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!