Two weeks into the stay and Greyrocks is firmly established, and has put the trauma of getting here behind! The heatwave that we had experienced in Cyprus also happened here but was largely over by the time we arrived late on 3rd, but was followed by a new one that is still with us, as shown in the data from the weather station.
It could have been the heat that caused beach-related incidents on two consecutive days. We arrived around midday to find a well-known Norwegian character hanging various items on the tree where our sunbeds have resided all summer for about ten seasons. We asked her to move her bag off of the sunbeds and she "went off on one", issuing nationalistic insults and threats. She occupied the shade so we went into the sea, returned and dried off and then went to the cantina from where we saw her walk off some hours later! She has has not repeated this ploy! Next morning Ruth's sandal fell apart as we prepared to leave for the beach A new pair was deployed. Later that afternoon the wind was getting a bit much so we went for a sandwich and alcohol-free beers at a famous beach bar. It was busy with locals, a newborn baby. friends of the staff and - in particular - two irritating dogs, of which all were making a huge fuss. We shooed away the larger of the two, and then saw it run off with one of the new sandals and start to chew it. Ruth went ballistic, immediately tried to pay whilst fuming and we left saying we would never be back!
On the evening of 13th we saw some smoke over the mountains, and whilst we were eating at The Seagull saw that there were now flames. We tried to deduce what habitations might be nearby, and sent a picture to
Chloë telling her that Anidri was under threat. By return came the news of exactly where it was: between the "crocodile" and Prodromi. She really does know more about Paleo than we do! The fire grew in width and height but fire vehicles got there and their lights could be discerned. At first light the special helicopter dropped water to finally extinguish it. It was mostly low scrub
and neither people nor homes were casualties. Within the last week there have been impressive fireworks in that direction
, but at sea level. The suggestion is that these were bought in for festivals but could not be used for Covid reasons.
Another first for Greyrocks;- virtually attending a funeral! Last month we received the news that our old friend
Josiane had passed away in tragic circumstances, Her funeral was to be conducted under Covid rules, so non-attenders were given the link to watch the Catholic funeral and burial, which we did on a very hot afternoon with a bottle of prosecco. In Kent we could see it began to rain and heavy overcoats were worn! A sad occasion, but technology made it possible to be a small part of it! RIP
And on a less sombre note we did decide to watch the Euro Finals! Location would be everything:- we wanted no English jingoism and to keep a low profile. Outside Zygos was suggested. We had our first Small Garden dinner in the run-up and set off to arrive at kick-off and not before. Misjudged! As we approached we heard the cheers for the England goal, and the viewing area was heaving with young locals. After a while we moved inside to a smaller screen, comfortable seats, AC and adult behaviour! There is nothing to add to the tributes to the team and management. We heard stories of much anti-English sentiment elsewhere in the village. Which brings us back to the opening of this post
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