Holidays

Where do I start? It’s been really busy the last few weeks.

First thing first, I’m on holidays next week and I really can’t wait. And I mean the kind of holidays where you really pack summer clothes, sun glasses and go to the airport to catch a flight for your destination. You must have guessed it, I’m going to Greece! I’m flying to Athens! I’m planning to see my new nephew and family. I’ll be staying over some old friends’ place for some days before JJ comes to join me the following weekend. Then, we’ll be staying in a nice hotel till we fly back the week after.

I kind of ‘spoke’ to my nephew last Sunday on Skype! He was looking at me with bewilderment. He had a hiccup, so you can say he was replying to the things I was saying. Then of course he shat himself and the communication came to an end. Rude!

I went with JJ to a baby store to buy him gifts. I assumed that my nephew must have everything for now. So, we tried to think ahead and buy him winter clothes or stuff he might use later this year. We might have gone a bit overboard and got him lots of things. But we are the weird/exotic uncles from abroad. We got him a fluffy doggy, jumpers, shoes, even a towel with a hat in one corner with bear ears! It looked so cute! That boy will be so spoilt when he grows up.

In any case I’m so excited to see some of my old friends next week. I have been living in London for years but I've always kept in touch with some people I knew even since high school, even earlier. These are friendships I believe will last a lifetime. Similarly, I’m planning on seeing my family. My parents will specifically drive to Athens to see me. OK, I admit that seeing their grandson also plays a part in their decision to come, but I hope that part of them wants to see me too.

I suggested to them that’s it time to get to know JJ as well. I thought it would be a great opportunity now. The arrival of the new member of the family is such a happy event that puts them in the right state of mind. And we could only just go for a quick coffee, even just with my mother since I know my father is the problem. But alas, they ignored the invitation. Since I had told them which days I’ll be in the town and when JJ's coming, they decided to be in Athens when he’s not there.

Although disappointing, I knew that was coming. Some old ideas and bad habits are difficult to break. What I’m thinking of doing now is inviting my mother to London, just her. She hinted at some point that she might come to help us out in the refurbishment of the house. She wouldn't leave my father alone for many days, they’re inseparable, but at least she could come for a short period of time.

The countryside

Last weekend, I took JJ and we went to the Peak District. OK, I admit he was doing all the driving (I can't handle driving on the wrong side of the road), but the area was my idea! We had rented a small car and a house in the middle of a tiny village called Hartington. The village was so cute. It had a pub, a hotel and a couple of tiny shops. We got to meet some of the locals and I can say they're really nice. The goal of the trip was to go hiking, which we managed to do successfully. The first day we walked for about 4 hours going up the Lose hill and the Mam Tor. The second day we walked around Bakewell and the area around Chatsworth Estate. It was such an amazing weekend!

I want to say that's an oak tree, but I can't be sure. I'm more of a city person. I don't know my trees

I love these old brick bridges

Walking around Bakewell

Following the trails was 'interesting'. I only fell once in the mud! That's a good score for me.

Do I look like I belong there?

That's early in our ascent. I still look fresh

The view from the top - breathtaking

Leaving our house the first day of our hike.

Random Thoughts Day

I went to watch the ‘Only lovers left alive’ the other day. If you watch the trailer and you expect a vampire action movie, you will be gravely disappointed. The movie is not like that. It’s slow paced and to be honest, it doesn’t have lots to offer in terms of plot and character evolution. However, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it. The cinematography and especially the music of the film is exceptional. I’m a huge fan of Tilda Swindon and Tom Hiddleston proves to be a very talented actor as well, able to stand next to her. What the movie might lack in plot, it covers in acting and direction. I know it’s not a movie for everyone, it’s Jim Jarmusch after all, however, I’d recommend it for a different but interesting viewing.

 The month of March will be quite busy in my little casa. It starts with a small road trip to the National Park of Peak District. I’ve never been there before, but I’m hoping that it will be a nice hiking destination. I can’t say we’re that much into hiking. Our last trip was the white cliffs of Dover a couple of years ago, but I believe we’ll enjoy that little excursion. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully, I’ll have pictures to share next week.  After that, for almost a week we’ll have our first formal guest staying with us for a week. That will be a first after our lodger left. Then, it’s the birthday of yours truly and my Half Marathon at the end of the month. In the meantime, we’ll be finishing getting connected to the main national gas network and having our front and back garden properly cleared from the last tenant’s garbage. I simply can’t wait to get a proper spot to plant vegetables for the new season.

On a different matter, I’m thinking of adopting a ‘coffee’ name. Something easy for people to understand and be able to write on a cup. I was thinking either Steve or Dave. I’ll run some tests and see what might come up.

Nick i a difficult name apparently

Roof and other various news update

I think that almost all construction projects have issues and ours couldn't be an exception. Last Thursday the roofers announced that they were almost finished and they’d be finishing the next day. However, apart from replacing the roof tiles, they hadn't done anything on the facia of the house and the guttering as previously agreed! Or at least that’s what we thought we had agreed!

Anyway, to cut a long story shorter, the head of the company had visited us before providing us with a quote. We had talked about all the extra work needed apart from the roof tiles. He then provided us with a quote. That quote was very technical. It mentioned a huge list of items with types, measurements and everything. We went through it, concentrated on key words like roof tiles, guttering and facia. We agreed to the quote and the work began. However, what they meant by guttering was the line between our roof and the neighbour’s. What we meant by facia is actually called soffit! So, all this extra work we thought we’d get was not in the quote.

So, we began negotiations. The secretary of the company was telling us that apart from the roof tiles, nothing was meant to be done. We managed to get a hold of the head of the company though that agreed that we had really discussed all the extra bits but apologised for not including them in the quote. He was generally apologetic and we agreed that we’d pay extra only for the cost of the materials and nothing else. Which to be honest is generally a good deal. We should have paid more attention to the quote, even if it was a bit too technical for us. However, it’s an extra cost that we’ll have to cover.

 

Changing the subject, we’re planning a small holiday escape with JJ. Our budget is a bit limited (see previous story) and instead of flying to Zurich to my old housemate as previously suggested, we’re thinking of doing a road trip in the UK. We generally love road trips and visiting a rural part of England that we’ve never been before will be fun. For the time being we’re thinking of going to the Peak District National Park. I believe it to be an amazing destination to escape from the busy London life. We’ll try to go hiking and explore the area there. For the time being we’ve booked a car and we’re looking into accommodation that we’ll book most likely tonight or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to keep up with my running. I’ve registered to do a half marathon at the end of March and I’m trying to train for that. The weather is not really helping but I’m doing my best. I should remember next time not to register for a long distance race in early spring. It’s better to train in spring and run in the summer or autumn. So far this month I’ve run outdoors for more than 50 km. It’s not that great, but I don’t think it’s that bad either. I’m planning on my last run for January tonight after work, I’m hoping it’s not going to rain much. Then try to build up my distances to almost half a marathon two weeks before the race! Hopefully that will make me ready…

Merry Christmas

I wish to all you people out there, Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays according to your beliefs. No matter what you've got planned for today or these days in general, I hope you will all have a perfect time.
See you soon! Lots of love! 

Random Thoughts Thursday

• I’m flying tomorrow for a long weekend to Greece. I’ll be visiting my parents for a few days. Since I will not be going there over the Christmas holidays, I thought it would be a good idea to go now. I had booked this holiday I think before we even started negotiating for our house. Unfortunately that would have been the first weekend I could have spent in my new place. It would be great to wake up there and do things around the house. And gosh, there are still lots of things to be done. But, I’m thinking that I will be spending there so many weekends in the years to come, I can just pass this one.

•  Speaking of my parents, I need to say that they've been generally supportive of me buying a place with JJ. They can understand the waste of money in paying rent and how a property can be a great investment for the future. My father haven’t said much, but my mother even suggested coming to help us out a bit. They generally don’t do things separately and I know that she would hate to leave him alone even for a few days, but I really appreciate the offer. My father was impressed on the way we handled things and negotiated the house down as we did. But he still finds it hard to even mention JJ or acknowledge his existence. If my mother comes and meets JJ, that would be great progress.

• I’m starting to feel the holiday season at last. We finished yesterday writing Christmas cards that I’ll try to send out today. We haven’t decorated our house yet, but we’re thinking of getting a big proper Christmas tree. Since I came to the UK I’ve never had one. It will be fun. Traditionally in Greece, Christmas decorations go up on St. Nicholas’ day (6^th of December) till the Epiphany (6^th January). We’re thinking of visiting next week the ‘Winter Wonderland’ in Hyde Park as well. We’ve also invited some friends over on Christmas day. By then, I’m hoping to get rid of the boxes and tidy up the place.

• Did you do any shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? I like how these American terms are creeping in UK every day life. They don’t really fit since there's no Thanksgiving Day, but I can’t really complain on having offers on various things. Since my budget at the moment is really tight I went only a couple old school PC games and a DLC. I got 'Age of Empires HD edition', 'Fallout 2' and 'Dragonborn' for Skyrim. I hadn’t had the chance to play them yet, but I will. 

Various holidays stories

I mentioned in my previous post about Paros, but I don’t think I mentioned some of the other things that happened during our holidays. For example I didn't mention the fact that I told JJ to drive on the wrong side of the road!

Yes, I did. The first morning we arrived to the island, there were strong winds and the water service to the beach wasn't operational, so we rented one of those 4 wheel motorbikes! I was so sure he would be driving on the wrong side of the road coming from England, so without really thinking and being on a motorbike without a proper driver’s seat, I told him to switch over and drive on the left! Thankfully, there aren't many cars in the town and most narrow roads are one way roads. However, after a while we ran into a car coming from the opposite direction, right at us! At first of course I though what is the idiot doing! And then it occurred to me who the idiot was!

Anyway, (changing subject quickly), another hilarious incident happened to JJ the day we were checking out from the hotel. He went to pay our room while I was still tidying things up. At this point I need to give you some background information. The hotel is run by a couple. He’s Chilean living in Greece for many years and she looked Greek, but I’m not familiar with her background. They've been living in one of the hotel rooms. Living in a small village on an island, things are pretty much totally informal. I don’t think I saw him once were shoes or even a t-shirt. She was normally dressed with cheap white V-neck t-shirts and sport track bottoms. She didn't take care of herself and chain smoked. Of course we didn't mind, since we hardly ever saw them during our stay.

So, the day arrived and JJ went to their room to pay. She went to get the credit card machine and as she bent over to grab it, one of her boobs fell out her t-shirt! When JJ was telling me this, I couldn’t stop laughing. She was either oblivious of the fact or did it on purpose and didn’t do anything about it. She was just waiting there, with her hanging boob, which probable never saw a bra in the last years, exposed. JJ tried and kept a serious façade. Kept looking her in the eyes, entered his pin number, collected the receipts and ran off! Knowing JJ who is generally very well behaved and proper (in most cases) that was an experience (boob job) never to forget!

After we left Paros, we visited Mykonos. We stayed there for a small number of days before flying back to London. During our visit there, we took an early morning boat and travelled to a nearby uninhabited island called Delos. That small island hosts the biggest archaeological dig site of Europe and one of the most important for the ancient Greek history. According to the myths it’s the birthplace of the god Apollo and Artemis. Their temples were very important, mentioned by the likes of Homer and a pilgrimage destination for many.

What you see from the boat upon arrival

A mansion of the time 

Exploring the ancient city

Apart from its major religious significance, it was a major trading port with tens of thousands of inhabitants at its peak. Its fame was such that the area had inhabitants from all over the existing world. To give you an idea, the town had a temple of the Egyptian Isis and a synagogue, the oldest one known. A very wealthy town of the times it is now an important dig site. A visitor now can still walk around the streets of the archaic town, see the temporary architecture, witness the existence of various shops, test the acoustics of the amphitheatre and admire the temples. I strongly recommend visiting Delos if you’re ever in that part of the world. It’s mind blowing.

Next to the dig site, on Delos, there’s a small museum. In there, a visitor can see original mosaics and statues of the area. So, we couldn't miss it. I was happily checking the exhibits with JJ, taking photos. We knew that no flash photography was allowed and we followed the rules. At some point I stood in front of a massive wonderful mosaic and JJ took a photo of me. One of the guards / archaeologists came and told me smiling that no posing is allowed. I laughed with him and asked him why? Am I so bad looking that I made the mosaic injustice? We didn't really pay attention and walked along. In the next room I stood in front of a massive statue of Hermes and JJ tried to take another photo!

Then, out of the blue, a mean looking woman starting yelling at us that no posing is allowed and since I was already told of this, I shouldn't break the rules and we would be kicked off the museum! I was gobsmacked! I switched and talked to her in Greek. Immediately her tone and attitude changed since she realised I was Greek. That fact didn't go unnoticed to JJ who was naturally annoyed. I admitted to her that I thought the previous guard was joking about the ‘no posing’ rule, since it didn't really make sense! I asked her the reason behind this and she didn't know. She just said it’s a museum regulation!

The temple of Isis

We didn’t let that event affect our feelings regarding the visit. Delos is utterly amazing and worth the visit. The boat trip with a tour guide lasts for half a day and doesn't cost that much. 

Back to reality - Paros 2013

It’s been almost a week since we came back from our holidays! I think that yesterday it really struck me with the fact that we’re back! I know I can be a bit slow. I was in a very happy mood the previous days, until yesterday morning. I woke up thinking that it’s Thursday and the weekend is around the corner. Then I got that disappointing feeling that no, it’s still Wednesday and it suddenly hit me. I’m back to wishing for the weekend and my holidays are over!!!

Naoussa

little church by the sea 

I’m not complaining though. They've been truly amazing. We were staying in 2 islands, but managed to visit 3 more. The first part of our holidays was while we stayed in Paros. That’s one of the Cyclades group. It has amazing sandy beaches and that distinctive architecture of the area. Almost all buildings are white, with rounded edges and flat roofs.

small boat

It was my decision not to stay in the main town of the island, but the smaller 'Naoussa' village at the north part of the island. The main town where the ships go can be somewhat busier and noisier. However, Naoussa is smaller, cuter and closer to the famous beaches of the island. Visitors can get the daily water taxis to 3 different beaches to spend the day, without having to worry about petrol and parking spots etc. That was a service we used quite often.

taking the water taxi to the beach

Our daily routine mostly consisted of me going to bakery to get fresh breakfast stuff like koulouri, spinach pie or bread rolls, first thing in the morning. We would then sit in the balcony for breakfast, feeling the morning sun and admiring the view. We would then get ready, jump on the boat and being taken to one of the beaches around Naoussa. In most cases we would go to the lovely ‘Monastiri’ beach. We would stay in that beach for the next 5 to 6 hours. We would rent an umbrella and chairs, sunbathe, play rackets, swim or even hike in the nearby conservation hiking area. JJ loved snorkeling and I was so happy just feeling the cold water on my skin.

Late in the afternoon we would go back to the village, rest and then go out to explore the alleyways and various narrow Naoussa’s lanes for dinner and drinks. It can be quite a party town, if you’re looking for this kind of stuff. We could hear our hotel neighbours coming back from partying around 8 or 9 in the morning. But we’re not really that kind of people. We like spending our days doing various activities than sleeping and getting up with a hangover late in the afternoon, missing what the day had to offer.

walking around the village of Parikia

Oh, and the food was exquisite. After staying for so many nights in the town, (more than a fortnight), we were able to get to know local people and find restaurants visited mostly by them. So, we were able to avoid the main touristic areas and see the other side of the island. What I also found very endearing was the fact that after a couple of days we were running into and greeting people that we met in shops and restaurants we had visited. The local people were so friendly. JJ was also working on his Greek. I told him how to order things in coffee places and restaurants. Staff really loved that. 

Random questions and thoughts of the day

1. I was more affected from the shutdown of the Google Reader than I expected. In the past, I had my igoogle home page with my unread blog posts and a Google Reader app on my phone. The app died already and the igoogle home page will soon follow. It doesn't work for the blog posts already anyway. So, I need to come up with an alternative. 

What do you guys use? For the time being I’m checking ‘Feedly’. Since I didn't register to it before the downfall of Google Reader, I wasn't able to automatically link accounts. So, I had to manually enter urls to set it up. It’s not that difficult, only time consuming. Unfortunately, for some weird reasons, it doesn't like Erik. I’m not sure if he’s done something to them or not, but his website is not apparently a website... Go figure…     

 

Closed for business 

2. During last Saturday’s bbq, I had a discussion with my housemate concerning music and movies. She mentioned that there are no more famous songs that are also from a movie. For example Celine Dion’s Titanic song was a huge success in the charts (even if I never liked it). However, recently, like in the last 5 years, there is no successful original song that is linked to a successful movie. When she mentioned that, I had to prove her wrong (for the argument’s sake), but I couldn’t. Maybe, it was the overload of pork chops, the heat or the alcohol, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember a song from a recent movie... Can you?

Who doesn't know this song?

OK, these were my two questions of the day. I can now change the subject.

3.I’m counting down to a week till my summer holidays. I know I was in Greece for my brother's wedding just two weeks ago, but that doesn't mean that I’m not looking forward to it. I’m taking ‘JJ’ to almost 3 weeks of resting, enjoying the sun, the sea and everything else the islands we’ll be visiting can offer. Last time we were on big holidays, we went to South Africa. Our vacations there were truly amazing as you can read here, but they were a bit tiring as well. There were so many places to visit and things to do. JJ was driving so much. So, this time we’ll do the opposite, just rest.
We’ll be visiting first the island called Paros and then Mykonos. Both islands are quite popular with the latter being quite popular specially with the gay community. I've been to Paros for holidays many years ago and to Mykonos for only one afternoon while island hopping also more than a decade ago. It will be nice to see them both again.

That beauty was created with marble from Paros

Back from Syros

What a trip? I’m not even sure where to begin. It was simply wonderful…

The view from my wonderful hotel room

As I mentioned in the past, my brother’s wedding took place last weekend in the Greek island called Syros. Guests, including us, started to arrive a couple of days earlier. I think there were around 120 to 150 of them in total. We didn't know all of them, but it was really nice walking around the main town of the island and running into familiar faces here and there. My brother organised gatherings the nights before the wedding, where alcohol was running freely and guests got to know one another.

walking around Ermoupoli's center 

A restaurant by the 'Kini' beach 

 During the day, I stayed mostly with my parents and the closest relatives. I didn't have any guests to call my own, but I knew my brother’s friends quite well. JJ was invited to the wedding as I mentioned earlier, but we decided it would be better if he didn't turn up. It would create quite a stir and we didn't want to steal my brother’s thunder. However, I talked, mostly, to my mother about him and the plans we have for the near future.  She seems fine listening to my stories.

a common site in Ermoupoli, lot's of stairs everywhere

a local shop

So, in general, I spent my days with my parents. We would explore the island, go to the sea, have lunch next to the waves and just relax. During the evenings, I would join my brother and wife-to-be in a local bar. The discussion there was mostly about the wedding preparations. Choosing the island for their wedding was a wonderful idea. Making the preparations however, proved a little bit challenging. As in every event of that scale, making sure that everything is ready is not easy and especially in an unfamiliar small island. For example, the best man was supposed to sail to the island. However, the strong winds delayed him considerably. He almost didn't make it. There were relatives with problems in their hotel bookings and the groom was rushing the night before the wedding to sort them out. This list of issues, some trivial and some more serious, is almost endless.

Everything turned up exactly as planned though. The wedding was in a small picturesque church on a hill, overlooking the town and the bay of the island. The bride was so beautiful in her wedding dress.  The ceremony was planned for 12:30pm. Everybody was informed however, that afterwards, the reception would take place in a restaurant and a bar by the sea. So the guests changed to their bathing suits and met in the designated taverna. After a lovely lunch, we moved to the beach bar for the party.

the lovely couple exciting the church

the wedding beach bar

Alcohol was running freely and people were really enjoying themselves. They were going in and out of the sea, enjoying their drinks and dancing till late. I was of course thrown into the sea a couple of times and enjoyed lots of tequila shots with the groom, the bride and the best man. Apparently, the coldness of the sea helps you stay sober. I managed to maintain my decency and have a great time. Even my parents were dancing to the latest r&b and mainstream sounds.

Greek Orthodox Easter

The 5th of May was Easter! As far as I know not all Orthodox celebrate it that day, but at least it was Easter for us. As a celebration, it is considered to be very important. In the old days, I would definitely go to church at least on Good Friday to follow the epitaphios and for a short period of time late at night on Good Saturday to hear the celebratory announcement of the resurrection. I would do that more as a family tradition and not out of religious beliefs. Like decorating a Christmas tree, getting dressed on my good church clothes, picking up my special big decorated candle and going to the church to hear the priest announce the resurrection of Christ before the loud bells ringing and the fireworks exploding, was part of my childhood. Although, the most important part of Easter is the Sunday lunch massive feast where the whole family would gather around the whole lamb roasting for hours over a pit.

This is probably what would happen, if I was in Greece or if more of my Greek friends were in London to organise something properly Easter-y. The only thing that resembles the time of the year was the fact that I dyed some eggs with my housemate! They even look half decent! Traditionally we should have just plain red eggs, but we decided of using two colours instead! I know, we can be quite the party animals!

Easter Eggs

So, the long weekend was generally really nice. The weather was beautiful and yesterday bank holiday meant an extra day to relax and enjoy. In the past few days we had a bbq in the back garden, we watched ‘Iron Man 3’, went for a hike in Hampstead Heath, for a walk alongside Regent’s canal and for a picnic in Clapham Common! I even managed to bake a lovely chocolate marble cake on Saturday! Yes, it was as yummy as it seems. I was impressed with myself.

Not bad at all

Among the highlights of the weekend, I have to add what happened on Sunday morning. On Easter Sunday morning I went for a run. The weather was nice and I was running in only a t-shirt and shorts for the first time this year. It was really nice. On the way home, in the middle of a park I found a £5 bank note! I did look around for any other people walking around and I even checked if someone was pulling me a prank. There was no one. So, I just put the fiver in my pocket and left. I plan on spending it on a lottery ticket this week! No, I’m not that cheap, but the event put a smile on my face. It’s always nice to go exercise and even make money over it.

Enjoy the weather in Hampstead Heath

The view from Parliament Hill 

Next to Regent's is the Zoo. The keeper was feeding the hyenas when the river boat passed 

The canal