I am sitting here in parko Georgiadou in the centre of Iraklio, a frappé in front of me, latin music floating in from behind, painstakingly composing this post on the small iPhone keyboard while keeping a worried eye on my battery indicator. It went from 61% to 47% in the last 10 minutes. This...
Read more →“A plunge in the Greek real estate sector”. That’s what a number of local newspaper headlined over the past days. It was about time, not the action of the newspapers, but the plunge.
Read more →One of the favorite pastimes that Yvonne and I share is discovering small, usually family-run, little tavernas where the food is prepared with love, the prices are honest, the atmosphere is authentic and were occasionally a musician spices up the food with Cretan music. If we have the good fortune of spending time there...
Read more →Yes, yes, we are still doing fine. We had a beautiful summer this year. The weather was absolutely fantastic and we practically went “camping” every weekend at some remote beach in the south of the provinces of Iraklio and Rethymno. We covered the whole stretch from Tertsá, west of Ierapetra, to Rodákino, just short...
Read more →Yesterday evening we treated ourselves to a little mezé in the local ouzeri. There was supposed to be live music, but the musicians apparently didn’t feel like playing, instead contenting themselves to smoking, drinking and chatting with the guests. There weren’t many patrons anyway, because the narrow road that leads to the ouzeri in...
Read more →Friday evening. The plane had left right on time in Düsseldorf. We had a little delay in Athens. Unlike on my way home 2 weeks earlier we had to leave the plane while it got re-fueled and cleaned up. All passengers with destination Iraklio were gathered in the hallway. After fifteen minutes we were...
Read more →Do you know what the Number 1 hit was on the day you were born???? I do now. And it feels somewhat appropriate too. Here In My Heart -Artist: Al Martino as sung on “Al Martino Greatest Hits” -CEMA Special Markets(Capitol-EMI) CDL 57361 -peak Billboard position # 1 for 3 weeks in 1952 -competing...
Read more →Maastricht is ne brede Maar Maastricht ‘t is lang Maastricht is de leukste stad Gesellig aan de zang – Maastricht Karnival Song Maastricht is not broad But, Maastricht, it is long Maastricht is the finest city Gesellig* on the song – Translation Maastricht is eene groete cafe – Maastricht Karnival Song Maastricht is one...
Read more →It was half past nine in the evening and they were six — in their early forties — at a table when I entered the “kafeníon”. No other customers were present except those men. I sat down at a table a little bit out of the way and ordered a “karafáki” and “mezé”. The...
Read more →Joseph Conrad, a fellow not unlike Luc Dubois, adopted the practice of writing prefaces to his novels. I have often wished other writers would do the same. A preface allows the reader to understand the motivation of the writer and otherwise gives the reader the context in which the novel was conceived and provides,...
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