20th September That’s enough jet-setting for one trip. I said that arriving in Paros from Mykonos is like returning to the real world after an escapist dream, but in fact, an Italian film is being shot here by Berlusconi’s company Medusa films, called “Immaturi – the Journey,” which is a sequel to the hugely popular “Immaturi”, starring Paolo Genovese. … Read More
Mykonos September 19th. Five Star Greece goes to a wedding.. Just as well I left the donkey and straw hat behind on Ithaca – Mykonos is en plein fẻte, with the biggest wedding the island has ever seen dominating the island. Bill Clinton is reputed to be there, and many, many billion dollars worth of guests. Sleek … Read More
It really is time for me to leave Ithaca and these lotus-eating Ionian islands, in their zonked-out September golden haze, and sharpen up a bit… I realised this as I was moseying along the little country lane to Skinos, leading Daphne the donkey by her rope, and a couple of tourists stopped to take a picture, … Read More
September 14th. Kephalonia to Ithaca. The next morning I visited a very pretty property of two houses set in Tuscan-like countryside but with the sea glimmering beyond the cypress trees. Kefalonia really is a beautiful island. Long sandy beaches are gently washed by clear, pale blue water. Mountains dark with pine trees sun themselves in the … Read More
September 13th. My heart does not usually leap for joy when I drive off to Luton Airport at six in the morning, but…… What a fortnight – doctors, surgeons, emergency clinics, consultants, hospital administrators, insurance companies – I have developed a new Pavlovian reaction: whenever a man in a suit says hello to me, I wordlessly hand … Read More
No, it is not a chewing gum advertisement, nor one for toothpaste, air-freshener, deodorant or Coca cola – though it could easily sell any of those – It is a genuine, spontaneous, home-movie from dear clients staying in Mitzella, just below the Pelion peninsular. We feel it has star quality, and are very grateful to … Read More
One Star Greece today – The worm’s eye view. Today’s blog is courtesy of my 20 year old son, just returned from a rather grubby island hopping trip to Mykonos, Paros, Santorini and Naxos, with which Five Star Greece had absolutely nothing to do at all… Mykonos: Lose the telephone numbers your well-connected mother gave … Read More
The new Greek Tourist Office campaign features pictures of hooded thugs torching buildings, charging riot police, and piles of bodies, with the legend, “Visit Greece and escape from the troubles of violent, hot-blooded, unstable Northern Europe. Not really, but it easily could…
The journalist from CBS who produced the Sixty Minutes programme about Mount Athos a couple of months ago (see our earlier blog) travelled back there to deepen his rapport with the monasteries he had visited, and kindly took my two sons with him, who were soon dubbed Agents of the Devil by the monks – … Read More
May 30th Much as I hate turning down helicopter rides, I was a day too late to get a lift to Sifnos with the owner, and ended up on the Aghios Georgios which takes 5 hours from Piraeus, but is delightful – go “Distinguished Class” and you get a private deck with deckchairs and a white piano in the … Read More
May 30th If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn that two grouse strolled along my terrace this morning and had a drink from the pool. Still unseasonably cold, but I saw a couple of houses that we are going to take on – one in Lia, a lovely little gem tucked away above … Read More
