Category: Travel

Easter Sunday

The Elia Hotel is owned by George Digridakis whose grandfather played an important role in the Resistance after the German invasion in 1941. Today we are en fête and will celebrate Easter under his gaze.

Griffons, Goats & Grub

We have seen griffon vultures wheeling high above us. They look quite small at such an altitude but in fact have a wingspan of more than eight feet. It would be exciting to see one close-up but that seems unlikely.

War and Peace, Part I

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Soúdha must be one of the most beautifully sited in the world. It is kept perfectly. The lawns had been watered the morning we visited.

Walking on Crete

These days it is hard to get off the beaten track but if that’s your kind of thing (it’s mine) Western Crete is for you. Olive trees out-number inhabitants by sixty to one; the scenery is spectacular; there is an abundance of churches and, at this time of year, lovely wild flowers. 

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On Crete

Thank you for happy birthdays in Comments and e mails. Margaret and Pam sifted the facts and correctly deduced that we are in Crete, scene of fierce fighting in 1941 (The Battle of Crete) and subsequent resistance. The Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday, this year, falls on Sunday next. And the musical birthday clue was When… Continue reading On Crete

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Pastoral

Pastoral appeared in Punch on 8th April, 1903. It is inappropriate this cold, rainy Eastertide. The weather (in the past Emphatically bitter), Seems to have changed at last. The birds begin to twitter.

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Carnival

I’m a bit behind, chronologically. On Saturday morning I went to Albrecht Dürer’s house while Robert was playing in the quarter finals.

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I’m into Something Good

An obsequious, chastened Pious brought him the gin on the stoop. Morgan poured two inches into a glass full of ice, added some bitters and a dash of water. He hated the drink but it seemed the apt thing to do; end of a tropical day, sundowners and all that.

Double Chapel

For lunch I had Fränkischer Pfefferschinken & Frankenthaler Käse and Apfelstrudel. Nuremberg Castle was built in the 11th century and played a central role in the history of Bavaria and Germany for almost 1,000 years, that is until 1945.