Sunday, 8th June, 2025
Lovely sunny morning but quite fresh. Haircut day early so it doesn’t get in the way of work and exercise. I’m not allowed to go away without a haircut and, actually these days, I like having my haircut. All a far cry from 1967 when, aged 16, I swore I would never have my haircut again. Oh what foolishness of youth! Of course, in old age, eyebrows, ear and nose hair are also in need of attention. My barber does a good job and I can watch the political interview programmes while she does it.

Got to get all the lawnmowing done today so things look smart for the residents of the street while we are away. The garden vegetables are developing well. We are already cutting lettuces and herbs. Whe we get back, I hope to be lifting new potatoes and picking green beans.
After my haircut, my Hairdesser has decided that I need a hat to shield my thin scalp from hot sun. I hate hats. I have never seriously worn a hat. Dad was a country gent who wore country caps. They just don’t suit me. Anyway, I was bought a baseball cap which I refuse to wear. It looks ridiculous and has been captured by the MAGA movement encouraged by Trump. There is no way I will copy that.

By pure accident, I was in Sainsburys this morning and came across a cap which is reminiscent of Vladimir Lenin – the renowned Russian revolutionary leader. Ok, I still look daft in it but if I need something to cover my thinning scalp, this will amuse me and others.

Unlike Lenin, I’ve cut all the neighbour’s lawns today, The street looks good and everything is fine for leaving for a week or so. The weather is mixed here over the time I’m away so it should survive my absence. After a couple of weeks back, I’m off to Spain for a while so the neighbourhood will have to cope alone.
Monday, 9th June, 2025
My new cap sparked some local commentary yesterday. My sister, Jane, said I looked less like Lenin and more like my Grandfather – my Dad’s father. Quite shocked and slightly moved me. My lovely, German next door neighbour is mad about hats and sent me more photos than I could cope with. I particularly like the one as a young student on the ferry to Hull a few years ago now.



Do you remember what it felt like to be young and alive, Dear Reader? The number of times I’ve driven on and off that self same ferry as we travelled Hull – Zeebrugge and back over the years. Wonderful times!

No more ferries at the moment. Off to Gatwick Airport tonight. It takes about an hour’s drive. Half way through, one of us will say, You did remember to pack …. ? After a few minutes head-panic, we realise that we have and settle down to the trip.
I think it must be my age but even though I relish everything digital, I cannot quite let go of analogue. I think I say this every time but all my Lounge passes, my Carpark booking, my Flight Tickets and Boarding Passes, and Hotel Membership cards along with all my everyday payment cards, etc. are saved on my mobile in Google Wallet. It makes presentation so straight forward but, having grown up with emerging technology regularly failing and embarrassing me, I still have that lack of total confidence in it. A file of paper printout backups always accompanies us and makes me feel pathetically ancient.
All the lawns cut. All the plants watered. All the technology packed. All the paperwork filed. All the house lighting set both inside and out. All set. Do you want to come, Dear Reader? Funny but setting the automatic systems suddenly jarred me back into the past. Do you remember these Programmable Mechanical Timer Plug Switches? Just over a decade ago, we had dozens and needed hours to set them up before we went away. Now, everything is done from one app on my mobile – ceiling lights, table lamps, outside lights, heating, cameras, sound systems, even my car – at the click of a finger. I could do it from the airport or from my hotel room. How far we have come.
Tuesday, 10th June, 2025
Lovely, uneventful drive to Gatwick last night. The only hazard was dodging badgers in the moonlight. Great title for a book: Dodging Badgers in the Moonlight. The roads were quiet. The airport was incredibly quiet. Went through Security Check in less that 2 minutes. My Handler flirted with a few new pairs of sun glasses en route to the Executive Lounge – No.1 Gatwick North is one of our favourites.

We had pre-booked it because it has been popular recently. This morning we almost had it to ourselves. We were called to Gate very quickly and Speedy Boarding was exactly as described on the tin. No sooner had we arrived at Gate but we were walking on to the plane and strapping in. The privilege of great seats and large cases stored overhead is so liberating. The journeys themselves on modern planes are a delight.
Our flights to Greece in the early 1980s were 4 hrs 35mins followed by a 60 mins bus to Piraeus, a 3hr wait and then a 5hrs 30 mins ferry to our island. On a Friday/Saturday after a hard year’s teaching, we had to be committed to the cause. This flight was a mere 3 hrs 5 mins followed by a 30 mins taxi service to our hotel. Youngsters today don’t know they’re born!

The upshot of it was that we arrived at our hotel about 3hrs too early. We dropped off our bags and went out for a glass of wine and nibbles in the sunshine by the sea front. A fatal start to the day, Dear Reader. I will not bore you with the developments.
The hotel proudly announced that we had been allocated the best Suite on the top floor of the hotel. They knew we would be delighted and, I think, expected us to confirm that on inspection. Nice, big, wrap-around balcony with two lots of outdoor furniture and views over Aristotelous Square and the Thermaikos Gulf.
Of course, I am not used to eating or drinking. I have spoilt myself for Dinner tonight so the most I will do is stroll in the sunset and then sip iced white wine in the 32C/90F warmth of the evening … and so to bed. Hopefully, I will see another day …. After 10 months without alcohol, this gorgeously dry Malagouzia wine from the Peloponnese is playing havoc with the evenness of my keel. I would recommend it to anyone who drinks to forget.
Wednesday, 11th June, 2025
Feel for me, Dear Reader. I’ve had to eat Breakfast this morning. Bacon & Scrambled Egg. Feel terrible now.

Of course, my head and my stomach think it is 5.30 am. My watch says it is 7.30 am. It is hard to reconcile the two. My head knows it but my stomach rejects it all. Up on the roof, it is 26C/79F, tables are set for of every type Breakfast and the displays are groaning with gargantuan amounts food. A man who has been starving for the past year really doesn’t know whether to eat the lot or run away.



Last night the trouble started. We had eaten some Lunch and drunk too much wine waiting for our suite to be ready. As a result, our heads said we should be going out to Dinner. Our bodies rejected the whole, gross idea. We sat on the balcony in a very humid 32C/90F and watched the βόλτα/Volta/Evening Sauntering below.
This morning, I am going for a long walk on the miles of promenade aside the warm waters of the Thermaic Gulf. Do you want to come, Dear Reader? Out in the sunshine at 10.00 am aiming to get back to the hotel for 1.00 pm /11.00 am (UK) to watch Prime Minister’s Questions followed by the Spending Review from Rachael Reeves.
Back early and into the Hotel’s Executive Lounge for a Lunch of smoked salmon sandwiches and white wine. It is a ‘free’ service that comes with our suite. It would be rude not to avail ourselves of the service.While there, we watch the BBC’s presentation of the Parliamentary developments and the hotel’s Customer Service Manager, Restaurant Manager and Wine Manager all come to fawn over us
Incredibly hot afternoon watching politics on the Balcony via a 17″ Laptop screen. Amazing how quickly you forget the size and get lost in the pictures. Thank goodness there are occasions where size doesn’t always matter. Nice experience though. Just my sort of distraction.

Beach volleyball doesn’t do it for me. I know it does for some men and they would be happy here this week as Thessaloniki convert their classical Aristotle Square below into a beach by importing tons of sand to make a court with pop-up viewing platforms for the international Championships. The games will start on Friday and complete by Monday. The world’s media will be here to televise the excitement.
Thursday, 12th June, 2025
A very warm night outside and, at 6.00 am / UK 4.00 am, the temperature is 27C / 81F. At this time just as the sun is rising, the sky is full of clouds of small birds darting hither and thither for the rich feed of insects available. It is repeated as the sun goes down in the evening.
Out on the balcony, the city is already bustling moving, rushing to work. Ladders are going up at a hotel in the distance. They obviously have the builders in. Out in the sea, a huge container ship is slowly moving out to distant destinations. The world revolves without our input.

Did my 8 mile/13 kilometre walk down the sea side this morning in 32C/90F of sweaty, humid heat. Walked past my most notable ancestor glorified in stone at the beach side. Alexander the Great (Αλέξανδρος O Μέγας) on his charger – giving me the surname of Sanders. Obviously, I have put him and his exploits in Macedonia into the shade but he is still important in history.

In this heat, I am not hungry at all but my Carer longs for a traditional Moussaka which is pronounced Moo-Sar-Kar and tastes nothing like those served in UK and pronounced Moo-Saar-Ka. I will sip wine and nibble bread while she stuffs her face. I will still end up fatter but at least I am resigned to it.
Friday, 13th June, 2025
Friday the 13th, Dear Reader. Beware. I could be knocking on your door. The King’s could be driven to distraction. A very hot morning which is already reading 32C/90F at 10.00 am. Forced myself to eat Breakfast – only to accompany my Carer, of course. We chose a table outside looking down on Aristotle Square which has been transformed since we arrived from a classical, old site to a modern beach volley stadium. The girls, in their skimpy bikinis, are already playing down there. The TV cameras of ERT TV are recording the action and spectators are arriving.

I wondered what my old friend, Aristotle himself, would think of it. I went down to talk to him about it and, maybe, gaze wistfully at the girls on the court. He looked rather distracted although I couldn’t gauge whether it was by the tanned limbs in front of him or by his Ethical Principia.
After so long of self denial, eating feels associated with guilt. Breakfast today has to be assuaged by the penance of physical exercise. Set off for an 8 mile / 13 kilometre walk down the coast to the Thessaloniki Opera House. It is a beautiful, red brick building on the edge of the Thermaic Gulf. What I will do for Art!

Felt like a saint when I got back – 2 hrs later – in 90F/32C of – hot sun. Fortunately, there is lower humidity today which is the killer.
Back at our hotel, we went into the Executive Lounge which provides us with non-stop food and wine ‘free of charge’ and lots of pampering. Today it was the turn of Zoe & Roula until Alexia, Guest Relations Manager came in and presented us with a Thank You gift – a bag of gifts including an elaborately packaged bottle of extra virgin olive oil and an object from the local museum shop – a polished metal sculpture of a Dove used all around Greece as a symbol of peace and friendship.
It is all a bit cheesy and you can see it cynically like that. Alexia’s note to us can be seen in the same way. After nearly 50 years in Greece, we know it is both cheesy and meaningful. These are genuine people. The Americans automatically say, Have a nice day. almost as a substitute for Goodbye. We know that Alexia’s Warmest Regards have both cheesiness and genuineness interwoven. It is the Greek way. At Birthdays, they wish you to live to 1000 years. At weddings, they try not to view beyond the hearts and flowers. Of course philoxenia (φιλοξενία) translates to friend to the stranger or guest-friendship, representing a strong tradition of hospitality and welcoming strangers. It’s a virtue deeply rooted in Greek culture, valuing generosity and courtesy towards others, even those unknown. That’s why I love them.
Saturday, 14th June, 2025
Well, survived Friday 13th – just. Hope you did, Dear Reader. Warm night – 17C/63F – across UK but with some rain. A hot night here – 26C/79F – without any sign of rain and we are expecting to reach 33C/92F at peak.
One of the nice things about returning to a city and a hotel that you’ve visited before is that the learning process, the acclimatisation is much quicker. As a consequence, although we are only just starting our 5th day here, it feels like I’ve been here forever.




We are in a different and larger Suite of rooms but it all feels the same, safe, rather dated Greek style of yester year. It is comfortable with a good bed and a huge, wrap around balcony that would host a Dinner Party comfortably – 2 Dining Tables and chairs / 2 sets of sofas outside. You wouldn’t choose to furnish your own home like this but the Greeks think it is the height of genteel living. The Management proudly told us it was the best Suite in the hotel. At least it is very quiet and I know where the bathroom is in the darkness when I get out of bed at night.
I love Thessaloniki. The people really care about their environment and the wider world. History and Politics are central to their lives. They talk about, argue about, espouse the causes of environmentalism, the Palestinian cause, destructive tourism, the weakness of their government, and so on. They care enough to stand up and be counted. It is in their DNA.