Sunday, 15th June, 2025
Lovely early morning. As every morning around 7.00 am and then again around 7.00 pm, clouds of swifts and swallows wheel in huge numbers around the skies above the hotel. As is their name, they are incredibly swift and they are masters of the air and spend almost their entire lives in flight – eating, drinking, sleeping and even mating on the wing. They usually only land when it’s time to nest. Early morning and early evening must be the best times for rich pickings of insects.
Before Breakfast for humans, the news is of raids by Israel on Iran and Iran’s retaliation. On the way to Breakfast, I talk to a lovely couple in the lift. Ask them where they are from and it is from Israel. They have been to the Electra Palace Thessaloniki before as well as the Athens hotel. At Breakfast, we agree to meet there next time. I sit at a table immediately in front of a delightful Palestinian family. The irony is not lost.
Thessaloniki is the archetypal Greek city full of a mixing pot of lovely people. I absolutely adore it. It is a hothouse of culture, politics, religion and nationalities. They talk over coffee, in the shade of the sunshine, on street corners, in restaurants ….
Politics is in their blood, It is in mine. The picture above depicts signs discarded on the pavements and an office sign above shops for ΝΕΑ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΡΑ – The New Left with the Palestinian flag. I just love their allegiances and their passion.
In the same way, I love the culture of the Greeks and its differences. In the market yesterday, anyone who is not familiar with the country would have been rather shocked to see the things on sale in the fish & Meat stalls.
Monday, 16th June, 2025
Lovely morning over the Thermaic Gulf, Dear Reader. Crystal, clear blue skies reflected in crystal, clear blue sea. The sun is deliciously strong and warm with just a hint of a breeze. I don’t want Breakfast but force myself just to be sociable.
Went out for a wonderful meal last night. After all these years in Greece, the menu introduced us to some new things which was exciting. It was all based around the concept of Meze. The name of the restaurant is Full Tou Meze. You can read the full menu here.
Meze, pronounced “meh-ZEH,” is a selection of small dishes, similar to Spanish Tapas or Italian Antipasti, that are popular in Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. These dishes are often shared and enjoyed as appetizers or as a meal in themselves. In Greece, Meze is deeply intertwined with the concept of Parea which emphasizes social gatherings and shared enjoyment of food and drinks.
Greece and Turkey have long been irritable neighbours but their cultures have meshed as people move between the two countries. The restaurant was Greek with heavy Turkish influences. After nearly 50 years in Greece, we found dishes on the menu that we had never seen before:
- Lakerda – Marinated Sushi-grade Tuna
- Kritamo – Marinated Fenugreek or Grass of the Greeks – rather like Samphire.
- Sogania Mitilinis – Sweet onions stuffed with minced beef.
- Tsubleki from Macedonia – Beef with Peppers, Aubergine, Courgette, Potato & Feta Cheese, baked in the oven
It was a lovely introduction to new things and feels quite typical of Thessaloniki. Visitors have to be prepared to learn new things. It is good to be stretched, Dear Reader. The stuffed, sweet onions were delicious.
This morning, I have gone out for an early 8 mile walk before the heat is too intense and because my body needs to recover from last night’s meal. I was amused by the name of this dinghy hidden away in the boat yard. Torrevieja is where we will be in a couple of week’s time. We have rented a villa to enjoy some new sunshine. If we like it, we may drive there next year and stay a few months.
Tuesday, 17th June, 2025
It’s been a lovely day. Up at 6.00 am. Yorkshire tea on the patio in hot sunshine. My Housekeeper completed packing and then we went to Breakfast.
Checkout is a formality. Eveything was paid for a week ago. A taxi is called for the airport and off we go around 9.00 am.
Greek taxi drivers have been notoriously corrupt. See a wealthy tourist and triple the price. THe government has done a wonderful job in addessing that corruption. Payments are digital and visible by the authorities. Taxi drivers wor on pain of losing their licences if the cheat. As a result, the taxi driver from the airport and bac to the airport have been honest and delightful. They are incredibly proud of their city and both told us the whole history and related it to the sites we were passing. As a result, we overpaid their statutory faair for their service.
Makedonia airport is small but comfortable and quiet. We went to the Turkish lounge which is new and almost totally deserted. A calm and riff-raff free hour and we went down to Gate. A few minutes wait and we were in the scorching sunshine boarding the plane.
I must admit, I fell asleep almost immediately. It seems to be an automatic ‘travel mode’ my body adopts because I wasn’t tired. I woke with about 40 minutes to landing. The flight had been 2 hrs 55 mins in total which is incredibly fast but I had missed most of it. My Carer hasd passed the time by reading her latest ‘free’ book on her Kindle.
Gatwick was incredibly quiet and we were back on the Long Stay bus within no time. Fortunately, I had photographed the parking spot at midnight the week before and we were soon czooming off in our lovely, comfortable car. Traffic wa light and straightforward. We were home within 50 mins and off to Sainsburys for something for our evening meal.
I unpacked the car. Just two medium cabin-sized suitcases and two pieces of hand luggage and all was done. The garden was looking lovely. We ate freshly cut lettuces, freshly lifted new potatoes with mint and parsley. While Supper was being prepared, I watered the whole garden. The Green Beans are almost ready for picking. The Basil is ready for cutting. The Parsley has been cut once and is ready again. All is well in the garden which is just as well because we will be flying off again and leaving it in exactly two weeks.
Wednesday, 18th June, 2025
Woke up at 5.00 am (7.00 am Greek Time) to a gorgeous morning. Hard to tell which location we were in. The sky is blue. The sun is bright. Already we’ve lost the night but it’s raining …. raining somewhere else.
Out in the garden things are running away from me. Away for ten days and everything’s expanded to fill the space. Last night, I dug up some new potatoes and then found I did exactly the same thing on exactly the same day last year. How exciting am I? The green beans will be ready to pick by Friday and the lettuces will have to be eaten in the next couple of weeks (every day) before they run to seed.
We had such a lovely time in Thessaloniki that I am going to book again for next year immediately. I’ve written to the Hotel to thank them for their services and to tell them what I want for next time.
Unfortunately, today I have a rather more pressing problem. It is medical. I am such a poor specimen! I already have an Oncology review booked for July. I had expected it to be routine but over the past couple of weeks I have had a few worrying – perhaps, shocking – events. I have been passing blood in the toilet. On one occasion, a lot of blood and it has really shocked me. This morning, I have been to the hospital to deliver notes on this to Oncology in the hope I can get an early examination both for diagnosis reasons and because we are going away in less than two weeks. I feel it is rather hanging over me and I would prefer just to know.
Thursday, 19th June, 2025
The transfer from Thessaloniki to Sussex has been made almost seamless by the weather which maybe a few degrees cooler but still warm. At 11.00 am it is 27C and 32C in Greece. This morning, we have spoken to the hotel we left a few days ago and booked the same suite for June next year. I have been using the Electra Group Hotels in Greece for 40 years and get a 15% discount on my booking which saves me about £600.00 for the week.
In the Now, we are home for less than two weeks before setting off again to Spain. It will be a new experience for us and that is what I need. We are flying to Murcia International Airport and have rented a villa on the edge of Torrevieja. It will be exciting to do something new. I need to be stretched in experience.
More sunshine; more walking; more learning – it’s all good …. hopefully. And if it is somewhere we like, we might book for a month or more next year and drive there via Portsmouth to Santander.
Still feeling the effects of travelling home and the 2hr time difference today. Went out to buy a 2kg Swordfish loin which will be cut into steaks for grilling in the garden. If you’ve ever cooked swordfish, you would know that the smell is strong and all pervasive. Better tantalise the neighbourhood cats than lingering for days round our house. The fish supplier is on the beach which was beginning to look summery.
I am planting out a second lot of Basil plants which have been nurtured for a couple of months and survived our time away. We need to establish them before we go away and then set up the automatic watering system. They will love this weather and it is 30C/86F as they go out in the raised beds this afternoon. It is Sweet Genoan Basil (Genovese Basil) and it is warmer here than its homeland today.
Friday, 20th June, 2025
And the lovely weather goes on …. and is forecast to for another week. Then we go off to Torrevieja as the rain is forecast to fall. That will be really helpful.
Anyway, a lot of my focus over the next 10 days will be on getting the garden resilience into action to cope without its Carer for a while. Mainly, I will be preparing for travel. Not really knowing anything about Spain, never having flown to Murcia International, I have to check out organisation and timings.
- Taxi from airport to villa – €50.00 / 50 mins
- Look up the place where I’ve rented ….
- Check Check-in time – 4.00 pm.
- Note name of Property Manager and email them with Flight Times
- Arrange to pay early Check-in fee.
- Use Google Maps to digitally walk the streets and locate restaurants and Supermurcados.
- Note places worth visiting.
It is always a bit of a lottery but, hopefully, all the facilities we want will be present and of a suitable quality. This is what I booked and things like cooking, washing, air-conditioning and internet provision are paramount. This is what is promised by the booking:
All of these experienes are examples of confidence and optimism. We have sometimes lost but more often gained. You just have to make a leap of faith.
A leap of faith was made in Parliament today – akin to David Steele’s Abortion Bill of 1967 and Leo Abse’s 1967 Bill to legalise Homosexuality – the Assisted Dying Bill will change the culture and almost certainly for the better.
I have been seriously conflicted over it for some time. The Commons debate had a large number of excellent and thoughtful contributions and a number which we knew were religiously motivated but unacknowledged. Ultimately, individual autonomy is the winning argument in spite of concerns of coercion. After all, there is coercion now and know one screams about it being unregulated.
Saturday, 21st June, 2025
And the heat goes on
Just like my love, everlasting
And the beat goes on
Still moving strong, on and on
A hot, humid night that didn’t fall below 22C/70F – going to have to get better air conditioning. We are currently discussing it seriously. It’s the disruption not the cost that is holding us back. Holes drilled in walls, electrical points added, condenser units on the outside of the house, large boxes on the bedroom and lounge walls.
Can we face it? Predictions are that it will only get more important over time. It is probably better to take action now. We will probably install 4 or 5 units. Things to think about/ research this Summer.
Right now, we have more important things to think about. Over night, Pauline’s elderly (88 in August) sister has had a fall and hit her head resulting with her being hospitalised. It is possible we will be driving up to Surrey this morning.
At 5.00 am, I was laying in bed listening to a political podcast: Chris Patten – a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992 under Thatcher and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He presided over the return of Hong Kong to China with all the disastrous and predicatable events that ensued. He is now 81 years old but the interview reprised all the events of the late 1980s and early 1990s – events which were, to the young interviewer who was only born in Thatcher’s last year of power, only history but, to me the history of part of my life.
I’ve spent a difficult day driving up to Surrey and then in St. Peters A&E. Pauline’s sister, Phyllis, didn’t pull through but, unfortunately died this afternoon. It is so sad that another human being left the world.
It hits one hard and I will write more about her tomorrow but what stands out for me is how so many lives I have known and lost end in the tawdry surroundings of a world they hardly saw.