Sorry to say.......

It all had to come to and end sometime and it did in January 2012. Well, a couple of days before the New Year actually. We left Corfu and our lovely villa to move to England and a nice house in Norfolk. I think the reasons would be obvious, but just in case you've had your head in the sand for the last year or so, the Greek economy went pear-shaped and our thoughts of earning a living through teaching followed soon after.

So here ends "Letters from Greece" and within a week or so will start "A Scotsman in Norfolk" - tales from East Anglia as seen through the eyes of a mountain-starved Scotsman - hopefully amusing enough to attract some visitors!! PLUS, more photographs - and to start with, one I took a while ago whilst visiting Ely Cathedral....

The latest - at 4th November 2011

Well, the photography course are beginning to take shape - I'm designing the content of two courses - one for real beginners and one for intermediate level people who have a basic grasp of Digital Photography.

In Corfu it's autumn going on winter and the days are a bit cooler, but as in Spring-time new blossoms are around, so it's time to get out and take some photographs.

I've decided also to start writing a new novel using the experience I gained from my last efforts, so, that's something to while away the long winter nights! I'm also starting a blog called "Something for the over 50's..." So, if you fit the age range and would like to contribute some ideas, feel free - it's in its real infancy i.e. just born, possibly the 7 billionth blog in the world!

Less frequent posting

As all of you who have been viewing my blog will have seen over the last few months, my posts have been less frequent than I would have liked. There is a reason - I am developing a small business which concentrates more on my photographic abilities. In other words, I will be starting a photography school and conducting courses here in Corfu from next April. In order to do that I have been doing a lot of preparatory work and developing my new website pages. These will be made public when I've completed and tested them thoroughly.

Thanks for following my adventures over the last year or so - the blog will remain on the internet and I hope to be making the occasional post in the future.

Just back from Crete

4 weeks away in lovely Crete are now over. We've been attending an English Language course in Chania at Via Lingua's center. All to do with trying to get some gainful employment her in Corfu - the language schools need certification before they'll look at you.

We drove there and took ferries despite the constant threat of strike action all over Greece - currently there are strikes in place by the taxi drivers who, apart from not wanting their monopoly broken, are a bit peeved by the government selling licenses for 10% of what the current drivers paid. There are so many monopolies that have to be broken as part of Greece's being in the E.U. - taxis being not the least among the pharmacies, truck drivers, seamen etc, etc etc - I'm afraid the Greek people will have to eventually concede that being part of the E.U. is a two-way street - a bit of give and take, not all take as it seems to have been up until now.

We came here to get away from an overly politicized society - just to arrive in the middle of the most political activity I can remember.

So, back to looking at the sea and my photography - keeps the mind sane.

Pix of Crete to follow once I've resized them.......

Here again...

Things have been happening, if slowly. We're now in Crete for 4 weeks or so, taking part in a TEFL course which we hope will improve our English teaching abilities. We spent 7 years in China teaching English without this requirement, but it seems that all other countries require something like it before they will let you loose on their students!

We drove down - 400 miles or so from door to door and two days and nights enjoying discovering more of Greece. First stop was Meteora where the monasteries sit atop large rocks. The monks used to haul food and people up the rocks in baskets! I don't believe they still do that sort of thing. This was a bit of a pilgrimage for us, a non-relgious one, as we passed through this place during our drive from Saudi Arabia to Holland, so we eventually found the lovely restaurant we ate in and did it all again - just as good as the first time.

Second night was in a lovely little hotel in Piraeus. My previous encounter with Piraeus was down the main drag in a taxi to catch a ferry to Spetses, many years ago, and I wasn't too impressed then. BUT, I was totally unaware that Piraeus is in fact one of the up-market parts of Athens with an amazing history. Now it has marinas, lovely restaurants and bijoux hotels. We stayed in one of the cheaper bijoux hotels which was vet nice, family run, friendly etc and not expensive. We stay there agin on our return journey.

Tonight we meet all the other people who are taking this course - we've met one already, Hugh, from Texas - a very nice and interesting man.

So today will be spent walking to the beach and getting ready for the return to classroom tomorrow.

I'll load some photographs soon when I have some time...

Been too long.....

Yes, it's been a few weeks since I gave an update of what's happening here in Corfu. The tourists are here now, enjoying the sun and the beaches. The mix has changed considerably in the last couple of years, most visible tourists in our area now coming from Russia and Eastern European countries reflecting the rise in their fortunes and the decline in the traditional British and Italian fortunes!

They're all welcome as Corfu needs every tourist Euro it can get. A rising and worrying trend is the All-Inclusive holiday where people pay for hotel, food and drinks in advance and as long as they stay in their hotels around the pool, they can eat and drink themselves senseless on terrible food and the cheapest hooch. The local tavernas and bars see little or none of their business as these "tourists" come with almost empty pockets.

BUT, many of the Eastern Europeans seem to be giving their trade to the local businesses, the restaurants and car rental companies advertise their menus and price lists in Russian, Serbian, Polish and a few other languages in addition to the more traditional English and Italian.

The ferries are still running, the planes arriving and the buses taking them all to their hotels pass us in droves at times, so it can't all be bad in this economic climate.....

It's July and HOT

Lat week we went down to the huge sandy beach at the lagoon, Limni Konsia, which is on the south-west coast of Corfu. Here you are looking out onto the Ionian Sea and if you crane your neck, you'll be looking directly up towards Venice! The sun was hot, but the water too cold for swimming. Perhaps that's because we went in the early morning to avoid other people, but even then, I don't believe there would have been many people later in the day. Spent an hour ot two beach combing for shells and strangely-shaped pebbles.

Tomorrow we drive to southern tip of the island - the starting point of my bottom-to top walking route - next year!