"The Lion shall lie down with the Horse and the Maiden - but not for long!!

 Sometime in mid-July it all started to happen, which was odd for Greyrocks as we were due to be missing for four days on a long-awaited jolly in Chania.

A welcome return was Hassan on the Beach. We went there - late as usual - to find him in the final stages of a beautiful sand sculpture of a young woman sunbathing on her front. We shared a few words and he said he would only be creating for five days before going to work in the hills. No rush, then, to capture the first oeuvre as more would join it! The next was this reclining lion, and then a horse, but that was it! By the time we next ventured to the beach all had been washed away by the high seas that were part of an ongoing period of "less than ideal" weather! (Hassan we learnt is not from Syria, but Pakistan, and has a rich back story)

Any tourist coming to Paleochora for a summer holiday should have been warned that there can be runs of days when the wind is too strong for settling on the beach, or when the beach is good, but the sea too rough (in combination with exposed rock and shifting sand) for bathing. The second half of July has seen both (and now another heatwave is on its way). One might even start to believe in climate change!!  

In contrast there have been the arrivals of old friends. Some had not come last year, and some are staying for less time than usual, but they bring very late nights and considerable consumption of alcohol. As usual the same theme recurs: "how many years have you been coming?", "Do you remember when.."! The first wave has comprised (in alphabetical order):

Barbara, Günter, John, Klaus, Mats, Philip, Sam, Sofia, Susanna.

match them to:

Sweden, Munich, Hamburg, Brittany, Wakefield and County Down!

Posts to come and round off the month: Why was Greyrocks in Chania?, Live music returns to Bars, the Chess Tournament and What's new on the Eateries front?