Yes, this is the time of year when olives are harvested – old ladies dressed in black sit like crows in the olive trees, raking the ripe olives off laden boughs with wooden combs onto nets spread below. Fires burn with fragrant olive wood logs, smoke curling up into the autumn air and warming unheated … Read More
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October 31st was the 28th anniversary of the Marathon to Athens race – As you all know of course, the original Marathon was the run by Pheidippides (530 BC–490 BC) of 240 km in two days to get reinforcements for the Greek troops. He then ran the 40 km (25 miles) from the battlefield near Marathon back to Athens to … Read More
Today is “Oxi Day”, or “No” Day, or even “**** off” Day. At 4.00 a on the 28th October 1940, the Axis powers gave Greece an ultimatum – let our troops though or else… The Greek Prime Minister Metaxas, answered with one word. “No”. The next morning, the streets of Athens were filled with a … Read More
I spend a lot of time reassuring people that Greece is not infested with Somalian pirates, French barricades, pyromaniacs, typhoons, sinking ferries, murderous rioters, military dictators, drug cartels, white slave traders, exploding volcanoes and cancelled flights (I fib a little actually – one of those things on the list is not unknown to happen…) Imagine … Read More
Corfu Sunday: After the wild, bright barrenness of the Cyclades, Corfu is radiant with flowers and lush foliage, drooping boughs heavy with dark olives, thickets of tiny scented purple cyclamen, pink grapes bursting with juice, and pomegranates splitting open to show their ruby red glistening seeds. A pale blue mirror- like sea reflects the Albanian … Read More
Mykonos “Eureka!” as Archimedes would have said had he been a villa agent – At last, we have been given a drop-dead glamorous house with private access to the sea – mind you, you have to be a strong swimmer to cope with the waves, but on a calm day, total bliss, and the house … Read More
October 6th One of the closest Cycladic islands to Athens and just a hop away from Mykonos, Andros is ripe for discovery. Real estate prices are bucking the downward trend, fuelled by demand from the Greek island connoisseurs who prize the wonderful fresh and local produce, the rich and subtle cuisine, the tidy and picturesque … Read More
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I have been clinging to my status as a bridge beginner for the last 20 years, to avoid being bullied by my bridge-mad husband into serious games where you are not allowed to ask what 2 clubs means and someone tells you off when you forget how many trumps there are in a pack. The … Read More
Finally, over a hundred years since Schliemann, convinced he had found the location of Odysseus and Penelope’s home, first excavated the site of Aetos on Ithaca, a team of architects from the University of Yannina have uncovered a three storey Mycenean building that corresponds to Homer’s famous description. Odysseus clearly valued panoramic views – either for strategic or … Read More
July 24th 2010 Those who don’t know any better think that this means donning sunglasses and a Liz Hurley bikini and carving a bit of space out for yourself on a Riviera beach in August, while wrinkled brown bodies step over you and kick up sand in your face and into your warm and fly- … Read More
July 17th A shipowner friend arrived on his yacht yesterday – his newest toy, which is a Viking 45; small, smart, fast and sporty. Since the sea has been like a dusty mirror stretching all the way to Italy, we set off for the beautiful beach of Afales with its towering white cliffs and tiny round … Read More