23. I saw Mummy kissing Vassili??????

So that's Christmas over and done with again; and it was different, to say the least.

Sitting in the sunshine outside a bar in Parga on Xmas Eve afternoon was surreal. According to the locals, the spell of warm weather we enjoyed was unusual and not good for the olive crop, which is now in full swing, but there were no complaints from us.

Christmas in this part Greece is a much lower key affair than it is in the UK , demonstrated by the fact that on our shopping trip a few days before Xmas day we ambled around crowd free supermarkets. No queueing ten deep at the checkout for us this year, although we did have to wait for 10 minutes for the cashier to appear! It was just as well that we didn't have to fight to get to the shelves as our Xmas shopping list was a challenge.

We had planned to have a quiet day with the traditional full Xmas dinner and a parcel from the UK was supposed to provide our stock of Quality Street, Terry's Chocolate Orange etc. and the all important Paxo stuffing, but this failed to arrive. We already had a homemade Xmas Pud, potatoes for the "Roasties" and carrots were not going to be a problem, but we had never seen sprouts here, and stuffing for a bird was not something we were going to try to describe to a supermarket aisle filler with our limited Greek.

The turkey was easy, fresh ones on sale at reasonable prices; however, as these all weighed in at 6 kilos plus, we opted for a 3 kilo frozen bird, which in all probability would still provide a curry, several days of sandwiches and soup for the week after. Interestingly the turkey was from Germany and was very tasty, a case of "Vorsprung Durch Turknich" if ever there was one!

To our amazement, on Xmas Eve we found a large bag of sprouts (the rest were frozen) in a local greengrocers and an English neighbour took pity on us and provided the stuffing; so that was that; Xmas dinner with all the trimmings, with no hassle or fuss. The only things missing on the day were the Queen's Speech, the chocolates and "The Great Escape" on TV!!

Santa or Father Christmas here is called Vassili; I've tried going through all the Xmas songs/carols that have "Santa" in there somewhere but I can't come up with one that you can substitute with Vassili. Suggestions invited!!!!

22. Flood, Swelter and Beers.

The bad weather that heralded our return to Greece continued for a few weeks, culminating in a tremendous thunderstorm, which caused widespread landslides in the local area, and flooded our back garden. Our garden is walled all round, and the builders, with a distinct lack of foresight, left only one drainage hole, which couldn't cope with the amount of water cascading off the road. As the level rose during the night it flooded the boiler room underneath the outside stairs and took out our central heating boiler, just at the time when the nights were getting cold enough to need it. Up until then we had been managing with a log fire, but had gotten a little carried away with (unecessary, but very cosy) roaring blazes; quickly reducing our winter stockpile of logs. Fortunately for us, as well as the normal shops in the village, we also have a plumbing/electrical supplier and installer, Thassos, who arrived on the day we rang him and carried out the repair by torchlight!!!

The thunderstorm also signalled the end of the bad weather and within a few days we were enjoying an extended run of warm, sunny days lasting well into the beginning of December. On some afternoons, whilst we were sat on the balcony reading, we were nearly reaching for the suntan lotion!!!! As I write the weather has begun to turn, but the warm spell has certainly shortened our winter.

As Christmas rapidly approaches our social life seems to be gathering pace too. Several meals out with different friends recently have been very enjoyable, and cheap too, as winter prices are now the norm. The highlight of our nights out was undoubtably a party laid on in recognition of the efforts of blood donors from the village. This was attended by the Mayor of Parga and a traditional Greek "band" provided the entertainment. A fund raising raffle of prizes donated by local businesses completed the official events for the evening.

The Greeks need no excuse to enjoy themselves and, as the wine and beer flowed, the dancing began. After a while the Mayor gave a thank you speech for everybodys' support and, switching to halting English thanked the ex pat contingent too. Not content with that, he also said how happy the villagers were to have us living and working amongst them, which was a nice touch; and then promptly invited us all to "Dance with us". Those brave enough accepted the invitaton, those of us who weren't ordered another beer.

The draw for the raffle took place towards the end of the evening and we won a prize which Margaret went off to collect. She returned with what were obviously two large cake boxes tied with ribbon. An inspection of the top box revealed a lovely selection of scrumptious Greek cakes and we shared these out reserving the second box all for ourselves. After an excellent night out we returned home with our remaining box and decided to round off the evening with coffee and a cake. On opening the box we discovered that it didn't contain cakes but BISCUITS!!!!

Still, it could have been worse.

We could have won the 20 litres of sheeps milk that somebody had donated.

21. Gypsies, Tramps & Heaves!

A visit back to the UK for a week in October went without incident, for a change; and the reason for the trip, a grandsons' christenening, provided us with a chance to catch up with some long standing friends as well as family. It was so much easier than trying to catch up with them individually, which has always been something of a problem on our visits back "home".


This time round we did not have the use of a car and, because it wasn't practical to hire one due to our stopping off places, we relied public transport, which surprisingly worked out very well. In the space of six days we stayed at three different locations and never got the chance to "settle in" at any of our stop overs. The attraction of living a lifestyle involving packing every few days has always escaped me entirely; and the fact that in six days I didn't see the bottom of our suitcase did nothing to alter my view.


Of course the other drawback was that by the end of the week our small selection of clothes was looking a bit worse for wear (pun intended). Not spending long enough in one place to do any washing meant that a quick bit of ironing had to do. This was entirely unsatisfactory and I for one was glad to climb into the set of CLEAN clothes I had saved for the return trip.


The flight back from Manchester to Corfu was uneventful until about half an hour before we were due to land. Our pilot announced that because of all the rubber left on the runway by thousands of tyres over the summer, and that there was heavy rain over the airport, we would be going into a holding pattern until it was safe to land. The phrase "ice rink" appeared somewhere in his explanation, and I would have preferred him to be a little less specific with his description! He informed us that we had extra fuel on board for another hours flying and promised further updates. Our holding pattern had us flying at 15,000 feet over the Ionian Sea which was clearly visible through the odd break in the clouds. Viewing the size of the sea swell it didn't take much to figure out that "heavy rain" translated into "full blown storm", and we learned later that the wind speed had been gusting to force 8 on the Beaufort Scale!

Half an hour after the initial announcement there were some of us looking nervously at our watches; after all, if Corfu was a no go, a diversion should be imminent, shouldn't it? By now we were into that one hour reserve and the possibility of spending the night in Italy or Albania, or who knows where, looked like becoming a reality. Before nervousness turned into panic our confident sounding captain was pleased to announce that we had been cleared to land and were beginning our descent into Corfu. After the necessary adjustments to our position we began to lose height for final approach and that's when the real fun started.

The nearer we got to Corfu, the worse the weather got! It clearly hadn't stopped raining, it fact it looked considerably heavier through the aircraft windows. And then we began to feel the full effect of those winds. The plane started rising and falling dramatically, coupled with definite sideways motions, and the wings were flapping like a carrier pigeon who was late with a communique!!! The rain was travelling horizontally as the runway came into view through the window, and then the aircraft seemed to drop the last few feet onto the runway resulting in an almighty thud and a slide sideways of at least fifteen yards!! I am probably right in thinking that, at this moment, the phrase "ice rink" flashed through most of the passengers minds. The pilot managed a nifty correction and, with clouds of water spraying from the wheels, obscuring any view through my window, the aircraft came safely to a halt. Our pilots then received a spontaneous round of loud applause, which was thoroughly deserved.

I've never seen sick bags in use AFTER a landing before and there were still some very pale looking people rushing for the toilets after collecting their luggage.

Quoting what, if I recall correctly, is an old WWII saying........................

"Any landing you walk away from is a good one".

Now you would expect that to be the end of this posting but, unfortunately for us, there was more to come. As we live on the mainland, we have to make the ferry journey from Corfu to Igoumenitsa to get home. The ferries are a mixed selection of sizes and normally run every half hour or so throughout the day. But not in force 8 gales!! We arrived at the port to find that there were no imminent sailings and the question "When?" was met with a typical shrug of the shoulders and "Avrio?" (Tomorrow? Maybe!)
As there seemed to be quite a number of Greeks willing to wait and see we decided to do likewise and trooped off to the far end of the dock for a coffee; no mean distance with a suitcase and bags I might add! At least it had stopped raining and there was one of the larger ferries tied up by the cafe. As the loading ramp was down it looked like there was a possibility that this one would sail at some point.

After coffee and a ciggie and a rest I decided to walk back down to the ticket booths to find out if there was any updated information. Heartened by the fact that the waiting crowd had increased in size I approached the sales windows to find them all closed and empty. As I set off back to give Margaret the not so good news the heavens opened with a vengeance and, by the time I arrived back at the cafe, I looked like I had been dipped in the harbour!! I had to delve into the suitcase for a pair of dry jeans and change in the toilets along with a few other intrepid souls who had been caught out like me.

We waited round for another hour or so and, with a break in the weather, set off to the ticket booths again. On arrival we found the crowd of hopefuls was even bigger and, although we were by now resigned to spending the night in a hotel, we opted to wait a little longer. That wait proved to be longer than expected as we were hit with a very violent and slow moving thunderstorm. The only shelter available was an open sided canopy which very rapidly filled up!

We were still trapped by the downpour when there was a sudden rush for a ticket booth; Margaret joined the queue as I guarded the suitcase and bags, and three quarters of an hour later she reappeared clutching two tickets. I enquired which of the many ferries tied up they were for and was not in the least surprised to find out that it was the one at the far end of the dock by the cafe!!! So off we set, in the pouring rain, and by the time we were seated in the ferrys' lounge we were BOTH wet through; but at least we knew we would sleep in our own bed that night.

Surprisingly, given the weather conditions, the sea crossing was uneventful and we eventually arrived home safe and sound. From leaving for Manchester airport to arriving home took 19 1/2 hours, of which only 6 1/2 was actually travelling anywhere.

Although neither of us gave voice to it, some of the looks we exchanged had that "Is it really worth it?" expression. We have to go back again next August for a family wedding, but at least the weather will be kinder then.

There again, knowing us.............??????????????.

20. Acclimatisation. It's not as hot as last year! Is it?

Uh Oh! Clouds!! Wnter is coming!!!!

No entries for 4 months and then 2 in a week!

I must be turning into a Greek, or a bus!!

A little something on that favourite British subject - the weather, Greek weather that is.
To be more specific, it is the local weather to which I am referring.
Parga is situated in (on?) a bay surrounded by mountains and protected from any bad weather experienced a few kilometres inland. This is, of course, a huge advantage for a holiday resort, but it also has it's downside.

During August temperatures can regularly exceed 40 degrees and the narrow streets and alleyways can become oppressively stuffy. In addition to the heat there is the humidity that comes and goes; figures over 90% are not uncommon. Add 3-4 months with NO rainfall and you can begin to appreciate why we keep away from Parga in August. This year our first thunderstorm arrived in the late evening of the 30th. August and was a welcome relief; the following days were still hot but there was a freshness back in the air.

Fortunately we don't live in Parga, we live in Anthoussa, a few kilometres up the mountainside.
The temperatures are usually a few degrees lower than in Parga and, if we do have to venture into town, it is a welcome relief to return to the village. During most afternoons we also benefit from a cooling breeze that further reduces the heat factor, unless it blows from the opposite direction, in which case it can be a little like standing in front of a very large hairdryer! All in all Anthoussa is a much more comfortable place to pass the hotter days away.
After nearly 18 months to get used to the weather we thought that we had become acclimatised; we certainly coped better this year than last! Relaxing on our front balcony with a couple of glasses of chilled wine at 1.00am, with the temperature still hovering around 30 degrees (80ish in old money); whilst gazing up at our view of Ali Pashas' illuminated castle on top of the mountain; has been an absolute delight. However, it appears that acclimatisation also has its' drawbacks.

Following the aforementioned thunderstorm, and the subsequent drop in temperature, we were doing the wine thing one night/morning, and that lovely breeze was idling its' way through the trees, when Margaret suddenly got a little chilly!! Within a few minutes I was starting to feel a definite coolness as well, by which time Margaret had gone inside to put on a cardigan!! Now to me this was bordering on the ridiculous, especially when I checked our outside thermometer to find that the mercury had plummeted to 26 degrees!!!!!!
Back in the UK that sort of heat blocks motorways with day trippers heading for beaches they will lucky to be able to sit on for one day a year!

So if our acclimatisation means that 26 degrees feels chilly, spare a thought for us poor souls when the temperatures drop to 15 degrees in the winter!

Any lower than that and we will need a trip back to stock up on boots and ski suits!!!!!!!

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?

18. TITS!!!!

I thought that would get your attention!
The tits in question are blue, not from the cold, but the feathered kind.
A few weeks ago a romantic pair decided they would nest in our kitchen extractor vent; and by lifting one of the flaps on the vent they began flying in nesting material at a rate that would put DHL to shame.
Obviously this would cause us problems, and before they got too attached to their new residence, I opted for clearing it out, giving them time to find a replacement site. I was amazed by how many fistfuls of fluff, twigs and moss etc. they had managed to collect in such a short space of time. Having done the dirty eviction deed and convinced myself that it was better for them in the long run, ( would new born chicks survive the fumes when we were cooking curry?), I consoled myself with the fact that there were plenty of other nesting sites available around here!

However, the birds thought otherwise, and with admirable determination, started all over again.
No amount of banging on the ducting inside deterrred them for more than a few minutes and it was time for the ladders again. The first eviction was relatively simple but, this time, it turned into a marathon!

What you need to realise is that our our house was completed 15 years ago but was never lived in until we arrived. Unfortunately for me, the blue tits had had free rein for all those years, and instead of refurbishing old nests, had built new every year. When my arm wouldn't go any further in from the outside, I had to go into the kitchen and detach the ducting, wave it about to dislodge the accumulated material,and thrust it on to the extractor running at top speed to blow it outside. We ended up with TWO shopping bags full of nests!!!!

The outside vent was taped up enough to allow the extractor to work but prevent further squatting and, after a few vain attempts to gain entry, the birds gave up, and hopefully found a new nesting site.

Not really a Greek story, I know, but a warning to anyone that has strange noises eminating from their extractor when it is switched off!!!

17. Not PC and No PCs. Carnival time!

The past weekend has seen the beginning of Lent and we have had a full weekend of celebrations. Only the Greeks could celebrate 40 days of fasting! Yes, I know it's mainly symbolic nowadays, but it must have been adhered to years ago. Anyway the country as a whole stages festivals, carnivals, music events etc., etc., and around here was no exception.

The "party" started on Friday night and on Saturday the carnival took place on Parga seafront.

The parade was due to start at 3.30pm, but of course, the time was arbitrary, and festivities kicked off at 4.15pm, by which time the sun had disappeared behind the clouds.

The carnival is a fancy dress procession with carte blanche as to what you want to do. It involves all ages and there was a wide variety of themes. Some topical, some nautical (obviously) and a couple of historical attempts.

But, as ex-pats from the UK, the one that really stood out was entitled "Zulu".

This consisted of a pick up, roughly dressed to resemble jungle, with an unfortunate stuffed dummy (missionary?) dangling from a spit into a pot. Nothing wrong with that, you might say.

However, the accompanying marchers were dressed as "Zulus" with BLACKED UP FACES!!!!!!!!

Can you imagine them getting one step on their way in the UK before being swamped by an army of hysterical council officials or senior Police Officers, desperate to be seen to be doing the "right" thing? I think, no I KNOW, not.

Is this racial abuse? Not here. Here it's called having a good time!

Now the letters PC, many years before the nanny state, were immediately recognisable as an abbreviation for Police Constable. And this brings me to the second most striking difference between Greece and the UK, as far as this type of event is concerned.

Amongst all the confetti and streamer throwing, crazy foam spraying, the crowd pushing forward for a better look and the deafening music from a dozen loud speakers, there was NOT A GREEK COPPER TO BE SEEN!!!!! ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nor was there an ambulance and fire engine on standby! And the only local officials on hand were the Mayor and his deputy, ON the stage with the MC!!

And were the emergency services needed?

Of course they weren't!

Anyone misbehaving, injured or setting fire to themselves would simply have been "sorted" by family or friends, the way they were when I was a "nipper".

Litter...........we'll clean it up tomorrow or the wind will blow it away!

Crowd control........why bother? They're enjoying themselves, not rioting!

Loud music.........we're getting the sound level right for Mondays' traditional music session!!

Don't you wish that you could still organise an event such as this in England, without applying for permissions, getting insurance and policing etc., etc.,etc?

If you could, life might be as much fun as it is here!