2016 - Is there anything to smile about?

Not much in the opinion of liberal, internationalist, ageing-hippy Greyrocks!

We have despaired over the trouble-spots of the World: Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Turkey, Korea, the Mediterranean .....

over the propensity of people to vote for simple, selfish and dangerous solutions, as in the UK referendum, US presidential election and in rising fascism in so many European nations ....

over the impotence of international bodies to stop carnage ..

over the prospect of Trump, Putin and Boris together in positions of power ...

and as UK taxpayers - if not residents - over domestic phenomena such as an imploding prison system, breakdown in social care, employers' freedom to exploit, plummeting standards in the Press, food banks, self-perpetuating Establishment .......

Oh Dear!!! And journalists don't seem able to "join up the dots"!

And then there are the numerous deaths this year!
In the field of music we have been saddened by - and driven to extensive You-Tubing of::

David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Dave Swarbrick, two thirds of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, George Martin, Leon Russell, George Michael, Bobby Vee  and even Rick Parfitt of Status Quo

whilst UK TV lost:
Victoria Wood, Caroline Aherene, Carla Lane, Alan Rickman and Ronnie Corbett

At a personal level Greyrocks lost Ruth's father following months of ill health, Barry - a friend living in Crete - to a heart attack at too young an age, and Tim, who lived next door for his first seventeen years and took his own life in his twenties.

And what about natural disasters, and the bizarre weather in Greyrocks' chosen habitats??

Annus horibilis doesn't begin to describe this year!

We have enjoyed good times with other ex-pats, locals and old friends on their holidays in Crete and Fuerteventura, and in our tour of England, several little parties before and after birthdays, a great Fairport Convention gig in Coventry, some fun in France, and considerable (eventual) relief in first one - and now the second - knee.

It has also been a parental pleasure to help Chloë continue to improve the Little Blue House and share the joy of her engagement to Jack, and new jobs for them both.

For 2017 is that light at the end of the tunnel, or .......?

Greyrocks recommends cava at EUR 1.95 a bottle!

"SALUD!"

What's New? A Knee and more!

The new home of  exercise and occasional agony!

December started with a couple of weeks of serious recuperation for Ruth after the operation, centred on two sessions of physiotherapy per week at the newly re-located Brisamar. "Not before time!"some might say as the old place had been crowded, dingy and seriously compromised by the works going on around it to knock down an old apartment complex, set of locales and bar, and construct a hotel in the Barcelo group. It is now opposite the Campanario Shopping Centre, and a more expensive taxi-ride away from home, but worth it! Treatment is now in the hands of Maria-Jose, who raves about the progress, but in the third week started a manipulation of total agony which meant afternoons of complete rest and a lot of analgesia! Just before Christmas a session morphed into a "fiesta" with goodies the punters had brought in.

Notwithstanding the lack of mobility Greyrocks felt driven to organise a slightly delayed party for Bob - along the lines of that held in April as an early one! Jules and Clare at The Blue Rock were given the buffet budget, Eileen produced a decorated cake and Dave and Pete played all afternoon. Apparently a few stray Italians got a share of the spoils also, but it was a huge success and - as before - Facebook users can see more of the pics on the Blue Rock page.

The weather was glorious, and it remained so for a few days more, but we are now in the midst of some strange easterly and very forceful wind which will be with us for several more days. It gave the coldest Christmas Day in the 25 that Greyrocks has now experienced on the island.

As the festive season loomed Greyrocks took delivery of a new dishwasher to replace the original which had been dying for several years and now leaked. Every effort was made to ensure it would fit the tight space, but it was 1 cm too tall and thus it sat for a week in the middle of the kitchen like an over-staying guest until clever adjustments were made by our janitor the day before Chloë  would arrive.

Both  she and  fiancé  Jack were with us for about a week , and were pretty disappointed with the weather, but pleased to be with us. Jack's decision to come was last-minute and involved landing after 7 pm on Christmas Eve, getting the economy shuttle bus and turning up for our feast around 9 pm. The crab, prawns. goose, duck, multiple veg., cheese and profiteroles went down very well. Next morning with our Bucks Fizz and smoked salmon we played Cards Against Humanity - a new one on Greyrocks - and then used the wheelchair to go to the Rock as ever! On the way back later that afternoon a wheel was caught in drain cover and Ruth fell to the ground - onto both titanium knees!  A bit of a setback in the recovery process!

The youngsters stayed with us until today and don't seem to have minded the minimal seasonality of a Greyrocks Yule (cuisine excepted).

Celebrating a long life, another new knee and the seventies!

A typical last minute post to record the month of November for Greyrocks, and what a month it was!
It opened with some visits to the capital in preparation for the knee replacement which had been scheduled for the 17th, and some health centre visits for us both and some peculiar blood results for Bob. The knee job could have been earlier but for the funeral of Ruth's father and the flights that entailed. In view of everything we decided that only Ruth would go. She was off the island for 47 hours.

A Lancaster as flown in as navigator by Vic

"Continental" friends were astounded at the passage of almost a month between death and funeral, but it was a well-organised "do" following Vic's wishes entirely.Although cold it was dry. His squadron (153) and the local Aircrew Association did a wonderful job with a guard of honour of eight veterans, several flags - including one on the coffin, representatives of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and a very detailed and warm tribute by a friend who had used Vic's log book as a reference. (It was Remembrance Day which seemed fitting!) 

Then David made a tribute as grandson, which was also very moving, and humorous in parts! Penny and George had prepared a glorious slide show to music with a wide selection of images. Afterwards most went on to the wake in a local hotel. This was also where the same had been done for Ruth's mother eighteen months before. All other offspring and partners were there and it was quite a family reunion. In particular Ruth had met up with Chloe at the station beforehand and also spent time with her when her train back to Bristol was delayed! Ruth flew back next day, having got very wet walking to the station, but with a pheasant from Waitrose. At Gatwick she discovered she had left the Spanish mobile in the hotel, causing all sorts of difficulties, but sister Penny posted back the SIM and it arrived yesterday morning, thus rounding off a significant summer and autumn's family rite of passage!

Ruth's home for four days

Once returned thoughts turned to the operation five days later. Plenty of people have two prostheses, but no-one Greyrocks knows, so this was uncharted territory in terms of expectation and fear. It was the same (brilliant) surgeon and team, the room was a neighbouring room and less noisy, the food was equally disappointing and the nursing and domestic care just as good as last time. Ruth stayed four nights in the hospital and then moved to the hotel for another three. Bob had been at the hotel all week. Physiotherapy started on the day of "release" and all the professionals say progress is very good indeed. At present Ruth is moving round the apartment slowly without aid, uses one crutch for short walks outside and we have a  rented wheelchair for a month for longer distances.

Being away from Corralejo meant that Bob's 70th birthday was a strange affair! There were appointments with the surgeon and for physiotherapy, but around them we managed a very fine tapas lunch by the Playa Chica, where a tiramisu with candle appeared as a birthday surprise, a shopping trip for new sofas, where a discount was granted on the same grounds, and a delightful dinner at the current No. 1 Trip Adviser restaurant, where a cheesecake with candle was offered! Not bad pickings, Eh?

A birthday reminiscent of Dead Ringers' "The Lone Yachtswoman's Christmas Party" spoof of Ellen MacArthur!! (Link being sought)

In fact the three days in the Puerto hotel were a astronomic treat. In addition to the birthday meals we had two dinners at El Bounty - about which Greyrocks has raved but is now No, 2 on TA, and a posh tapas lunch at a neighbouring Play Chica place. 


Yesterday - bang on time - the two sofas arrived and were assembled. The 14 year old old suite was taken away without ceremony, and last evening Greyrocks discovered that it is much easier to fall asleep in front of the TV on the new seating! 

"Hola!" and "Adios!"

R.I.P. Vic 1924-2016

Greyrocks arrived home in the evening and it was drizzling, but all was well in the apartment and we went over to La Luna for a drink and take-away pizza. It was much busier there than anticipated, and it had been changed drastically,  but that's another post on the subject of tourism levels! At four in the morning a mobile rang. Ruth got up and in a stupour grabbed the UK one, saw a missed call and dialled the number. It was the British Gas engineer who had visited our UK property the day before! Profound apologies! The call was in fact on the Spanish phone and was from Ruth's sister to say that their father had passed away. This was not unexpected, and in fact he had survived several weeks longer than thought possible given his weakness from inability to eat, Ruth had made five day visits in July and then in September and seen that he had little will to live in his condition. The funeral is on November 11th and has been planned by her other sister who lives nearby and had - with her husband - borne most of the responsibility for visits and support during his illness and move into residential care.

At her sisters' request Ruth wrote an obituary for the local paper of the town where he had worked for eighteen years..

He was a hard-working, intelligent and principled man who had enjoyed life right up until his wife's death and now hated his growing frailty. He said he was "ready to go" 

The Best Laid Plans....

In the final week on Crete we organised two dinners for friends to celebrate  - rather in advance - Bob's big birthday coming up in November. On both occasions the weather and shortening of daylight meant it was barely fit for fully al fresco eating:- especially with the removal of much wind protection as documented in the preceding post! Nonetheless two good times were had by all!

A week or so before departure Ruth was being careless after a shower and fell down on slippery tiles breaking a little toe. This week she explained this to the Spanish surgeon and he said this injury is known as a "bed leg fracture" as it often caused by nocturnal stubbing of the toe en route to the loo! The pain of walking put paid to some intended activity, and the beach had to be accessed by car for a few days.  Greyrocks managed some sunbathing, but no entry to the sea, which was itself rather frisky and some windy days had shifted the sand again.

Departure day involved tight packing of Yvette, loading the bikes and then taking her for a car wash and dropping in on the cantina to say farewells! We then drove to the Nea Chora in Chania, had lunch in the usual place, slept it off for a while on the beach and went to check in early for the 9 pm ferry and consume gyros on the top deck before turning in!

In the morning we set off in the dark determined that we would not - yet again - miss the Corinth turn; but owing to having berthed in an unusual place we did go wrong at exactly the same inadequately marked junction! Next time, eh? Thereafter it was straightforward, except that an even greater length of the National Road was one lane each way with road improvement work.  It will be great when it is finished ;- there is some impressive civil engineering around, but meantime there is the legendary Greek driving which does not observe either speed limits or overtaking bans. We suffered a lot of impatience because we did! We had a stop for breakfast and another stop at a very pleasant beach-side taverna, then hit Patras with a plan! We had hours to kill, so parked up near the marina aiming to kill a few of them in a very pleasant restaurant we know. It was permanently closed! We tried another place nearby but it was expensive and with silly WiFi arrangements, so went ridiculously early to the ferry port and enjoyed a very sunny afternoon until joining the queue, where we sat for around an hour being ignored. Never mind, we had a good cabin and adequate cheap WiFi for the voyage to Ancona, which takes around 24 hours! We also found good quiet places to sit in one of the lounges, and - for the first time - ate dinner in the a la carte restaurant. Sheer luxury! We slept through the stop at Igoumenitsia, and so spent the day without much idea of where we were, but with a sense that we would be late arriving as we had been last time (two years ago). We were, but still beat the Minoan to the berth and disembarkation was fairly well organised, so we were out onto the autostrada fairly quickly and into insane and aggressive Sunday evening Italian traffic!

This year's A to B migration

Greyrocks' planning for the passage to Barcelona was a refinement of 2014 in that we wanted only one night in Italy, so it was booked for Emilia Romagna  - giving a slightly longer drive after the ferry, and we picked a hotel with a restaurant and close to the autostrada. We found it with only one error caused by a road closure, and it looked perfect, and it was time for dinner. Best Italian: "When does the restaurant open?" Oh dear! "No restaurant tonight - it's Sunday!" Best laid plans! So we ordered a Moretti beer - something we do like about Italy - somehow ended up with the strong one and sat alone in the bar area. Out came a plate of meat and cheese with bread. We ordered another beer and out came an even larger and more varied tabla! No need then for a restaurant!

The next day saw three serious stints of driving (in Greyrocks terms, that is!) with very good weather and less feverish road conduct by others; and this took us to the next stop of Nice. We had the printed plan and it all looked pretty easy to find the Kyriad, but we became confused by its position relative to a Leclerc supermarket and arrived frazzled after the typical navigational errors complicated by urban dual carriageways. When we had an incident with a pump at the petrol station the tension was palpable! After check-in Bob took himself off for a beer! Kyriad hotels lie on a continuum from basic to fairly swish. With this one being the cheapest chain hotels in Nice we should have predicted at which end this one would be! When we went down for dinner - almost forgetting that we had crossed a border and dinner is taken earlier in France - Ruth was the only female diner, the others being large groups of manual workers tucking in heartily from the three buffet areas. Even the main course was help-yourself with a choice of two dishes, so our plan for a gourmet first meal in France was scuppered in favour of wholesome standard fare but washed down with nicely cheap wine!

10 Grands Hommes (including one Femme!)

And so to Lattes and an intended  nine day stay without migratory driving! The weather was remarkably good for half of it. too; and Bob cycled each day. Ruth tried too on the second day, but the broken toe made pedal pushing impossible, so our trips to the sea at Palavas and Carnon were courtesy of Yvette! Another plan abandoned, but we also discovered on the first evening that a reliable restaurant helpful after a run round the Carrefour had been replaced by an Orange store and we had to resort to the Buffalo Grill! We made two tram trips into Montpellier, but didn't visit the cinema as usual because there were no VO films that appealed. One was to Odysseum  - a huge shopping and entertainment mall where we found the above statuary, described thus:!

"Il y a une place dans le style d’un petit amphithéâtre où l'on peut s'asseoir et se détendre entre les achats et les activités. Il est entouré de statues de personnages célèbres de l'histoire: Mao, Nasser, Golda Meir, Gandhi, Mandela, Lénine, De Gaulle, Churchill, Roosevelt et Jaurès."

The second half of the stay saw a real deterioration in weather and we took to going out for lunch and snacking in the evening chez nous! One  plan had been to share a plate of fruits de mer beside the sea in Palavas - preferably in sunshine, but by the time we got round to it indoors was the only option. The chosen plate arrived looking good, and the prawns, oysters and whelks were; but the big mussels were largely closed and those that opened contained only shriveled red vestiges. We said nothing but got out quickly very disappointed!

Other than this we very happy with our little "holiday". We had been upgraded to a very well-appointed and brand new mobile home, and the WiFi was excellent enabling us to make necessary business calls, and what turned out to be Ruth's last call to her dying father (see next post)

However there was one last - and major - change of plan to come. Staff at the campsite drew Bob's attention to a printout from the meteo, indicating that the whole area was on orange alert for torrential rain and flooding from Wednesday evening through all of Thursday, which was our planned day for driving over the Pyrenees to the next port of call. Serious deliberation followed and we eventually decided to jettison the final night in Lattes, go out for a brasserie lunch,  book an additional night in Roses and make a dash for it from mid-afternoon. The sky blackened as we drove south and we were just into Spain when the storm started for us. It was indeed torrential and contributed to a missed turn close to our destination and yet another navigational mess!

and no better in the Girona area!

We arrived in Roses in the middle of a huge downpour, and when we wanted to go out to eat we were lent a large umbrella by the hotel and got to one of the places we know as quickly as knees and toes would allow! It poured all night and we heard that at least one person died in the storms of the region. Through Thursday and part of Friday we dodged rain  - often in bars - and avoided huge puddles, but then the sun came out beautifully and we realised once again what a very nice place it is - particularly its wide prom with plenty of space for cyclists. We took Yvette for a thorough waxing before driving on the Sunday morning to Girona to settle her for the winter. We then took the two hour coach journey to Barcelona airport and sailed through all formalities and onto a problem-free (subsidised) Vueling flight back to Fraggle Rock, which we had left just over six months earlier!

Here today:- gone tomorrow!

The first half of September has - as is frequently the case  - been a series of short-lived phases!

On the first Saturday night we met Janine and John and he suggested we went that very night to look at a sight that would be gone by morning! Near the Lito apartments is a large cactus, which we now know  - thanks to gardener John - is an Echinops. For one night only it had three glorious blooms like this. By morning there were just three dangling dead things. How fleeting are some pleasures!

Fleeting too was the visit of our friends from the North! Six chums from Kalives near Chania took their little break down here and we met up with them twice:- on the second occasion it was an evening sampling the finer points of the village as it gentrifies. We met in Monica's Garden - the newish wine bar - and then ate at Finikas, where the food was exquisite and wine expertly selected, but the service dire! Plenty of time for chatting! The first encounter was a little soggier!Soon after driving down through some funny weather conditions they came down to Zygos where Ruth was playing cards. Bob arrived later and we chewed the fat for a while. As we got up to leave the heavens opened. The area has been suffering through the year from drought, but this was a dramatic downpour that lasted all of twenty minutes!

There have also, through September, been short-lived but severe wind episodes, heavy swelling tides and rain showers, with the resulting shifts of the sand on the beach and a mystery daily over where the safe entry point to the sea might be!

The first week in the month as usual saw the "flushing out" of tourists :- primarily Italians, families with school-age children, camper vans and Greeks! There was a lull, with peace reigning on the beach, but fresh sunbeds and umbrellas arriving in anticipation of the great silver influx of mid-September. And that is how the village is now:- busy on the beach but fairly civilised,  and with the quality eateries having a field-day. In fact it has only been in the last few weeks that Greyrocks has had attempts to share their tree!


Paleochora Art Week came and went but was much more than a week! There were a few new artists and Dutch Antony erected a geodesic dome near Methixis. One again we eschewed the underwater exhibition, and we managed to miss both opening and closing parties, which was an oversight!

Meanwhile Greyrocks saw a repeat of last September's party season. Within ten days we went to a 60th birthday celebration at The Wave, a 26th at Pantelis, an early other birthday in Kandanos and a 66th at the lovely Hamous in Grammenon. This last occasion was missed by Ruth, who had to spend four days (extended to six) in UK where her father is very ill, Bob had booked two nights in Chania to include returning with her from the airport, and took them anyway returning alone. Ruth's rearranged return flight was over three hours late and compensation is awaited! She arrived at Cosmogonia and the welcome party at 2.40 am. and within a day was suffering a very heavy head cold which - unfortunately - is not showing signs of a quick turnaround!

Finally we note the sudden removal - two days ago - of any form of canopy or pergola from tavernas and shops the length of the Stony "Boulevard"! This is the latest development in the Port Police enforcement of national law and has led to hefty fines for some. Controversy wages on Facebook over what is seen by some as savagery of a ridiculous and inconsistent ruling, and by others as indicative of the Greek tendency to ignore the law!! Hmm. (Greyrocks has been frantically searching the web for a link on this and has failed. Facebook never!)

Twelve days " en famille"

Chloë and Jack had a two week holiday on Crete this month. They flew into Heraklion and had a night in each of three cities as they worked their way westward. They particularly liked Rethymnon, as do many! There are details and photos on Chloë's Facebook page.

We met them from the Chania bus on the second of a series of very windy days. As there were several more it was some time before we were in the sea together, and that was on a day out with car seeking shelter. Killing three birds with one stone we visited Houmas, which is strictly in Gramenon. This has worked its way up in just a few years to being Number 1 for the town on TripAdvisor, so we were happy to have a long and delicious lunch on their terrace. It is a serious contender for the nuptials so we cased the joint, and it has sunbeds round a sheltered sandy bay, so we snoozed, read and swam through the afternoon.

Loutro: pretty but not deserted in August!

They sometimes joined us on Limnaki beach, especially at the cantina for beer, lunch and tavli, but also liked the stony beach, and at a weekend took the boat to Loutro as they did last year. Whilst there they enjoyed (as did Greyrocks in Paleo) a beautiful red moon, but they returned saying "Never again - or certainly not in August". It had been heaving! Back here they were staying at the other end of the village and did their own thing on a number of evenings, but we re-visited old favourite restaurants with them and they met up with some of Chloë's friends from childhood.

Monika's Garden

Their presence in the village was an excuse to visit two wine bars for the first time:

Monika's Garden is in its second season and becoming

popular. It turns out that a very old friend in the village is associated with it as his daughter will soon marry Polydoros. The courtyard is beautiful, but it was a very hot evening and it ended with Ruth suffering her first ever bout of heat exhaustion which continued into the next day!

and Castro - (not with a K as in the last post), where we enjoyed the stunning view at sunset.

Castro

 Otherwise they joined us for drinks at the usual haunt: Cosmogonía, where the size of multi-national groups of friends has been steadily growing through the season, and "home time" has been similarly advancing!

Chloë and Jack departed on Thursday by bus. Greyrocks recovered and are getting ready for a busy but cooler September. Last night we noticed that the first sculptures have been installed on the stony side prom (now designated a "boulevard") in anticipation of Paleochora Art Week 2016 (which is of course longer than a week!)

"Ch.. ch.. ch.. changes!"

Spoiler warning: If you want to discover for yourself abandon now!

Greyrocks is halfway through the Paleo stay and at a krassi/tsikoudia/musical evening at Monica's a few days ago we met resident James, who introduced himself as a reader of this very blog! (Are we into double figures now?). He reminded us that the annual update on the state of the village has not been published, so here we go:

• "Grands Projets"

The new "prom" at the July Red Moon

"Someone should sort this!"

Most striking of all the changes is the construction of a low wall the length of the stony-side promenade and a widened and  (rather oddly) delineated pavement. It is a thing of beauty giving the possibility of sitting comfortably all the way along and great for children to walk along. There are little gaps at intervals and some water taps. The street lamps are, however, rather "over-speced" so the low rate of operational status is probably a good thing! It means that the site of Ruth's great downfall last year is no longer evident!

Much less welcome, and allegedly a consequence - in some convoluted way - is the enforced removal of semi-permanent canopies from restaurants and bars along the same thoroughfare. It has been overseen by the Port Police, involves serious fines and is deeply resented by (obviously) the owners, by many tourists who feel the nature of the area has been spoiled, and by the mayor who has tried to intervene.

In the town itself there have been paving improvements in several side streets

• Catering casualties

There are definitely fewer than reported last year! Only the combined premises of Balladeer bar and Glaros restaurant comes to mind. The site is key (adjacent to the ferry) and the whole lot had been demolished when we arrived. There is now mysterious construction work in train. Watch this space! Following on from last year we can report that Dionysos remains firmly closed and the short-lived trendy place next to Votsalo has become a shop (see below). Papagallo has fallen from grace with Greyrocks following the sudden departure of Suzie as chef. She is now back at Atoli and that is working well. with the Thursday buffet a great feature!  

• New catering ventures

We have a completely new traditional taverna in the Old Town (close to where the pelican once lived), It is named Aunt's Taverna and as yet is is not being much used!

At Akrogiali (Stavros) there is transformation! Greyrocks has been eating there since the first visit in 1988. The heir apparent - Stelios - has left for Cyprus and now a new owner oversees a new team whilst Stavros stands in the street for a few hours each evening greeting. The interior has been modernised and the menu tweaked. Consensus is that it is not as good as it used to be, and the "ambience" is different - largely as a result of the serving of gyros and other pitta.

Pantelis has a new raised courtyard and is full most nights.

The ouzeri with a strange name in the main street between pharmacy and small supermarket has also considerably expanded and has tables in the evening up to the crossroads.

Finally and at last the old Fortezza has re-opened as the Kastro! The place has a dark history and was also open for a few years as the Variety bar during which there were tragic incidents. Now members of the original family have invested serious money and intend to have a bar on one level and a restaurant on the other, The views are spectacular, but it is barely finished and reports are mixed.

• Beach Life

There has been little change since last year, except that on the main sandy beach there is an expansion of tables and chairs as annexes of the tavernas across the road (Palm Tree, Veggera and Atoli), and attempts have been made to contain sand drift and clouds with a fence (which was itself brought down recently by wind!) 

The Blue Flags arrived in mid-July. This year only the two large beaches in the town got the award (Pacchia Ammos - the "Sandy" - to the west, and Chaldiki - the "Stony"- to the east) One again Limnaki (Greyrocks' beach) failed for lack of amenities, such as lifeguards, toilets and disabled access. To mark its boundary with the awarded section a rather amateur wood and card notice was been placed near the shore and it promptly fell down and lies on the sand!

The flock of Chinese masseuses has increased and from the frequent blasts of the aroma of embrocation they are getting business.

• Street Life and Events

"The Club" near the campsite is operating seriously this season - as Pearl Cavo - with live music twice a week. Veggera has also had some bands and a couple of beach parties, and Greyrocks has been to three rock gigs at Atoli which were excellent! The Jetee has hosted some significant acts aimed at Greek youth and in the distinctly "naff" zone. Combined with causing traffic chaos and charging ludicrous prices for beer they have endeared themselves to neither residents nor punters.

The Chess Tournament happened again with a few days' notice, there was singing and playing and dancing by the community groups down by the Skala, and a British wedding with eighty guests (or rather the associated hen party!) caused a stir!

Lula is classier than this!

Out on the streets there is nightly music by a strolling duo - Athenian we think - of skill and good manners. The Romanian accordionist is regularly about, and there have been few other musicians. (One Argentinian impressed Greyrocks but disappeared!) Some young Cretan dancers in normal dress and with impressive leaping have been about from time to time.

Whilst in Chania Bob had seen an act that had delighted Greyrocks over several years and he asked if they would be coming down South. They said they would and duly did, although the main dancer is in fact the sister of the original! Unfortunately there is no photo, but this is the idea (The female dressed as a male tango dancer performs with Lula, a full sized doll tartily dressed and attached to the legs with Velcro!) Ingenious - but to some a bit freaky!

• Shopping

Most significant is the retirement of Mr Vlisidis and the transfer of the supermarket to the Cretan chain INKA. It means somewhat more stock and two tills but it is rather cramped. Greyrocks has their loyalty card and thus visits to Petrakis are a rare event!

One of the Chinese clothes shops has closed but on the stony prom a new-  apparently good - women's clothes shop has opened. Other boutiques have been smartened up and we now have a pet shop! 

• Tourist flow and traffic issues!

The village seems to be having a good year in terms of tourism. During Greyrocks' first few weeks you couldn't move for Norwegians and we heard tell of regulars who said they wouldn't be back because they were fed up with hearing nothing but their own language. Of course they are good spenders! The next wave was Italians and then Greeks, which is just about to wane. German, Irish, British and French numbers remain stable and less prone to fluctuation.

Traffic problems continue to grow: the main ones being un-silenced two-wheeled things being ridden madly by youngsters, and Greek cars being parked absolutely anywhere the drivers fancy! The police do nothing and there is allegedly a torrent of complaints about it on Facebook!

But: Hey mustn't grumble!

Footnote on Knees

Just to round off July:
Yesterday Ruth mounted the bike and rode up and down the prom several times without pain!
The physio has loosened up the operated knee and the cortisone has eased the one in waiting.
This was the first ride in Paleochora since the Great Fall exactly a year ago!

A new phase opens.

Shocking Figures!

Paleo Summer: Part 1

42 degrees Celsius, Beaufort 7, 52 per cent Leave!

Greyrocks has been in Paleo some five weeks and things have not been quiet!

Having left Chania in a wind-free heatwave we were expecting to find a cooler environment, but were told it had been unusually still on the South Coast too! Soon after we arrived we were with chums catching up on the news and agreeing not to - except with chosen fellow-travellers - discuss the UK referendum which would take place next day!

We spent the next day on various jobs and the evening - until late - with interesting non-Brits. Ruth discovered the awful news in the early hours and Greyrocks hid away to nurse the wounds. We did however make contact with Steve in order to reclaim our stored items including sunbeds, so we had a short but emotionally-charged discussion before taking the beds down to the beach to try not to think about it!

Down at the beach "our tree" was available as an anchoring point with Yiannis the beach guy positioned even closer that last year. It was hot, and a bit windy, but the sea entry was difficult and the sea very cold (unlike on the North coast). There followed several days of very strong wind (sometimes from the South) so there was glumness on both fronts until strikingly on July 1st the wind dropped, a remarkable amount of sand had been shifted over the rocky shoreline to give good ingress and the water was lovely! we spent plenty of days down at the beach and some days were "scorchio" registering into the 40's mid-afternoon. winds were a problem on 4th and 5th but otherwise not so, then Ruth made a swift decision to fly back to help with her father's welfare and house-clearance. The Norwegian flight on the 7th was very cheap (and comfortable) but the return with Easyjet on 12th was another shocking figure! It was a busy, wet, cold and miserable trip but highly productive. Bob spent two days in Chania before coming to the airport and we returned together to resume the lifestyle.

After a few days the extremes also resumed with the period 16th to 20th having record-breaking winds. Greyrocks took themselves out of town on the worst day to a bolt-hole with a swimming pool and no sand, but the Force 7 gusts were inescapable. As the predominant direction was NNE it also undid the earlier sand coating and up to this point improvements to the shore have been slow!

Meanwhile the shifting sands of Brexit ...........

"What goes down in Matala ......."

We stayed four nights. The quality seems to have stabilised to a level well below the early years, but still worth the relative discomfort (even in a decent hotel), gross adolescent behaviour and limited eating options for the free music and festival atmosphere. The local Brits from the north coast gave a spectacular performance on the first night! On the Saturday we were walking the back streets when hailed by Barry (ex- Paleo-Calypso), one if his twins and Anidri Alan visiting fo the first time. Many hours and Amstels followed accompanied by barely(!)-acceptable remarks about passing buttocks (tattooed, painted or otherwise!) Later in the weekend we spent time with Barry and Judy who had peeled off from the ever-increasing Kalyves Krew. Down at The Lions Georgios was back after last year's absence and it was a good place to be!
It was very, very hot and wind-free, and one glitch was that our AC didn't work on one night:- the one when the nearby music went on until 5am!!
As they cleared up on the Tuesday we took a gentle drive over to Chania and the Nea Hora where we managed some sunbathing on the beach and a dip in the warm sea, followed by dinner and the move on the next day (the one before the referendum) to Paleo. The Nea Hora was having some problems with no Blue Flag and issues over illegal sunbeds. What we find down South?

"Are we there yet? - Migrating south in June

Departure day was blighted only by some thunderstorms on the M25 and an absence of pubs near Dover for time-killing. We have noticed this latter lack before and should know better, but we found an interesting farm shop instead and had the bonus of a look round their museum dedicated to the Land Army.

Back on "The Continent" it was five modest  hops to the ferry from Ancona:

Saint Quentin, Nancy, Luzern and Bologna

OK- this is Austria - but hey!

The first was a re-visit to a hotel used on the way "up" so uneventful. In Nancy we had great difficulty finding the place and then got lost again on the outskirts afer getting stuck in a hypermarket in a torrential downpour. This disorientation was as bad as any in UK and involved going in the wrong direction on the autoroute in the rush hour. We eventually hunkered down in the Campanile and ate one of their dinners for the second night running, which was never the intention. We had allowed plenty of time for the route into Switzerland and so diverted in Mulhouse (a place where we had stayed before) in order to collect Euros in cash in the run-up to the UK Referendum. More navigational errors!

Crossing at Basel, coughing up the 40 euros for the vignette and finding the Ibis were all simple. The nice manager sorted out parking that could handle the bike rack, the room was good and the WiFi strong. We set off in search of a drink and a place for dinner in the absence of Swiss francs. Oh dear! A McDonalds, a kebab house that was cash-only and a posh club/restaurant whose prices brought tears to the eyes!! The Kandonites, who also use the hotel en route,  now tell us we were warned! We ate from the very short microwave menu at the Ibis and sought out Del Shannon's "Swiss Maid" which had become an ear-worm! Greyrocks set off early next morning with much less impressive views than on the last such trip because of low cloud. and mist. We were through the St Gothard Tunnel with a wait of less than twenty minutes, entered Italy and made it unscathed round the racetrack that is Milan! Our one night on the outskirts of Bologna must be one of the best value deals yet! Pretty easy to find huge, new and almost deserted on a Saturday night! We had a huge luxury room and wallowed in it taking dinner in the restaurant and were off next morning after a great buffet breakfast for a simple journey to the ferry in Ancona! We made good time and had to kill time at a very tatty autostrada stop before check-in, The sky was darkening! We were told the ship might be a little late but we must queue at the appointed hour so we hung around the terminal and it began to pour with rain! We found a spot almost in the shelter of a bar parasol and waited! We then had to drive to the queue in spite of the weather. We waited and waited and waited! We eventually left about two and a half hours late and in poor weather and sea conditions. This was going to scupper our plans for an afternoon drive to the Chania ferry from Piraeus.

One aspect of the Greek stereotype is the refusal to give true but unpopular facts involving some loss of "face"! Well done, ANEK:- true to form the staff kept insisting the drive could be done in an hour and a half and all would be well! Greyrocks reflected for half the voyage and then emailed the nice person in the office in Venice and re-booked for the following night's ferry. We booked into a hotel we knew of old in Patras, told Lefteris in Rethymnon that we wouldn't arrive until the Tuesday morning and cancelled a scheduled coffee stop in Kalives with Judy and Barry. Then we relaxed and watched a film!

So we stayed overnight in a hotel we have used before, but it has been taken over by a group and is now all-inclusive and the few guests there were Russian,  The catering was very good for a one-night stand and the room and balcony very comfortable. Next day on the leisurely drive we saw the state of the National Road works and knew we could not have done it the evening before, so a wise move!


In Rethymnon for now just two nights we realised how foul the weather had been on the way down as we had to completely change our wardrobes! And we were soon in the sea! Two good meals - including at the excellent Noodle Bar - cheap sunbeds and a bit of a walk. It was good to be back and Lefteris helped us get the washing done!

England (and accidentally and momentarily Wales) for business and pleasure

Greyrocks started this phase with an act of characteristic meanness! We arrived at Calais port ludicrously early (having passed and viewed with compassionate amazement "The Jungle"). We were offered the next ferry at just 20 (pounds or euros?) and refused - opting instead for the one after that (still a change!) for nothing more. The down side was that the waiting area had very basic amenities: just a toilet block and a vending machine, but nice cleaners supplied a drink and then we fished out the folding chairs and wine box and the hours in the sun flew by!

Part 1 

The itinerary for the month began in Canterbury as Yvette had to have an immediate MOT to stay legal. The attempt to find the Travelodge just outside the city wall put Canterbury first on a list of "English places Greyrocks has no desire to drive in"! The hotel is not the group's best:- old, no lift, terrible parking, and then on top of that it poured with rain! Next morning Bob got lost taking the car to the garage, but got a lift back and we started routine shopping until the car could be collected and we could get out of Canterbury and drive just into Sussex to meet old friend Josiane for a late lunch and to visit the grave of her late husband (in a very soggy cemetery). We stayed two nights and were stranded by appalling rain, but did manage to take them out to a nice country pub for dinner before heading South. The next two/three days were dedicated to sorting a variety of issues for Ruth's Dad who is moving into residential care and needing to clear the house. (Bob also took a completely fruitless trip by bus to Portsmouth to try to organise a blood test. A few weeks later the news was that Portsmouth NHS Trust is officially a shambles.. not a surprise to us!)  Then it was back up to South London, where were given a bed for four nights with Neil and Maggie. Significant events there were Sunday lunch with them and other old Labour Party friends, sight tests, new laptops from PC World with a rude salesperson, and a day out "up town" with a five pound bus pass each. It was a bit cold and Ruth's other knee was playing up so we did a lot of bus travel on that Tuesday seeing the sights and much of South East London too!

Wednesday was the start of South West London with two nights in Balham so that we could meet our new (Lithuanian) tenants, get all of our clothes out of the loft and into the charity shop, have a visit to the solicitor in Putney, tour IKEA and as usual take our old neighbour and gardener out for a pint or two. This was all to be done whilst keeping our parking legal, Unfortunately the weather was not kind and so loading, sorting, pruning, and delivering the vast load of stuff was done in torrential rain! There were other disappointments too beyond the weather: no films worth seeing on a wet afternoon and the Wetherspoons pub being too full for us to go there for Curry Club!

Next it was off to East Anglia, with a stop for lunch near Ipswich with John and Carol who are also part-year Corralejo residents! Confusion over joining the A14 meant two unnecessary traverses of the Orwell, wasted diesel and a late arrival. Ipswich was added to the Greyrocks list mentioned above! A jolly few hours and improving weather!

In Suffolk we were staying in the house of a cousin who works off-shore and was away, We met up with other members of the family and went to see the resting place of Ray, who had died over the winter. This led to Tony - the genealogist - taking us to some churchyards with family history. By now the sun was truly shining and we saw some glorious countryside at its best.

Wheels, spirals and strange encounters in Yarmouth!

On the Sunday we felt drawn to Great Yarmouth! So did many, many others! We parked up and rode the bikes along the sea-front. We stopped at Britannia Pier to pay homage to "The Snails" - a ride much used when  Chloë was young! whilst we were dithering over safely taking a photo we heard a call of "Bob and Ruth!" and saw a leather-clad and beer-bearing individual racing towards us!

Chris and Jann are September Paleo people (see last year's September post)! They live twelve miles away and had come out for a trip on their magnificent Harley-Davidson trike. Needless to say Greyrocks spent several sunny hours with them, meting other owners, and seeing a posse of classic scooters also on a jolly! We had to - reluctantly -  turn down the offer of an evening barbecue as we were to head North next morning!

Monday to Friday was spent with Chris and Penny in York. They were freshly returned from a rail trip to Russia and Scandinavia, so many travellers' tales were shared along with good real ale, old films, nostalgia and short circuits by foot and cycle around the city. We also went together for a day in Leeds - primarily so Ruth could go to a branch of Bravissimo! It was a very wet day! We went by bus - sitting front top-deck like kids, but seeing very little through the rain. Sight-seeing was curtailed too, but Bob got to Lock 1 of the Leeds and  Liverpool Canal. Culturally we went to City Screen to see the new Le Carré film, and to the theatre on one pound tickets to see "King Lear". Greyrocks loves York!

Next stop was Coventry. Not an obvious choice, but in making a change to the plan we found that we could catch Fairport Convention there on the Sunday!  They were playing at The Albany Theatre, about which we initially knew nothing except that it is close to a Premier Inn, so we booked two nights there! (En route we stopped in a suburb and balanced a sunny pub garden drink with getting our washing done!) On arrival we discovered that the two are in the same beautiful old building, which was once the technical college. It was not too far to walk into the shopping and historic parts and it didn't rain, so we got to see some sights. Fairport was exceptional and the audience very old. "Meet on the Ledge" had extra poignancy as we all knew former-member Swarb was close to death (and did in fact go to the ledge within ten days). At the other end of the spectrum Greyrocks was much amused by this Steeleye Span pastiche! Next day before leaving Coventry we looked for the place where Bob had lodged in 1965! We found it but not before hairy moments on the ring road and confusion with one-way residential streets! "The List" grew:

Canterbury, Ipswich, Coventry .. and still ten days to go!

Part 2

.. but this was only the start! We were doing well (and avoiding the M6 toll) until we came to the outskirts of Lichfield. It was Bank Holiday Monday and there was a significant (and still unidentified) event on in the (small) city causing complete traffic meltdown. Attempts to avoid it resulted in another Greyrocks navigation crisis and late arrival at our destination  and lunch appointment.
John and Tracey (Goa and Fuerte) had come from Derbyshire to meet us at our next port of call. This was a country inn almost beside the Trent and Mersey Canal and not far from Rugeley and the Armitage-Shanks factory (as in W Cs!) The accommodation and food we had for three nights was excellent. All very relaxing and time to ourselves. After the lunch we four walked down to the smaller pub which was right beside the canal and gongoozled! The sun shone, but it was not warm!

The choice of location for a three-night stay was to give an opportunity for some canal-side cycling; but we had not done enough research! Whilst UK canals will always have a towpath there is no guarantee that it will be properly prepared for cyclists.We set off eastwards and it was all there:- moored and mobile boats, wildlife, pretty roads and bridges! But it was cold and the path was just a rough gully in which Ruth felt unsafe, so she ended up wheeling the bike and retracing steps back to base. Bob continued to Alrewas and beyond. It was re-think time - made yet more necessary when the rain came, so it was drives out to notable canal-side spots- all delightful, from Burton-on-Trent to Stone. The latter is a charming little town where we wandered the streets as well as visiting the famous Star pub.

Burton was rather different! It is - of course - famous as the home of British brewing, and Ruth remembers mooring there in the seventies, but all we found was poor signage, unhelpful traffic systems and grim industrial estates. We put the place on "the list" and left, needing to use the A38 which is also most unpleasant and has peculiar interchanges! We went to see the waterfowl in soggy conditions. Ah the delights of a British May!

But even though the rain was never far away we found Fradley Junction and a great place for real ale and gongoozling. This, with Great Haywood and its farm shop/ cafe was worth the trip.

We left Handsacre on a gloomy day having checked traffic conditions, for what seemed a simple M5 journey down to Bristol. There was big trouble between two junctions, but we thought we could see a short diversion. and that is how we ended up in Wales crossing and re-crossing the Wye in order to reach the Severn Bridge. (For which we were expecting to pay a toll, but they let you out of Wales for free). The day was further complicated by an incident near Leominster. Suddenly Yvette tells us she has "Engine Failure". There was no obvious problem but we had to make contingency plans for Fiat garages in every town we passed through. The problem was rectified next day by a great dealer in Bristol; but the the whole journey goes down in Greyrocks annals as wasted hours and nervous energy,

We stayed once again at the Premier Inn at Cribbs Causeway, which is sensible if not exciting, meeting Chloë and Jack for dinner at Cafe Rouge. Next day we dealt with the car, shopped in the city centre and then went to Easton for dinner chez les amoureux.  Ruth's birthday was a series of treats, starting with brunch at the Easton Thali to which we invited her niece and family, then a train trip with Chloë and Jack to Cotham and a walk for a view of the Suspension Bridge and a drink on the terrace of the bar of the Avon Gorge Hotel. In the evening we met again with Jack's parents for a very posh meal at the Hotel du Vin. 

The penultimate leg in this mammoth trip was back to Hampshire to spend a  a bit more time helping Ruth's Dad prepare for his move. Tt was a textbook drive on a sunny Sunday with a family meal and we then spent a couple of busy days before the ferry back to Calais.

(Summary: 30 days, 60 per cent wet, about 1600 miles!)

Gongoozling and gone guzzling:- a drop of Burgundy!

From the Med. Greyrocks headed North for more French leave. May this year has the maximum possible bank holidays, but two are on Sundays so plenty of scope for confusion over opening times and traffic conditions!

A great restaurant in Lesterps

First we spent two days getting to St Germain de Confolens for a short stay at La Grange Terrou uphill from where George is renting pending completion of his new house and with whom we spent a lot of time. It was - unusually - sunny and dry, and we - once again - were made very welcome by the owners on the upmarket BandB, where the other guest was a French racing driver. With George and Gee we spent a pleasant Saturday taking lunch in Lesterps, viewing the emergent new home (not a pavillon!) and visiting the charity shop run by some of his friends. This last was a bizarre experience - rather like stepping into the same in Middle England! It was a special day with stalls being erected for a May Day fete next day. Bob and Jenny have transformed the premises into a warren of well organised rooms with vast quantities of donated books, clothes and bric-a-brac, and space for taking (English-style) tea and coffee. Ex-pats came and went, there were tales of ex-pat exploits and all the chat was in English. French customers came and went buying lampshades and unmatched golf clubs, and we had a chance to talk about where the money goes:- humanitarian truck runs from UK to crisis hotspots, the next being a second visit to Lesbos. Greyrocks having a clutter-free lifestyle left without purchasing anything, but having willing made a donation!

There is now a link between this short stay and our next one, which was in Cravant. The link is the current ubiquitous French phenomenon of the vide-grenier:- best translation "boot fair" but with more to it! Maybe it is the time year ("or maybe it's the time of Man") but villages all over were having one. The local press is full of schedules for them and great is the chaos caused in a location on their day! We had an easy drive to the old town (village) where we had booked a chalet on a small riverside site. We had a good map and it is not a large place, but it was mid-afternoon on vide-grenier day and half the roads were closed, so once again Greyrocks spent ages seeking its temporary home. Even asking folk on the street didn't help much:- half of them were only in the village for the said v-g!

For half the week we were the only residents but as Ascension and VE-day weekend loomed it filled - largely with two huge multi-national extended family groups. It also became clear that eating-out was going to be an issue! One place disappeared, one allegedly opening occasionally but not so in reality, and one requiring an advance reservation for a set meal. This was going to be a challenge - not helped by the bank holidays! On the first night we set off in hope and started to realise the situation, and as a result ended up in Vincelottes outside a restaurant about which we had read and were interested in visiting at some later stage. As we stood dithering and wondering about it the chef came out and engaged in conversation. He offered us his last table for the evening. and thus started one of the most lavish dinners ever experienced by Greyrocks. The basic price for the cheapest menu was OK, but we were lured into wine choices - including Cremant de Bourgogne - then there were the freebies! A three-part amuse-bouche plate, a three-part pre-dessert and a silver stand full of macaroons and home-made confectionery. This last came with a box for taking things home (which we forgot in our parting chat with le patron about the celebs he had cooked for, including HMQ and Paddy Ashdown)! We vowed to be more measured in our dinners thereafter and largely managed to do so! We did, however, drive to Chablis! Unfortunately it was on a holiday afternoon and parking was impossible. A box was ticked!






But the reason for staying in Cravant was neither food nor wine, but the Canal du Nivernais, and we had ample opportunity for gongoozling! There was a nasty cold wind for most of the week, but we managed a series of rides up and down the tow-paths nearby, and a day in glorious Auxerre (including a laundrette visit and carting biles up street stairs!) Greyrocks had been inspired to explore this canal when watching actors-cum-canal-nuts Sir Timothy West and Prunella Scales navigate a section as part of a TV series


Some aspects of the rides were problematic in that canal and river meet and part in a complicated way necessitating changes of side for the path, in places the road is used, and the general pattern of closing rural watering holes cuts back options, but all is meticulously maintained and the locks provide a charming break. These are all staffed often by women - and they jump on mopeds to beat the boats to the next lock. Greyrocks gongoozled at numerous locks, and at the marina at Chateau-Censoir, and also watched in amazement at the rock climbing alongside the canal. Bob did longer rides and managed to cover quite a length of this section.

All in all this was a great week, and we are now Burgundy fans (the region as well as the wine!) and are planning the next canal-side stay. We made stop overnight in St Quentin (Picardy) on yet another bank holiday. It was a beautifully sunny day and the autoroutes were HGV-free but full of Brussels-bound cars. Some terrible administration by Premier Classe led to us sitting in the sun in the centre of town. Another place to visit again!

Next day it was "Au Revoir, La France!"

Greyrocks left Calais for a month of touring England. Read on!