Time out - Meanwhile back at the Ranch

Well - that says it all! This is part of the historical scholarship of "Nogbad the Improbable", who also posts on The Paleochora Site. It seems it/he was also very windy in our absence. You may agree after reading this that the boy needs therapy!

Time Out - From Beach to Field

What a line-up!
.. and with perfect timing it would mean absence from Paleo over the dreaded Aug 15th holiday, so that is what we did!
Meticulous planning for cheapest travel and overnights plus minimal packing - and by Thursday lunchtime we were at Gatwick railway station. Network Rail were very helpful in re-issuing the tickets after the wallet theft and we had a smooth ride via Reading to Banbury, then the nice taxi man took us to a back entrance and we were able to pitch the kids' tent in a very convenient field that was theoretically full but OK with no vehicle - nice and easy to erect!

On the train we had received an SMS from NZ Mike and daughter Sophia saying they were already there. We saw them several times over the weekend , as well as Richard, Annie and Joel - that's all as in Cosmogonia strumming 2008 and Yanni's Place strumming earlier this summer, so Paleo was well-represented!


We saw about a half of these acts - plus Yusef Islam ("Cat Stevens") as guest star on the last night. Otherwise we were out and about in the village (see next/following blog)

There is a wonderful account from (sorry) The Telegraph! We will "spoil it" by enhancing her report on the Ade spoof of Steeleye Span's "All around my Hat"
"If anyone should ask me........ It's my ****ing business! It's my ****ing hat!"

Seth Lakeman and Dreadzone were new to us and we are now firm fans. Winwood disappointed some who had wanted more from the Traffic era - which he did deliver after they'd gone home. Richard Thompson was superb.

The "demographics" of the festival are very interesting! We decided the missing generation was that aged, say, 25 to 40. There were plenty of people older than us - mostly equipped with very comfortable chairs, plenty of families and plenty of groups of "young people" ("Isn't Cat Stevens the one they put a death threat on?") Several members of the latter fell onto our tent at 3 in the morning!

We had travelled very light thanks to Easyjet policies, so we were not blessed with chairs or even groundsheet, nor with catering kit. Fortunately although the dew was very heavy and the wind chilly we had only a tiny drop of rain. We found good places for "meals", and had a shower in the Cricket Pavillion. The loos were incredibly clean and well-maintained.

On Sunday morning we decamped and took the train back to East Croydon and the joys of a night in the Travelodge (32 sterling well spent!) We visited the Balham house and then went for a very nice Roast Beef at the (disastously renovated) Duke of Devonshire.

Next day we went to Brighton to help Chloe after her move into a 6-student shared house. We had a day of ringing the utilities, pushing trolleys of ex-storage stuff, B&Q purchases and Sainsbury's food up hills, followed by estate agent visit and fish and chips, and finally assembling flat-pack furniture. After that a night dossing at Gatwick airport was almost restful. (Fortunately Chloe is really happy with the place and her housemates - she just needs to find some part-time work which isn't easy!)

Finally we came back from Piraeus to Chania overnight. This time the boat was the Lato, so seats were in the huge open lounge. No prisoners this time (see June) - but "Mr Creosote" was next to Bob coughing and spluttering, so we await Swine Flu, and we are not having Air Type seats again - it's a cabin or the floor!

At Chania bus station a Brit came up to us and said "You must have been at Cropredy last weekend - wasn't it good?"

Small world or what?

Time Out - Meeting on the Ledge!

Not exactly a mosh-pit!

This was our view down to the main stage. Note the civilised and staid behaviour, with virtually no official intervention. 20, 000 people all "looking after each other" - enough to bring a tear to an ageing hippy eye! We settled outside a (the only) black guy's stall and with the sloping field got a fine view and plenty of space. (It was coincidentally rather close to the Wadworths bar!)
Another delightful features of Cropredy is the proximity to the village and the way that the locals welcome the punters.
For example there are at least four community groups offering breakfast on a fund-raising basis.

The two pubs have music for free in their gardens and we loved the offerings at both!

The Braesnose take the Fringe very seriously and had brought in a trailer to make a good stage. We saw two acts in Americana style :- the Cedars with a very strong female vocalist, and the magnificent Los Pistaleros - whose vocalist Bobby Valentino also plays the fiddle. On the Saturday the two acts were more classic rock in style and included Spank the Monkey! Fab!

..and down at the smaller Red Lion we wallowed in Englishness! The Adderbury Morris danced in the street outside and crowds gathered in the graveyard opposite. The church doesn't seem to object to this and had taped the rubbish bags to the headstones!

So with that and the real ale (ooh Hook Norton!) , nearby canal, cricket pitch, bells, vintage camping vans, sausage and bacon rolls, humorous and/or vintage rock T-shirts, Guardians outnumbering all other press and sensible public transport you could almost want to repatriate yourself. Almost!

Time Out - Missing our Marbles!

All four of us went by bus to the port at Souda on Tuesday 12th August and then took the overnight FB Eliros to Piraeus. We had booked reclining seats but the kids said it was the most uncomfortable night of their whole vagabond holiday! Whilst it was still dark we went by Metro to Syntagma Square and had breakfast whilst we waited for the Left Luggage place to open, then we walked to the Plaka and around the base of the Acropolis, follwed by a gentle climb up to the point where payment was needed. We went against the substantial tourist tide and down to the New Acropolis Museum. This is a masterpiece of architecture - built with a lot of glass - especially in the floors, and with views up to the real thing! Until December it is just 1 Euro per person to enter. There are a few grumbles about the way public behaviour is regulated, but it is an unforgettable experience! Of course the centrepiece is the top gallery where the Parthenon friezes have been reconstructed to the original layout and a wonderful view across to their original location. There is a great deal of white plaster replica to fill the spaces where the marbles abducted by Elgin should be!
Another reason to be ashamed of British citizenship!
Come on, British Museum! Give 'em back!


After several hours we were exhausted and looked in the Lonely Planet Guide for an interesting place in the Plaka for lunch. We headed past all the touting staff in the central area and found the recommended taverna - in a quiet back street. Unfortunately it is not such a good place during the day and the service and range of food was very unremarkable. Never mind - it was restful - and good for people-watching. At one point there were people there with the Lonely Planet Guides in English, French, Spanish and Italian editions. As the name of the place is not transliterated there was a lot of walking backwards and forwards before coming in - and some disappointed discussion as the reality became clear.

So - rested and marginally fed we went to the National Park for a sleep.

We remember taking Chloe there when she was little to feed the ducks. No ducks now (except in an overcrowded pen) and stagnant pond - but some rather sweet turtles in a smaller pond!

.. and some kri-kri and other creatures.

Our tempers were frayed :- we put the kids on a bus to the airport and went off to find our cheap hotel. This was near Omonia Square and pretty cheap, but the reviews on the internet warned about the rough area as well as little niggles about the facilities. In fact it was OK for one night, but with few obvious places nearby to eat. We went to a basic grill room just downstairs and watched considerable forceful police activity rounding up suspected illegals.

Next day we aimed to get a bus back to Syntagma for the airport bus and waited ages only to be told we couldn't pay cash - only tickets which were not on sale anywhere close! Grrrrr! So we used thre Metro and in the two stops involved Bob's wallet was lifted! Further Grrr! - use up mobile credit ringing to stop cards! You can go off places!

High Season - Keeping the Rhythm going!

After the eventual opening of the High Street there began a series of cultural events. First there was the 2nd International Chess Tournament. A large chessboard was painted on the pavement outside the community centre, and each evening there was a line of tables where the youngsters played.

The Live Music scene has also been very rich this year! The Skala has had a live band almost every Monday - rock, jazz or funk - and you can sit on the rocks by the jetty to listen if the bar itself is full.

One of our favourite acts came to the Atoli: dear old Angel Skordilis! He has featured on the blog before and is as competent as ever - doing a Santana medley finale to blow the mind!

Early on there had been a couple of evenings when Swedish Mats played at the Seagull - mostly Dylan, but also happy to play along with other numbers from fellow guitarists. An on-going theme between him and us has been our delay in buying his CD. He has now gone home and we still haven't bought one!



And then along came Mike from Kenilworth with daughter Sophia, so the baton was passed to them and Richard (see last year!). The venue has moved down to Yanni's Place and they played there several times during their fortnight's stay!

On the official side there was some sort of inter-cultural song and dance festival over three days. Last year the guest troupe was from Cyprus. This year Brazil (no idea why!)

.. and of course we have had a few famous Cretan bands playing on Saturday nights down by the old port jetty. Each time this happens there is an outbreak of "Greek tourist behaviour" in the village. Its features are at least as well known and despised amongst the locals as amongst we onlookers. These include ridiculous double and triple-parking to avoid any walking or to buy a frappe, rude treatment of waiters (including clicking of the fingers), lining up empty beer bottles on the ground beside the table, over-ordering and playing with food, and heavy petting which would cause thier Mama to have a fit if she saw it!

Anyway... whilst the evenings have been rich and varied the days have been dominated by weather! In the last week of July we had been detered from going to the beach (or had been driven off from it) so many times that we decided to go to Chania. Up there we had no wind! We stayed the night in a small but very comfortable hotel on the front at Nea Hora. We found the cheaper Chinese (Shanghai Lily near the bus station) and got the longed-for duck. We went to the market and bought prunes for Judy and John, then did the three-supermarket trail in order to stock up on goodies for us. When we got back to Paleochora it was windy!!! The full moon was on 5th August and just before it we had a couple of glorious sunny and still days. Then there was a couple of days of the unusual West wind which brought out the windsurfers.

We chose restaurants to optimise views of the lovely red moons which followed, and as we sat in one we had a frantic series of SMSs from Chloe and Chris as they travelled from Santorini to Heraklion and hence to us. (They had been determined not to come to us here, but were persuaded - possibly by diminishing money!)
They arrived on Saturday 8th and stayed three nights until we all moved on. They didn't have great weather, but we took them for some excellent food (see the Crocodile plate!), played Scrabble and cards, did their washing and had some great conversations. Bob and the kids walked the Anidri Triangle despite the wind.