I am a Traveller - You are a Tourist - He is a Holidaymaker!

After our three days we took the bus down to Maspalomas - as we have done several times now -  for a lazy break based on a tourist complex. We were happy to return to Vista Flor - this time 60 per cent Scandinavian in occupancy - but at least they are generally well-behaved! We didn't do much - but that was the idea! Bob rented a bicycle for a few days and went for some rides up and down the coast. Ruth sometimes took the bus to meet him at strategic points. On one occasion he spotted a Paleo pal:- Fred (as in Zygos) had said he would be there, and  he was! It was very warm most of the time and Ruth used the outdoor pool on four of the days, but the wind was strong and gusty - preventing beach and sea activity. Both the world economy and global climate change have done yet more damage since last year. At commercial centres there are more closed businesses (especially at Faro2 which is reduced to just three restaurants), and at the big beach the wind and tides have swept away vast amounts of sand to greatly reduce beach depth. Various attempts have been made to reduce this erosion, but the effects don't look impressive!

Whenever we mentioned where we live there would be a remark about Fuerteventura being "quiet", and we were - once again - struck by the fact that the Gran Canarian resorts are different from Corralejo (although perhaps not too different from Caleta de Fuste!). In Maspalomas there is no sense that it is a functioning town, the timeshare menaces are still very present and active, restaurants all seem to have the same menu (often with pictures and/or translations into Finnish, Russian, etc), and Spanish is rarely heard! On the other hand there are some nice touches which come from the island having been developed for so much longer:- like the well-established Botanical Gardens, and substantial bus network.
We flew back on the Saturday and encountered rain at Las Palmas airport! We even managed to co-ordinate with Eileen who was picking someone up at the airport, so we were home  in super-quick time, with just two birthday-related activities ahead of us - Bob's registration with the Spanish Health Service, and the hosting of the tapas evening!
The former involved a bus trip down to Puerto del Rosario, bearing many, many documents. We found the right place, pulled our queue number from the machine, and waited half an hour or so. Then it was in to the fray, use Ruth's increasingly fluent Spanish, show the white paper from UK (S1), the green paper, the passport copy and off we went smiling!  We celebrated with tapas at our favoured bar near the port, seeing the new Olsen service (fast to Las Palmas), and in delightfully sunny weather. Then we did the business at the couriers to send off passports for Indian visas, had a beer and got the bus back! Jobs done!
... and then there was the party.. read on!

Hard Times for Some

As it happened our party day was also Election Day in Spain. Not much sign of it in Corralejo - some posters and a PP rally (the nasty ones!) - partly because of the Canarian parties. We had intended to locate a red rose to show our allegiances, but forgot - and that just makes worse the depression over the loss of the last significant socialist government in Europe!
Midweek we flew very, very cheaply to Las Palmas for the significant birthday! We stayed as before for three days near Canteras beach. They were preparing  the Belen sand sculpture for Christmas, but already in place was this magnificent opus for the elections. If you can interpret the precise message you have done better than us. Seemed in the right spirit, though!

 On the birthday itself we wandered down to the port area and saw that the Cunard "Queen Elizabeth" was visiting. Huge! Pleasingly it had deposited around the area - albeit for a very short time span - loads of pretty infirm pensioners! Greyrocks felt less decrepit!
We had some strong winds, but it was also frequently very hot. We checked out Galia :- the lovely French restaurant we had in mind for birthday dinner! It was closed and shuttered. Crisis and very sad! Later we came across the (former) owner, but couldn't ask the main question! He offered us a steak at another restaurant he is associated with. We declined and went instead to Triana at the other end of the city . Whilst wandering round looking for a place for lunchtime tapas we found La Travesia,,  saw its menu and booked for the evening. It is a charming old-style tapas bar, and treated us magnificently:- serving the craved duck magret beautifully cooked, and then bringing free flan with sparklers, and the punters sang Cumpleaños Feliz! And then half of Greyrocks was on a State Pension!
We atyed another day and then headed for Maspalomas.

Birthday Bashing

Half of Greyrocks is now on a state pension! Bob's birthday happened by design in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria - see next post - but just before we left Fuerteventura we held an event to celebrate it (and Ruth's almost forgotten 60th) with Corralejo chums.

We invited about 70, and about 50 turned up at some point in the afternoon or evening. Mike at the Casbah next door to the Rock did a buffet, we added some nibbles and Eileen made the cake. Pete and Dave took the request for some live music very seriously, and in fact played for hours. They had previously met a tourist called Mandy, and she did some numbers, as did our local Mel.

..and here is the slide show..

A good time was had by all!

Up in the Air - and Back on the Air

After the Lattes campsite we had one night in Perpignan (as did the Scttish rugby team) and then one in Salt near Girona. Thanks to Ryanair (Grrr) with its serious partial withdrawal from Girona airport we needed to avail ourselves of a new free service offered by Punt Central Parking. After saying goodbye to Yvette we were driven to Caldes railway  station which connects easily with the Barcelona airport Metro service. It takes a very long time, but works and is more leisurely  than the bus alternative. Then a packed flight and a pick-up by Windows Dave.
Home again - and a busy time of re-integration, research and repair! It was also the run-up to Bob's Big Birthday, but more of that later! The weather was wonderful at times, but did also feature a red alert for high tide, and some heavy showers. The atmosphere around town is more upbeat than we feared. In our absence:

• The old town re-paving has been finished and looks good
• The urn water feature has been removed after being smashed
• The Cafe Lounge has been under a couple of new managements and fingers are crossed
• The Temple Bar has moved
• Two new and very popular tapas bars have opened near the Shell Staion (one is the old Piratas)
• At the top of the High Street there are major roadworks to widen foot and cycle paths, but make the road one-way
• Our complex has the contentious artificial grass round the pool
• It is impossible to buy The Guardian and Independent

On a beautiful Sunday we made our first trip to the big beach, and caught sight of the International Kite Festival. Bob walked a long way further south for a better view - and here it is:

And back by popular demand... Ruth is once again on the radio, with a regular slot of Wednesday 12 till 2pm, and doing some cover slots, too! So tune in online to Hot FM for an eclectic mix of music and a teasing competition.

Languedoc for beginners

 So the second half of October was a blank slate. The weather predictions were slightly better for France than for Catalunya so after collecting the car we turned right rather than left from Girona, and headed into the region of Languedoc-Roussillon. The plan was to start at Lattes - almost a suburb of Montpellier but even closer to the sea (just west of La grande Motte), and then to come back south and stop at either Agde or Canet - the then favourite spots on this bit of coast. There was a slight thwarting of plans when we turned up at the selected campsite to discover there were two exhibitions on and so no space other than for tents. It was not tent weather, so we spent the night in a local Premier Classe, ate at the Campanile and went back the next day to Camping Le Parc to hire a mobile home. This was an excellent base, and the mobile was almost new and very comfortable. For the first week it was also very quiet - just a few camper-vans. We liked it so much that we booked a second week, making this the accommodation in which we have had the longest stay ever in France! It became busier, with the French half-term holiday, but still very restful. We stayed until it was about to close for the season.

Lattes is not exactly scenic - mostly huge shopping opportunities! It is also currently afflicted by major road works to make a new third tramway through the agglomeration - as far as the sea. This will go down the middle of widened roads, and will - in the spirit of Montpellier described in the Spring - be a grand projet to be proud of! If you don't understand how much better the French are at them take a look at this. Crisis, what crisis! On one of our cycling trips we saw a tram doing a trial run with dignatories and press in attendance.

The weather was - unsurprisingly - mixed! Here is the Metéos' map for one of those six or so days when we were definitely not going for a bike ride! This is when enormous French shopping malls come into their own, and when cheap Wi-fi with BBC radio plays and readings are de rigeur!  .. but there were also a handful of days when the weather was better than we had left behind in Greece! We much enjoyed the nearest seaside spot of Palavas - reached by cycling down the side of the Lez, and we also cycled  upstream to the centre of Montpellier on a beautiful day. There was a film festival in progress and we were once again impressed by this lovely city. We had just finished watching a series of TV programmes about Pathé so this building caught our notice!

 On the dodgy days we went out by car and visited other coastal towns. Le Grau was fairly quiet and attractive. On the way back a navigational error took us closer than planned to Aigues Mortes where there was a Camarguais show of some sort going on; and - of course - we saw a lot of flamingoes!

Star prize for energetic pursuit goes to Bob, who - on a perfect cycling day-rode to Perols and then alongside the Canal do Rhone à Sète ending up back in Palavas -a  ride of one and a half hours and flat as a pancake! He was then tempted by the dégustation of seafood - but resisted!

Adio, Ciaou, Hasta la vista and Bonjour!

One of the benefits of being retired nomads is the time available for travel research, This leads - in our case - to serious miserliness about fares. So when, in September Rainer casually mentioned that Ryanair had started flying from Chania to Frankfurt-Hahn we were onto their website like rats up a drain, because getting anywhere sensible directly so that Athens can be avoided has to be a good thing :-  and cheap!

On closer inspection this particular route proved expensive, but the other new one we found is Chania-Milan (Bergamo). So this how we plaaned the migration this time:



... and such a good price!

As time passed in Crete the benefits of missing out Athens became more apparent. The images on the BBC news website of accumulating rubbish as a result of the strike by municipal workers brought to mind the unsavory nature of the streets round the Piraeus port even in strke-free times, and the prospect of roaming around for half a day and then being crammed into a crowded airport bus was not inviting. With no air traffic control strike on the day of travel we thought we had struck(!) a neat solution, with the greatest stress being a very long wait in Bergamo airport.  In reality we were somewhat touched by the Greek troubles. We ran from the Paleo bus to the airport bus at Chania with1 minute to spare. At the airport the departures board showed that every outgoing flight was delayed. Every so often the Aegean announcer made a strong statement about the unjustfiable ATC work to rule. We were told we were delayed by at least two hours:- no problem for us! It was a beautiful sunny day, so we wandered over to the old airport taverna for a beer or two, and found a full charter planeful of Danish tourists on a much longer delay being herded, addressed and fed by their reps. We were in fact three and a half hours late getting away.

Bergamo airport landside is completely dominated by Ryanair and rather uniform, but could clearly be a useful way of getting to Milan (three competing coach firms available for the city centre), and is a serious hub for all Europe. We mooched around, had a fairly good meal and then a long queue for security with the rudest personnel in attendance. Airside is a bit more interesting, and again we saw it for longer than planned as we had a delay of an hour and a half! Still, it all worked and we were in our hotel room within 30 minutes of landing, and it was - after all - very cheap!

Next day it was a pick-up by Margarita and delivery to waiting Yvette, diesel, tyres and over the border in two hours.

So - in 24 hours we had had footfall and sustenance in four nations. Someone has to do it!

Disturbing the Peace...

... Strikes, Storms, a Moving Experience and Things that go Bump in the Night!
First Max returned home, then the weather went a bit dismal, then Chloe went home.. but not as planned!

Through the summer there have been a number of threatened air traffic control strikes, but they were mostly called off having been declared illegal, or were just for a few hours. On October 5th it was to be the full McCoy of a strike and so all Greek airports would be closed. This was the day she was booked to return, and immediately start work. Fortunately Easyjet handled this well, and she switched to the previous day's flight - an early one! It wasn't pleasant feeling responsible for getting her up and to her early airport lift after her very late night at Agios, but it happened and she made it.

So we settled down to enjoy our last ten days and deal with the close-down. A serious storm was on the way. On the Wednesday it was glorious, and we stayed late on the beach, thus capturing Stelios as he fished beside the cantina. On Thursday there was more wind and cloud, but it turned out to be our last dip in the sea for the season,  because the beach was no place to be for the next five days! Friday was dull, windy and (relatively) cold. We sat at the Seagull watching a few hardy souls on the beach, whilst Tomas and Tony dug up parasols and stacked sunbeds in preparation. So Saturday was bound to be the day!

We lurked around in the gloom until early afternoon, and then decided to risk a walk over to the Oriental Bay. Then the heavens opened! We were sitting under their solid-looking thatched roof, and it held for a while, but the water on the floor flooded towards our feet, and then the holes in the roof were found. Thunder, lightning, invisible Crocodile, and a drenching just to get to the loo! This lasted for hours, then we ventured forth, but got no further than the old Coconuts, where we met Olga and Stephen and were caught again - this time inside! The day ended with a meal at The Crocodile which was having its last night of the season (in anticipation of the storms). We had a very jolly (and cosy) time inside with two other parties and Giorgos clearing the decks, then waded home through a deserted village.

On Sunday the main talking point was the state of the sea. It did also rain dramatically in the middle of the day, but dried up somewhat, leading to attempts to go the beach, but the wind, swell and high tide had done a lot of damage:- several strong wooden parasols had been uprooted and were in the sea, and the poor cantina was in a very bad way, despite the sandbags! We speculated as to what might have happened to the sand which has been disappearing steadily through the season to give the worst ever entry to the sea. The answer is - it had got worse, with vast plates of rock newly exposed. Not a great time to arrive in the village, but at last Jim and Susan did - seriously strike-bound en route! We all met at Zygos after the last Scrabble of the season (which included a famous win for Ruth!)

Nor, frankly, a great time to be moving accommodation, but we did!

We have been spending the summers since  September 2007 in a very spacious and well-located apartment in a family house; but were told in July that the owner needed to move back into it by the Spring, so we embarked on a quest for somewhere new. We were told that the best time to look is September, and indeed - on cue -  there was a sudden outbreak of yellow and red notices fixed to posts around the village with handwritten details of various places to rent. They were - of course - in Greek, so we needed some help with calls, and also used the local newspaper and plenty of word of mouth. We looked at total wrecks we could have had rent-free, luxurious tourist places and some dingy hovels; but have ended up renting an apartment on the stony beach side. It is smaller than the current one, but a lot cheaper and still has a sea view. It is owned by someone from one the five main village families but who lives in Athens, and we feel lucky to have found it and done the deal. The idea was to move our stuff before leaving the island but not to actually inhabit until next year. So it was on Stormy Monday that we borrowed a pick-up and driver and did the deed - with help from Jeff and Mick to go up and down the stairs (Ruth's knees and stairs not being a fruitful combination at the moment!) We have accumulated a huge amount of stuff considering that we have been in furnished accommodation! We managed to dodge the rain and have it all done in an hour. Later that day the afternoon deteriorated into an appalling storm. We sat in Cosmogonia waiting for dry spells so we could get home, and were there for three hours. Down at the Skala the waves were huge and parked cars were getting deluged!

We had arranged for a visit by our landlady the next afternoon, and planned on a serious clear-up and clean, but at around midnight there was a crash and Ruth's feet were lower than before, then another and they were on the floor! After more than four years of faithful service the bed had broken, and when inspected we found it is a miracle it hadn't happened before! The landlady agreed! Wednesday was rather better weather-wise! In fact the cinq a sept was spent sitting on a lawn beside a pool with well-tended flower beds and classy garden furniture. Friends are going to over-winter in a pair of adjoining luxury tourist studios and invited us over. From there we went to an oldies night at the Skala, which was a real success! On our last day the sun came out properly and we managed a few hours on the beach. The sea was a bit cold, but the main difficulty was getting into it, so there was no real last swim - just a paddle, and then the summer was declared over as far as we are concerned!

Extreme travellers

 Max arrived a few days after Chloe. He had been in Laos, and she had been in Croatia. They soon had itchy feet, and announced their intention to go to the Island of Gavdos. We insisted that they go soon as best advice is to plan a return at least five days before any deadline.
The going was straightforward. New this year is a very fast boat - the Gavdos Express. (90 minutes on a good day!)We saw them off - and on the boat was also a vast amount of cheap wine and a bicycle strapped to the back.

There has been an issue with the ferries to Gavdos. A Russian company was awarded the contract for granting seaworthiness certificates to numerous Greek inter-island ferries. It was then declared to be incompetent, so the boats were grounded. This meant the Samaria was accompanied back round to the commercial port, leaving people stuck in Sougia, and the mayor of Hora Sfakion seized control of the Daskolagiannis to get up to 700 walkers from the gorge back to his town. So for a few weeks thare have been no car-carrying ferries:- just the charming but small Neptune. (100 cars - including hired ones - were stranded on Gavdos as a result, and schedules for foot passengers have been very uncertain

The most southerly point in Europe

Chloe and Max stayed four days, camping with or without tent on several different beaches. We got regular texts, and thus were there to meet them off the Neptune on the Monday evening. During the day we had seen the wind increase and the sea roughen, so were not surprised by the stories of the six hour voyage (via Agia Roumeli and Sougia). Even the dog was sick, apparently! Max - as an experienced sailor - had been fine. Chloe was not! There was also one of those "small world" encounters on the boat, with Max's mum's oldest friend, who is a new Gavdos resident! Furthermore the captain - Dimitri - recognised Chloe (and us) from visits to the Oriental Bay over twenty-two years, as he was a waiter there.

A lucky win, and a very sad loss!



Just what I've always wanted!

 Between party-time and the arrival of Chloe we had some very good weather and much time was spent down at the cantina! Rainer had brought over a substitute  for the Golden Kri-kri. award. The tasteful(!) model won by Lucas two years ago had gone missing in Karlstadt, so this ceramic horn had come down in the camper, and was up for grabs in a hurriedly organised tavli competition involving Ruth, Jack, Felix, Lucas and Julia. After a play-off the winner was Ruth, so we are the keepers for this year. Afterwards at Cosmogonia there were plenty of suggestions for uses!

This was also a period of anxiety for friends of Lorte and Monika. August visitors over the years will remember them, their children and the two dogs at particularly Yianni's or Corali. Latterly Monika had been here in a wheelchair after a stroke 5 years ago, enjoying Paleochora with the help of friends and family. This time we missed them on our first evening back, and then next day she was taken ill again. After a stay in hospital in Chania she was taken back to Munich by air ambulance. Lorte followed and a few days later she died surrounded by family.

RIP MONIKA



Two Tribes, Two Parties and a Dueto

We were straight back into a social whirl! In our absence two tribes had arrived:- Noreen and the Prof had offspring and extended family to the total of 14, and Rainer had driven down with not only the boys (Felix and Lucas) and all the instruments, but also a nephew and Felix's girlfriend Julia. Sunday was spent meeting up with them, and checking in at the cantina, so that we turned up at the last minute, in beach clothes and possibly a little merry for the 60th birthday celebration of John from the dress shop. As well as John and Judy and us there was Olga, Stephen and Caroline; and we ate well and had a very jolly time at The Small Garden.

Next day it was our turn to host! We had chosen the Monday so that we would catch some folk who would be leaving the next day. We had made the arrangements with Yiannis, and added tables as people arrived so that we ended up with a very long one running diagaonally across the cantina, without excluding the public!

The cast list:

Ian and Janet

Olga and Stephen

Caitrina and Alice

Paul from Dublin

Professor Johnny and (briefly) Noreen

Alexandra, Bruce and their friend

Glen and Mick

Three of the Kandonites
Keith, Joseph and (briefly) Ludovico
Jenny and the twins

Rainer, Lucas, Felix, Julia
Jeff
Vicky

Briefly; Eion, Julia, John and 2 friends

and - innocently turning up by coincidence - John (ex Westwind), Cricket and the three girls!

We provided Yiannis with some golden oldies on CD, and later we were entertained by The Coconut Combo, Johnny and Paul. Magic! From Kandanos came a Finnish orange and vodka concoction, then there was beer, ouzo and wine in abundance, plus salads, tzatsiki, kalatsounia (Cretan cheese, spinach and herb pies), souvlakia, chips and fresh figs. It came to a close after 3.30am, and we were back the next day (but not too early!) to settle the surprisingly reasonable bill.
If we haven't already e-mailed it to you and you would like the full musical slideshow, then get in touch!

As we noted earlier there has been less live music around the village than in early season, but we did enjoy a (short) set at Atoli with both Cretan and Andalucian players. Incredible skill and a combination that works!

 

A Triumph of Planning and a Long-awaited Bus Victory

Our route back was:-

Dunkerque, Tours, Le Queroy, Toulouse, Girona, Barcelona, Athens!

This all worked well enough, with a few areas of heavy traffic, hot weather and some hotel bargains. At George and Gregory's we moved into the space vacated by a big family party, and were probably in the way; but we got the chance to clear out the car, met some delightful neighbours and had a good old chinwag. In Toulouse we stayed in a very newly developed part of the city, and wandered round the eating area, and in Barcelona we stayed as before in the Arc de Triomf area, and ate tapas in an old bar. Next morning we saw Plaza de Catalunya, where the central area has been closed off after the occupation by protesters. Nothing of note happened in Athens/Piraeus other than getting stuck in our usual taverna with a local and thus missing Lidl and the wine! We arrived back in Paleo on the first bus of Sunday 21st.

Here's what had changed during our month away:

• A second Chinese shop selling cheap clothes has opened in what was Michaelis' pastry shop.
• The plinth still has no statue.
• The Blue Flags are at last a-flying on the beaches.
• Cosmogonia has stopped live music since "overdoing it" and a large fine.
• The Samaria is back after safety-refitting & is once again on the Sfakia run or moored at Skala.
• The private clinic on the stony seafront is open for business.

Chez nous we had a house-sitter (Steve "Wolves") for three of the four weeks, and the family happily fostered Pathos (or Mini-beast to them!). On our return we found a much grown and very handsome creature who must have been fed elsewhere for the final week but is still keen to visit along with Scaredy. A sort of peace has broken out between them.

Finally - the very good news! During the taxi drivers' strike in July many new bus runs from the Chania bus station to the airport were introduced, and - rejoice!- they have been left in place! There are now buses at hourly intervals making public transport a feasible option at last, after years of disgraceful kowtowing to the taxi drivers. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

Shivering on the Ledge and more "De-Manche"

Our UK trip culminated in three days at Cropredy. Unlike for our previous festival (in 2009) we had the car with us and could camp with a bit more comfort (e.g. chairs!), but despite trying to get there as soon as entry was allowed we were put in a field that was quite a long way from the stage, and at a point that was a very long way from the loos! Never mind - we only had to stop for rain twice during the simple erection of the small tent! The weather throughout was very variable, but generally good enough for sitting outside at the two fringe pubs and in the arena field. The headline acts were superb! UB40's set was tight and great fun, Seasick Steve was not only great as a solo act but had brought in some excellent support - including Robert Plant! Unfortunately that Friday night was bitterly cold and we just could not face staying to the end, so had to listen as we went back to the tent!. We had been intent on seeing the Blockheads on the last afternoon, but got stuck in the Red Lion where Spank The Monkey played, and this then led to some viewing of the Adderbury and the Hammersmith Morris.

Other acts on the stage include The Dylan Project who played 80 solid minutes of skilled covers, and we also enjoyed Badly Drawn Boy - about whom we previously knew very little, but found The Coral (and to an extent Horslips) lacking in "stagecraft" to complement the music., and Charlie Dore is indeed a one-hit phenomenon. It all concluded - as ever- with Fairport and some old favourites. This time we just about managed to stay to the end despite the cold. (August!!!!), then it was up early on Sunday morning to de-camp and leave the UK! - This year's surprise meeting was with Malcolm N - who worked in IT with Ruth in Croydon, and whom we had also seen at other Fairport gigs over the years. Thanks to him and Mary for the festival pics!



And as for the Cropredy community......, and some delightful images here.

Middle class or what?

We had an uneventful drive down to Dover, and a last decent pint before being allowed on to an earlier ferry than planned, arriving in Dunkerque in time for a first French dinner!

A new word - "De-Manche":- definition: the act of finding oneself wine-less or bar-less near the Channel ports - as a result of forgetting about France on Sundays!

Road Trip UK:- Roots and Routes

It was a quick run up from Guildford to Balham, where with ducking and diving of parking regulations we managed to get much of the fingered detritus out of the loft and safely to the tip. It was a very hot day, so not funny rooting around and then applying the hammer to computer hard disks. Nor later in the laundrette, but we met up with Pete and Baz for Thank You drinks at the Prince, then crossed another entry from the list of "Food we somewhat miss when abroad" by a visit to Nandos, dropped in on our tenants and spent the night at the Leigham Court Hotel in Streatham! (A useful place for an overnight, but chaotic at breakfast time!)

Then it was off for a series of stays in places where we have individual roots. First was Oulton Broad, where Bob's cousin's son has frequently offered us a base, even if he is off-shore as he was this time. En route we stopped off at Southwold to kill a couple of hours. Needless to say - on such a beautiful day - it was a bit busy; but it remains probably the most unspoilt seaside resort in England, with a renovated pier, and delights like Punch & Judy! (Not to mention the Adnams Brewery!).  Ricky has lovingly modernised a bungalow - with heated swimming pool, and luxury kitchen - so we wallowed for three days. Unfortunately on the first night - our anniversary - we were too full and injured (Ruth's post-loft-activity thigh muscle!) to enjoy a planned posh meal at the Red Herring, so instead had pub grub at the Waveney and were subsequently humiliated in a pub quiz largely because our knowledge of TV Quiz Shows was lacking! Next day we spent ages online sorting our own and Chloe's accommodation issues and just spent a couple of hours at the Wherry in beautiful weather before entertaining Rose, Ray and Paul - courtesy mostly of Morrisons! They had opted not to be taken out for a  "birthdays" meal because their dog is not well, but we had a delightful evening - even when there was a power cut. Paul filmed it all!

Thursday was to be Yarmouth day:- with a cycle ride round Bob's old haunts, market chips, and so on; but as we set off the heavens opened and we suffered a foul wet day. It was truly disgusting, so we just did a circuit of the town in the car, took in a few changes from within the car and headed back to Oulton Broad.



The three main canals of Birmingham

Next stop was Birmingham. Bob was born and spent his early years there, but the main motivation for our visit was to to do some canal-side cycling. We had an awful drive there which took seven hours due to an accident on a motorway, but found the hotel we had booked mostly at random and on price and parking, was very well located next to the new BullRing and in the Chinese Quarter.We had a pleasant evening which culminated in a meal in a very functional and cheap Chinese restaurant. On Saturday we set off on bikes to investigate the canal network. Basically there are three canals: Birmingham and Worcester, Birmingham and Fazeley, and the Grand Union, with a key junction at Gas Street Basin, and the - now very trendy - Brindley Place. After a silly route to reach the canal, and in increasingly threatening weather we started down the B&F, which turned out to be entirely and heavily downhill and devoid of watering holes. Ruth's knees and injured thigh had had enough, so we retraced steps to a nice pub just in time to miss a serious shower. 

On the Sunday Bob went solo with a ride down the B&W to Bournville, and on Monday we both braved some horrible wind and cloud to go on a discovery trail on the early stages of the Grand Union. In Small Heath we left the canal to look at two ancestral homes, and later we were forced to turn back by the mud-ridden towpath, but it was a fascinating trip through Britain's industrial heritage, and we had a chance to thaw out and dry when we collected the car and headed for Oxford!

(Within 36 hours the riots had started in Birmingham and we watched on TV spotting places we had just left. Uncanny!)

Oxford is Ruth's heritage city, and the plan was again to find the canal and cycle. We were positioned in Travelodge on the ring road, which was another Good Plan! We could join the canal at Wolvercote. This village has featured in many an Inspector Morse episode and/or book, and we thought we might "do"  The Trout, but a look at reviews on the web revealed that it is now deeply flawed - being barely now a pub at all, - but more of a trendy, expensive and slow-serviced restaurant with mud-less Range Rovers! On our first whole day (after the ritual laundrette hunt) we rode down into the city beside the canal in increasingly pleasant weather, and back through Jericho and Summertown delighted by the well-designed cycle route, then ate a very good meal at The Plough in Wolvercote. Next day the wind blew, and the sky darkened, so Ruth opted out. Bob rode the Thames Path down to Iffley, and then we both visited "cousin" Mary in West Oxford, and ate at the Red Lion in Wolvercote, which was not as good as The Plough - but enjoyable as it was going to be our last pub dinner for a while!

Road Trip England Part 1:- Celebrations

Greyrocks now takes it as read that within an hour of arriving in UK there will be tearing out of hair! This time we got off the ferry and through customs etc without trouble and were soon on the M20. As we joined the M25 - and too late to take evasive action - we were confronted with a sign telling us of huge delays. We eventually found out it was a jack-knifed lorry:- nobody's fault but still a frustration as we sat stationary for half an hour. We made it to Brighton with time to visit the Marina and perform the second ritual of arrival: the pint of very pleasant English ale in a decent pub! There was even sunshine! No joy on a frock for Ruth, though, and one had to be bought before nightfall! We parked and checked in at the very handy Travelodge in Preston Park, and took the bus into town, where after a few worrying failures a suitable item was found and we could rest in another pub, and then another, and then have fish and chips, and then go to Chloë's to collect more clothes, and out to meet Max for the first time in a (wait for it!) .. pub!

Steve Bell a few years ago!

Next morning we responded to dire warning about punctuality by arriving ridiculously early at The Dome for the Big Day! We had coffee in an Italian cafe surrounded by other folk in glad rags, and eventually Chloë appeared - rather more tastefully attired than many - got her gown etc and we waited to go in. Exciting enough, but then we peeped at the programme and saw that Steve Bell - our favourite political cartoonist - was also to get a degree at the ceremony (an honorary Doctorate)! The graduands were getting degrees in Social Sciences or Nursing & Midwifery, so not balanced gender-wise. It was all very joyous! Steve Bell replied to the eulogy with a very humorous but nonetheless commited speech illustrated with projected cartoons going back to Thatcher. Clearly a sizeable minority of parents present shared our values, and he was very well received. Afterwards at the "champagne reception" Ruth used her long Greenwich experience of being on the other side at these "dos" to find the VIPs and we introduced ourselves to him.

Max met us at a neighbouring pub and we went for a superb lunch at Havana, where we were not the only graduation party! Here are some images of the delightful day!

Next day we were up early to take Yvette to Portslade for a service and MOT. We rode the bikes back into Hove and found it a very convenient centre for getting jobs done from watch strap to verruca! For a variety of reasons - including meanness - that night was to be spent in Hellingley near Eastbourne, so a tedious drive there and then back next morning. We spent Thursday moving Chloë's belongings to storage, friends and tip; and Ruth cleaned and cleared bits of her "outgoing" house, We then went down to Rotherfield to visit Josiane and Alastair, staying two nights so that we could enjoy both J's lovely cooking with homegrown fruit and veg, and their choice of a celebratory (Greyrocks' 60th and 65th birthdays) meal out at the Golden Thai in Crowborough. We had a banquet which was delicious and huge! In between we did a gesture of a country walk and acted as IT and Finance consultants. On the Saturday we drove over to Guildford Travelodge, making a serious navigational error in the final stage; and early next day picked up Chloë in Haslemere (home of Max) and went for our third "do" - a family lunch at the traditional venue of Uplands in Droxford. (En route we had our first use of the new Hindhead tunnel:- what an improvement after years of traffic snarl-ups on the London/parents run!) Nine of us enjoyed a pleasant Sunday lunch and a cake brought by Lois, George did the photos, and we returned to Guildford to gird our loins for Monday's travails! Just one more celebration to go!

Best route from A to B??

..and so it was that we spent much of the hottest and most humid day of the season at that point (20th July) on cleaning and packing! This trip was a masterpiece of logistics and economy necessitated by Chloe's graduation, Yvette's MOT, property visit, family meals to celebrate the big birthdays, then extended to include the Cropredy festival, visiting Le Queroy and with the added benefit of getting us away from Paleo over the Assumption holiday when it can be rather unpleasant! So a full month on the road (or sea or in the air)!

First we managed to slip down for a quick "Welcome Back" drink with newly-returned Duke, then onto the 3.30 bus to Chania. It had to be so early in order to get the 2100 ferry, which we might have missed from the last bus. Then we paused at the bus station and then went by bus to the port. We were expecting to see the Elyros docked and to be allowed onboard by 7 for the 9pm departure. No ship! Since we booked they have started day sailings so ours was not to leave until 10pm, and we would have to wait for it to arrive and for disembarkation before we could settle into our comfy cabin. Grrr! Still, it was a good crossing and the delay resulted in a slightly more civilised arrival time of 6am in Piraeus! The port had an eerie feel with the taxis on strike, but we watched life and used the free WiFi before going to get the airport bus (from the shelter that doubles as a public urinal and featured in Athens News the previous week as a pickpocketing hub!). With no taxis there was huge pressure on the buses, and it was not a relaxing ride. We were anticipating a long wait at the airport, but we were then told of a delay of at least an hour in take-off, which turned into two hours of extra tedium. The planned schedule for onwards was now in tatters as we would not make the last bus from Barcelona to Girona airport. Nor had we any documentation about the rail alternative! There was further frustration at the Barcelona airport train station when the only member of staff was out of her booth and wouldn't help with the Girona bit telling us to change at Sants. Then followed the closest shave for a very long time!

It is four or five stops from the airport to Sants and the carriage was fairly empty. We stowed our main wheelie bags close to us on the floor and then put down the rucksack with the laptop (and other valuables). A group of three men and a woman got on, stood strangely close to us, and then started asking questions about the stops. When we pulled into a station one engaged Ruth in a contorted conversation and Bob saw that the two men were running off the train with the rucksack. He shouted as he ran after them and the other man ran too. As they neared the end of the platform they dropped the bag and Bob retrieved it. Phew!!!

We were in mild shock for the rest of the evening, which entailed getting to Sants and trying to find a train, getting one that was only slow (as opposed to a previous very, very slow one) seeing a good proportion of Catalonia, and realising we were going to be late into Girona whence we had no information about onwards buses other than a vague memory that 10pm was the last one. We pulled into Girona at 9.57 and followed some others in a mad dash across to the bus station. Bob flung his bag over a barrier and jumped. Ruth ran sedately on the long route and we made it. (Although in fact there are buses at 11pm and midnight!) By asking the driver to drop us at a spceial stop we manged to run into our hotel at 10.25, with the self-service restaurant due to close at 10.30. Another Phew :- we shared a menu del dia and turned in heaving large sighs of relief, and wondering if we might have been a shade too mean in our planning!

Next day the blessed Punt Central lady collected us, and the boss went to get Yvette and shook our hands with vigour. We set off on our own Tour de France (just under 1000 miles).

Leg1: Diesel (just cheaper in Spain), liqueur for Josiane, over the Pyrenees, skirt Toulouse and up to Brive. Brive has a strong industrial history, has lovely countryside and towns nearby and is on the rail network. That makes it similar to Swindon, and it has about as much charm! (We saw a British car pass us 5 times trying to get out or get a bed on a busy weekend - they looked increasingly cross). We had booked so were OK at a B&B chain hotel and with a RestauMarche meal.

Leg 2. This was a Rouge Saturday! Bison Fute classifies the traffic conditions for France. "Black" would be the next weekend but this day got the red, meaning some headaches. We were fortunately going largely against the holiday flow, but still had to do the dreaded Limoges-Poitiers National (not Autoroute) bit. We saw some ghastly queues and had our own moments (20 minute waits) at toll booths and junctions, but made it to Alencon, and once again no walkable choice for eating :- it had to be the infamous Buffalo Grill, where we dined on Charolais steaks. 

Leg 3 A silly day! We do - of course - know about (and have some support for) Sundays in France. We needed cheap fuel and the wine supplies for three weeks in UK. We thought there would be something open for the mornong in Alencon. We failed to find it. We diverted from the autoroute just before likely closing time and failed to find it. Then we thought that Cité Europe might be open for tourists, but it wasn't, and when we got to Dunkerque we couldn't even find an open bar for a much-needed beer!Grrr! Still we had a comfortable room and then the famous Campanile dinner, before an early night, and the 10am ferry loaded with absolutely no French wine - a historic moment!!!



Getting warmer!

 The full moon was on the 15th, and a beautiful "red" moon followed it for two evenings, but it was preceded by some dramatic wind! A few hardy souls continued to go down to the sea, using upturned sunbeds against the sandblasting, but for most it was "unbeachable" for five days:- not too good for Brits on a Tuesday transfer! Not too good either for our neighbour Yiannis and family down at the re-opened and extended cantina:- once there it offered quite good shelter, but the walk along the beach was rough!



Take a seat!



After the full moon the weather changed and we had a heatwave that lasted until our departure. Temperatures of 38C were regularly reported. The pace of life also started to heat up. We had a series of weddings, including that of Fani - youngest of the three brothers at the "crossroads" grill house. The place was closed (and chairless) for three nights and the boys still looked grim the next night. There has been a range of live music, too:- including a session with a French sitar player and his backing track. Greyrocks liked it, but it did not do much for Atoli's takings:- unlike our final Saturday when Angel Skordilis was there with his full band, and in steaming heat there was a mighty fine gig!

 Finally the quality of folk in town was much improved in the final week with the arrival of the Hamburg and Bremen chapters. Faithful blog-followers John and Barbara caught up with us on our final evening, as did YiaYia GaGa club member Eva. Gunter and friend Heidi had seen us a day or so earlier, and it is with G in mind that Greyrocks has used "unbeachable" earlier in the post. He teaches English and was kind about the text and vocabulary of the blog. We spent a silly amount of time discussing the provenance of the word, and its possible translation into German: possibly Unstrandgebar!

So after too much ouzo we returned home to prepare for our "holiday!"