Quirky, classy, impossibly picturesque, Hydra is one of Greece’s truly magical spots. A great barren mass of mountain with steep sides, a hint of whitewashed church on the summit, and the spectacular bay in which the car-free town nestles like a little Portofino. Transport is by donkey or by foot, and the people who live … Read More
Despina, who is normally the merriest and sweetest of souls, was giving me the death stare over linguini at Joe’s Cafe in Sloane St. “Promote Andros? Encourage tourists?? May I ask why on earth you would want to do something like that???” I felt like a 12 year old called in to see the headmistress … Read More
There is genuine bewilderment in the voices of English, Swedish, Dutch, Canadian, German and other Fiscally Solid journalists and clients, who ask me why Greeks don’t want to pay taxes, and whether I think that their attitude will ever change. I have great sympathy for these questions, (especially from the Germans who are doing the … Read More
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 27th Mykonos Breakfast at La Luna on Lia beach, forgot my wallet but the chill factor there is such that the manager just said to me “We are all human darling, pay me when you can”. A cheerful day rattling around a still rainy Mykonos with Roi, our Mykonos colleague. She is thin, drives like … Read More
May 22nd to 23rd Evi and I turned up bleary-eyed at 7.00 in the morning at the port of Rafina for the hydrofoil to Paros. By 8.00 we still hadn’t left which is very unusual for the hyper-punctual hydrofoils. “The captain’s car has broken down and he is waiting for a taxi” said the second captain. … Read More
What a relief – the Greek government yesterday confirmed that they would NOT be selling off islands like Rhodes or Corfu, or monuments like the Acropolis to pay off the national debt. They asked if people would now please kindly stop saying that they were. Time for a super-injunction? Oops, as the English papers have … Read More
Easter 2011 For those who were wondering, my Tsoureki (Easter bread) turned out just fine this year, although the ends of the braid did look a bit peculiar and the red egg in the middle of the bread for some strange reason exploded in the oven. I turned it (the egg) upside down and no-one noticed, … Read More
Five Star Greece Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Easter Week or “Megali Evdomada” Easter is the high point of the Greek year, much more important than Christmas – to my father who was of an older Greek generation, Christmas was just a day when his devout mother would try to impose yet another … Read More
Evi’s Greek Easter lamb recipe: Vegetarians, small children and Temperance League, look away…. Ask your local shepherd to supply you with a whole young lamb and put it on a spit. Choose a flowery meadow with an olive tree nearby and preferably a little pebble beach within greasy finger wiping distance. At around 6.00 am, … Read More
March 25th National Holiday. On March 25, 1821, Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the Greek flag at the Monastery of Agia Lavra in Peloponnese, and the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire was officially born. The battle cry “Freedom or Death” was taken up by thousands, and war was waged for 9 years … Read More
