left, so we could embark on the first volta of the season without a torch.

Getting sorted has been a long and tortuous process - still ongoing; not least because after the lousy two months of weather we wanted to relax and do serious beach-time. It is different from the old apartment!

First - of course - we are "on the other side"! Our lucky sea view includes the Crocodile, the 08.30 departing Samaria ferry, and - in odd weather conditions  - the outline of Gavdos. This also puts us within spitting(!) distance of old favourite eateries like Maria's, Christos, The Wave and the Oriental Bay. We don't have cats, plants, church bells, landline, the large hanging space for washing, free fruit and veg,a spare bedroom, a TV signal, batterie de cuisine,  the unused zomba (wood-burning stove) or the beautiful shady bouganvilla balcony. We do, however, have a very new (strangely-configured) bathroom suite, lots of indoor living and storage space, an AC unit that looks as if it would work if we wanted it to, a local bar which has repeatedly done 3 for 2 or even 2 for 1 on the Amstels, fewer and safer stairs, a much lower rent, and - following some skillful negotiations - kosher free WiFi some of the time (watch his space and understand why it has been such a long time since last posting!)

As for the village?

Commercially perhaps not as bad as was being predicted at the end of last season; but we have lost Judy and John's dress shop, which has been done up as a jewellers, Nikos the jeweller, Vlissidis's second supermarket in the old Pelican by the harbour, and both crepe/ice-cream places on the Palm Tree road :- one is still empty, but the other has opened as a fish foot spa and nail studio! Just what we have always needed - eh? There is a new ice-cream place down the main street! At Odos (The Hole in the Wall) two Romanian sisters are running a simple but efficient and cheap bar with nice (payable) mezes. It is known as Monika's! There have been changes on the hair salon front - but probably no net change in number, and we have a flash new opticians. It is said that a new phone and computer shop will open soon in the old video rental premises. At Atoli there is now a weekly rock and reggae evening with a 4euros per head buffet by Suzi who now cooks there. It had earlier been named as an "over-forties" night, but no longer!

Leisure-wise the kids' amusement arcade on the stony side has expanded and is pretty gruesome of an evening, and on the sandy side a couple of fairground attractions have been installed where the Shell garage was until two years ago. The Elafonissi boat has been declared unfit and for a while there was no service other than a KTEL bus, but now the dolphin boat operates on some days of the week. In a strange move the landau has returned! Memories differ on when it was last here - but as Bruce's old home movie  shows it was here is 1995. (Recognise anyone?)

 It passes our apartment each morning at 9am. It doesn't yet seem to be too busy! The cinema started again at the beginning of July, and we are getting some live music in different kafenions.

The paving project has either finished or is on hold. The main street down to Stavros the barber is pleasingly paved, and all overhead wiring is gone leaving Chania-style elegant lamps. The statue has not been re-instated, and there is no sign of the dreaded water-feature.


However all is not well on the sandy beach! We were warned of sand erosion, and when we arrived the effect was dramatic. Many sunbeds could not be placed in their usual sites, and getting into the sea was very difficult indeed - especially for the ageing regulars! Some dramatic wind has helped a bit and there are now three potential entrances to the sea at our end, but it is disappointing. This is not helped by a strong rumour that an EU grant for the purpose of sand-moving was squandered. Now is that likely??


We have also been spitting at and in the wind! Is this a very early meltemi - or just just the revenge of the gods for some Cretan misdemeanour? June had a lot of  "unbeachable" days with a northerly or north-easterly.

And finally... we have both been suffering over the month with disgusting coughs. Ruth's knees improved and the use of a bicycle has made life a lot easier, but the flat frequently sounds like a sanatorium. Ah, excuse me:- Spiti!

Lucky, lucky, lucky and a hippie birthday!

Clive James said of Rio that it was both the most exciting and the most terrifying of places. Greyrocks feels the same about Barcelona! As it has become a hub for the migrations we have the prospect of four journeys a year on the "Line of Fear" connecting the city centre with the airport. By changing trains at a different station it is possible to limit the number of stops through which you pass in a state of tension, but something will still happen. This time there was a jostling at the doors of our carriage. Bob moved to protect the big bags. Ruth grabbed the small ones. There was some shouting and the doors closed with only a couple and their luggage having stayed inside. She was tiny and shaking. He was sturdy and fit. He was holding the ripped-off handle of his wheelie bag, had the bag at his feet and was clutching his wallet. Our Romanian friends had tangled with the wrong man. His wallet was intact  - including his Florida Police badge! A little later a discussion took place between us, them and a fellow passenger who is British but lives in the city. Street crime policy in the city is bonkers, and no good at all for the tourism image!


Anyway we survived, and found ourselves with a few hours at the airport. Terminal 2 is now exclusively budget airlines, and therefore has few facilities that a traveller might need - like signs to tell you that Easyjet operate from a separate building. Frustrated fuming passengers abound, and there is no ATM in that building. Backwards and forwards (we wanted some cash commission-free during this brief window in Spain), grumblings, and then a reminder of how little this was costing! We were off to Milan:- not the Ryanair joke of Bergamo, but a real Milan airport. It was a quick and comfortable flight, and we simply had to ring for the free shuttle bus to take just us to the overnight hotel. Our review says it all. Nice one!
Back at Malpensa (Terminal 2) early next morning we realised that Easyjet has colonised this old building, too! Crowded, dismal, short on catering, badly signed, and - naturally - the added bonus of Italians travelling in packs! More deep breathing! On the plane last (as a Greyrocks policy) we found perfect seats and were soon in Heraklion.


Now, East and West Crete feel about each other rather as do North and South London. We are off the West and would normally fly or sail into Chania, which is civilised  - Heraklion being industrial, dirty, and with the sort of tourists best avoided; but this year we had a cunning plan, which worked to perfection.
First we needed to get to Rethymnon. By taxi this would be an arm and a leg, and by bus a tedious walk between bus stations and would still probably need a taxi for the final part, so we had previously booked with Airport Transfers. This was supposed to be a minibus with up to three drop-offs. It turned out to be exclusive use of a proper taxi, and all for about 23GBP. Our driver took advice on where our rooms were and we were taken to the door, where we were met by the wonderful Lefteris, who said his last studio had been let so we would have to have a bigger apartment. It had two balconies and a sea view for a ridiculous price. When we left two days later he drove us to the bus station. That's a lot of luck!
The beach where we stayed is reminiscent of the Nea Hora area of Chania:- plenty of sand, organised beach areas but plenty of public space, easy entry into the sea and a continuous run of tavernas and bars. The old town is also like a smaller Chania, and probably worth exploring further. We picked a random bar and the owner declared an obsession with Paleochora and brought extra drinks!




From Rethymnon we were bound for the second Matala Hippie Festival. Last year's post has the background to this, and we had built our migration around the re-run:- with some tweaking of the details. First in getting there, we obviously needed just one bus to get as far as Agia Galini, and we had decided that if the wait for the onward next two buses was too lengthy we would treat ourselves to a taxi. (One can never be sure about the buses at Agia Galini as they are operated by the two opposing branches of KTEL, and knowledge is power!) 


It would indeed be over three hours to wait, so after a beer and a chat with the German bar owner we met last year Bob was tasked with doing something creative, and he returned with a privately secured ride to Matala. More Luck! We had also booked accommodation early and had three nights at the Matala Bay Hotel for a very good price. 


On balance the festival as a whole was not quite as wonderful as last year's. First, there was no Angelos Skordilis, who had died in the autumn. - RIP! Second the German efficiency of organisation had been supplanted by something quite else - but more local! Hence there were numerous different programmes in circulation  - none of which matched reality on stages. It didn't really matter - there were some good and some great acts! The pavement painting idea had been extended to include a competition, and there was an interesting range of stuff on sale - not all of it alternative! In fact it was all rather more commercial and mainstream - with a huge influx on the Sunday of Greek day-trippers. We bumped into Welsh Phil and friends from Paleo, and -weirdly - Lefteris from the apartment in Rethymnon!

On Sunday we also bumped into Barry and Judith (see last year's post!) and we led each other astray - getting ourselves thrown out of the Lions Bar at 3am, making Monday daytime activity rather gentle; but by the evening we were ready to go out for a big fish dinner with sparklers to celebrate Ruth's birthday.
Our final stroke of luck in  a lucky week of migration was that they offered to take us to Rethymnon next day in their car -despite our vast luggage - and that then became taking us all the way to our Chania hotel. 
A journey of sun, great company, Cretan scenery and smells and a great dollop of classic music to doze by! Magic!
Luck deserted us, however, when in the Chania hotel lift Ruth dropped the hefty wheelie bag on her big toe - not helping at all the Matala-acquired twisted knee, and the arthritis. There were two tasks to be done that evening before months on end in the (delightful) sticks: duck at Shaghai Lily's and French red wine from Carrefour! These were effected at a very slow pace! Next morning we just got a taste of the improvements to Chania bus station before the 8.30 bus for the final stage.

France in May:- Maybe not - but you do get some bank holidays!

It did stop raining once at least!

There was a lot of weather in France too! We built the month round three stays of about a week each in mobile homes, with the rest of the time in hotels. After spending the night in Dunkerque we drove down to Normandy, found the campsite in Benouville (Pegasus Bridge -  a lot of Dutch and a few Brits with caravans) - and slowly decamped into the mobile home (a very comfortable and modern one). We had just about finished this when it began to rain, and it barely stopped for a week! Bob managed one riverside ride on a somewhat better day, but it was a grim time for rain, wind and cold. The excellent indoor pool was the best Ruth managed in terms of exercise! We made some trips to places we knew from spending each Easter holiday in Normandy during the nineties, we had some pleasant lunches out, we cooked using first class ingredients and we watched a lot of  stuff on the laptop and French TV! On the second Sunday the second round of the Presidential election took place. We were jubilant at the result- of course - but it was interesting to observe that so much less expensive advertising and campaigning  was evident than in a UK general election. Is this austerity or a more intelligent electorate?

The next stop was Availles Limouzine, so that we could spend time with George and Gregory. The weather got better and better as we drove down  - and by the time we arrived in this delightful little spot 10km from Le Queroy (but over both a departmental and regional border) it was - as had been predicted - scorchio! In the years we have been visiting the area the hotel has been dilapidated, closed, bought and renovated by the council and run by a series of couples. It is now a Logis de France. We didn't eat dinner there, and the WiFi was a bit odd, but the rooms are spacious and very tastefully furnished. We enjoyed our stay and the Thursday little market outside. As G and G were very busy with the business and a school trip we weren't able to take them out for a meal, so instead  raided the supermarkets and laid on a spread at their house.

The moles had been there first!

Next we headed over to the Vendée. This was another time-warp stay. We had been to the area three times about ten years ago and thought it was worth a punt! We had found a campsite that would be open and looked well-located in the forest south of St Jean de Monts. We had chosen a cheap and small "cottage", which turned out to be serviceable but was distinctly past its sell-by date in comparison to some of the flash stuff on the site. We wondered why we were put there when the place was virtually empty, but as the week progressed we realised:- French Bank Holidays in May! Foreigners can only look on in amazement and speculate as to when the ponts, bouchons and engorgements will actually happen! The 1st and 8th happen irrespective of day of the week. (This time it was Tuesday.. we stayed off the roads but needed have bothered!) Ascension and Pentecost happen on a Thursday and Monday - 11 days apart and on dates that depend on Easter! Who knows when the hordes will descend? For a few days the facilities were barely open - including the bar where the WiFi was available -, the big jolly bloke on the staff gave daily kisses as he hung around doing nothing, and the indoor pool was a pleasant place to be! By Wednesday evening we sank without trace amongst most of the population of Nantes and Niort, and the big bloke donned a Mickey Mouse suit! So it stopped being a quiet hideaway, but nonetheless the town is OK! Its network of cycle paths has been improved further and is extensive, well-advertised and signed. There is even a Station de Velos at a crucial point with water and air! After the nice man at the bike shop had fixed the brakes on Ruth's bike we did some rides, but the sea temperature was still not good enough - so we had an afternoon in a very pleasant public swimming pool. Excellent food and wine in town, but a bit expensive - catering as it does for French tourists with the many holiday apartments. We left on the Saturday of Ascension weekend, and as we packed up it started to rain!
The three days booked in Agen Premiere Classe were as bad as one can imagine. It was a disgustingly wet drive down. A key road to the hotel had been closed causing yet more navigational mayhem, and then the automatic check-in didn't work! We went over to the Casino mall across the road to kill time and look for a WiFi zone. Nothing that was advertised worked, and the rain just kept coming! Eventually we got into the room, and we barely left it for two days or so! Nothing touristic was worth doing in the rain, things closed down on Sunday and we just hunkered down in the  (very intimate!) warmth with wine, cold food and the laptop! Fellow guests included a set of British guys driving some asphalting lorries down to somewhere and stuffed by the weekend road regulations in France.

By the Tuesday morning we were more than ready to leave, and the rain stopped, giving us a good clear run down via Bordeaux and Toulouse to Agde, where we spent the final week in pretty good weather! we were now between Bank Holidays, so Mimosas was fairly quiet, and we had another excellent mobile with plenty of kit and (now) free WiFi on each plot! There is also an improved cycle path down to the river, and the outdoor but slightly heated swimming pool was in working order. So a good week - at last! We did a number of rides around the different parts of Agde - including a new one across the river - to which we went by ferry!

For the Bank Holiday weekend (!) Agde was en fête with an amazing spectacle of costume, craft, dramatisations and so on celebrating its history (2 600 years allegedly). 

We stayed until the Tuesday, then packed the bikes into the body of Yvette and drove to Perpignan for one last night in France. En route we made a quick stop in Canet, and then thought of moules in the sunshine in St Cyprien; but the weekend must have been just too lucrative and tiring for the restauranteurs as by 2.10pm no-one would serve us! Supermarket ham sandwich then!
We took Yvette next day to her usual resting place, and were transported to the station for the Barcelona airport train. Needless to say that journey had its incident:- but that's another story!