What water! I plunged into its depths and almost immediately the ground gave way beneath me. I was completely surrounded by water fathom’s deep. I had heard people speak and read about swimming in waters such as these. The blue, they say can be so intense that you loose all sense of your bearings, of …
I want to tell you about one big day I had recently. It was definitely different from the other days. Normally I go for a walk with Lena in the mornings up the hill after the beach, and I like it because it’s not too hot and I get to chase geckos in the rocks …
I’ve just finished reading Henry Miller’s The Colossus of Maroussi where Miller speaks with such love and affection for the Greeks. He regularly mentions the hospitality and generosity he receives even from the poorest people. It reminded me of one of our earliest introductions to this famous Greek hospitality. Before we moved to Afrata, one …
We’ve lived in several different short-term homes since arriving in Crete. So we were really looking forward to finally moving into our permanent base. Our first stop was ten days in a lovely apartment in the centre of Chania – down by the harbour – a couple of minutes walk into the Old Town. We …
We heard about this quirky festival during a BBQ with our very hospitable neighbours/Airbnb hosts, Katerina and Miltos, the previous Saturday night and decided it was something worth checking out. Asi-Gonia is a small mountain village about an hour (and a beautiful drive it is – the vegetation changes and it becomes more lush) from …
The late great Dolores O’Riordan once wrote ‘Oh my life is changing every day in every possible way’. Well, that’s how things have been for me since about four weeks ago. I spend a lot of time in the car (it’s a bit squashed – I used to have to whole back seat to myself …
Greece is full of sounds but just like in that nostalgic radio ad for Barry’s Tea, it’s the quiet and very ancient ones that cut through the modern clutter and make their mark on your memory. Here are a pair to enjoy at your leisure – birdsong and goat bells.
We arrived on Crete about ten days ago and since then we’ve been in and out of short term lets and if I’m honest, that sort of living can get a bit tiring. Even though we are in ‘holiday’ mode at the moment, it’s difficult to put it out of your head that you’re going …
I’ve just started to read Lawrence Durrell’s The Greek Islands and it is very apt because he starts the first chapter by describing the traveller ‘slipping southward along the heel of Italy, as if down a Christmas stocking full of small treasure-towns’. Durrell suggests getting the ferry from Brindisi, which is near the bottom of …
Our ferry was due to depart at 17:30 from the port of Ancona. I woke up pretty refreshed given the size of the bed we had slept in. Strangely, I decided to take advantage of the general sense of optimism about the place by going for an early morning run. It was Easter Monday and …