And there are many! Of course not only did the Greeks invent the wheel (for those of you familiar with ‘Shirley Valentine’ you’ll be aware of this fact) the majority of our words derive from the Greek language, as do both physiognomy and idiosyncrasy which can only go someway to explain the nature of their character and why we love them and their country so much!
Potholes, for one. We’ve been walking past the same pothole everyday. Now, in the U.K. it’s usual to mark out a pothole by spraying paint around it, but here in Greece they highlight it for repair by putting a broken chair and a stick with a plastic bag at the end if it........
Manhole covers. In the U.K. these would be reported and fixed almost immediately, but in Greece, they just cover them with a pile of stones and hope you spot them before falling into one........
Greek showers. We had a lovely shower in our old room but our new ‘for one day only’ shower is so typically Greek. You’ve seen them before......it’s a shower within a shower. You’ve got to luv em, haven’t you, the Greeks for being so inventive with their DIY skills........
Landslides. We encountered one on the beach just the other day. The fact that there were sun-beds and people sunbathing on said sun-beds didn’t seem to bother anyone. You could see the debris from previous landslides but no warnings........plus....the pathway down to the beach is ready to fall away…..
Warning signs. Health & Safety is always top of the list. Cordon an area off and put the sign inside the cordon!!! But that’s Greece for you!
So back to today. It’s been quite an industrious morning and we’re totally exhausted from our efforts. We’re moving rooms today (unfortunately we couldn’t keep ours for the last day) and we’ve got bags everywhere containing various items of stuff; water, food, toiletries, clothes to change into etc, so after our final breakfast at the pool bar, with virtually no wasps I might add, we were on the move. Up and down stairs we traipsed, suitcases and bags to carry to our new room overlooking the pool. Our pickup isn’t until 7.30pm so we intend to make the most of our ‘pool-view’ room.
We took a walk to the mini-market to fetch a bottle of water and some bread rolls and encountered a very bizarre scene of four Greek men struggling to carry two very long planks or lintels from a van across the road into a house opposite. From the way they were walking they must have been really heavy as they were all over the place. I must say we did laugh as we watched them negotiate the road and then turn to get it through the door of the house. Shame neither of us had our cameras with us.
As it was our last day we decided to stay by the pool. We selected our two beds at the top of the pool where it was empty. Before we knew it the family with the two teenagers came and sat next to Maice, they were that close to her, she could literally reach out and touch, somebody’s hand......then the dad and son moved over to my side and we found ourselves surrounded. We wondered if it was a ploy to get us to move as I think we’re sat where they usually sit. Should’ve got their towels down earlier, not that we adopt that German trait!!
It was a very hot day with little breeze so we swam some lengths to cool down, sunbathed and by one o’clock we were feeling quite peckish so went for lunch at the pool bar. We treated ourselves to our last Mythos beer and Greek salad and after more swimming and sunbathing we called it a day and went in to get ready. With time to kill we sat on the balcony and continued our rummy tournament. Having been in the lead since day one, I couldn’t quite believe the rubbish hands I was dealt, so much so that Maice is now in the lead......how can this be happening? So engrossed were we in our game we forgot all about the time and with minutes to spare we’d changed, locked our cases, said our goodbyes to the owners and were stood on the road waiting for our transfer coach that arrived one minute past the pickup time, which must be a first for the Greeks.
What can I say about Corfu airport. Well let’s just say we introduced the ‘Control dartboard’ for the first time this holiday and we’ve placed our airport experience in there. We’d arrived three hours before our flight, stood in the EasyJet queue only to be told our flight wasn’t checking in yet, so we sat outside and ate our by now claggy homemade lemon hummus and cheese rolls before being forced back inside by the midgies. Joining the queue again we managed to check our bags in then had to take them to the scanner, then joined the queue for customs where we were both singled out and ‘swabbed’........and finally we were in the extremely packed, nowhere to sit, people on the floor, airport lounge. We walked round and round numerous times before finding a seat with a table and out came the cards again. The flight was delayed by fifty minutes and I was determined to make my rummy comeback. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and I was thrashed, Maice winning by some 900 points! What a travesty.....and another item to add to the dartboard!
It was only a short flight but I couldn’t stop fidgeting and it was really uncomfortable so we were glad to land and get to the car. We were aiming to be back in Dorset by 4am but SatNav Steve took us the quickest route and we made it to my place at 3.45am with Maice getting home a little later. We were both exhausted and looking forwards to our own comfortable beds.
So, another holiday with friends is over and it’s been great. We’ve done nothing and sometimes we’ve done something. We’ve been nowhere and we’ve also been somewhere and believe it or not, for all the daily battles we've encountered over breakfast with those pesky wasps neither Maice or I got stung. We’ve laughed each day and we’ve all got some lovely holiday photos and memories.
And finally, I’d like to thank a very special bear, Winnie the Pooh who inspired me and made it easy to write these blogs........
This is A & M signing off until our Australian adventure which is just 9 weeks away......
M&A xxxx