Tuesday 26th June

Wow, how time flies! We have a friend of John and Tani’s staying with us, Dave “Rudgey” Rudge, a singer who has been guesting with David’s solo gigs and with The Ride. David, Rudgey and John have even arranged a gig for themselves in Argassi on Wednesday night, and as I write, they are practicing in our living room. For me, the past week has been taken up with sheltering from the heatwave which has hit Greece (I believe the temperature is 42-44 degrees) and starting to do some work. So far no actual commentary writing, but I am reading about narratological theory, intertextuality, and doing a bit of Greek (ancient not modern). David has spent his afternoons either at Deano’s Place or here, recording and practicing, and he has been gigging every evening.

David found time to give me a couple of lessons in driving the van and then I ventured out by myself. I feel quite confident now but am wary of being over-confident and ending up down one of the ditches that line every road! Driving is one thing, parking quite another. Parking requires manoeuvring back and forth, and while that might be easy in my Rover back home, the van is a hulking great thing, very high and very, very long. Even when David parks it out the back of Deano’s, he sometimes takes out part of the olive tree….

We had our first dinner guests last Wednesday: Dave, Irene and Tasha. They didn’t know how to get to our house so we drove over to their place and they followed us back. When we got to their house, Tasha was dressed up in bow-tie and ribbons – she isn’t often invited to dinner! David cooked a barbecue and we did salads and jacked potatoes. We all had a lovely evening spent outside on the terrace.

Monday 18th June

Our house is finished, and we had our first visitors yesterday: John, Dean and Ivan came for a band meeting. David worked hard sorting the house over the weekend, most of the time it’s just too darn hot for me. Friday we continued unpacking and doing bits and pieces of shopping for the house. We went to Kalamaki where we’d seen cheap adaptors. We called in to see Chris at the Safari Bar and David came away with a gig! It’s not ideal as it’s on a Thursday night, which is when he plays with The Ride in Lagana (10 minutes from Kalamaki) but to help Chris out, he’s doing the Safari Bar from 9pm-11pm, then hoofing it to Lagana for an 11.30/midnight start! We also went to Argassi (beautiful scenery in that part of the island) to check out a possible gig at a hotel there on a Saturday.

"Diamond Dave" was playing at Casa in Planos on Friday night. There was competition opposite: a singer with backing tracks, and the audience wasn’t as good as we might have hoped. Still, Nicos seemed delighted and wants David back again next Friday. The Argassi gig went ahead on Saturday. There was a sizeable and receptive audience. John and Tani came too for moral support, afterwards we went to another bar for a drink and a laugh at their entertainment – a sleazy-looking "singer/guitarist" who was miming badly to his backing tracks! Then it was back in Deano’s Place on Sunday night. Looked like it was going to be a VERY quiet night but after David started, the customers came piling in and the bar was about ¾ full. There was an Irish contingent who enjoyed the Pogues, and some Scottish who enjoyed the Proclaimers.

Here are some photos of the house taken before the band arrived yesterday.

Thursday 14th June

Our deal with Sarah was that she would be out of her place by Wednesday 13th June (she had originally said she wasn’t moving until the end of the month), and that we would give her a hand with preparing her new house for her to move into. Well, we went to see her new house and boy, did it need work. We helped with a bit of painting then went back to “our house” and packed up the van with Sarah’s stuff. Within a couple of days of hard slog by Sarah and her friend Angela, the difference was remarkable. Angela was working flat-out and by Wednesday, the living room and 2 of the bedrooms were ready to move things into. Not so sure about the kitchen and bathroom though. There is a well in the garden but a distinct lack of running water inside the house. Still, Sarah knew all this when she agreed to move at short notice so we can’t feel guilty about leaving her like this!

Sunday night The Ride were playing at Deano’s and were raided by the noise police. Licences stipulate that music can be played outside until midnight, after which it must be inside behind closed doors. However, the police want the music to stop by 11pm, and after 30 minutes grace, they carry out raids any time after 11.30pm. The courts are supportive of the police and Dean is facing a hefty fine. Carl was visibly shaken by the arrival of the police and he quit the band with immediate effect. Monday, David was to be performing at Deano’s but with Carl’s sudden departure, Dean cancelled Diamond Dave and asked David to fill in for Carl with The Ride at the Enigma club in Tsilivi. David was disappointed because he’d been practicing for his solo gig. As it turned out, the disappearance of a bass guitar led to the late commencement of The Ride at Enigma, there was an audience of only about 20 people, and the manager pulled the plug after 45 minutes. Tuesday, David attended a meeting of Tsilivi bar owners and although the proceedings were in Greek, he said that their anger and frustration was obvious. No entertainment means no tourists means no livelihood for anyone on the island! The law doesn’t make sense. Irene and Dave assure us that the police will find something different to fuss about in a couple of weeks’ time and that this will all blow over. A few months ago there was a clampdown on foreign registered cars and owners were required to pay a huge tax in order to register their cars in Greece. The tax was so expensive that some ex-pats were taking their cars home to sell them and then buy a Greek registered car. This clampdown lasted all of 3 weeks.
Wednesday was moving day and it all went remarkably smoothly albeit exhausting! By the end of the day we were tired and filthy, and must have looked delightful as we went to the fast food place in Alykes for some gyros – the best late night snack ever!

Having completed most of the cleaning last night, we spent today unpacking our things which were piled high in Sarah’s baby’s room. David attached the washing machine (Mum: you wanted to see a picture of the whirly line) and blew up the inflatable sofa (surprisingly comfortable). We went shopping for some bits and pieces, including to Lidl – a bit like McDonalds – they’re identical the world over! Then back “home” for a siesta. The weather is becoming hotter day by day, and by afternoon it really is too hot to do anything but snooze. David’s gigging in “Mad Murphy’s” Irish pub in Lagana tonight. It’s an 11.30pm start, and a different set of police! No problems with late noise in Lagana! Meanwhile I’m making a start at unpacking books …..

Deano's Place was raided by the "noise police"

Deano's Place was raided and will receive a severe ticking off.

Carl quit The Ride.

Dean postponed Diamond Dave until next week.

David played bass for The Ride at "Enigma" to a packed house of 20-ish. After 45 mins, the manager said they could stop and go home.

Helping Sarah ready her new place so we can get into ours!

Sarah and David paint, while Helen directs operations!

afternoon tea at John and Tani's

left to right: Alex (Carl's partner), Katie (Tani's daughter), David, Dave, Tani, John, Carl and Irene.

Thank you

Just a quick thank you to everyone who is looking at the blog. You don't all comment, but some of you have emailed me. We hope that you agree this is a good way to keep in touch with all of you, and we do appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we make the transition to Greek island life.