The Seagull has Landed and the Balloon has Gone Up!

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!




The Bournemouth Eye

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.

May: A Moving Month!

"Moving" definitions:
1. mobile.. transient.. nomadic:
Since Bob's arrival from France on 1st May Greyrocks has spent the 31nights in;

• Two different Travelodge's (Brighton, Emsworth)
• Three different Premier Inns (Horndean, Bedhampton and Bristol)
• Two nights with J & A in Rotherfield
• The remaining five nights in a perfect country apartment near Rye

A whole month (and it will be seven weeks by the time we leave) is the longest time Greyrocks has spent in its native country in eight years. The reason -of course - is the death of Ruth's mother on 28th April as outlined in the last post.

2. emotional.. sad.. gruelling:
The first two weeks were dominated by all the stuff necessary after a death. The earliest date available for a funeral was 15th May but with a 10 am slot, so we took this, and working with Vic Ruth's father) and her sister and brother-in-law we arranged what would be a small but very well received event. With the main bookings and meetings addressed Greyrocks disappeared for a week in Brighton and returned for last minute jobs and for Ruth to stay over with Vic on the eve. As funerals go this was a "good" one:- helped naturally by the fact that all knew that Vivienne had "had enough"! The Co-op offered us a choice of crematoria and celebrants and both were ideal. They own a brand new place - The Oaks near Havant - and Vic was insistent it should be there. (At his age he has become very familiar with funerals and found the alternatives "like conveyor belts"!) This was spacious, green and comfortable. We were assigned Moira Dadd  as celebrant. She visited us at home and together we planned the largely secular ceremony with just a touch of the  non-conformist tradition from a recorded hymn and short prayer. She helped us get it just about perfect.

The audio-visual side was handled discretely from a mixing desk at the back. The photographs (some dating back to about 1935) were projected on a big screen like a PowerPoint presentation. Ruth's "eulogy" went down well! The attendance consisted of eighteen family, eight members of Vic's Air Crew Association branch and  Viv's gardener and hairdresser with their spouses. Afterwards we went for a very early buffet lunch at the Brookfield Hotel in Emsworth (also known to Vic for past wakes!)
The opportunity for a family photograph was too good to miss, and matched pretty well with what might have been possible in June for the proposed Sapphire Wedding party (just missing two very young great-grandchildren, their father and - of course - Vivienne!). Family and friends who would like a copy can email us, as for a copy of what Ruth wrote for Moira to read as a brief biography of Vivienne.

3. noun: relocation, house removal
In parallel with this major life-event Greyrocks has been helping Chloë acquire her first home! She found her little "Blue House" whilst we were in Goa in February. Since then we have had dealings with very capable and helpful surveyors and structural engineers, and complete drongos at the Halifax and Aviva. The web-based solicitor comes in somewhere between the two under "you get what you pay for"! There has been a sequence of misinformation and unnecessary procedures. The vendor himself has thrown spanners in the works over visits to the property. Greyrocks has been Skypeing, ranting, emailing and wrestling with IT issues from Goa, Fuerteventura, France and hotels all over the south of England. Meanwhile Chloë had had to move out of her medium-term house-share and has had six weeks of sofa-surfing. But there is light at the end of the tunnel!  (or is it a moving train?) We may have completion this week, Ruth's niece's partner will be overseeing the necessary works, a vanful of stuff from the Balham loft should arrive and Greyrocks' offspring may soon have a settled and comfortable home. Fingers are firmly crossed!

That's enough about May - although a gastronomic and meteorological account would be interesting and might appear when the whole UK thing! Next stop one night near Vic, then Ruth's birthday and the big move in Bristol! (Maybe!)
















 

And April was a shower, too!

As the month ends Ruth is again in Hampshire, in what is now just the home of her father!
Bob is near Calais ready to cross the Manche tomorrow and come to join her.
With her Mum's deteriorating state in hospital Ruth had spent a week in UK in early April, went back to Fuerteventura for six days to do various health things and perform the pre-migration rituals, and flew to Barcelona with Bob on the 20th.Not much of interest happened in those six days except that Ruth caught a cold (blaming it on the UK trip!)

Greyrocks did also, however, do what it does best and plan the next trip. This was to entail two spells at the usual South of France spots (Canet and Lattes), visit George in his new home near Poitiers, and have a few days on the Canal du Nivernais in Burgundy which we had seen during one of the second series of Timothy West and Prunella Scales' wonderful programmes about canal trips.

But it didn't materialise! The Barcelona bit worked like clockwork - even the Line of Fear! Lattes was sunny for a day, but Ruth was unfit, and then it rained and rained. We stayed four days and then moved to Lattes on Saturday. The journey was dry and we were welcomed back but the forecast was poor so we looked up the V.O. films available in Montpellier and hatched a plan for a wet Sunday:- tram from the hypermarket, lunch opposite the cinema where they offer discounted tickets, "Second Best Marigold Hotel" (which has a bizarre French title), drink in a bar on the "Ouef" and tram back.  A reasonable film, but whilst we were watching the heavens had opened, so it was running for cover to get back to a soggy mobile home, and Monday was not much better! By now though weather was not the biggest worry as the news from UK was very bleak. We booked a flight for Ruth to Gatwick on Tuesday, cancelled what we could and Bob planned his three leg journey up to Calais with the car.

As Ruth waited to check in the call came to say the her Mother had died peacefully that morning. Just a few hours later she was at the family home and is there now.

R.I.P. Vivienne 

November 1929 to April 2015

The long March!

Not our most enjoyable Carnival!

Ruth headed home on March 7th. Bizarrely at Gatwick in Weatherspoons for breakfast she spotted her former Science Education colleague from Greenwich who was on her way to Iceland. (The nation - not the supermarket!)
Ruth was travelling on hand baggage only having left a load of things at the parents' and expecting to be back there soon. This soon turned out to be a  vain hope! After four hours of sharing insights with her Francophile and similarly aged neighbours  ("So, what don't you like about the UK?") she landed very early, saw the sun and met the other half. Greyrocks was back in Corralejo in no time at all and was dropped just outside "The Rock" where some old acquaintances were resumed and some welcome beverages consumed!
The first few days back were sunny, but soon what everyone agrees is bad, bad weather returned, and that is one of the ways this March will be remembered. The local paper Fuerte Extra wrote of the time since New Year:

".. it may seem to have passed quickly, it has not

done so in the most pleasant of manners, given the atrocious weather! There is no

doubt about it; this winter has been one of the coldest and longest for many years.

Thankfully, experts have forecast above average temperatures this spring, ensuring

a return to sunny days and pleasant evenings. In previous years the seasons were

definitely not so diverse, but now there is a marked difference between winter and

summer."

However, as this post is composed on 31st March (last minute again!) we are enjoying the third consecutive day of gloriously sunny afternoons. Still:- mustn't grumble!

Our back balcony:- the nearest we got to display!

Greyrocks will also mark it down as the month of the Health Centre. Ruth had been back less than 48 hours when she received a call about an appointmnet the next morning at 8.30 with the orthopaedic specialist in Puerto del Rosario. This meant the 7am bus, but we discovered it doesn't leave from the port, so we missed it and had to take a taxi from the Puerto bus station up to the new building. Amongst the outcomes of a long session with a very nice specialist was the need for new X-rays n Corralejo, so that was Wednesday! Then on Thursday we both went for a routine nurse appointment and spent several more hours waiting for ECGs and follow-up. Then there were blood tests, results, the follow-up from orthopaedics (Ruth is now on the (long) waiting list for the first knee), and a wait for an appointment for Bob. This last came through as two days after our booked migration flight causing havoc in planning! And then the lurgy struck!

Greyrocks missed the opening procession of Carnival by eating out with Rita and Mel, but aimed to get its act together for the second Saturday big one! The plan was a magic carpet and lamp salesman in djellabah and fez, plus a generic genie/ snake-handler. As the stapler, sewing machine and scissors were brought into action so the sinuses seized up, until it became clear we wouldn't be venturing out (in hideously cold conditions) for any sort of carnival fun! Bob went (in mufti) to wait for

Chloë to arrive from the airport - delayed, of course, by closed roads for carnival. She was herself streaming and voiceless. It was omelettes and early nights all round!

By Sunday we were sufficiently recovered to venture out for the afternoon, but five minutes out it poured with rain and we sat dodging roof leaks until it was time for a very good meal at Marquesina with views of the Sardine burning and fireworks, This was Chloe's first encounter with this peculiar ceremony and she was intrigued! Her eight day stay scored five days foul and three days good enough for sunbathing. In amongst them were some good meals both out and at home and some serious property-related transactions and planning. She left on the first good hot day!

Meanwhile Ruth's family situation in UK continues to cause great concern, with her mother re-entering hospital on 30th. Things can only get better!

 

 

 

Snatching Victory from the jaws ...

Worth the wait!

For those waiting with baited breath to find out if Ruth got to Goa the answer is: thankfully, yes! The news from the hospital was that her Mum would be going to a community hospital where there is an established rehab. regime, so having done what advance catering could be done she left about as late as would be worth travelling for:- namely for 17 full days. Getting a flight wasn't easy, but by judicious ignoring of what is said about Jet Airways she got one from Heathrow via Mumbai (oh dear, we wanted to avoid that!). In fact it was an adequate (pretty full) flight which passed quickly as Ruth was seated with two other women travelling alone. The films available were not much to write home about, nor the meals and bar service; but what was easier than in previous years was the transfer to domestic, which was effected relatively easily once the baggage was reclaimed. The hours at Terminal I were then not enhanced by a total lack of rupees and ATM, so that it was a relief to discover that Jet did serve a breakfast on their delayed onward flight. At Goa there was a chance to see the new terminal building, get ripped off on cash rupees and find a taxi with no seat belts, a maniac driver and a smell of urine. Bob was waiting at the guest house having reserved sunbeds for sleep catch-up. To say Ruth was pleased to have arrived is to completely understate!

Our balcony with Third Eye!

Accommodation-wise we were spoilt, having learnt last year of the delights of the Guest House and got a good price. We had a good-sized room with a lovely balcony, excellent shower and a passable WiFi signal. It didn't have the expected fridge, but we worked round that. The two blocks are set in mature gardens (with cockerels and hens) and in the middle is a sub-let restaurant unfortunately named U.T.I. (United Tastes of India), serving excellent food (including Masala Dosai for breakfast - a favourite!). Towards the end of our stay we discovered, however, that this would be our only year there, as the price would double for next season. This policy was the subject of much Office discussion, with its seeming reversal of market forces:- fewer tourists - up the price!! Hmm!







The stay as a whole was one of complete chilling-out, with just the one trip out of the area. As previously stated there was a perceptible decrease in the number of tourists, which meant much less pressure on sunbeds and catering, and after a few days of roughness the sea became very inviting. A few bars had changed hands and there was, unfortunately, much less of a live music scene. Instead we made three visits to the Steak House open air cinema and saw a good set films: Gone Girl, The Judge and The Journey of A Thousand Feet. Gastronomic highlights were a mixture of differently cooked huge prawns at U.T.I. for Valentines and a crab dish with friends at the excellent Dropadi just before we left.


New residents of The Nest

We had to make a couple of tuk-tuk journeys to Chawdi:- not least to buy Ruth two pairs of vari-focal specs for GBP60; and we made the annual pilgrimage to Cavelossim for the Betty's Cruise. This year there were seven of us in one large taxi, and with the new Sal bridge open journeys were particularly easy.  We noticed a new attention to sea safety and later followed up and discovered there had been a tragedy in October. The sea part of our voyage was wonderful this time with many dolphins up close and reasonable sea conditions; but up the river we saw very few birds or bats. Still, the meal was- as ever - delicious and the booze flowed freely. Such good value and such fun!


Greyrocks said goodbye to Palolem on 23rd February. We were going our separate ways but travelled together to the airport. Bob was on the Doha - Barcelona flights leaving in the very early morning and Ruth would have a very long wait for her Mumbai-Heathrow flights. She had a long dull few hours as the Domestic Security was not open and it was plastic chairs in a cavernous wailing area for her! Bob had an equally rough passage over the Arabian Sea as on the outward leg, but a smooth connection and was back in Barca for late afternoon. Ruth's international Jet flight was dominated by a screaming and badly-managed child, about which cabin crew did nothing, but she sat next to a Goan mother and son from Tooting, which was interesting! Mumbai had been a long wait, too, with all sorts of chaos around the coach connection, but it worked, and she was ready to return to daughterly duties the next day.

Her Mum had made the move to the rehab ward, so she visited her there for the next nine days or so, and helped to prepare for her return home with a sophisticated care package. The weather was a lot milder than when Ruth left, but still chilly after Goa. When a date was established for the move she booked a flight back to Fuerte, and that is where she is now!

The Cruelest Month

Greyrocks has never been very fond of January, but this one takes the biscuit! No smug travellers' tales this time and just a brief rundown on why we are somewhat hors de combat!
It started well enough with our New Years Eve meal at Caracoles. A description of the surprise menu was promised, so here it is:

A starter plate of fish terrine, mushroom feuillete and a shot of soup

Half a bogavente (large crayfish) with chanpagne sauce and wild rice

Fillet steak with tomato provencale and rosti

Crepe Suzette with two ice creams

Unusually Chloe was with us - see last post - and she enjoyed it though may have over-indulged. Fireworks from several hotels were very good this year - although our nearest one had a mishap which resulted in the calling-out of the bomberos and police! New Years Day was gentle and involved the Blue Rock and a festive meal chez nous, and then we got on with business, sorting out C's documentation issues and preparing for Goa, but in parallel  there was worrying news from Hampshire, UK about Ruth's mother's health. This isn't the place for a medical bulletin:- suffice to say she was advised to go to hospital and refused, so was needing a lot of support, as was Ruth's 90 year-old Dad.

The eve of Kings (5th) was a bright day so we all went down to the ferry port to see the arrival of Their Majesties. This was - as they say - the same as every year and we sat in the cafeteria and watched it all transpire, then rode up to Mas Que Nada for tapas lunch. We were out again in the evening to see the procession (camels and all) from our traditional vantage point of the American Burger joint (Chicken George). It was traditionally very late arriving, but went down well with all, as did the fillet steak kebabs to which we introduced Chloe! Next day being a Bank Holiday in Spain, and her last day we had some plans, but everything changed when we heard that Ruth's Mum had had a bad fall and was now in hospital in Portsmouth.

So... All Change! C left as planned ready to move to Bristol and then start her new job in Bath on the Monday. Greyrocks started a week-long process of weighing up flights, needs explained by sisters and changing prognoses before deciding that Goa would not be a goer in the first instance for Ruth. We got a partial refund on the ticket and left together on Friday 16th:- Ruth for Gatwick and Bob for Barcelona and Goa via Doha (Qatar). (This latter route had been chosen to avoid both UK and inter-terminal indignities at Mumbai.)

And that is how the rest of the month has been. Bob (nursing a cough and cold) had an experimental week in Benaulim before moving down to good old Palolem, where we had booked into the slightly up-market Guest House. He is enjoying time around The Office with most of the "staff" present - except John and Tracey who are in Greyrocks' Fuerteventura home! He reports that all is much the same, but tourism is as much as 40pc down. (If that's the rude Russians that are missing it's spacibo to Mr Putin!)

Meanwhile Ruth is living in the family home and cooking and housekeeping for her father, with daily visits to her mother in hospital. She has borrowed warm clothes, which are distinctly necessary with some remarkably cold weather, and this morning: SNOW! Goa garments are in the wheelie bag and if things stabilise Ruth will be off like a shot for some curtailed Goan delights!

And thus we finish January. Things can only get better!

Fuert - Advent - ura!

Festive decoration at the marina

 Greyrocks has been busy through the month of December! The weather was mostly dreadful until the offspring arrived on 26th, and there then followed three days without discernible wind and with very hot afternoons. Just what she (and we) needed. Now as Greyrocks works on a last-minute panic posting to round off the month (and year) the wind is howling and no-one wants to go to the shops! Not the best November and December on record!

Nonetheless decoration of various sorts has taken place throughout the municipio, and a few jolly japes have been slotted in between storms! This includes an afternoon at Pescaditos for a RNLI fundraiser. Local hero David had been an award-winning bosun of the Port Isaac crew and had asked that after his death in January his possessions be sold to raise money, so the Sandies spearheaded the project, and it was a huge financial and social success. Greyrocks cleared out stuff for the sale, but came back with nearly as much clutter from the raffle.






El Cotillo artwork of the Milky Way

And then there was the bus trip to El Cotillo on a windy Saturday. The good news is that the village has had a new lease of life since the last visit - probably two years ago! Several new restaurants have opened near the old harbour and Greyrocks had a fine (and remarkably cheap) tapas lunch in one of them. The bad news is that the Greyrocks knees were having a bad day so the rest of the village remained largely unexplored. Bob did however make a short tour and came back to report on a beautiful work of art:- a "mural" on textile taking up all of one side of a building. We have since been told it is one of a series, but have no first-hand knowledge. There is developing there a relaxed and bohemian vibe that is very appealing!

Warm yer cockles at Blue Rock!

"Who is that (wo)man?"

As Greyrocks has remarked previously the festive decorations in Corralejo can be installed absurdly early and always before the puente Bank Holiday (6th to 8th). This year Claire at the Blue Rock organised her helpers for a launch by the 1st. When the theme was revealed it was clear why! Along with the "blazing fire", lights and trees were 25 numbered windows in the style of an advent calendar and each evening at 6pm the appropriate one was opened to reveal a bar punter. Some folk were tastefully captured and then there were the silly ones:- most notably Ruth (number 5) shown (pre-weight loss and in Carneval costume from 2011) just between the two toilet doors!

Very silly then, and worse now!

Christmas afternoon has never seen really bad weather in Greyrocks' experience, and to everyone's delight this year was also a corker! Down at the Rock there were the traditional roast rolls and potatoes. Greyrocks went down there after brunch chez Eileen and Chris and met up with the whole gang. There was no rush to be back for the evening as we had done the Spanish thing and consumed goose the night before. This was a bird that had made a surprise late appearance courtesy of Eileen and Lidl after orders had already been placed locally for pheasant and duck. With meals at home for just two and then three this has been a challenge Greyrocks is still facing and the freezer heaves. We assuaged guilt with a donation to Fare Share!
Our low key festivities continue tonight with dinner at Caracoles and for the first time we will be joined for this by Chloë, who has made a late change to her return flight following a hiccup in the start of her new West Country job. Watch out for details of Carlos' surprise menu in the next post.

A HAPPY AND PEACEFUL 2015 TO OUR SMALL BAND OF READERS!