Category: Sanders Blog – Hellas

17th April, 2011

Woke up to rain in Sifnos this morning. Still tired after the journey. Watched some good football on TV. Went out to eat at Simos restaurant. Went to bed very early.

18th April, 2011

Got up early, feeling so much more rested. Went up to the Post Office to find our 5 boxes containing 100 kilos of ‘stuff’ had arrived. Carried it back down to the house and spent the morning unpacking everything. Went out for lunch at 2.00 pm to Myropi restaurant. Lovely lunch and wine. Drove home and fell asleep. Later found that Sifnos had installed an island wide internet connection ‘free’ and we are just on the usable edge of it. It will probably be stretched to the limits when the tourists arrive but, for now, it is good. Feeling sorry for Ruth after Bolton’s game.

19th April, 2011

Up early to a freezing cold morning. Had to turn the underflooor heating up. Lots to do today. After breakfast of tea, toast and jam, we are off to the medical testing centre to have my Anti-coag. test. Then we are going to the mobile phone shop to cancel my dongle contract because Sifnos seems to be providing broadband free. Then, on to the ‘Garden Centre’ for growbags and to see if they have pepper, melon and tomato plants.

20th April, 2011

Bitterly cold, wet and with gale force winds. Our Underfloor heating has been on since we arrived. All day and all night. The only decision has been whether to turn it up from constant 21C / 70F to 24C / 76F or back down again depending on the time of day. It is amusing to read that UK is basking in a barbecue Summer in April and that the beaches are so busy. Here, we are wondering if people will arrive for Easter celebrations because the strong winds are threatening boat sailings. Each morning starts with toast and tea at around 7.30 am, the BBC News, the Greek News and opening up the Kindle to find that The daily Telegraph has been delivered. It has revolutionised life already. I don’t have to wait until the 10.30 am boat has come in – if it does. I don’t have to wait for the van to roll off the boat and up to the papershop. I don’t have to wait until all the Greek papers have been unpacked, checked and counted and put out on to the shelves. Particularly, I don’t have to buy a day-late newspaper. I don’t even have to pay nearly £3.00 for it. Now, I get today’s newspaper at 8.00 am (Greek Time) / 6.00 am (UK Time) and it cost me £10.00 per month for newspapers that would normally cost £92.00.

Watched Arsenal – Spurs match tonight. It was a classic. I absolutely loved it and, to add to the pleasure, Arsenal only got one point. Surely United can’t lose the title now.

21st April, 2011

It is still very cold and windy but, at least, it is drier. The Greeks regret this because we are looking at the last rains until October now. After morning routines have been gone through, we get a visit from Margharita – Stavros’ Mother – who has come up to the house with a bowl of freshly cooked Gigantis or big bean soup. She once cooked it for me and I over expressed my appreciation of the dish. Now, every time we return to the island, we regularly get a dish of Gigantis.

After Margharita has gone, we drive up to the supermarket which will be closed for three days over Easter and we have to make sure we have enough food. We buy a fresh chicken for tonight (2 kilos – €5.00), Cyprus potatoes and lots of vegetables. We go to the ‘Garden Centre’ to buy a plant fot Margharita for Easter. We get a hydrangea and some plants for us – a couple of large Pelargoniums, some seedling red peppers, courgettes and aubergines. I will grow some from seed but I would like to have a few producing early. We drive back down to Kamares to visit Apostolis & Moshca for lamb. We buy effectively a lamb at €7.50 per kilo. We buy about 5.5 kilos in two legs and two shoulders.We will have roast lamb with onions, garlic and the rosemary and thyme growing round the house. The cold lamb will be used to make filo pastry parcels.The first lamb joint will be for tomorrow. Today we have half a chicken still to eat. I cooked it with lemons from our trees. We must have about 50 lemons on the trees this Spring. Tempting though it is to pick them, they remain perfect on the trees for a long time so we pick them when we need them. Pauline made a lemon tart yesterday to eat with whipped cream. It only took three lemons and it was absolutely delicious. After dinner tonight, we watched a film. We have a DVD/VHS player hooked up to our TV and we have an entire library of unwatched films – recorded from TV or bought in UK – which we rarely watch. Tonight Pauline chose ‘In Her Shoes’ featuring Cameron Diaz & Shirley Maclaine. You might call it a girl’s film but I enjoyed it. It centred around a dysfunctional family so I felt I understood its terms of reference.

22nd April, 2011

Today is bright and breezy and about 70F which feels cool here. We have had an in-day. Pauline has made bread. I have been taking some photos for the Blog and the Website. Everywhere is green and carpeted with wild flowers. There has been so much rain in Greece this winter, everything has grown a lot – apart from the economy.

 

Greek TV is dominated by Easter or Pascha as they call it here. Mainly it is about the ‘Exodus’ or ‘leaving Athens’ for one’s island home to celebrate with family. The UK press is dominated by petrol prices for people going out on day trips. The Greek press has just the same preoccupation for those driving across Greece and getting on Ferries.The price of petrol on the island is about €1.80 or £1.58 per litre. When we left Woking, we were paying £1.31. The TV news is dominated by pictures of petrol stations, people queuing in cars on roads to get through the tolls, cars queuing at Piraeus to get on ferries and then by meat prices in the markets of Athens. Everybody has to spit roast a lamb or goat for Easter. The price has gone up again just as their wages are going down. There is huge unemployment in Greece now and they are really hurting.

23rd April, 2011

Greece is now officially closed. The last boats have left Piraeus. They will arrive at the island by 2.00 pm and there will be no more movement until Tuesday. The shops on the island close at 2.00 pm and will not re-open until Tuesday. Greek television will show church services and wall to wall Hollywood biblical blockbusters that will blaze away in the corner of every living room completely ignored by all concerned as they prepare to feast and forget the economy.We feel complete outsiders but not unhappy for that. This afternoon, I will watch three Premiership football matches starting with Man. Utd. – Everton. Rooooneeeyey!

10th April, 2011

The start of the next adventure. At 11.00 am, we are taking Phyllis & Colin down to our new apartment because we will need their help while we are away. We would like them to

• call occasionally to clear post.
• supervise the fitting of the burglar alarm which still hasn’t been done.
• check that the ‘snagging list’ has been completed.
• occasionally check security.

At 2.00 pm we are off to Ashford and the adventure really begins. We are off to the Tunnel at 5.00 am for a 6.20 am crossing. Hope the weather we are currently experiencing continues. Blue skies and gorgeous warm sunshine still prevail.

Having said goodbye to Phyllis & Colin and thanked them for all they have done for us over the past few months, we drove down to the Ashford Travelodge. It was even more average than it looks but we were only staying a few hours. We went to bed at 9.00 pm.

11th April, 2011

Up at 4.00 am and, after shower and a cup of tea, we drive down to The Tunnel. Plenty of people booked in for the 6.20 am shuttle which, in the nascent daylight, leaves right on time.

 

As we emerge from the darkness of the tunnel to the daylight, it is obviously another gorgeous day in prospect. We begin our journey at 8.00 am Central European Time. It is a new journey for us with new motorways and it soon proves to be so much better than the route we have taken from Zeebrugge for the past eleven years. France is warm, sunny and totally empty.

We stopped in a scruffy little town called Woippy near Metz for lunch and to raid the local Auchan for wine. We buy our first tranche of wine for the six months away. I had already warned Mastercard of this activity in case they took fright and stopped my card.

We drive on to Mulhouse and to the Holiday Inn we had booked there. It turned out to be fantastic with a lovely room and a brilliant restaurant.

12th April, 2011

After eating too much in the wonderful restaurant, we had quite a fitful sleep, got up quite early and, after a shower and a cup of tea, we were on the road before 9.00 am. Unfortunately, it started to rain as we left the hotel and went to the car. The first hour’s driving was not particularly pleasant with heavy rain, standing water, spray from the heavy lorries and narrowed lanes and roadworks across Switzerland. We have always hated Switzerland. They charge 35 euros vignette to drive on their motorway system which is in the worst condition in Europe and then they close half of it with orange ‘temporary’ lines which scarily narrow the lanes down to the width of a gnat’s whisker. The temporary markings have only been there for eleven years as far as we know. The only improvement is that we are now driving it in daylight so we can see what an eyesore it is.

Anyway, descending rapidly through the wet, snowless alps into Italy, the weather miraculously changed to clear blue skies and strong sun. The temperature rose to 27C / 81F and all was right with the world. We found our Holiday Inn in Parma – another lovely hotel although you wouldn’t think so from the outside.

We over ate in the wonderful restaurant and then staggered out to watch Man. Utd. humiliate Chelsea. I was so happy and full.

13th April, 2011

Had another fitful night because I had eaten too much but got up and had breakfast today. There is something about Italy makes you want to eat.

I had structured the journey so we did 7 hours on our first day, 5 hours on our second day and 3 hours on our third day. It all meant I could keep my speed in the 80 – 100 mph which is a little more comfortable and less likely to be picked up by local police. In fact, in the whole of our journey, we only saw a couple of police and they weren’t interested in us. We did the last three hours down to Ancona, drove to the check-in office and then on to the port dock. By 1.30 pm were were boarding Anek Lines ferry, Hellenic Spirit.

We were shown to our De-Luxe cabin which has a large porthole, air conditioning, television with Greek and Italian programmes,  a double bed, table and chairs, fridge with complimentary wine and bathroom with toilet and shower. Mrs Bouquet would have loved it!

We put our watches forward another hour to Eastern European Time and opened the wine. After we’d drunk it, we went to the restaurant for dinner. Our first Greek salad of the year is always the best. It accompanied pork fillet and potatoes and a nice bottle of red wine. We went back to our cabin to watch television for an hour or so and, particularly, the weather. It all looks set fine for our crossing on Saturday to Sifnos. Strong winds are the danger that lead to boats being cancelled.

14th April, 2011

We had rather a fitful night having eaten too much and there was a bit of roll on the ferry. We woke up in time to see it dock at Igoumenitsa on the Greek mainland opposite Corfu and just below Albania. It looks a beautiful place, covered in trees. It is well know for its coastal fish farms which supply British supermarkets with Sea Bream & Bass, etc.. Here a lot of Albanians and Turks who work in Greece get off the boat to drive home for Easter.

 

After bacon & egg breakfast which was free because we had a De-luxe cabin, we read the paper on our Kindle and watched Greek news on television until a knock came on the door, asking us to vacate our cabin so it could be cleaned. We went out to a wi-fi area and I tried to bring my blog up to date. Unfortunately, the satellite signal was so weak, I only succeeded in deleting almost my entire week’s Blog so, if you read it day by day, you will notice it has almost completely been rewritten. Our hotel in Patras has free, superfast broadband.

We rolled off the ferry about an hour late at 3.00 pm and drove across the road to our hotel – The Patras Palace – which we have used for ten of the twelve trips we have driven to Greece. It is delightful with large, richly appointed rooms and private parking in secure grounds. This is particularly important because bands of illegal immigrants roam the port fences just waiting for their chance to slip into the back of a lorry, the boot of a car or even under the back axle. They hope to get on a boat to Italy. As we look out from our expensive hotel balcony, we see these ragamuffins lined up against the fence eyeing up an opportunity. We feel sorry for them but not that sorry. They put in enormous efforts to get to the West. They take enormous risks to get to the West. They should stay in their own countries and invest that enormous effort and appetite for risk in making their own lands fit for a good life.

Looking beyond the immigrants, we see this:

  

  

 

15th April, 2011

This morning we got up in leisurely fashion. I didn’t get out of bed until 8.00 am. After a huge and leisurely breakfast of toast & coffee, bacon & eggs in the roof-top restaurant, we have returned to our room to make telephone calls – using Skype – and Pauline brings her accounts up to date while I bring my Blog and website up to date.

We listen to Radio 4 all morning as ferries come in from Italy and bands of immigrants get increasingly excited. Police and army men stroll lazily around the sensitive, docking areas but immigrants are not really afraid of arrest because they are never arrested. To do so would mean far too much effort and expense housing detainees, processing and deporting them. The immigrants know this. The police and army just chase them behind the barbed wire barrier knowing that they will return again and again as soon as their backs are turned.

16th April, 2011

The Hydrofoil, – Speedrunner – leaves at 7.30 am and it takes 3 hrs to drive from Patras to Piraeus. We will check out at 3.00 am because we cannot afford to miss it. We will arrive at Kamares port, Sifnos at around 11.00 am. We will see our house for the first time in six months.

There will then be a short hiatus before we can achieve internet connection again. It may take two or three days.

3rd April, 2011

D-Day! I don’t know what the D stands for in this case but we have spent the day – after the Sunday papers – packing up our possessions ready for removal tomorrow. The removal men are arriving at 6.00 am on Monday morning. Pauline cleaned the oven ready for the hand-over and so we had to send for pizzas for tea.

Received an email from Jane:

I hope you have a lovely birthday. 60 should not pass unmarked so hope you have interesting plans. Travel safely and enjoy Greece.

 Jane

and one from Ruth:

I enjoyed the cricket final India were the better side !Utd escaped once again ! Will miss you when youre away for six months…..where will you be on your birthday ??  Ruthie xxx

Went to bed at 9.00 pm and set the radio-alarm for 4.45 am. Just as well because (read on) ………..

4th April, 2011

The removal men arrived at 5.45 am. We had just showered, downed a cup of tea and dismantled the bed when the lorry pulled up outside. Our first thought was that it wouldn’t all fit into what looked like a glorified white van but, apparently, that is the most common concern and it all went in easily.

The van set straight off for Surrey and we thought that we had plenty of time to get there before it. We packed our car, went down to Sainsburys for sweets and petrol and then set off. At times we touched nearly double the speed limit which you’ll be aware is only advisory and there more as a challenge than to be adhered to. Occasionally, we say to each other, “I wonder how far back the van is now?” and laugh. Suddenly, after 150 miles, we found ourselves overtaking the removal van. We couldn’t believe it. After four hours,we did just arrive at the apartment ahead of them but only just. They downed a mug of coffee, emptied the van, downed another mug of coffee and set off back to Huddersfield.

We slumped, shattered and read the paper.

Received an email from Caroline:

Dear John

Many happy returns for your 60th on Wednesday 6th, I am not sure where or what you will doing for your birthday so I thought I would send this now. I am sure you will be enjoying a gorgeous meal and wine and celebrating this milestone. It is hard to believe that you are 60, retired and moving to the south.

I am down 3 and half stone since I got diagnosed type 2 diabetic last August and a tea totaller now. The attached picture is me and Barney Rubble wishing you a happy birthday from the river at the bottom of our garden, Les was taking the photo but says happy birthday too.

Good luck in your new home in the south.
Love Cal x

5th April, 2011

Today, we woke up to lovely sunshine in Surrey and, after a cup of tea, we nipped down to our new apartment before setting off once again for Huddersfield. The site team had warned us of delays on the M25 but our sat. nav. soon flashed up that there was a complete ‘blockage’ of the M25 and that there was already a tailback of 6 miles. Our sat. nav. offered us a detour which we took and found ourselves driving past Heathrow Airport. It was an interesting detour but we soon got on to the M1 which was fabulously bereft of traffic. It was almost as if, deus ex machina, some one had hoovered up all the traffic and given us a 1960’s motorway.

We were back in our shoe box by lunchtime and hoovering, repainting the walls, etc. My job was to clean the windows but, when we got there, a professional team of cleaners were cleaning the windows. Apparently, it was all part of the service charge which we didn’t pay. This was the first time the windows had been cleaned in five months.

When we were really tired we went off to our hotel – Premier Inn, Brighouse – which is quite delightful and has a nice restaurant attached. We have a lovely room for three nights.

6th April, 2011

Today I have reached a milestone I never thought would happen. I always believed I had Dad’s genes and that I would die young. Of course, I may well still do so but I have managed to reach 60 years old. Every time I drive past Junction 28 on the M1, I shout, ‘Hello Mum’. Now I can salute Dad with my achievement of three score years. My next target is the extra ten. It is the most glorious day reaching nearly 70F with lots of Spring sunshine. Pauline & I are celebrating my birthday with a pork pie and bottle of wine picnic. Tomorrow we will take friends out to Dinner. Tonight it is Chelsea – Man. U.

Couldn’t have had a better birthday present than United’s destruction of Chelsea. I thought Torres showed himself for what he really is. He couldn’t even dive convincingly.

7th April, 2011

Today  we have to post our parcels to Greece. They collectively weigh about 80 kgs.

Parcelforce will charge us about £200.00 and have them in the Post Office in Sifnos a couple of days before we get there.

After going to the Post Office, we had underweighed our parcels on the bathroom scales by a total of 20kgs but because we are regular customers – this is our eleventh year – they found a really cheap consignment deal which still only cost £200.00. The boxes will get to Sifnos next Wednesday.

After the Post Office, we went on to Santander to buy our next ISAs. We bought our full cash allowance – 2 x £5340.00. It makes us feel righteous by salting some capital away. It was amazing how many people were buying ISAs. Santander were finding it difficult to keep up.

After Santander, we went down to say goodbye for the final time to our old next door neighbour, Jean. That was lovely in the scorching, hot sun and we drove back feeling good to our hotel.

After a shower and a cup of tea, we went out to Ciao Bella to meet our old friends, Viv and Margaret. We had a wonderful meal of Italian salad, Bresola and Bruschetta as a starter followed by Chicken and steak with various salads. Over three bottles of wine, our memories and conversations were emotional. We vowed to meet again at our house in Greece. We drove back to our hotel for our final night in Yorkshire.

8th April, 2011

This morning we drove down to the Letting Agents, Martin & Co. We were supposed to be having a review of the shoebox prior to getting our deposit back but they contacted us to say that we were such good tenants, a review would not be necessary. We drove down to give back the keys. We retrieved our deposit on the web from The Deposit Protection Scheme.

Today is like mid summer – hot, clear blue skies – and seems wholly appropriate for the first day of the next stage of our lives, as Pauline said. We go back to our Hotel room to pack up and leave for Surrey. The motorway is quite busy today and aggressive. The bright light seems to be sending drivers bonkers. Even so, we arrive in West Byfleet in three and a half hours. It has been a stressful and quite emotional few days. We are both shattered. After a cup of tea, we set about our final arrangements before leaving for Greece. We contacted British Gas to pay our final gas & electricity bills for the shoebox. Pauline had forward accounted £450.00 based on our previous house’s experience. It actually came to £120.00. Every time we go to Greece, we forewarn Mastercard and Visa so they don’t get suspicious about our spending. We also had to inform them of our change of address.

9th April, 2011

Three years ago today, we set off for Manchester Airport and got caught in a blizzard. Cars were skidding off the M62 and crashing into the embankments all around. It was actually terrifying particularly because we had set off with Greek sun in our minds. Needless to say, we did get to the airport and flew off to the sun but what a contrast. Today is scorching sun and clear blue skies in Surrey. 73F is predicted and, by 8.00 this morning, Brighton beach was packed with sun lovers as the BBC illustrated.

We are dropping some final things off at our new apartment, having the car cleaned, filling the tank and preparing for the off. Instead of driving from Surrey at 4.00 in the morning, we’ve booked a room at the Travelodge which is 15 minutes from the Tunnel and will allow us at least another hour in bed.

28th March, 2011

Another gorgeous day. This time next week, we move house. Two weeks today we set off for Greece. Up early and out into town. We had to visit three banks: Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Natwest. Lloyds TSB was a scruffy and depressing old building but we were served by delightful people who took the utmost care. Barclays was pedantic, slow, awkward and annoying. Natwest was excellent and extremely efficient. All we wanted each bank to do was send a sum of money to our solicitor using CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) and another to our own account using BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services). Should be simple but turned out to send Bank people into a complete panic. Moving £100,000.00 blocks of money terrified them. I thought they would be doing it all every day. They do work in a bank!

The money has gone to our Solicitor’s Client Account and will be exchanged on Thursday at 1.00 pm as we get our keys. We have never met our solicitor and almost certainly never will because they are in Portsmouth. Their name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence because they are called Coffin Mew LLB but you can’t have everything.

29th March, 2011

We took the car for a pre-Greek Trip check. Being such good customers, it is always free. I doubt that will pertain when we move south. We said goodbye to the staff from who we’ve bought a new car almost every year for twenty five years.

A second round with the banks this morning. Today we transferred all the interest out of the temporary accounts. Interestingly, £100,000.00 in a bog standard, instant access, deposit account for nine months in Lloyds TSB returned £900.00 in interest. The same amount for the same time in Barclays only returned £680.00 and in Nat. West, only £720.00. The Barclays & Lloyds accounts were purely temporary until we bought a new property. We closed them completely today. The Nat. West account was first opened by Pauline in 1968. Currently our private adviser/account manager is a lad I taught and who left our school some twenty years ago. Whenever we have wanted a facility, Nat West have always complied. We are reluctant to leave but there is no point in having an account based in Oldham. When we return in October, we will have to address that. In just the same way, our wills are deposited with our Huddersfield solicitors. Bob has a copy. Pauline’s niece has a copy. The Huddersfield ones will have to be moved.

Went for our final trip to the Health Club, had a lovely swim, jacuzzi and steam room session and then spent the afternoon contacting all sorts of organisations from investment firms to service suppliers to inform them of our change of address.

30th March, 2011

Up early because we are driving to Surrey. Tomorrow is ‘Exchange’ day. After weeks of warm, dry, sunny weather, today is dull and damp and heavy rain is forecast. The M1 was quiet and the journey uneventful. We did it in 4hrs which is as good as it gets. The weather was warm and sunny until we reached the M25 when the rain came. After a sandwich with Phyllis & Colin, we went down to our development. It looked good and we will be happy to get the keys tomorrow. We drove back to West Byfleet in high spirits until we got caught in a bit of a traffic jam. We had been parked there for a couple of minutes when – Bang – a sharp shove from behind rocked us forward. An Asian lad had lost concentration and run in to the back of us. Pauline & I looked at each other and both of us thought – Oh No! We’re driving to Greece in ten days. – as we jumped out of the car. On the basis of the noise and movement, we expected to see major damage to the car. Miraculously, there wasn’t even a scintilla of a scratch. The plastic bumper had absorbed the impact but sustained no damage even to its paint finish. We could not believe it. For some time, we continued to stare at, feel, stare at, feel the bumper until we could do it no longer. We’d had a lucky escape in our almost brand new car.

We decided to go out for an early dinner at a local Italian Restaurant – Ponte Vecchio – in West Byfleet. It is a delightfully informal trattoria.

31st March, 2011

Off to our Development to get the keys today. First we have a ‘Familiarisation Meeting’ to teach us how to live in an apartment. After we have the keys, we will need to check that all the white goods are working properly, that the toilets and showers and the heating is working properly. Most people will have another check after living in their apartment for a month. Unfortunately, the burglar alarm has not yet been fitted and that is crucial.

The keys were handed over at 1.00 pm as the solicitor phoned me to say the money had been paid. The burglar alarm man turned up and we now know it will be fitted before we leave for Greece. We spent the afternoon trying out the taps, sockets, showers, oven, fridge-freezer, lights, etc. We have to write a snagging list. We parked our car in the underground car park and checked out the huge store cupboard we can store our wine in.

1st April, 2011

These photos show the development and the second one outlines our property. Underneath the building is the car park where we have a specific parking bay and a large, secure storage area.

 

The blind lady called at 12.00 pm to fit the blinds and we left to drive back to Yorkshire at 2.30 pm. Friday afternoon is not a good time on the M1 and there were a number of accidents and hold-ups but we got back by 6.30 pm and finished a tiring day with a Chinese takaway – the first for months.

2nd April, 2011

Got up this morning and thought, with some trepidation, about the bumpy fortnight we’ve got ahead. It starts in the shoe box in Huddersfield – getting our chattels ready for the Removers by 6.00 am on Monday and ends two weeks today as we drive up to our house on Sifnos. In between, we will drive up and down the M1 three times, drive the length of Europe, stay in five hotels, sail down the Adriatic, drive across the Peloponnese and sail across the Aegean. Exciting but tiring. We finished off the four boxes being posted to Greece and began to plan for the removal.

20th March, 2011

A lovely day with sun and blue sky for the Spring Equinox with the Sunday papers. Found two cracking photos – a spineless hedgehog with a homemade jacket and a very friendly robin – while researching something else. Thought you might like to see them:

 

 21st March, 2011

Athens is still in the grip of the unions as the government tries valiantly to press on with privatisation.  It means that public transport is constantly disrupted. Medical services, pharmacies, legal services, schools and universities are all subject to strikes and protests. At the moment, garbage is piling up in the streets and a series of general strikes are planned to paralyse the country. To add to the woes, strong winds have closed down all the ports today.

 

22nd March, 2011

Another lovely Spring day. What is happening to the British weather? It is unbearably good. Had a look round our local park today. We’ve lived here for eleven years and never been in to it. The main reason was because it was so run down that it didn’t look very inviting. The Greenhead Park is the main park in Huddersfield and has been open to the public of Huddersfield since 1884. It was created on land which was originally open fields, and was used for public meetings, concerts, galas, firework displays, and even balloon landings. On opening, the Park offered a range of genteel pursuits for visitors, including a series of five ornamental lakes and lakeside viewing arbours, a bandstand, the ornamental bedding and fountain of the Italian Gardens, together with a raised terrace which was planned for the construction of a glass pavilion.

Sadly, the park had deteriorated by the time we moved near to it. It was, perhaps two or three miles from our house and closer to the town. The grand, stone houses of the rich merchants of nineteenth century Huddersfield were being split up and turned into student lets for the University. The wonderful, glass pavilion was in a state of disrepair to the point of near collapse. Suddenly, £5.5 million was found from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  The work began 18 months ago and are due to be completed by July. We won’t be here to see it. We went to see where they were up to:

 

 

23rd March, 2011

The Spring weather just gets better. Yesterday afternoon touched 20F and today promises even more. March is looking as if it could be the driest on record here in Yorkshire. Fortunately, Sifnos appears to have had a really wet winter. The underground aquifers should be nicely full to guarantee a reliable water source for the rest of the year.

As it was so lovely outside, we took the car to be cleaned and polished – only £6.00 – and then came back to the shoe box to clean and vacuum the inside. It’s only three months old and only done 3000 miles so the job was easy and enjoyable. With the temperature reaching 18F, it was quite warm work outside.

24th March, 2011

Pauline & I haven’t rented any type of property since the early 1970s. The last five months in a rented shoebox has been interesting but STRANGE. One thing has changed since our student days. Protection for the tenant is much improved. We have been the first tenants in a new-build, two bedroomed, unfurnished flat. It has fridge-freezer, dishwasher, washer-dryer, oven and hob and costs a snip at £550.00 per month. We paid six months rent up front and are leaving one month early so we are hoping to get a month’s rent refunded. We also paid a £650.00 bond/deposit at the outset. Nowadays, this is not just additional rent for an unscrupulous landlord. The money goes in to an official deposit scheme which has to have the agreement of both landlord and tenant before the money is re-released. One week tomorrow we will hand back the keys and claim our deposit back.

25th March, 2011

Shopping day today after an early morning Diabetic Clinic with our wonderful doctor. She provided me with a prescription to cover all necessary medication for six months. Off to Sainsburys where the chemist could not cope with the size of my prescription. We left with one carrier bag full and another one to collect on Monday. On to the garden centre to buy bags of seed potatoes and onion sets to take to Greece.

After lunch I took Pauline to the Beauty Parlour to have a facial before I take her to Sassoons tomorrow to have her hair cut. We had to rush home to allow a viewing of the shoebox. We took a phone call from a friend and ex-colleague of ours in which we discussed the recent fallout from the achievement of Academy Status of our old school and another across the town. After the early redundancies which we took advantage of, such prospects appeared to have been shut off to others. Then the Coalition announced austerity measures. Our Academy escaped by the skin of its teeth. Suddenly, the money has started to dry up and 30% of the staff are going to be ‘dispensed with’. Who knows on what terms?

26th March, 2011

Another early morning start – off to Leeds – to take Pauline to Vidal Sassoons for her hair cut. I had a nice hour reading the papers while she paid up £64.00 to have her hair trimmed. We will have to go to Athens for the next one in June. That will cost £100.00 just for the ferry. I’ve offered to cut her hair myself but she didn’t seem keen. Pauline has a ‘Top Stylist’, whatever that means, and when we move, the nearest Sassoons is Sloane Street, London where the equivalent stylist will cost £120.00. The last time I went to the barber, it cost 10 shillings.

13th March, 2011

Watched an interview with Rory McGrath the other day. I had no idea he had been born in to a Roman Catholic family – as I had – or that he had been forced to attend church and serve at mass and that he had bitterly resented it- as I had. I knew nothing about his fractured relationship with his mother or his total rejection of religion. The interview, presumably, was to publicise his new book – The Father, The Son and The Ghostly Hole – in which he describes how even as the most lapsed of Catholics, the religion has shaped him forever in just the way I believe it has me.

 

The book arrived yesterday. I shall keep you informed on my view of it.

14th March, 2011

Early morning anti-coagulation check at the hospital. The last one before we leave. My INR is up from 1.9 to 2.6. The optimum is 2.5 so that’s good. The next one will be done by the Baker on Sifnos and phoned back to the Huddersfield Royal. We went on to Santander to discuss new ISAs for post April 6th. Our cash allowance has gone up to 2 x £5,340.00 = £10,680.00. I expect interest rates to go up in a couple of months and maybe by 0.5 % so we will miss out on that by being away but, at least, we can park some cash and make a bit at the same time. I have picked a flexible ISA guaranteed to pay 2.8% above Base Rate so I will at least profit from a rate rise.

After lunch – a bowl of Pea & Mint soup – I had an appointment at the Chiropody Department. I told them I was going away for six months and they have left me to make my next appointment in October.

15th March, 2011

Horribly grey, foggy and gloomy day today. We have spent the morning informing people – banks, insurance companies, etc – of our forthcoming change of address. Off to the Health Club at 12.30 pm but it is disappointingly busy.

16th March, 2011

Once again, the day is foggy and ugly. We will be swimming at mid day but up until then we are doing indoor things. Everything of significance is about leaving. Today, we have cancelled all further Council Tax payments and all further Contents Insurance payments. I have cancelled the BT phone and Broadband contract from the day we leave and Pauline is redirecting mail for 6 months to our new address. We have had a feeling for the last three months that we were largely marking time and this has increased as the days go on.

I have always had this problem of getting ahead of myself. From the moment I get to a birthday, I anticipate the next. I may be 59 but I’m in my 60th year. I may be living in Huddersfield but I am waiting to move to Woking. I maybe moving to Woking but I’m leaving for Greece. People say you should live for the moment as I prepare for my next five or ten year plan. It drives Pauline bonkers and I know ‘Life isn’t a rehearsal’ but I have to have goals, targets and purposes. I have to create my own structure around and through my life. I have to feel at least marginally in control of it. This feeling is hugely magnified by retirement.

And now the tragedy of the day – no Tarragon!

In the last few months I have become addicted to it. I’ve eaten it in years past and had to work quite hard to enjoy it but, just before Christmas, Pauline and I were in a mediterranean restaurant in Huddersfield (note the contradiction in terms) and I ordered a grilled chicken dish served with a tarragon cream sauce. It was sensational. I immediately went out to buy fresh tarragon. Only one supermarket in Kirklees was selling fresh tarragon – Asda which is a fair few miles away. Made a special trip there today only to find they had none. Why is life so hard?

17th March, 2011

Today we’ve been focussing on microwaves. All the big issues occupy us. Not for our time the minor concerns of Libya or the trivia going on in Japan. We need to consider a new microwave. We use ours for defrosting and for fast finishing food. We’ve had only three microwaves since I bought the first one – a Phillips, the size of a chest of drawers – in 1978. Our new kitchen will have a new microwave but, because our new kitchen will be installed before we move in, it will have to be free standing. We have also wanted a steam oven so we intend to combine the two functions in a multi-function steam microwave.

   

Actually, these machines have microwave/oven/grill/steam functions combined and come in under £300.00. You can’t say fairer than that.

18th March, 2011

Glorious, sunny day today. Even Sainsburys looked beautiful. After shopping, we went to our favourite hardware shop to buy a new, steel, filleting knife.

While we were there, I had parked up and paid £1.50 for my parking ticket. As I was walking back to my car with the ticket, a large BMW pulled up behind me. The driver, a middle aged white man, put a disabled badge in the window, got out of the car and sprinted down the street. That really annoyed me but, just at that moment, a traffic warden, a little black lady, walked down the street. On the spur of the moment, I told her what I had just seen. At first, she just brushed me off. He might be able to sprint even if he is disabled, she said. She took one look at the disabled badge and asked, Was this man with any one? When I told her that he was on his own, she said, Well that’s interesting because this badge is for a woman. I didn’t wait around to watch the conclusion of this drama. By the time Pauline and I had come out of the knife shop, the warden was still waiting for the man to return.

Later we had a lovely swim as the sun shafted in through the windows and then sunbathed in the jacuzzi. Life can be so hard at times. For Dinner this evening, I cooked roast salmon with a garlic, lemon and tarragon crust. This was accompanied by roasted shallots and peppers. We both absolutely loved it.

19th March, 2011

A strange day. It was supposed to be beautiful but failed to live up to expectations. England were unexpectedly rubbish against the bog trotters of Ireland but, at least Man. Utd. managed to squeeze a win over Bolton. Poor old Ruth.

 

6th March 2011

A bitter sweet day with England beating South Africa and United losing to Liverpool. Still, it’s not life and death is it? It’s much more serious than that!

 

Got a message from Sue Wilson this evening via Facebook. I don’t really use Facebook but have any messages redirected to my email address. This is how the exchange went:

Sue Wilson  March 7, 2011 at 2:46pm

60 this year eh John ?And I’m 50 – where does it all go ?? Sx 

John Sanders  06 March at 22:48

How kind of you to remind me, Sue. I only take comfort in the knowledge that the decade 50 – 60 goes so fast you hardly have time to draw breath. If you have a list of things you want to get done, don’t hold back. There soon won’t be time.
Love John  

Sue Wilson  March 8, 2011 at 5:09am

How very true. And no, we’re not holding back – Phil and I have been together less than 2 years, have bought a 50 acre farm and will be living the good life within a year. As a first step towards that, I’ve just tossed in my $130,000 stressy job with a software house, booked to come back to UK for 3 weeks at the end of March to sell my house and get things in order. Phil has also sold his main place and we move in 11 days time. Everything will go to the farm, he will clear 6k’s worth of debt/loan each month and we will find somewhere cheap for Mon-Thurs. So we’re cracking on !What about you ? Are you full-time in Greece now ?
Sxx

Notice the strange date system used in Australia. This is what Australians look like and could explain why they can’t get the date right:

7 th March 2011

Yorkshire Water – a wonderful company – told us today that although we will have consumed five months worth of water by the time we leave the shoe box, they will not charge us a penny. Pauline had set £150.00 aside for the water bill but, when she phoned to let them know when we would be leaving the shoe box, she was told that our property hadn’t been registered with them yet so that they wouldn’t be requiring a final reading and would not be billing us at all. I record this event because you won’t hear of such magnanimity often.

I took Pauline for a hospital appointment this afternoon and recorded Huddersfield Royal Infirmary in all its glory. Hardly historic is it?

8th March 2011

Glorious, sunny and relatively warm Spring day today. I makes one glad to be alive. Got a letter from an ex-colleague who I haven’t seen for around 15 years. A Birmingham University History graduate, he had been stricken by polio as a boy and went through his whole teaching career coping with the left side of his body virtually lifeless. I never knew how he coped and, one day, he got to Oldham on the bus from Halifax which he had done every day for about thirty years, leaving home each day at 5.30 am in order to arrive at school by about 7.30 am. He would do an hour’s marking, teach a full day, attend a meeting until 5.00 pm and then get two buses back to Halifax, getting home about 7.00 pm. This particular day, he arrived at the bottom of the hill, got off the bus and thought, “I can’t face this any more!” Bursting into tears, he got back on the bus and went home where he lived with his parents in Halifax. This was fifteen years ago now and I haven’t seen him since but I have received a Christmas card from him each year since until this year when we got nothing. It turns out that his father had died and he was so upset that Christmas was cancelled.

It is strange but little contacts like this drag one back across the years in a way that isn’t always welcome and underlines the essential sadnesses of so many (maybe all) human lives.

9th March 2011

Pancake Day.  A reason to be cheerful particularly if you are married to Pauline who makes fantastic pancakes.Those more eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that I erroneously mourned the missing of Pancake Day on February 16th. What a fool! The trouble was, I’ve been cutting down on food so much my stomach has shrunk and I couldn’t eat many. After my tenth, I was starting to feel full.

Today Pauline started packing boxes for despatch to Greece. We bought three cartons but it looks like we may fill four. It will cost us a bit to send them to Sifnos but, when the things that make life happy surround us in our house, we rarely stop to count the cost.

Instant & Fresh Coffee                     Tea Bags
Porridge Oats                                     Dried Yeast
Basmati & Risotto Rice                    Assorted Batteries
Printer Paper                                     Printer Toner                        
Large Roll of Dustbin Bags              Mouthwash
Tubes Toothpaste                             Interdentals  
Bars of Soap & Handpump Soap    Suntan Lotion                                   
Anti-perspirant                                 Boxes Tissues                                               
Boxes Dishwasher Tablets              Dishwasher Cleaner

These things may look as if we are trying to recreate England in Greece. We are not. They are each chosen for one of two different reasons.

Some things are extortionately expensive on a Greek island where they are not so much in demand. For example, Dishwasher tablets cost double the normal English supermarket price. We buy them when they are on two-for-one offer in England – effectively one quarter of the Greek price. When we buy for six months at a stretch it saves lots of money. 60 tablets cost £13.58 in Tesco and £26.00 in Greece. In Sainsburys’ two-for-one offer we only paid £6.50. Six boxes cost £39.00 instead of £156.00. That, in itself, pays for the postage of all the boxes. In six months, we use 25 bottles of suntan lotion which can cost three times as much on the island.

The other reason is quality of product. Have you ever used Greek soap? If you had, you would know it smells of the most revolting, cheap-floral scent. Greek tissues are as soft as newspaper. Tea bags in Greece are cat wee in water – Lipton tea bags. Have you tasted them? Once tasted always forgotten:

The word ‘Quality’ is a relative term and it does not exactly describe the contents of the bag.

10th March 2011

Had a phone call today to tell us that our apartment in Surrey was finally finished and had been signed off by NHBC. Shortly afterwards another phone call told us that of yet another viewing for our shoe box tomorrow.

Fascinating to hear the current attack on future pensions. Will workers, grateful for a job, take it or will they fight? Thank goodness we were paid to go when we did. I know how I would be feeling now if I had, say, five – ten years to go.

This afternoon, the weather, which has been Spring-like for days turned a little wintry. Nothing desperate and nothing like Athens at the moment which is deep in snow.

 

The snow is so bad in Athens at the moment that the transport unions have called off the General Strike on the basis that they can’t do worse than the weather.

11th March 2011

Sent Catherine an email for her birthday last Wednesday and received a reply today:

Thanks for birthday wishes-had work all day but enjoyed an eve meal with family. Back to dissertation the next day but getting there .  Looking for a job.Good luck with move, Enjoy your 60th and have a great time in Greece. Love cathy

I find it hard to believe that Catherine is 56 years old. While I have aged quite noticeably, everyone else has stayed the same age, in my imagination, that I remember them from the past. Talking about the past, I have been reflecting on origins, places, belonging, etc.. I think I will miss Yorkshire and the familiarity of place but not for long. When I return to Repton , I shiver uncomfortably with memories. I look over my shoulder in case someone recognises me. I want to be the unobserved observer.

I have invested more than 25 years of my life to Sifnos in the Greek Cyclades. Our house there is valued at about £400, 000 – £450,000 but soon after we have left it, we almost forget that we own it. We have always tried to conduct our two lives as if they were unconnected. The Greek house had to be developed and financed so that it didn’t impinge on our life and finances in UK and largely that has been true. I suspect that, when we sell the Greek house, we will never return to Sifnos and it will soon retreat into a shadowy hinterland of past.

11th March 2011

The longer we have lived in Greece, the more we are amazed to find so many English people doing the same thing. I featured John Humphrys twelve months ago when I bought his book – Blue Skies & Black Olives – in which he describes his purchase and building of a house with his son on the Pelopponese. His son lives and works in Athens as a classical musician. The erstwhile Minister of Sport in Blair’s administration, Tony Banks, had a property on the beautiful, Dodecanese island of Symi.

   

Today a clothes designer, Katherine Hooker, was featured in The Daily Telegraph today. She designs for Kate Middleton – whoever that is – but she lives on Patmos from April to September and was preparing to set off. We leave in four weeks for Greece.

27th February, 2011

The Sunday papers felt thin and poor today. Fortunately, Birmingham beat Arsenal and England gained a moral victory over India.  It really should have been declared a victory as we had wickets to spare but we have to subsidise the Third World as in everything else.

 

I watched the autistic  people of Kirklees, young and old, protesting outside the Town Hall that funding for their Day Care Centre was being withdrawn and that they would become housebound because of this as would their carers. The passion with which they expressed their plight was extremely moving and persuasive. I would prefer that my taxes were spent here than on relieving poverty abroad. For example, we are, even now, giving oversea aid to China. It will cease in April but it is happening now. Read about it here.

28th February, 2011

The last day of February! Can you believe it? I thought time would slow down when we retired but it is actually speeding up. In five weeks, it will be exactly two years since Pauline & I last set foot in a school and since we caught any sort of infection at all. Lovely quiet swim today after cleaning and tidying the shoe box because a couple came for a viewing this morning and another will come tomorrow.

Ordered a new telephoto zoom lens for my camera today. The camera itself was courtesy of school and cost £750.00 when I first bought it. Now it can be bought for £500.00. The lens is less than £150.00 for a Canon ef-s 55-250mm f4-5.6.

 

This will give me great fun, particularly in Greece.

1st March, 2011

 

March hares abound on white rabbit day. It has been a beautiful Spring day. We were basking in sunshine through the glass around our pool today. Swimming felt vaguely Mediterranean this morning. The Health Club was almost empty and we had the pool to ourselves.

While we were out swimming we allowed our Letting Agent show another client round the property because we are keen that they let it for the month of April and will, therefore, refund us a month’s rent. As soon as we got home, I cancelled my BT account for phone line, calls and broadband from April 4th. I’ve only had it for three months of an 18 month contract and those first three were free so, of course, I’ve had to pay a cancellation charge of £120.00 but, when I get back in October, I will use Sky to supply my services.

2nd March, 2011

Pauline reckons she gets through a bottle of SPF30 Sun Cream in less than a fortnight. In Greece, each bottle would cost €18.00 (£15.00) and she would need 15 – 20 of them. £300.00 on sun cream does seem a little excessive. Instead, we wait until it is discounted in British supermarkets – at least 50% reduction. Today we went to Asda and bought each bottle at £5.00 or one third of the Greek price. The other big purchase today looked like this:

Yes, we ordered two toilet seats for the bathrooms in Greece. Greek toilet seats are cheap but nasty and very uncomfortable. Our bottoms deserve real English class!

3rd March, 2011

Some disappointing news this morning. Our completion date has been postponed by two weeks from March 18th to March 31st. This is annoying because the builders were particularly forceful about insisting that we agree to their initial completion date and now it is they who are holding us up. They say that hard landscaping and planting will not be finished in time  and they want everything to be perfect before anyone moves in. Fortunately, we will not be greatly inconvenienced by this but people with dependent property sales going through will have real difficulties. We have to rearrange the fitting of the blinds but that is all.

Greece is still wracked by strikes. Today and tomorrow State telephone company workers and the police are striking and rallying in Syndagma Square over job cuts, wage cuts and pension cuts. On Monday, Trolley buses in Athens are cancelled. On Wednesday all modes of public transport are on strike throughout Greece. On Thursday, all postal services are on strike protesting against privatisation. However, if you could travel to Cape Sounion south of Athena you might just see this night view of a cusp of the moon through the Temple of Poseidon:

4th March, 2011

Sainsburys shopping on Friday morning although all the dozy old biddies seem to be there by ten o’clock. We had to go to Staples first to buy new packing boxes for despatching to Greece. They need to be quality, double skinned, reinforced cardboard to withstand a battering. Then off to buy four new pillows for Greece and on to Sainsburys. After doing a week’s shop, we fill up with Sainsbury’s petrol. When we were working, we would do 250 miles a week at 27 mpg. Our bill would have been £55 – £60.00 per week. Now it is less than half that.

All the time we were out shopping, I was itching to be trying out my new telephoto lens that arrived at the beginning of the week but I hadn’t had time to use. I thought I would combine this with my sentimental need to record the ‘shoebox’ for posterity before we leave it. It is not particularly a place I will recall with affection but I would like to be, at least, able to recall it. The longer lens was, of course, wholly inappropriate for this job but I was determined to try it out.

   

When we first moved in here in early November, ours was the only car. We were the only residents. Since then, the flats have gradually been solved as the prices have been reduced from well over £100,000.00 to the final four being advertised at £73,000.00. We believe these four have been snapped up as a job lot by an investor. We worked out that with the rent they are charging, the yield would be about 8.5% which is, currently, very good. Behind the flats, in the back of the courtyard, are what they laughingly call ‘coach houses’ in which the accommodation is on two floors over the garage. We think they initially went on the market at £180,000.00 two years ago but they have all been sold for just over £120,000.00 which anywhere else would be ‘cheap as chips’. The development still has a lovely view over the Colne Valley.

20th February, 2011

Dark, brooding and oppressive sky – loveless, lightless and foggy. Pauline went out for the newspapers and found an old lady standing outside the apartment block next door to ours. She had gone out for a walk, taking a newly cut key with her. When she returned, she couldn’t turn the key in the lock even to get in to the communal area never mind her own apartment. She lived alone and didn’t want to wake any one else by ringing their bell that early on a Sunday morning. Pauline saw how cold she was -there was snow all around us – and invited her in to the shoebox.

She came in and sat down in our lounge. Pauline went on for the paper while I entertained the lady. In ten minutes I managed to get her life story out of her. She came from Ireland as a young woman and settled in London where she had spent most of her life. She told me she was 82 years old . Although she was from a family of eight and was a lapsed Catholic, all her brothers and sisters were dead. She had three nephews in Huddersfield which is why she had moved up here.

After talking for ten minutes, I thought that I would try her key in the lock. After j-j-j-jiggling it a bit, I managed to turn the lock and get her in to her block. She was delighted. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and she scampered off to her apartment. Only when Pauline got back with the papers and asked me what the lady’s name was did I realise that was the only thing I hadn’t asked her.

Great win for Bolton at Fulham yesterday. Certainly looks like they made the right decision about their change of Manager.

21st February, 2011

One of the most dismal looking days I’ve seen for a while. Six weeks today we move house and seven weeks today we set off for Greece.

This morning we went off to Santander to buy a couple of cash ISAs. £10,200.00 at 2.85% (2.35% above Bank Rate guaranteed for twelve months). It offers instant access if I need it. The Advisor said he expected 4% to be available for the new Tax Year after April 6th. We will take out two more ISAs then and, hopefully transfer these current ones in.

22nd February, 2011

Trying again to go down to Surrey this morning. The aborted trip from a couple of weeks ago is back on now. Pauline wants to check out hairdressers and make an appointment for just before we leave for Greece and we both want to look at Doctors’ surgeries. The M1 is reported to be very foggy this morning so it may take a while.

The drive was wonderful and the M1 half empty. A journey that can regularly take four an a half hours and has taken up to seven hours a couple of times today was completed in three hours. We unloaded our bag at Phyllis & Colin’s house and then went on to Weybridge to book a hair appointment for Pauline on April 9th – two days before we leave for Greece. We went on to Woking to to visit two Doctors’ surgeries to pick up their information packs and check the premises out.

23rd February, 2011

Met the blind lady from Hillarys Blinds (I don’t think they’ve heard of apostrophes.) just after lunch today. We met at our new property which was absolutely full of workmen. They were blitzing it for completion in three weeks. We had to negotiate quite hard with the blind lady. Eight windows and a full length glass door will cost us £800.00 fitted and working. This will be done the day we pick up the keys and will allow us to lock up, set the alarm and leave the place secure. The alarm will be set up so that, if it goes off, it will automatically contact Pauline’s sister in West Byfleet which will be great when we are away.

Drove straight back up the M1 to Huddersfield. It took near four hours than three this time because of long hold up for an accident just before Sheffield. At least we got back in time for Man.U. v Marseille although there were no goals.

24th February, 2011

Tired this morning after the drive yesterday. Even so, we went swimming. What a mistake! Apparently, it’s Half Term. Parents had brought their kids. We beat a quick retreat. I hate Half Term.

I am working on new photo albums for the website. A lot of them will have to be done in the winter when I’ve got time to raid the photo stores and scan them all in. It will be a November project. I’m also considering going on a training course to improve my website design skills. Goodness know, I need it.

25th February, 2011

The skies are so dark today. We shop on Friday. Even though the skies are grey, the familiarity of Huddersfield town gave me pause for thought:

   

I have five weeks left as a Yorkshire man.

26th February, 2011

Saturday is papers and sport. A strong win for Man. Utd. and a nervy win for England against France both made me happy but it doesn’t compensate for information confirming and deepening the recession. I was getting quite gung-ho about a rate rise in the next couple of months leading to at least 1.5% by the end of the year. This would have strengthened the pound and given better investment rates. The latest news makes that rather less likely. When will the economy support we pensioners? Those youngsters just get it all their own way.

13th February, 2011

A dark, wet day outside only lifted by the Sunday Papers and Man. United’s win over City yesterday enhanced by Rooney’s overhead goal. We have reconsidered the hotels en route to Ancona in April. Last year we stayed in Colmar (Alsace) and Modena (Italy). We have decided that, because we are going through the Tunnel and will be hitting the French motorways an hour and a half earlier, we can aim a little further. Our membership of the Spirit Health Club allows us privileged prices at Holiday Inns across Europe. We have booked a Holiday Inn in the Medieval, Alsace town of Mulhouse. Just see how medieval the hotel looks:

 

We will drive on to the hammy city of Parma in Italy for our second night. Like all Italian hotels, the Holiday Inn is classically designed:

To be honest with you, we spend so few hours in these places before moving on that there is no point splashing out on luxury. We have found that hotel prices are falling across Europe. These two hotels cost less than £55.00 per night each with free internet and breakfast. Where else could you get that?

14th February, 2011

Valentine’s Day means a trip to the Anti-Coag Department at the hospital. My INR is rising nicely and I will have one more test before we go away. I shall continue to phone my blood tests in to Huddersfield Royal while I am in Greece, have one more face to face in October before I can reorganise in Surrey. Off to the Health Centre and, after a half hour’s swim I relax in the Jacuzzi where I meet a young man who appears keen to talk. Unbelievably, it turns out he has driven up from Surrey where lives on the other side of Woking from our new apartment. He fits solar panels in millionaires row just down the road in West Byfleet. Lovely to see Chelsea sinking without trace and Torres failing to score again.

15th February, 2011

Today, after exhaustive searching and price comparison, we go on another buying trip for items bound for Greece. Purification filters for our Brita water jugs, Wash&Go shampoo, Corsodyl toothpaste and ‘Oral B’ electric tooth brush heads are all either horrendously expensive or unavailable entirely on our island. We don’t usually shop at Asda but all the bargains were there today and so were we. Of course, we are buying enough for six months so we buy in bulk when things hit ‘half price’. Spending so much time in the sun means sun tan lotion is essential. Pauline insists on a ‘once-a-day’ lotion. She buys ‘Piz Buin Day Long’ sun tan lotion. For 200mls, it cost £19.50 standard price. Pauline pounces when it turns up under £10.00. We usually go away just as the holiday market is being kick started with ‘half price’ or ‘2 for 1’ offers.

We have found that ferry connections from Piraeus to Sifnos are awkward when we arrive this year. We have decided to spend a couple of nights in Patras on the Pelopennese before driving down to Piraeus port on Saturday, April 16th. Pauline has already booked the Hotel Patras Palace. We normally pay £120.00 per night. This year the price is below £90.00. Maybe the Greeks are seeing sense at last.

  

16th February, 2011

A beautiful morning – blue sky and sunshine – only spoiled by learning that we had missed Pancake Day yesterday. I had no idea. Can I justify pancakes today instead?

We went in to town this morning and did a tour of the banks because we will soon need them to transfer money to our solicitor’s clients account. The cash is in three separate banks – Nat West, Barclays and Lloyds TSB – each one will charge between £20.00 & £30.00 to send the money digitally by CHAPS – robbers!

17th February, 2011

Thick fog in Huddersfield this morning as we set off for Bolton to visit Ruth & Kevan. As we progress down the M62, the skies clear and the sun comes out. It was lovely to see them again and especially because they took us to see the ‘Show Flat’ in the old mill where their new apartment is being completed. Ruth is very excited about moving which has rather surprised Kevan but we can see why she can’t wait to move in. Her penthouse apartment is in ‘The Cotton Works’, a development of a beautiful, red brick, art-nouveau-ish mill built for Sir John Holden between 1925 -1926. Typically, real design went in to the building but it only lasted as a cotton mill for 40 years and closed in 1965, six years before Ruth even met Kevan.

   

We couldn’t see Ruth’s apartment because it won’t be available for a couple of months but she took us to the ‘show flat’ ands it was very impressive for fellow down sizers. What was equally impressive was the price they have agreed to pay. They are stealing it! Kevan took photos of Ruth with Pauline & I in the show flat.

  

18th February, 2011

Interesting day today. We received a joint gas & electricity bill for the first three months in the shoebox. The bill came to a paltry £270.00 which is less than we were paying for one equivalent month in our house. We are leaving the shoe box one month early having paid six month’s rent up front. We have asked for one month’s rent back. It is only £550.00 but would buy us something in our new house. We only get it back if they can let the shoe box for that month. Today we got a phone call to say that someone wanted to view the shoebox tomorrow. We’ve got to sell the unsellable.

19th February, 2011

Happy Birthday to Bob. 59 today. He’s certainly got the key of the door! Got outside the door of our shoebox to be met by this:

Had to send my wife to get the paper in a blizzard. Poor woman!