19. Summertime, and the living is............

So here we are, at the end of August, and (tut,tut) I haven't written anything on here since April!

The intervening 4 months have gone who knows where?

Easter here was a joy this year. Last year we were still in "moving in mode", and it seemed to pass us by. This time around we could really appreciate how the villagers throw themselves into the celebrations; and it is wonderful to behold everyone turning out for midnight mass holding candles, and squeezing themselves into the tiny church and courtyard for the blessing. And the smell of whole lambs roasting on the barbecues everywhere left us feeling permanently hungry!

To be perfectly honest we haven't done very much, or been very far this summer. The lure of the beaches and wonderful countryside hasn't diminished, but, because they are always there now, we don't feel the need to cram in visits. "Avrio", as the Greeks say; there's always tommorrow! One of the problems with being here is that if we pop up to the local cafenion for a coffee, it usually turns into two, or three with friends and, before we know it, the whole afternoon has passed us by!!


Since the middle of July Margaret has been working part time, in the evenings, at the Island Bar in town. What was supposed to be up to 4 nights a week, as a favour to a friend, turned into at least 6 in August, but at least it gave me a chance to have a beer with the lads and makes up for all the coffee days she had in the winter when I was working.

For those of you who know Margaret it will be a surprise to learn that she is helping out in the KITCHEN!! The cuisine at the bar is mainly Thai and Mexican and, after the first couple of weeks, she was coming home and regaling me with lists of dishes she had learned to prepare.
For those of you who know Margaret it will come as no surprise to learn that NONE of these have appeared on OUR dining table yet!!!!!! Maybe one day.........................?


Late July and August brought the usual influx of Greek and Italian tourists which makes Parga a no go area for us. Too many people in too small a space; too hot and too much trouble!!!

Until you see it for yourself it is difficult to describe just what a massive difference this invasion makes to Parga. The numbers rapidly build up to their peak for the celebration of the Feast of the Assumption on the 15th. August; various estimates put the numbers between 100,000 and 150,000; which, by any standard, is a lot for a town with a resident population of around 5000!!
Any space that will take a bed gets two, and the price for accommodation goes through the roof.
But they continue to come back every year.

The biggest impact, however, is due to the lack of parking space and, as the vast majority arrive in the largest car they can buy, the town literally chokes on rubber and steel. Attempts at creating a temporary one way system fail miserably because the locals ignore it; and the extra police drafted in for the month tend to ticket everything that stops one day and nothing the following day. During the winter and the quieter parts of the season the local roads, which, at best, can be described as "sort of paved", are adequate; but they just can't cope with the blitzkreig of 4x4s, camper vans and boats on trailers.

What is even worse is that most of them leave their driving brains at home!
Take the road in the centre of the village as an example. It is just wide enough for two smallish cars to pass each other, there is the odd large tree encroaching onto the "carraigeway", overhanging balconies to consider, no shortage of potholes and a sharpish bend at the junction. We have seen concrete mixers, tankers, coaches and even massive trailered HGVs carrying what looks like the entire hay production of the area negotiate this road with relative ease. They rarely have to stop and they NEVER hit anything; even drivers who obviously do not know the road get 40 tonnes of rock through with some elan!
However, a German or an Italian tourist driving a 20 foot campervan can block the village off for 10-15 minutes; NO PROBLEMMO!!!!
At the first sight of an obstacle they can't remember how wide or how high their vehicle is, reverse goes missing from their gearboxes and they forget about the sixteen pedal cycles chained to the back or the canoe sticking out from the roof at the front. When several helpful, but VERY VOCAL, locals start sending them in this direction and that, they just deflate in the driving seat in a scene reminiscent of "Airplane". It never fails to raise a chuckle with us.

Fortunately, for us, most of them are back on the Autostradas and Autobahns by now!! I wonder if they still have their bikes and boats?