Five Star Greece on the road. I never made it to Patmos in the end – gale force 9 winds brought all ferries to a halt. Patmos as you know is where St John wrote the Book of the Apocalypse, and I am betting that it was on just such a wet and windy … Read More
Five Star Greece on the road I finally made the ferry to Ithaca – how one’s spirits lift on a boat trip – the white spray flies up from the bows, foam spreading like cream across the waves. The weather is an almost balmy 18 degrees, and all the annoyances of travel disappear, such as … Read More
Five Star Greece “Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison” – that ancient Greek prayer is ringing out above an 18th century marble pool where 60,000 white robed Ethiopians have gathered, glimmering like ghosts in the cold pre-dawn, to celebrate the Epiphany in the old citadel of Gondar. I have been researching Greek influence in the Horn of … Read More
Five Star Greece I am not sure that I can make this relevant to Greek villa rentals, but it is all pretty quiet there for now – It is raining, and Ireland and North Korea are rather selfishly hogging the limelight. So, a London blog – The Victoria and Albert museum is hosting a strange … Read More
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
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
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
June 29th The Five Star Greece office has moved for 3 weeks to Ithaca with me – at this time of year everything is easier from Greece, as our role becomes more pastoral than commercial, looking after clients rather than taking new bookings. Well, that is the excuse.
June 18th I had dinner yesterday with the President of the Greek Chamber of Shipping (oh, all right then, my cousin…), and we both agreed that the failure of our Hellenic lawmakers to make reasonable laws that normal people would be more or less happy to comply with , as happens in normal countries, was … Read More
June 6th Ithaca Those of a certain age who spend childhood summers on a Greek island, appreciate as no-one else can, the joy of coffee and condensed milk for breakfast. Thick and sweet, you gloop it into your coffee and stir. Infinitely better than any Nespresso or cappuccinos… It may have something to do with … Read More
