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!