Month: June 2024

Sunday, 23rd June, 2024

Lovely morning. Warm and sunny. Breakfast with the doors open. Doesn’t lovely weather make you feel better about your life, Dear Reader? Gives a sort of optimism and hope for the future.

Eight years ago today, I was feeling fairly hopeless. The Brexit Vote was lost – narrowly but lost. I found it hard to comprehend. I thought it was madness. What were they thinking? Well, what emerged was they thought Brexit was going to radically change their lives. It was the poorer, less educated, Working Class who thought leaving Europe would bring a Land of Milk & Honey as the snake-oil salesmen, Johnson & Farage, promised them for their vote. It was nonsense then and it is nonsense now.

The better off and better educated largely voted Remain because it was obvious that leaving our closest and largest trading Bloc would be ruinous and so it is proving. The Fishermen were the first to realise they had been duped as they lost their markets for so much of their catch. The Farmers, who voted in droves to Leave, suddenly found that they would lose all the EU Agricultural Subsidies that they had survived on. Why couldn’t they see that coming before they voted? Supply Chains for Just-in-Time processes have been terribly disrupted. Time-sensitive products like flowers, foodstuffs have been made incredibly more difficult and, therefore, more expensive.

On the day, the vote was 51.9% for Leave to 48.1% to Remain. It was very close even then. I haven’t changed my mind but many who voted Leave have changed their minds. The sentiment is completely reversed to 40% Leave – 60% Remain. Their regret is palpable and no wonder.

How could Brexit make up for living in the North? How could it provide the manual labourers with little educational attainment and few skills a better life. Getting their country back was an empty gesture and those who pedalled it have largely paid for it. Labour will inherit this disenchantment and will have to tack back towards Europe.

It may take two or three parliaments but it will happen. Labour can’t say it openly now but, if they want growth in our Economy, they will have to re-join the Single Market and the Customs Union. That will be more than half way to re-joining the EU and who knows what else ….?

Monday, 24th June, 2024

Very humid start to the day. We are up early because a couple of builders are arriving to do some jobs for us. Already my friends from Yorkshire have contacted me to say it is very hot …. for North Yorkshire. They’re going to reach 25C in Ilkley today. How will they cope? Typical on a day when we could enjoy the garden that we’ve got builders raking out and repointing the base of the house where it meets the patio. It’s going to be lovely all week for us but we expect the builders to be here at least three days.

Breakfast at the moment is Muesli. I’ve never really been a fan of it before. The commercial stuff is so sweet but it is too hot for porridge so chef makes makes her own mix.

I still have the rolled oats of porridge plus plump, Californian sultanas, flaked coconut, flaked almonds and crushed hazel nuts all soaked in ice cold, skimmed milk. It’s absolutely delicious and gets me through to Supper. Well, I eat fruit during the day – bananas, cherries, grapes, melon – and I drink lots of almond milk, tea and coffee.

Going to Athens in a few weeks. Let’s hope Gatwick doesn’t catch Manchester’s disease. All those people had their flights cancelled because of a power outage. The ones who got away on a flight were only able to take cabin luggage. Hold luggage was left behind. That’s where our latest trend would pay off. Paying extra for seats with Speedy Boarding, Fast Track Security and 2 carry-on bags each, one of which is a suitcase, makes life so much more enjoyable and relaxed. We still took too many clothes.

Athens will be screaming hot. August is a time that many Greeks decamp to the islands where they hope it will be a bit cooler. Water becomes ever more important. We will enjoy a slightly quieter city because of that. The hotel is cool all the time so we can always retreat there if needed. I love Athens and I love the heat so it’s a win all round.

While we are there, we might take a ferry to a near-ish island of Aegina. Never been there and it would be nice to see somewhere new. Looks interesting. What do you think, Dear Reader?

Tuesday, 25th June, 2024

It’s 10.00 am and the day is lovely – blue sky, strong sun, 24C/75F. My friends from Yorkshire have already contacted me to say they have the same. The builders are back and are continuing to work on repairing resettlement problems that we have allowed to remain but now think movement of our new-build house has ceased. I expect them to be here for at least one and maybe two more days.

I always find workmen in the house a bit difficult. How much do you take an interest in them and how much do you just let them get on with what they are doing? How much of your normal activities can you continue and how much do you need to retreat behind a door. I try to make them welcome, offer them coffee, check they know what is required and then go to my Office out of their way. It means that I can indulge myself in reading and writing for a while without interruption although I do have this on in the background.

Because I am so exciting, I do find the Post Office Inquiry intermittently gripping. Today, they are grilling the Horizon Software Designer – an IT expert who knew it was open to outside manipulation. It will be crucial evidence. While I am following this, I am reading my emails, checking my Texts and Whatsapps and preparing pieces for my Blog. I am also reading every newspaper on my newsfeed.

The Times has a piece on the trend for Tactical Voting. The election itself is as much about getting the Tories out as it is about positively choosing someone else. Choosing anyone but the Tories is a thing. MEN sent me a piece about Red Wall disaffection. It featured the old Heywood and Middleton and the new Blackley and Middleton South constituencies. The new constituency is being fought by the long time sitting MP, Graham Stringer.

Clearly there is wide spread disillusion with Tories and Labour will take the seat but I was amused to read the two examples of discontent cited. One man said, All the time I’ve lived here, this tree outside my house has been growing and no one had come to cut it back. Another couple said, We have lived in Langley for 40 years and it has gone right down hill. Anyone who knew Langley 40 years ago will know there was no hill for it to go down. It was at the bottom then.

There will be some areas which will become even more extreme in their desperation – Bolton, for example, but the Red Wall are largely regretting their support for Brexit and the Tories. What were they really expecting – a Faragist land of milk and honey?

I was expecting a warm day and, at 1.00 pm the temperature has reached 29C /84F. One of our builders is sweating in the Kitchen. He used to work in Athens and lived in Corfu (small world) but he’s still suffering. I’m lapping it up out in the garden although I’d rather be in Kamares right now.

I snatched this photo from the live feed filming the harbour as the ferry approached. I remember the buzz of excitement that the movement of people and vehicles on an otherwise remote Greek island can produce. I would like to taste it one more time. How about you, Dear Reader?

Wednesday, 26th June, 2024

We didn’t fall below 18C/65F all night. I didn’t sleep well although not for that reason. By 9.00 am, it was 24C/75F and as I write at mid day, we are just going over 29C/84F. I’ve spent the morning watering and chef has been harvesting vegetables for Supper.

From fork to plate in 50 meters. You can’t do much better than that, Dear Reader. It’s always nice when the effort pays off. I’ve been working on my local street for two or three years, cutting the grass verges, planting and maintaining the flowers in the bed cut out in the grass. I buy some plants and grow the rest from seed. It takes a bit of time but keeps me active and occupied and in touch with the community.

This morning, a distinguished looking chap who introduced himself as Dudley called at my door this morning to thank me for all the work I was doing. He told me he was the chairman of the Development Management Committee. I told him that I did it as much for myself as for anyone else but it was nice to have my efforts recognised. Dudley was quite obviously a Tory voter and would not be comfortable in my company. He hadn’t heard the BBC R4 Today programme this morning which featured our constituency and showed that a lifetime of Conservative rule would be brought to an end next week. In my view, it will remain in Labour hands for at least 10 years and, quite possibly 15. By that stage, I will be 88 and so gaga that I won’t know the difference.

Did you watch the England match last night, Dear Reader? It was so awful, you could need no more persuasion to vote for a change. England’s finest were providing the same display I have seen almost every year since 1966. Only my friend, Kevin, saw it in a positive light and he is already gaga.

Thursday, 27th June, 2024

Incredibly hot and humid night although I slept much better. Out early this morning. Went to collect a couple of pairs of reading glasses I had ordered. I hardly wear distance glasses nowadays apart from when I’m driving. Even then, I can be half way through a journey before I realise I’m not wearing them.

I don’t like to go anywhere without my reading glasses so I now have 5 pairs because I’m always breaking, crushing, sitting on these flimsy things. I like half moon glasses because I think they make me look more intelligent than I am. I have a pair permanently in the car, a pair in the bedroom (Don’t ask?) and a pair in the Office. I have a pair in the Travel Bag and a backup pair. Two pairs of glasses this morning cost me just £90 and Specsavers gave a 50%-off voucher for another pair of glasses. I know an old lady who will use that this week.

I love talking to people and I’m not shy. I was served by a young girl who brought my new glasses to a desk where I had to try them on. As we sat opposite each other with nothing but reading glasses in common, I used my normal ice breaker: How old are you? She was called Emily and she was 21 years old. She had gone to Littlehampton Academy which she quite liked and then gone on to the local College to study Acting. Her great ambition was to be a famous actress. (Not going to happen.) and she was working in Specsavers in the meantime. She wasn’t sure who she would vote for in the General Election (She wasn’t even quite sure when it was or who the candidates were.) but it would be anybody other the Conservatives.

Emily thought that whoever she voted for, she would be well into her 70s before she could retire. I thanked her and left her with: Vote Labour. Lovely girl but I wondered if I was that ignorant and naïve when I was 21. I was certainly vulnerable but … We went on to the beach which is close by. The tide was completely out which made it an interesting scene. A few people had actually walked all the way and were swimming.

Felt the warmth, smelt the sea air and then left to do our Sainsbury’s shop. When we got home, my friend from North Yorkshire contacted me to say he was thinking of setting up a virtual College reunion group on Whatsapp. He’s called it Old Friends 69/72 Bookends which is a reference to the years we we at College combined with a quote from a contemporary Paul Simon song:

Time it was
And what a time it was
It was a time of innocence
A time of confidences

Long ago, it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They’re all that’s left youPaul Simon – Bookends

Actually, pathetic, old man that I am, reading those lyrics again made me really sad.

Friday, 28th June, 2024

A little cooler and a little less sunny this morning, We haven’t had enough rain to encourage grass to grow. I may not need to mow today. In fact, Met. Office forecasts suggest we will be lucky to get any rain at all until this time next week.

We don’t live in Florida or Athens but solar power still has a lot to offer in free energy. We already know that the only way we will be able to drive very soon will be using electric vehicles. A North of England company are making a success of selling solar charging units for car batteries. It is a brilliant way to park throughout the day in a workplace and allow the sunlight to trickle charge your vehicle for the drive home.

This innovation in South Korea features a solar panel covered cycle track down the centre of a motorway. The electricity generated is sent to Service Stations for charging cars.

This morning’s news was of a real breakthrough in electric car charging and range. Range has long been the great barrier for me. Just driving to the North of England is a 260 mile distance which, currently would be on the outer edge of possible under one charge. To go on holiday through France and Italy would need multiple charges. If a full charge takes 2 – 3 hours in a service station, the whole thing becomes impossible. Fast charge as in this UK innovation will really change that.

I drive a self-charge hybrid which has massively improved my mpg but most of my weekly trips are 5 – 10 miles which is bad for fuel consumption and could easily be done on electricity. That’s why I’m going to buy a plug-in hybrid. It will allow me to do most of my day to day driving on electric entirely but I will not have to worry if I want to drive 3-400 miles in a day on occasions. In the old days, I used to drive Calais to Ancona non-stop in a 15 hr trip of 900 miles. Whichever car I buy, I doubt I’ll be doing that again.

Saturday, 29th June, 2024

Gloriously warm and sunny morning. The grass is green. The sky is blue. The sun is out. Where are you, Dear Reader? Hope you are having a lovely day as well.

Drove up to Highdown Gardens yesterday evening. It really is only about 5 mins from our house. It is a municipal garden now but was created by Sir Frederick Claude Stern at the turn of the last century during a period when expeditions were going to China and the Himalayas collecting rare and interesting plants. It is a popular walking place with locals but it is also the site of a posh hotel and restaurant.

Many of the original plants from the early collections are in the garden today, particularly one of my favourites – paeonies. I don’t know if you are familiar with them, Dear Reader but their reputation says they are exotic and difficult to grow. Once established, the received view is that they are very difficult to successfully move. We grew them and moved them very successfully in Yorkshire and fell in love with their beauty.

Just by chance, our next door neighbour came back from shopping yesterday and presented us with these, gorgeous paeonies from the florists. They are gracing our Lounge right now …. the flowers not the neighbours. Wouldn’t let them in.

Talk about not letting neighbours in, there was an incredible piece of circularity of experience in the Greek Newspapers this morning. You probably saw it yourself, Dear Reader. Sifnos is the island where we bought a field and built a house. We were aware of the sensitivity of incomers buying up land. It has clearly become more intense over the years since we sold up. The circularity comes from the fact that the article quotes Alkmini Paka, Professor of Architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where we were staying just a couple of weeks ago. I enjoy coincidences like that.

Sunday, 16th June, 2024

Beautiful morning. Just 26C/79F at 8.30 am (Greek) as we went up to the rooftop for Breakfast looking down over the Thermaic Gulf.

Breakfast is becoming a problem. I just can’t eat much more of it. Bacon & Scrambled Egg is a delightful novelty for the first day or two but, by now, my body is saying, Enough! Of course, breakfast for many Greeks is a cheap, dry bread-ring covered in sesame seeds bought from a street vendor’s barrow. In that case, I could do without breakfast at all.

You wouldn’t think these girls know what any kind of breakfast is. I am never going to be as skinny as these two. They are my neighbours Dee (at No. 2), Lecturer in English and Michelle (at No. 3), Copywriter. They are both in their 50s, both have had kids, both have gyms in their garages and both run everywhere. They both say they eat like horses and they both definitely drink a lot but ….

They are on a Hen-Do in Malaga this weekend leaving their husbands at home to look after the houses and mow the lawns. They Whatsapp’d me this photo around midnight last night just to make me feel old and fat and tired and …. Some other neighbours, John & Jill, Whatsapp’d me this morning to ask if they can park on our drive until we get back. They have a skip on theirs while the garden is redesigned. I replied to them totally in Greek to make them work for it. It is lovely to have such nice neighbours.

Monday, 17th June, 2024

Lovely morning. We’re forecast to touch 34C/93F today. We are being incredibly lucky to enjoy such lovely weather. Sunny, hot and a bit sweaty when we want it with an ice-cold, air-conditioned Suite to retreat to when we don’t.

Lovely evening. We’ve eaten so much that we didn’t bother with Supper last night. We just shared a bottle of wine and some nibbles on the balcony before watching the England match. I bet you were watching it as well, Dear Reader. I must admit, it was a bit boring and, of course, it didn’t start here until 10.00 pm and finished at midnight. After all the walking, the heat and a bottle of wine, I was really tired.

While watching the match in Northern Greece, I was talking to my friend in Northern Yorkshire. He wanted to know if I could get it in Bongo Bongo Land. I illustrated it with a photo of my Laptop and iPad and asked him if he had electricity in Yorkshire. Apparently, he has a number of youths in the garden pedalling furiously to power the generator.

I am better at reading Greek than speaking it. I’m less good at that as we get further away from our life in Greece. Walked past this group of old ladies with a stall in the shade. One thrust a leaflet into my hand and said, Welcome.

It takes a lot of Greek words to say a little. I’ve had to enlist assistance by downloading a clever app on my phone. Taking a photo of text in any language leads to it reproducing the photo in English. Just brilliant.

This leaflet was about abuse of the Elderly. I didn’t like to tell them that I’ve been abusing the elderly for years.

Last year we were the only English voices at the hotel. This year, there are quite a few. I met an old guy in the lift. I have two icebreakers in the lift:

1. Where are you from?
2. How old are you?

Both subtle questions as you will acknowledge, Dear Reader. The old guy with a stick and little hair was …. 73! He came from Sunny Scunny. As we quickly guessed, he was from Scunthorpe. What shocked me was … he won a scholarship for Harrogate Grammar. He was there just before I went to Ripon. Strange world!

Tuesday, 18th June, 2024

Well, Dear Reader, you will be pleased to read that we are home safely from our adventure. Last night was a delightful one even though it was our last night for now. I met this alcoholic on my balcony. I’m going to make her my wine taster.

Lovely meal out yesterday evening and then packing for an early off today. Up at 6.00 am and breakfast at 7.00 am. Checkout as the desk called us a taxi for the airport. Straight up to the Executive Lounge for coffee and newspapers. Flight arrived on time.

We were first on – as usual – and settled into our seats at the front of the plane. It always amazes me that some people turn up and sit where they want and then look surprised when they are moved to the seat on their ticket/Boarding Pass. Saw that twice on our flight.

Anyway, the flight went smoothly and we were soon in Gatwick Airport feeling, Has that all happened? I don’t know if it occurs to you but, as I drove back home, I find myself thinking, Just 4 hrs ago I was walking around in Northern Greece. Shuttle to the Long Stay Carpark and then 50 mins home where the temperature was a warm 25C although not a match for the 37C we had left.

The garden had survived and we lifted our first Early Potatoes for Supper with roast Salmon with Pest topping. travelling is always tiring and nothing will get done until tomorrow. In Greek Time, I am writing this at 8.30 pm. Here I am writing it at 6.30 pm while chef cooks Supper.

Wednesday, 19th June, 2024

Woke up early – 5.00 am (UK) and listened to the radio which sent me back to sleep. Didn’t get up until 7.30 am. Lovely, warm and sunny day but we have to go shopping and have Dentist appointments too. They’re all in the Dental Plan and, the older I get, the less deterioration I have with my teeth. Thought it would be the other way round. I was so used to all the elderly complaining about their dentures in my youth that I thought it would be my fate too. Anyway, this morning’s appointment at Calm & Gentle was just a quick check-up producing no work which is pleasing.

Outside in the garden today, we are reaching a gentle, 25C compared with the more savage 37C that we left yesterday. I am desperately watering everything because we’ve gone from a wet May to a bone dry June. When we first went to Greece back in 1981, it was the intense heat that attracted us. Now, we try to take things a bit more carefully.

On our first visit to Sifnos over 40 years ago, this grey-haired senior citizen was a gangly youth, riding his motorbike too fast, chewing gum, ostentatiously wearing his gold necklaces, looking totally disinterested in everything but girls as youth are want to do. We nicknamed him Cool and that stuck for the rest of his days. He was part of the large and influential Boulis family who ran restaurants, owned hotels and farmed the land. Cool had three jobs. He farmed animals – goats, etc, waited on tables in the restaurant and he also served as a rope catcher in the harbour.

Kamares Harbour spends large sections of its time in the serenity of blue skies and warm sunshine. There are few boats or people around. When the ferry arrives, all hell is let loose. Men have to be on the dock to collect the ropes thrown down from the ferry and loop them over the mooring bollards – in choppy seas this is quite a hazardous operation. It would usually require two men to be present each time a ferry docked. Of course, they couldn’t be there all day – there might only be one ferry on some days so Giannis/Cool would leave it until the last minute and then charge down the mountain from his farm on a motor bike and arrive just in time to meet the boat. He would be paid a sum for being always available.

Over the years, we saw young Cool turn from youth to married man with children and responsibilities but this week, we heard that he had gone. He did have a heart attack some years ago while we were there and it seems this latest one has finished him. Heart attacks on remote Greek islands are so often fatal because of slow communication links and poor island facilities.

Islanders joke that when you have a heart attack, you die because it takes 50 mins for a helicopter to arrive from Athens and 50 mins for it to get you back there but the real trouble starts then – assuming you’re still alive. The traffic in Athens is so bad that it takes an age to get an ambulance from the airport to the hospital. If you survive all that, you probably didn’t have a heart attack in the first place.

It is one of the things which decided for us that time had come to depart. The medical facilities on the island are rudimentary and, as we got older, we realised it wasn’t sustainable.

Thursday, 20th June, 2024

Another lovely morning, windless, warm and sunny. The garden is looking good and I hope to enjoy it later. And there should be much later because today is Summer Solstice and The Longest Day. When you’re young, you long for the next day. When you’re old … ah, never let tomorrow come. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here
It’ll be here better than before
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone ….

This is a young person’s song, a song of optimism and future dreams. Am I depressing you, Dear Reader? Nil Desperandum. I’m going out to order a couple of pairs of reading glasses. Go mad with me!

I’m all in favour of political protest and some radical approaches to social change … like the Suffragettes .. but risking damage to hugely significant historical sites is off limits even for me. This goes beyond protest.

It’s hard to believe the political news at the moment. I always expected Labour to oust these Tory lunatics but it looks like they’ll do more than just blow the doors off. Our local candidate is so far ahead of the oldest Tory MP in the house that he will be collecting his pension in a couple of weeks. The whole of the South Coast is going to turn red. Joy of Joys! To make matters even better, interest rates are holding while inflation has fallen to 2%. Most of my investments are making 3 x that rate and will do for another year. It’s been a long time coming.

We live in an EU microcosm in our road. Lots of lovely expats from Europe. Have you noticed how people who come from abroad to live here are pejoratively referred to as immigrants whereas Brits who go to live abroad are fluffily called expats. Well our lovely German/Australian expat, Dee, went back to Munchen, Germany for her Dad’s 96th birthday and brought us back some European chocolates. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to eat them but my Manager will scoff the lot in very short time.

I was talking to Dee about the election. I have some great chat-up lines. It turns out that, although she’s been in UK for more than 20 years, married a Brit, had a child, lectured English in a UK college, paid UK taxes all that time, she is not allowed to vote in the UK election. She can pay taxes to the state but has no say in how they are spent. When Labour are swept to power and start to widen the franchise to allow 16 year olds to vote, I am going to push them to allow people like Dee a vote as well. It is disgraceful that she hasn’t got it now unlike all those who have left years ago to live in Spain and can have a postal vote without argument.

Friday, 21st June, 2024

Lovely, warm night with a beautiful, full moon. Were you watching, Dear Reader? The Summer Solstice and June’s Strawberry Moon coincided for the first time in nearly 70 years. Pity the England team didn’t take the hint.

These are lovely times. Very warm – we reached 25C again yesterday – and a time for sleeping on the bed not in it. First thing I do in the morning when I come down to Breakfast – well chef is juicing my oranges, making my tea and making sure the day starts correctly – the first thing I do is go out into the garden and check all is well.

We have a couple of beautiful blackbirds who have been serenading us from the rooftops each evening searching feverishly through the newly watered soil in our raised beds for worms.

Thirteen years ago, we were getting to grips with Mediterranean gardening in the intense sunshine of a Greek Summer. Our Lemon Trees were fruiting well and we produced Courgettes, Peppers and Potatoes. We even had a crop of Green Beans.

Nipped down to the beach this morning as we had a parcel to return nearby. It was hot, sunny and almost deserted. You always get one cluttering it up, don’t you.

Saturday, 22nd June, 2024

Do I seem weather obsessed to you, Dear Reader? Maybe I am. Gardeners definitely are. Our local Pick Your Own farm which is 2 mins away has a big banner up on its website saying most crops are delayed because of the wet Spring.

It certainly was. I can see from previous Blog records how far behind some plants are this year. Having said that, the weather really organised itself well this week. Yesterday was gorgeously hot and sunny. Over night, we had really sustained rain and, this morning, it is hot and sunny again. Couldn’t ask for more.

For the last few years in Greece, we experienced lots of heatwaves. The hottest we personally experienced coincided with a trip to Athens. We had travelled from our island home to the city to search and buy tiles for the outside of our house. I can see us even now arriving in Piraeus from the ferry and the temperature showing 41.6C/107F. If you’ve never felt that heat, I can tell you that it’s almost impossible to walk and, the older you get, the more dangerous it is.

A decade ago I was arguing that Greece was so totally reliant on Tourism that it was dangerous in a world of Climate Change. Greece doesn’t sell sophistication but simplicity. Greece doesn’t sell Haute Cuisine but simple, Mediterranean cooking. Greece doesn’t even sell ease of travel and access and but retreat and isolation from the busy world. What Greece does sell is guaranteed sunshine and warm, dry weather in the Summer months … unlike UK and many other parts of Northern Europe.

The European Commission paper on the Consequences of Climate Change points out exactly this and suggests Greece, Spain, Portugal, South of France will have to shift their offerings to Winter to survive. If they do, it will be old people like me who they will be catering for. I think they will have to change their economic model altogether.

Sunday, 9th June, 2024

On this glorious day, we will be spending it putting the house & garden to bed ready for going away – setting up automatic routines such as watering, lighting, monitoring, etc.. My Under-Gardener has been set on trimming the hedge before completing the packing. We don’t fly until tomorrow evening but like to get everything done beforehand.

The news about Dr. Michael Moseley is not good as rather expected. His body has been found not far from the beach where he set off to walk back to his house on the Dodecanese island of Symi. The fragility of life is so shocking. Delaying things, denying things, ignoring things in the brevity that is a life is utterly foolish. Act while you can. Don’t be afraid of breaking eggs. Paradise is full of omelettes.

Looking forward to our return to The Electra Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki. We are off tomorrow and that is a few weeks later than last year which explains why the temperatures are so much hotter. We have a nice suite overlooking the Platea Aristotelous and the Thermaikos Gulf with its wonderful sunsets. The hotel has an indoor and an outdoor pool as well as a Gym. What more could one need?

Monday, 10th June, 2024

Lovely day as the world was freshened up by a good rainfall over night. Blue sky now although not as warm as I’d expect June to be. Before we prepare to leave, we have a handyman firm coming first thing to quote us for a list of about 10 jobs needed for smartening up. The rain has meant that I don’t need to water before leaving so just getting travelling things together is all we have to do.

My Butler has a travel bag specifically designated to be stored in a cupboard in which essential items are kept – Passports, Euros, Plug Adaptors, etc. plus a tick-off list of jobs that must be completed before we drive off to the airport. It is a quick and reassuring process.

I wanted to tell you something that happened to me yesterday, Dear Reader. I was in the Gym, watching a fairly pappy film on Amazon Prime called: I’ll Find You. It is set in 1930s Poland where Jews are starting to feel the persecution of the Right Wing populace. Hitler is already a thing and the world is allowing the forward creep of Naziism. You might even see some parallels with current times. It has been distracting me while I exercise. Nothing more … until something happened.

Forgive me if I have written some of this before but it is relevant. In 1967, my Grandfather gave me a wind-up gramophone with a pack of steel needles and a collection of 78 vinyl records which featured Operatic Arias and included Handel’s Largo which, when I played it, hit me like a dagger to the heart. I was 16 years old, going to discos, meeting girls and listening to the Moody Blues: Go Now on Pirate Radio. Suddenly, I realised there was an art form out there I knew nothing about – Classical Music, Opera. I determined that I should learn about it although that was put on hold while I was away at College.

In the mid-1970s, rudderless and lost, I was fervently going for self education. I did a Literature Degree in the evenings while I taught during the day. I did a Masters Research Degree after that. At the same time, I was buying Art books to learn about the History of Art. I was buying cassettes of Classical Music and playing them on a battery-powered cassette player during the Power Strikes. I bought a monthly Discovering Opera magazine that introduced me to a number of Operas and composers/librettists accompanied by an exemplary cassette each month. I was shutting out the real world while cramming my head with learning of the cultural world.

Of course, we all have to let the real world in eventually but, by then, I was well on the way to a new understanding of the culture I had missed. My wife bought me a copy of Handel’s Largo which you will already know, Dear Reader, is the opening Aria of Handel’s opera, Xerxes. I played it constantly on a loop, driving everyone else mad.

Yesterday, I was in the Gym watching this nondescript film set in 1938 Poland and a young lad started to sing. He was pitch perfect and his song was … Handel’s Largo. I felt the emotions of more than 50 years well up in my chest. Fortunately, I was on the exercise bike as I found myself sobbing uncontrollably. I could do nothing as the waves of the 1960s and 1970s crashed over me. It is astonishing that music can do this but also wonderful in its power and evocativeness.

It has left me with a deep sadness. Ridiculous, I know, but I am travelling to Gatwick with a burden of unresolved sadness deep inside. This is no way to go on a trip. Get a grip!

Tuesday, 11th June, 2024

Travelling in the early hours has real benefits but it had a surprisingly chilly downside this morning. Could not believe Gatwick carpark at midnight. It felt freezing – actually 7C/45F – but in June?

The airport was very quiet and we went through Security and passport control in less than three minutes. Unfortunately, the Executive Lounge – Flight Lounge – wasn’t as clever and we have noted the importance of booking a better one earlier next time.

When we flew to Greece from Manchester for the first time in 1980, the flight time was 4.5 hrs.. Today, the flight time from London to Thessaloniki was just 3.0 hrs.. We flew on time and arrived on time. Off the plane in minutes and out to a taxi. Check-in time at our hotel is 3.00 pm.. We arrived at 11.30 am and were shown straight to our Suite on the top floor overlooking the bay.

House wine and chocolates on the table. TV welcome in the Lounge and the Bedroom. We showered, changed and went down to the Executive Lounge which caters for Suite holders. Everything is ‘free’ whenever you want. We asked for Club Sandwiches, Smoked Salmon Bagels, Greek Salad plus red and white wine. It was delightful.

Out on the Balcony of our Suite, the temperature had hit 37C/99F and the view was wonderful. We watched Politics Live on BBC2 as we would at home, discussed the Tories disastrous position then opened a local bottle of Kretikos white wine and …. the rest is history and oblivion.

Health warnings are being put out tonight about the effect of the extreme temperatures on health and well being. We are experienced in these things but, as a liitle old lady told me a few months ago, she struggled with temperatures as she got older. Mind you, she also dyed her grey hair blonde so everyone is different. I will easily complete my exercise routine today but we will walk out to restaurants this evening and then catch up on some sleep before embracing a new day tomorrow.

Wednesday, 12th June, 2024

Having not slept for two days, didn’t wake up until 7.00 am (5.00 am UK) this morning. My phone says the temperature outside is only 28C/82F. It looks delicious. Strangely, overnight they have begun to install a sandpit/beach in the centre of Aristotle Square.

After a shower and a cup of tea, we’ve got the normal, hotel dilemma. We never eat Breakfast at home. In a hotel, it feels like an illicit treat and something you’ve paid for and shouldn’t waste. Your body says, You don’t need it. Your head says, You’re on holiday and you’ve paid for it. Go for it. The head almost always wins. It will today. The buffet breakfast is wonderful here and covers everything you could expect and a lot more.

Breakfast finished and now, drinking coffee on the balcony and regretting eating breakfast. Have to go out for a long walk to work off …. breakfast. With the temperature already at 30C by 9.30 am and forecast to be around 37C/99F for most of the day, we are going to have to be careful. With my new hat on, we are going to explore the restaurant district for Supper tonight but I was rather enchanted by last night’s venue. Lovely people!

Today is the annual Reunion of the men who were in the pioneering year of my all-girls training college. It will be held in Leeds in a chilly 15C/59F. I’m sure the camaraderie will be warmer. I received a Whatsapp in the middle of the night here from my old friend, JohnR to say he would convey my best wishes to the merry band. My friend, Kevin, will video-conference me between Leeds – Thessaloniki so that I can participate at a distance. There is no substitute for hugging people but it is the next, best thing.

To men of a certain age …. lets say, in their 70s – Françoise Hardy, French pop singer and fashion muse, was the previous generation’s Bridget Bardot. I must admit, she didn’t really do it for me although her voice was rather seductive but she did for many young men. Anyway, it is a sign of the times that it is reported this morning she has died at the age of 80 having been diagnosed with Lymphatic Cancer 10 years ago. 80!

Thursday, 13th June, 2024

We are 2 hours ahead of UK time here and, although our phones and watches change immediately, it always takes a few days to adjust the body clock. The temperature over night didn’t fall below 27C/81F and we were out in the Square eating ice cream at 1.am. I set my phone radio to come on at 6.00 am (Greek Time) but we stayed in bed until 7.00 this morning. We are forecast to be a little cooler today peaking at just 35C/95F.

Back in Brighton, yesterday, the scorching Summer just went on. It is such a difficult time for UK holiday resorts in particular where suddenly everywhere looks like Wales and UK residents generally have trouble in raising their soggy spirits. It is incredible this year and not even that warm. This time last year we were in baking hot sunshine in Sussex. Apparently, the Met.Office are blaming it on the Gulf Stream.

Yesterday, I missed the Reunion of the small, male cohort from my year at Training College. Actually, there were only about 6 originals present and the numbers were padded out by the year immediately after us. It is testament to our time that so many have already died. A number are too ill and/or incapacitated to travel so that an already small band of brothers is rapidly disappearing rather like the D-Day members in France recently.

My friend, Kevin, was there and kindly kept me up to speed. I have to say, the photos always make it look old and staid which isn’t too inviting.

Yesterday, I reported that the centre of classical Aristotle Square was being turned into a sandpit/beach. Wrong. Today we’ve learned that the installation is actually a Beach Volley Ball Court for an important tournament at the weekend. We can watch from our balcony. Now you wish you’d come don’t you, Dear Reader?

We are really enjoying this hotel. The staff are wonderful and can’t do enough for us. We had Room Service last night while we watched the Leaders Interview and the food was wonderful. Angus Beef Burgers with a Caesar Salad and a bottle of House Red was served up for us in our Suite as we watched the debate and the quality was wonderful.

Friday, 14th June, 2024

Yesterday was incredibly humid and sticky. It made walking hard work and drinking essential. Unfortunately, it ought not be alcoholic. I always tend to forget that. I am drinking too much I know and I’m going to have to have a spell of abstinence …. when I get home.

We have done lots of lovely things here already but the highlight was a new restaurant for Supper. We did walk for a couple of very draining hours yesterday and it was then that we found a new street full of restaurants. The menus are posted outside and you can soon tell from them how progressive they are.

Having spent more than 40 years eating out in Greece, there are very few surprises, very few ‘new’ dishes we haven’t tried and cooked ourselves. Last night we had the most wonderful starter of Μπάλες μάραθου/Fennel Burgers with a mustard & yoghurt dip.

Incredibly cheap to eat out here. Last night we ordered two starters, two main courses of Lamb Shank, a half litre of House Red and a half litre of House White. We were absolutely stuffed and the restaurant sent over ice cream & biscuits and glasses of Limoncello (Lemon Liqueur) and the bill was just €48.00/£40.00. Even so, it was quite hard to walk home.

This morning the Beach Volleyball Tournament in Aristotelous Square beneath our balcony is under way. Girls in minute bikinis are entertaining the early spectators. My wife has decided that she urgently needs to go shopping.

Actually, we rapidly walked past sports girls in thongs and on to the Cultural Centre – the old Port where warehouses that once stored tobacco, corn, etc., now house a Digital Dali Exhibition, A History of Greek Fashion Exhibition and an Exhibition of Female Photography.

This is Greece. It is all fairly basic … but they are trying and you have to give them credit.

Saturday, 15th June, 2024

A little cooler this morning – just 26C/79F – so we had breakfast on the terrace. It is much more comfortable for the old people now the heatwave has moderated.

Just checked the cameras at home in Sussex and … it’s raining. At least the plants will be happy. Going out for a walk down the coastal path this morning. Before that, I have to accompany my wife to the Supermarket for some sun tan lotion.

Just a few 100 metres from the hotel is a really well stock if small supermarket but before that, we come across this:

It is still a feature of Greek cities like Athens and Thessaloniki to find poor people begging to get by. This old lady is a widow and probably survives on the bare minimum of government support. It is testament to how common this is that few even notice her as she pretends to sleep at the road crossing where people naturally congregate.

We went out for a 2hr return walk down the coast road just as the temperature reached 32C/90F. I was saturated by the time we got back and, as we re-entered the hotel for a shower and change, one of my Yorkshire friend was contacting me to exercise caution. They had been reading a national newspaper report about tourist fatalities during the heatwave. I must admit, I would never consider myself a tourist in Greece nowadays and we generally know how far we can push it. Anyway, there are so many sportsmen dying in their late 50s and early 60s at the moment that I feel incredibly lucky to have got this far.

Sunday, 2nd June, 2024

Glorious morning as we advance into June. Hot and sunny with cloudless, blue skies. Nice preparation for our Greek trip. The garden really looks lovely and healthy and under control.

Didn’t sleep very well last night. Put the radio on at 5.00 am to hear reports about D-Day which is celebrated on Thursday. For some reason, I found myself thinking about my Dad, Eric Richard Sanders, who died in 1965 when I was just 14. I have to admit, I didn’t really know him well and have few, personal memories of him. (*) His sudden death at the age of 49 sticks in my memory with great clarity and small vignettes approach me but it is always a bit of a shock that I should not know a man who I lived with for my first 14 years.

I suppose there are two explanations of this. Firstly, Dad had been brought up in quite a remote and rather austere home without his mother who was ‘sectioned’ after childbirth with what we might now see as extreme post-natal depression. She never came out of the Pastures Mental Asylum and died there aged 62. For a long time, Dad would go and visit her each week … and then each month. It meant that he didn’t really develop a tactile nature and I don’t remember him ever hugging me. He was a private man who didn’t talk to the children much. Quite Victorian in that sense like the upbringing he had come from.

Dad went to Burton Grammar School where I later attended. Although he left in 1931, there were a couple of teachers still there who taught him. I had big boots to fill.

He was an excellent leader and rugby player. He was remembered as a man’s man. His grandfather – my Great Grandfather – had started a Joinery business in our village. I think they made coffins at one point. It was eventually established as Sanders & Son, Builders. Dad was trained and expected to go in to the business and eventually take it over. I was also expected to follow him and was sent to do ‘O’ Level Civil Engineering at Night School. I hated it and would have hated even more going into the Building Management business so it was fortunate that I was too young when he died.

Before that, of course, World War Two intervened. Dad was a natural to go into the Royal Engineers which he did soon becoming a Captain and eventually leaving as an Acting Major. He was in the desert in Palestine building bridges and supervising men to do construction. He always told us that he lost a lot of his hair because of the intense heat out there. He told stories about cooking eggs & bacon on screaming hot Jeep bonnets and he brought home a love of Camp Coffee which my Mother hated.

He came home to the family business and to marry. I’m not sure quite when but he came home from war in 1945 and my eldest sister, Ruth, was born in 1947. Dad’s wife – Ruth’s Mum – died in childbirth so his life was once more in turmoil. Fortunately (for me), my Mum had moved down from London to take up an Art teaching post in Burton Girls High School and moved to live in my village. She met newly available Dad and they were married in 1949. I came along in 1951.

He had Architect, Estimator and Civil Engineering training and, as Grandad aged, Dad increasingly took over the Business. He had about 30 or so men working for him with separate departments – Joiners, Painters, Plumbers, Bricklayers (funny but I don’t remember electricians) and, of course, general labourers. He seemed very good at leading teams of men.

The business did fairly well but I know he found it stressful. He grew it from small scale local work to building streets of houses. My Mother was constantly urging him on to take bigger projects which he thought were riskier. In his mid 40s, that stress caught up with him. He developed a duodenal ulcer which gave him considerable pain but which nowadays would easily be sorted out. And then, when he was 48, he started to suffer Angina. Eventually, he was taken into hospital where I went to see him. It was an agonising meeting. We had barely talked at home and found conversation in a hospital room almost impossible. I was up for trials to play Rugby for Staffordshire. I wanted him to watch me. It would have been the first time he had ever watched me.

He dismissed Bob & I because it was obvious how excruciating the conversation was and he was putting us out of our misery. The next night, Mum was called urgently to the hospital and he had had a heart attack and gone. I can remember the evening as clearly as if it was yesterday. In the current day, he would have been fitted with a stent, prescribed statins and lived another 40 years … but that was then and we will have similar regrets about cancer treatment advances when I’m gone.

(*) I caveat everything I record here with my incomplete memory. There may be those who will challenge the facts and I welcome them to correct me. Memory can play strange tricks on old minds.

It’s been a glorious day here, Dear Reader. Pity you couldn’t make it. You’ve missed a treat. However, we’ve got no rain forecast for at least a week now so there are still plenty of chances before we fly to Greece.

Monday, 3rd June, 2024

Lovely days just go on. Hot and humid today. The next week is projected to deliver absolutely no rain so watering will be exercising me. The past few days have been glorious in the garden. Met Office figures released today show the UK had its warmest May and warmest Spring since records dating back to 1884 began.

We are going to Thessaloniki soon so I am monitoring the weather. It’s looking great. My sort of weather. Very hot and sunny is perfect for me. You will hear the old and wrinkly, blue-rinse brigade complaining about it being too cold in Winter and too hot in Summer but I just love hot, hot, hotter. 34C/93F is absolutely perfect.

We’ve just booked our maintenance men to come and do some property repairs after we come back from holiday. In this week in 2011, my maintenance woman was hard at work repainting our Greek property. Construction work, painting, repointing, dry stone walling, plastering, etc. are part of her passion – anything to keep her properties ‘pristine’. I am quite happy to let her indulge her passions.

Tuesday, 4th June, 2024

Very warm and humid but overcast. From the one of the wettest Springs for 40 years, West Sussex is forecast to almost be a desert for the month of June. Not great news for gardeners.

Talking about gardeners and particularly those down here on the South Coast, the news has recently featured the discovery of 3 queen Asian Hornets which survived the Winter down here. They have come across the Channel for some years in the Summer but thought extinguished by Winter temperatures. Last Winter, we hardly used the central heating at all and the Hornets survived to breed and increase. Beautiful though they are, they are predators of our own Honey Bees which are essential to pollination.

Basic Economics teaches us that Currencies are heavily influenced by interest rates. Interest rates are difficult things for those who need to borrow money – mortgages, loans, etc. – but can be very positive for those who want to invest money – Savings Rates, Bonds, Currencies, etc.. It is nice to be on the positive side for a change. Savings rates and Bond rates are rewarding me now and interests rate diversity will help my position on Currency Exchange for a change.

The European Central Bank are predicted to cut interest rates on Thursday. This will make the EU a less attractive place to invest money and push down the value of the Euro. Pound-Euro exchange rate will strengthen in favour of the Pound Sterling. Time to buy a few thousand euros for future use.

The sun is out. The temperature is reaching 22C/70F. I am going out to water and feed all the front lawns and flower beds. What are you going to do, Dear Reader?

Wednesday, 5th June, 2024

Lovely day … to go to Lidl. I go there to buy Almond Milk. Theirs is the nicest and the cheapest. At least I managed to buy a couple of cases of it which will get me through the month.

Lidl is next to the beach so we carried on to the fishing jetty and walked in the sunshine. Looks quiet here but, as we left, hoards of school kids were arriving in noisy crocodiles for their post-SATs outing. It was very high tide and the beach was punctuated with warning signs of Dangerous Tides.

Suitcases have to be prepared. We have more suitcases than two people could ever want. I’m not sure why but my Valet just likes buying suitcases. Once again, we are not putting luggage in the hold. I love not having to wait anxiously around a luggage carousel in the airport. I have bought airline seats that include a large and a standard carry-on bag each which is plenty for us in the hot weather.

Just as the Valet is organising clothes to be packed for going away, I am preparing the vital communications apparatus for travel – smartphones, iPads, Laptop, Kindle, watches. All need chargers, VPN software to allow us to access Bank Accounts, UK TV: BBC, ITV, Sky, Netflix to keep in touch with the Election and download newspapers and to pick up a film. The Virtual Private Network I recommend which allows me to appear as if I am in London while I am sitting in Northern Greece is ExpressVPN. It works brilliantly and keeps everything secure.

Thursday, 6th June, 2024

Lovely, warm morning. On TV News, D-Day celebrations are running in the background. I’m not sure why but even as a Historian whose birth was in the immediate wake of World War Two, I find it difficult to acknowledge. I really don’t know why and feel a sense of shame in that difficulty. This morning it took the strains of Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Nimrod to catch my emotions and bring tears to my eyes. How powerful is music!

I’m having coffee with royalty this morning …. well, vicariously. Our neighbours were invited to Highgrove this week and brought back this present for us. Well, it is organic.

I’m going to mount the bag (I might have to rephrase that.) in the window with our Vote Labour poster.

How do you suit hats, Dear Reader? Do you wear them well? I have to admit that they don’t look good on me. What does? The temperatures forecast for Thessaloniki when I am there are 35C – 32C / 95F – 90F every day. It is not the hottest I have known but it will be HOT. I need a hat. They don’t suit me but needs must. My Dresser has ordered this hat from M&S. That’s OK.

The world is full of reunions today. D-Day is front and centre this morning but I will miss the College reunion of those 20+ young men who pioneered our College. We felt like a ‘Band’ of Brothers because of our minority inside a majority of girls. It is on Wednesday when I will be away. My friends will Video-Call me from the reunion to kindly include me. I will raise a glass of Retsina to them from a place in the sun. This is going to be a year of reunions.

Friday, 7th June, 2024

Gorgeous, gorgeous day. Blue sky; hot sun. Not quite Greek yet but lovely all the same. Greece is in the news at the moment because a TV doctor has gone missing on Symi Island which is part of the Dodecanese group.

Around 30 years ago, we rented a house up in the Hora behind a church. The island was interesting although very steep and without many cars to rent. The big surprise was that at 6.00 am every morning, the church bells were rung and not quietly. I was definitely up early to embrace the day on that trip.

Symi is particularly known for the 384 huge stone steps up to the Hora/ Chorio. They are wide steps to accommodate donkeys. For a donkey like me, it was hard work. It is known as the Kali Strata which literally means Good Way but, when you’ve climbed it every day for weeks, it doesn’t feel so good. I had to take my Bag-Carrier with me. This photo has been on the wall of every house ever since.

Had a phone call from my Oncologist yesterday afternoon. I was on the treadmill and out of breath when he called. I wasn’t expecting it. I had a face-to-face appointment today but not now. The news was good … I think. The blood test showed my PSA to be ‘normal’ and my testosterone to be that of a 25 year old. I will be tested again in 3 months and given a full MRI scan to rule out any chance that the cancer has migrated. I think I am happy with that.

Saturday, 8th June, 2024

Very warm with cloud and sun. All our neighbours are away. One side have gone to Germany for a Father’s 97th birthday. At the back, they’ve been in Spain since October. The other side has just come back from Dubai on a conference week. Across the road, they are just preparing to go to Dubai on a family holiday. We are still here. Custodians of the road … but not for long. We fly to Thessaloniki in a few days so I am trying to make sure the garden survives without me. I’ve mowed the street lawns and today I’m going to weed & feed them. On Sunday, I’ve decided to forgo a trip to church and I will feed and water all the plants. So a busy few days prior to going away.

I don’t want you to have nightmares but this image is the face of the Best Man (Orwellian Double Speak) at my wedding almost 46 years ago. I have renamed him Kapability Kevin because, in old age, he tells me that he has discovered gardening. You will know the famous, 18th century garden designer Capability Brown.

Today it is Orwell & Kafka day across BBC Radio 4. It is 75 years ago that George Orwell published the dystopian novel, 1984. Today, Radio 4 is dominated by readings and analysis of the novel. I know I am odd but I find it gripping.

In the novel, Winston Smith is living in a controlled State under the surveillance of the Thought Police where the political order so dominates everyday life that independent thought is a crime, love is forbidden, and language seems to say the opposite of what one has normally come to expect. Under this oppression, Winston tries to rebel by putting down his private thoughts in a Diary. Today, it would be a Blog if he could keep it private. In it he tries to assert words which the State has bent the reality of.

In his diary, he records his first thought: Down with Big Brother! To compound such a heinous thoughtcrime, he begins a liaison with a pretty young woman, a member of the Anti-Sex League, named Julia. He has sex with her but, of course, Julia is a rebel from the waist down only and betrays him (It was ever thus!) to The Thought Police.

At this point, the thinking reader examines themself and their own world in terms of Winston Smith and the Totalitarian State of 1984. Why do I write a Blog? Why do I vehemently oppose the Right Wing who long for a ‘strong leader’ to control the State? Have I been betrayed? Only you, Dear Reader, can answer those questions. You are on the outside looking in to my Life.