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Lunchtime conversations

The group on holiday was the usual mix of interesting people, with just two whom I tried my best to avoid. The holiday was fully inclusive (including apparently unlimited wine most lunchtimes and every dinnertime!) so we always ate together as a group. Which meant that there were lots of opportunities for stimulating mealtime conversations.

One of the older men in the group was a retired economics lecturer from a northern university. He was watching the painful dancing around handbags on the Grexit and debt negotiation with a detached professional horror. When pressed on the subject he said that it wasn’t his specialism, but that when Politics and Economics collide, Politics might win in the short term, but in the long run, Economics will always win out. It’s going to be very interesting to see for how long the cobbled-together deal announced today sticks, or whether further default and Grexit has merely been delayed.

Many of the lunchtime conversations naturally revolved around the prospects of economic recovery. The youth unemployment in particular is worryingly high. Our guide said that her son, who had just graduated from university in Corfu, has won a scholarship to the USA, and she very much doubted that he would be in a position to return back home for many years – there just aren’t the job openings available in his field in Greece. Yet if the brightest and most able young people take part in a brain drain, the prospects of driving the economy back to prosperity look even bleaker. It’s going to take a long hard slog, together with painful structural reforms and changes to ingrained attitudes. Since so much of their economy is based on tourism, I do hope that tourists aren’t put off by the current uncertainty – I had a really good holiday, and would be happy to return.

13 07 2015 icyjumbo Day out Comments Off on Lunchtime conversations Permalink

Mykonos and Delos

The last few days of the holiday were split between the neighbouring islands of Mykonos and Delos. I’d wanted to visit the latter for many years – it is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece. In Antiquity the island was sacred to Apollo, but was completely abandoned after the rise of Christianity, and today the entire island is an open air museum. However, there is no accommodation and very few even basic modern facilities on the island, and there is a very strictly enforced policy of day trips only. You are not allowed to stay beyond 15:00 hours when the site closes for the day. Which means that, in the absence of a private yacht (I wish!) the only access is by ferry from Mykonos.

Mykonos is a completely different proposition. It is a party island, totally hedonistic and with a strong gay vibe. There were plenty of bars where you could “dance ’til dawn” – no thanks! The old harbour was full of very large and extremely expensive yachts – apparently it’s the place that Roman Abramovich likes to visit each summer. The new port, built a short distance along the coast, rarely had fewer than three gigantic cruise ships either moored or at anchor. There wasn’t much sign of the impending Greek debt crisis – the place was swimming with tourist money and the holidaymakers were all far too busy enjoying themselves to worry about what would happen the next week. I didn’t like Mykonos at all. I felt distinctly under-glamorous and over-dressed! For me, Mykonos was bearable only as the sole practicable access point to get to Delos. I certainly wouldn’t have chosen to go on holiday there as a destination in its own right.

One day we got back from a day-trip to another neighbouring island in time for a late lunch, and then were given one and a half hours of free time in Mykonos Town before the coach took us back to the hotel. However, I’d had more than enough of the tourist traps, and one and a half minutes would have been enough for me. There was a trainee tour manager on the trip, a young lad in his twenties, who was doing on-the-job training for running the tours. He said that he would take an advance party to the bus station in the Old Town so that anyone who wanted could could catch a public bus back to the hotel. Two of us took up the option – a dizzy air-head in her fifties, and me.

We knew the buses left at quarter past and quarter to the hour. It was twenty past, and the bus station was a ten minute walk away. So first Air-head decided she needed a toilet. And it wasn’t just a quick pee. We waited nearly ten minutes for her at the restaurant. Then the trainee tour manager got us lost in the back streets of the Old Town, and admitted on my interrogation that he had a poor sense of direction! We had to double back on ourselves several times. Then Air-head saw a book she absolutely had to buy, so we had to wait for that. It was now 14:43. Trainee finally did the sensible thing, and asked the shopkeeper for directions to the bus station while Air-head fumbled with her money. I understood the response and sprinted round the last few bends, quickly bought a bus ticket and flagged down the correct bus which was already leaving!

The bus was absolutely packed with tourists heading off to the so-called Paradise Beach, and it was standing room only. The driver then put his foot down and sped off, leaving me to wave from the aisle at Air-head and Trainee who were left with a choice of a taxi or waiting half an hour for next bus. Serves them right.

08 07 2015 icyjumbo Day out Comments Off on Mykonos and Delos Permalink

Tourist Traps

The coach driver on Naxos spoke good English, and was very eloquent about the problems facing the Greek economy. His take on it was that the islands have coped much better with “austerity” over the past few years than the mainland. He reckoned that was partly because the islands’ economy is heavily reliant on tourism, and so far at least the tourists have kept coming and spending freely. Also, there’s still a fair amount of agriculture on most of the islands, so everyone seems to have a cousin who is a farmer – which means the supply chain from grower to consumer is short, and if necessary the family will rally round with food supplies. In the big cities, in contrast, tourism is a much smaller part of the economy, and the link to the land has been lost. So with heavy industry and the state sector both collapsing, there’s been real hardship.

Bearing that in mind, I expected to find a highly practised process for separating me from my money. But that wasn’t really the case at all. Yes, Mykonos in particular was horribly touristy. However, all the shops seemed to sell either cheap and nasty souvenirs, or very expensive high-end jewellery – the latter no doubt aimed at the floozies on the very high-end super-yachts in the harbour. There was very little to buy in the middle. So I bought two postcards and that was it.

What I found particularly surprising was the virtual lack of “retail opportunities” at any of the many temples and museums we visited. On Naxos, one of the marble quarries housing some unfinished statues had a little snack-bar operated by the farmer’s wife – an example of local low-level entrepreneurship. She manged to sell our party several jars of local honey and preserved fruits, not to mention freshly-squeezed fruit juices to quench our thirst. But that was the only example I saw. None of the museums had a bookshop or museum shop, and only one of them even had postcards for sale – and even that was just a postcard of one single object in the museum!

Delos is a superb open-air museum, and that did have a gift shop by the ferry terminal, stocked full of reproduction pieces, guide books, postcards etc. But it was closed due to lack of staff, and the ferryman said it had been closed for the last month and would remain closed for at least the next six weeks. And that was before the EU turned off the taps – I imagine the re-opening will have been put back indefinitely now. It seemed such a wasted opportunity – I’m sure that every single one of our party, me included, would have bought at least a guide book and some postcards, and several of the party were deeply disappointed that they couldn’t buy some of the bigger offerings too. I’m sure that, with a bit of effort, the takings from the shop could easily have covered the staff costs and overheads.

I noticed much the same thing when I was in the north of Greece eighteen months ago. I really think that the Greek government, along side dealing with all its other problems, should take some advice and guidance from the heritage sector in the UK. We’ve perhaps gone too far in the other direction, and too often it seems as if you go to visit a rather nice café and gift shop with a stately home attached! English Heritage and the National Trust are certainly both well practised in the art of separating heritage site visitors from their money – a bit of that mentality is sorely needed in Greece.

05 07 2015 Gillian Day out Comments Off on Tourist Traps Permalink

Temples and Giants

I thoroughly enjoyed Naxos, the next island we visited. It was larger, more fertile, and less touristy than either Santorini or Mykonos, and had a very relaxed atmosphere. We caught a SeaCat ferry there from Santorini, and arrived in the little harbour in Chora, the main town on Naxos. The first sight we saw on arrival was the ruined entrance to the 6thC BC Temple of Apollo, which stood on a headland overlooking the harbour. This view has become the iconic symbol of Naxos, and was available on fridge magnets all over the town.

The Portara of the Temple of Apollo on Naxos

The Portara of the Temple of Apollo on Naxos

Naxos was famous in antiquity for its quarries of extremely white marble, and the skill of its sculptors. Many of the best pieces were destined for the sacred island of Delos, and we saw the remains of some of them later in the trip. What I found interesting on Naxos, however, were the rejects – colossal statues that were abandoned, part-finished, when the ancient sculptors came across a flaw in the marble that rendered the statue useless.

Giant "kouros" statue on Naxos

Giant “kouros” statue on Naxos

Above is the head of a 10m tall statue, possibly of a god, which was abandoned in its quarry some time in the 6th century BC. It apparently broke whilst it was being prepared for transport – which in itself would have been a huge undertaking since the quarry was half way up a steep mountainside!  You can just imagine the frustration and despair of the sculptors, as months of work was rendered useless in a moment.

02 07 2015 Gillian Day out
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Santorini

We started out on Santorini, where the highlight for me was our visit to the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri, which is very reminiscent in many ways of Pompeii. The town was completely destroyed and buried under 60m of ash when the volcano of Thera blew its top (in 1500BC if you ask an archaeologist, 1630BC if you ask a geophysicist – they can’t agree!). Unlike in Pompeii however, no bodies have been found preserved in the town, which makes it likely that the inhabitants had enough warning to flee in advance of the eruption.

Bronze Age two-story house in Akrotiri

Bronze Age two-storey house in Akrotiri

Akrotiri was a surprisingly sophisticated place, considering its age. There were two storey houses with latrines and drains, and frescoes on the walls (the best ones now are in the National Museum in Athens, but there were some on display in the local archaeological museum). There is a theory that a folk memory of the destroyed town was the inspiration for the much later story of Atlantis.

Christopher and I went there about 15 years ago, and were very impressed with it. Unfortunately, a few years later part of the modern roof structure protecting the site collapsed, killing a tourist, and the whole place was closed for many years while the authorities worked out what to do about it. It reopened just a few years ago, with (hopefully!) a more substantial roof, and is very well displayed. It was very atmospheric, and you could easily imagine it as a thriving, bustling town. I found it fascinating.

30 06 2015 Gillian Day out
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Island Hopping

I’ve just returned from ten days island hopping by ferry in the Cyclades, on another of my archaeological holidays. The group met up on Santorini, and from there we caught a succession of ferries to Naxos, Mykonos, Tinos and Delos. It was a very interesting time to be in Greece, watching the economy crumble around us. On the first few days, the TVs on the ferries were tuned to shopping channels. By the end of the trip, they were relentlessly tuned to a rolling news channel, with footage of a grim looking Greek PM meeting with even grimmer European bankers. There were very long queues at the cashpoints on Saturday, and the shop-keepers were only interested in taking cash, not cards. The museums had shorter opening times, and several had closed some of their galleries to visitors, because they didn’t have enough staff to open them. But apart from that, you had to look quite hard to find evidence of the crisis, and all the tourists seemed to be holidaying as normal. I’m glad I got back today though, as I think that things could get more uncertain and potentially unstable over the next few days.

Despite the impending financial crisis, it was an enjoyable holiday. Photos and a more detailed description will follow later in the week, once I’ve had a chance to unpack

28 06 2015 icyjumbo Day out Comments Off on Island Hopping Permalink

A Rodent Issue

The car mechanic gave me more unwelcome news this week. Not only was he charging me a small fortune to replace my radiator, he also informed me that I’ve got a “rodent problem”. Well, I know all about the chronic infestation in my loft – that’s why I have a pest controller on an annual rolling call-out contract. But I wasn’t aware that the problem stretched as far as my car. However, Mike informed me that rodents (unspecified as to whether mice or squirrels) have got into the engine compartment and been nibbling away at the insulation on some of the wires. I’m not sure what I can do about that. I can’t get a cat, as I’m highly allergic to them. Besides which, the neighbour’s cat stalks the garden as if he owns it, and clearly isn’t having the desired effect. And I can hardly get my pest controller to put poison down all over the garden – if only because I don’t want to be responsible for poisoning the cat!

My poor little car is clearly suffering a range of indignities at the moment. But I’m not yet ready to replace it, so I’ll keep hoping that the rodents don’t gnaw through anything vital!

21 06 2015 icyjumbo car Comments (2) Permalink

Radiator leak

I filled up the car with coolant on Sunday, and took it for a test drive to Tesco’s in Ledbury, about an eight mile round trip. It behaved fine – the temperature gauge rose quite rapidly to the “normal” point, but then stayed there unwavering. I did have a bit of a worrying moment when I parked at the shop and the engine fan came on briefly, but it didn’t stay on long and the gauge was fine. I got home again with no problems at all, and hoped that the problem was fixed – though there was still the underlying nagging question as to why I had been out of coolant in the first place.

My natural caution kicked in on Monday morning, and I popped the bonnet before setting of to work, just to check on the levels. There was no visible puddle on the drive, but the coolant reservoir was right back down at “minimum”. Hmmmm. Not good. I topped it back up again to “maximum” and phoned the garage. Fortunately my usual mechanic was able to fit me in, and I dropped the car off on the way into work. Unfortunately, he diagnosed a leaking radiator and needed a new part which didn’t arrive on time to get it fixed that day. I had to leave the car there overnight with a promise that he’d fix it the next day. He also said he would to try to chase down the oil leak – that’s a slow leak and not such an urgent problem, but I would like to have it fixed if possible.

The radiator seems now to be fixed, though I have been told to keep an eye on the reservoir levels and to top it up if necessary over the next few days in case any air-locks work their way through the system. The oil leak is more of a challenge. Mike the mechanic can’t spot where it’s coming from. He says he’s cleaned the underside thoroughly and has suggested that I take the car back in a week or so, so that he can see if there is a particularly oily bit. But I’m not so keen – its very inconvenient being without the car when it’s in the garage. So we’ve come to a compromise. It’s currently only a slow leak, so I bought a bottle of engine oil off him and will keep an eye on the levels, topping up as necessary. Then if the leak starts getting worse I’ll notice and can take it in to be dealt with. Otherwise it can wait until I get it serviced in the autumn.

18 06 2015 icyjumbo car Comments (1) Permalink

Struggling up the hill

I was driving home from work yesterday afternoon and got stuck behind a very slow car going up the steep hill to British Camp. I had to drop down to second gear and crawl up the hill at 20mph, and my little mini clearly didn’t like it. The temperature gauge started climbing alarmingly, and the red warning light came on. I managed to limp home and pulled onto my drive, with the engine fan blasting away at full speed, which continued for several minutes even after I’d switched the engine off.

Apart from topping up the windscreen washer reservoir, I tend to treat everything under the bonnet as “No User Serviceable Parts Inside”, and get a mechanic to deal with everything. But, although I have RAC Roadside and Recovery membership, I haven’t paid extra for Homestart, so I’d have to either pay for a mechanic to come out here (which is what I did last time when the battery died) or hope that I could drive it to a garage without causing permanent damage. So I reluctantly popped the bonnet and had a look. It appears that the coolant reservoir is virtually empty, which probably explains a lot. That’s relatively easy to fix, though I’m a bit concerned about why it’s empty in the first place. It should have been topped up when I had the car serviced at the end of last year, and I do hope I’ve not sprung a leak. I suppose the easiest thing to do is to top the reservoir up with fresh coolant, and then keep an eye on it. If it starts disappearing at an alarming rate, I could well have a bigger problem.

While I had the bonnet open, I also checked the oil. I’ve never done that before, though I have seen Christopher do so on one of his earlier cars which drank oil. The level was pretty low – above the minimum but getting worryingly close. I know I’ve got a slow oil leak as there’s spots on my drive where I park. The mechanic tried replacing the seal when I had it serviced last, but I don’t think that’s fixed the problem. I haven’t got any spare oil, so I suspect a trip to Halfords is called for to get something appropriate and top it up. Again, I think I’ll have to keep an eye on that too, to make sure that it’s not leaking away too fast.

So all in all, I think I’m going to have my head under the bonnet at least monthly, checking on the oil and coolant levels. I suppose that’s good practice, but it’s a sign that the car is getting old. It’ll be 12 years old this November, and although it’s very low mileage as I don’t drive very far in it, that’s still getting on a bit. I suppose I’d better start saving up for a replacement. Its a good little car, which we bought from new, and I’m planning on pretty much running it into the ground. But if it starts costing me lots in garage bills, or leaving me stranded without a functioning car for inconveniently long periods, it will have to go!

13 06 2015 icyjumbo car Comments Off on Struggling up the hill Permalink

Back at the pottery

I’ve spent another day back at Eastnor Pottery, something I always enjoy. Jon the Potter only runs his weekend throwing workshops from autumn through to late spring, finding that there just isn’t the demand for them over the summer. He focusses instead on the more lucrative business of children’s parties, hen parties and his “Flying Potter” mobile potter’s wheel. So this was my last session there until the end of September. However, I’m such a regular that I have a standing invitation to hire a corner of the workshop for a day over the summer and work there on my own, should the withdrawal symptoms get too much.

I spent all morning throwing, and must have got through about 20kg of clay in total. Most of that I recycled straight back onto the waste pile, as I simply have no need, nor indeed the space, for another two dozen bowls! I kept the best five pieces, and I’ve asked Jon to wrap them up in plastic once they get leather-hard. They will stay that way all through the summer, so will still be workable when I go back in September. I expect them to be a bit mouldy – but that is only cosmetic and will burn off in the kiln. The clay might be slightly too hard to work with, but a quick dunk in a bucket of water will soon sort that out. I’m sure I’ll have completely forgotten what it was I made this time, so it will be a pleasant surprise for me when I go back and rediscover my cache of half-finished pots!

06 06 2015 icyjumbo art
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