I’m sorry my blogging has become so erratic recently. It’s due to a combination of factors but not having anything to talk about/spleen vent isn’t one of them! This week’s been one of trying to adjust to a new routine. Dawn (who’d been off for a while) returned to work on Monday. I’ve made it my priority to help her to ease back into the routine so my time has been spent at home, acting as ‘house husband’ – providing sustenance and support as needed. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to get back to work myself and re-establish a routine that allows me to juggle exercise with productivity. It’s not always been easy – especially when the weather decides you’re not part of its plan. We didn’t suffer too much from the latest storm, but it certainly announced its presence, stripping leaves and branches off surrounding trees whilst dumping a fair bit of water in its wake. Can we have the cloud-free skies and baking weather back, please?
On the positive side, staying at home has allowed me to plan a few adventures – starting next week when I’ll be back on the rails. I’ve also had final details of a couple of really enjoyable commissions in Swindon and Llanelli which I’m looking forward to as I can dovetail them with other work. Then there’s plotting some more foreign expeditions…
In the meantime, I’m determined to ensure the rest of the week is a mixture of productivity and fun (so I’m not going to talk about politics – just yet) whilst enjoying the weekend. There’s a local event called CraggFest happening, which sound like an ideal bit of escapism. Expect a report and pictures.
Right now I’ll leave you with a picture that’s unconnected with what I’ve been talking about, but it’s from a country that may feature on our itinerary later this year. Greece. After all, what could be more Greek than cats – and old doors?
Cat burglar caught in the act? Lakka, Paxos. Ionian Islands. September 2000.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
OK, I may have lied about the normal bit as I’ve no idea what normal is nowadays – especially in the UK as it seems to lurch from political farce to economic crises and back again – unless that’s the new normal? Having returned to the UK from Greece early Sunday morning the pair of us are still trying to find our feet after two glorious weeks on Rhodes, insulated from much of the madness that’s struck the UK of late. We made the conscious decision not to have a wifi connection in our hotel room so that we could largely detach ourselves from the world and social media, to enjoy reading and playing music instead of being glued to screens. That’s why you’ve seen few blogs from me.
It worked a charm and helped make the holiday – as it actually felt like one. Neither of us had been to Rhodes before although I know Greece well, having spent a lot of time there in a previous life. I really enjoy the country for a variety of reasons. Partly because of its history and geography but also for the friendliness of the people. Oh, the sunshine helps too. Enjoying October days where it’s wall to wall sunshine with temperatures in the high 20s does make a difference to one’s mood! Of course, nowhere is perfect and the one thing I was disappointed to see was the way roadside litter has become a problem. Most of it seems to be due to plastic, especially plastic discarded from vehicles. Roadsides are strewn with empty water bottles and cans. It seems people can’t bear to keep waste inside their precious cars until they can dispose of it properly.
That aside, we really enjoyed our time exploring Rhodes or just relaxing by the hotel pool. Normally my travels are more about exploring rather than ‘chillin’ but both of us felt the need to do just that. It’s made being back in the UK harder as now we’ve got to ramp up into ‘normal’ life – juggling lots of different balls (and feeling the pressure). There’s also the added strain of coping with the economic shambles that the UK’s become thanks to the present Government. I’m having to get used to empty supermarket shelves, expensive items and constant price rises again. Today I popped into the local Lidl in Sowerby Bridge to buy a few tinned goods and a couple of bottles of beer. Before I left the beers were £1.09 each. Today they were £1.29 – an 18.3% increase. I noticed the same swinging increases on some staples in Tesco yesterday. I dread to think what I’d find if I compared many 2019 supermarket prices to those of today. It’s painful. Add in the effect of the disastrous economic policies of the short-lived Truss government and many people are faced with a financial shitstorm – even those who would once have considered themselves ‘comfortable’. God help those closer to the breadline.
I’ve tried to steer clear of political comments recently, mainly because the stream of invective I could type about the dogmatic and opportunistic shit-show that passes for the Conservative party nowadays would probably get me banned from WordPress! The Johnson government was bad enough, but the Truss administration, dominated as it was by the ideological headbangers of the Taxpayers Alliance, Institute of Economic Affairs and the other rabid occupants of 55 Tufton St – along with the party within a party who calls themselves the European Research Group took ‘shitshow’ to another level. The irony was, these ‘free marketeers’ were so ideologically hopeless it was the real markets that saw through them and their mad plans, leading to the collapse of ‘Trussonomics’ and the further weaking of the UKs economic credibility which had already been damaged by their last ‘big idea’ (and big lie) – Brexit.
Let’s not be under any illusions. The root of our political and economic problems lie with Brexit because it was Brexit that normalised lying on a vast scale. The promised ‘sunny uplands’ of Brexit were always a mirage and always unachievable. So, it’s supporters had to lie about them – and have never stopped lying since. Now lying has become second nature to them. Admittedly, to some of them (yes, you Boris Johnson) lying was always second nature! The depressing thing is how so many of those who were lied to still believe in the lies, despite all the evidence that’s come to light since.
And now we have yet another Prime Minister
Having failed to get elected just a few weeks earlier, Rishi Sunak has managed to make the grade, but hardly down to his own talents. He owes his position to the utter uselessness of Truss and the fact that egotistical bag of custard known as Johnson was so arrogant, he thought he could just swan back in and MPs would rush to welcome him back. He failed, so he lied – as he always does – pretending he’d reached the 100 MP threshold and was stepping back for the ‘good of the country’. The other candidate (Mordant) never stood a chance as the right of the party couldn’t agree who to support. So, Sunak got the job. Only now his troubles are just beginning.
In recent years the Tory party has been taken over by entryists from the far-right, from UKIP and groups like Britain First and the BNP, all of whom signed up as members (and boasted about it too). Johnson exacerbated this by throwing out of the party many old ‘one nation’ Tories like Ken Clarke. This means there’s a significant number of Tory members who will never support Sunak for one simple reason – the colour of his skin. Oh, they try and dress it up by pretending it’s because he ‘betrayed’ their blond-haired boy Johnson, but they’re letting their mask slip on social media. Here’s an example.
This guy spent all day spamming Twitter with the same message. The ‘come back Farage’ bit rather gives the game away too…
Meanwhile, Sunak’s not helping himself by his wooden performances at the lectern, his empty slogans – or his choice of appointees. In his speech he talked of ‘compassion’ and ‘integrity’ but as I write this I find he’s reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary – a woman who hasn’t an ounce of compassion and who was sacked only a few days ago for breaching the Ministerial Code! Another dud is Dominic Raab, the intellectual powerhouse who never appreciated the importance of Dover to UK trade! Christ on a bike – Labour must be clapping their hands in glee at this! The next set of opinion polls could prove to be very interesting indeed…
Right, let’s move on from politics as I can see I’m going to be returning to this shit-show more often in future as I need to let off steam before I explode…
Now we’re back my nose is against the grindstone once more. I’ve not been blogging as I’ve been scribbling for a living. Part 1 of my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine will be published on the 1st November. I finished writing part 2 today, and hope to have part 3 submitted next week. In the meantime I’ve other jobs planned. Tomorrow evening I’m back on the road and heading to London as I’ll be visiting a High Speed 2 construction site early on Thursday morning, so expect a couple of rolling blogs as part of my travels. I’m looking forward to being able to blog again, it’s a form of catharsis for me and I hope it’s entertaining (and even informative) for you, dear readers.
So, until tomorrow I’ll leave you with a picture from our Greek travels. Like many Greek towns and villages the wonderful medieval town of Rhodes has its fair share of feral cats, which often pop up in the strangest of places. Here’s one, pretending to be a Gargoyle!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
It’s 19:00 here in Greece and we’re packed, room vacated and sitting in the hotel bar having a last drink before the bus come to collect us and take us to the airport for out late flight back to the UK and political chaos.
Neither of us want to leave. We’ve had a lovely time savoring our last day. Having walked up into the village for coffee and chance to watch the world go by we wandered home for a few precious hours around the swimming pool, soaking up the sun. Despite the fact it’s almost the end of the season here the weather’s been absolutely stunning with wall-to-wall sunshine for almost the whole of our trip – bar 48 hours of storms which added a fun dimension. The holiday’s not all been relaxing. A couple of days ago we caught the local bus into Rhodes town and spent the day exploring the old city and Italian quarter. Both of us fell in love with the place and would love to spend a few nights staying in the old town to soak up the atmosphere.
Here’s a couple of pictures from the day.
I love the colours and textures of some of the abandoned buildings in the old town.If you like cats, Greece is the place for you. Towns are awash with waifs, strays and domesticated examples.Looking across the old town from the city walls, which are massive. In it’s day, Rhodrs was the most heavily fortified town in the whole of Christendem. Is fortifications still fell to siege tactics however.
It’s now 20:20 local time and we’re on the shuttle coach to the airport. The journey’s fine. Well, it. would be if it wasn’t for some of our fellow Brits who’re constantly whining about how ‘hot’ it is on the coach, so giving the driver endless grief. It’s not hot, but I suspect many of our fellow transportees spend most of their time flitting between one air-conditioned location to another. Me? I’m sat here in a Gilet and fleece, getting used to the idea that the temperature I’ll be encountering in Manchester will make this seem very pleasent indeed!
We’re still enjoying our time here in Greece, mixing chilling with sightseeing, depending on how the mood takes us. Yesterday was a travel day as the storms of the past 48 hours had passed so we were graced with clear blue skies once more. Not that we ventured far. We caught a local bus from Lardos to head up the road to ancient Lindos which is little more than half an hour away. The bus service is really good as they run roughly half-hourly, although the service is starting to reduce as the season and passenger numbers run down. That said, the 09:20 bus we caught was full, but then it’s eventual destination was Rhodes town, some 90 minutes away.
Lindos is a fascinating little place as you see very little of it from the road as it’s hidden in a dip. What you do see is the ancient citadel (or Acropolis) atop cliffs that the town is built in the lee of. The citadel, has had many incarnations and occupants. It dates back before 600BC, having been occupied by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, the Knights of St John and the Ottomans. Oh, the Italians have also had a bit to do with the place too when Rhodes was part of their ‘manor’. They carried out a well-meaning but botched restoration in the 1930s but concrete and rebar plus sea air don’t mix well!
As expected with a citadel atop cliffs it’s a climb up lots of steps. That said, we fared better than many visitors who really struggled, but then we live in the Pennines which is anything but flat! We made it to the top without losing breath whilst overtaking many folk (often much younger) who sounded like steam engines trying to haul 1000 tonnes up a steep hill!
It’s worth the climb and the 12 euro entrance fee. Not only is it a fascinating place to look around but the views from the top are sublime. Here’s a few views.
Lindos town seen from the Acropolis.Some of the restored/recreated pillars with the old church beyond. The views from the Acropolis are stunning.One of the chambers under the old Knights buildingsLooking down on St Paul’s Bay from the AcropolisThe main bar/restaurantat St Paul’s Bay has a stunning location. The Acropolisdominates the skyline beyond
Afterwards we wandered the narrow streets of Lindos to find something to eat. The town’s very tourist orientated nowadays but that doesn’t detract from the attractiveness of the architecture and the traditional layout of the town. There’s more rooftop restaurants than you can shake a stick at and I’m sure many are busy not because of the quality of the food but because they’re mentioned in one guide book or another so are ‘the places’ to go to. Instead, we followed our noses and looked at the menu’s posted outside and found Alexi’s, where we had the roof to ourselves and enjoyed a glorious salad made with walnuts and figs along with home-made ‘Dolmades’ and some excellent whitebait with a delicious dip that tasted of mango and honey.
Suitably stuffed we wandered (and got lost) in the backstreets of Lindos whilst looking for St Paul’s bay until a lovely ex-pat Israeli woman spotted us. The bay was where she was heading to for her daily swim so we struck up conversation whilst she escorted us. St Paul’s bay us a stunning sheltered location although the restaurant/bar that dominates the main beach is a a bit so-so, being expensive with indifferent service. Even so, it’s worth stopping for a drink purely to soak up the location.
Catching the bus ‘home’ we relaxed for a couple of hours by the pool before a quiet night indoors self-catering and making up our own salads with ingredients bought from local supermarkets. Today we decided a slow day was in order. Walking into Lardos village we took up residence in our favorite local coffee-shop for a few hours and got chatting to the lovely young girl who’s been behind the counter every day that we’ve been there. That turns out because she works seven days a week! Andriana is of Bulgarian descent, having moved to Greece with her parents as a young child. We had a fascinating chat and learned a lot about Rhodian life (as well as some local gossip) from her as now the season’s winding down she had time to stay and talk.
Tomorrow we’re off on the first bus of the day to visit Rhodes town.I’ll blog about that another time…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
We’ve been having a lazy few days here in Lardos. Partly because we can (we’re on holiday after all) and partly because these past few days we’ve had a dramatic change in the weather. Yesterday (Saturday) the sunshine was overwhelmed by an amazing thunder and lightning storm accompanied by torrential rain that had been making its way Eastwards across the Mediterranean before arriving in our neck of the woods in the Aegean. We managed a pleasant few hours by the hotel pool, reading and sunbathing before the skies darkened, the temperature dropped and the wind got up. I’m used to tropical storms, having seen plenty of them in South-East Asia. But this is the first time I’ve experienced something similar in this neck of the woods. It was spectacular to say the least. The sky was as black as Hades and the rain was torrential. We sought shelter in the bar downstairs where we could watch the show without getting soaked and enjoy a drink in the process. My only regret was I never managed to catch any of the amazing lightning strikes out at sea on camera – try as I might. Even so, here’s a few pictures from yesterday’s entertainment.
Skies as black as Hades yesterday as the storm swept in from the West.Pomegranate growing on a tree outside the local supermarket. You don’t get this at Tesco!If Pomegranates aren’t your thing, there’s always Olives…
The storm stayed with us overnight and into today, although we had a respite this morning that allowed us to catch some sun before walking up into the village for coffee, chance to watch the world go by and stock up on shopping before the skies darkened once again and we found ourselves indulging in a brisk walk home to escape the oncoming storm. At the time of writing (mid afternoon) we’ve escaped the worst of the stormfront although the rain’s keeping most people indoors bar one hardy family who’ve decided this is a good time to have the swimming pool to yourselves. Besides, if you’re in a pool, why would you mind about some rain?
Sitting outside a lovely little Greek coffee shop, looking over at the local supermarket, then spotting the sky and thinking “perhaps it’s time to shop and go walk home, before this sky catches up with us”!
Dee and I have decided it’s time to retreat to our room and enjoy downtime. Well, not *entirely* downtime for me as I’ve a RAIL article that needs to be finished. I can think of worse places to be stuck scribbling!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Here’s my first blog from Greece where the pair of us are doing our best to kick back and enjoy a holiday whilst trying to take a break and ignore as much as possible the political and economic madness of the UK (and the rest of the world). To that end we’ve even booked a hotel where we don’t have wifi in the room so that we’re not tempted to be constantly checking t’internet and have a bit of a media detox – hence my lack of blogging. I’ve even had days out where the camera’s stayed at home. Lordy!
We’re staying at a little place called Lardos in the South-East coast of Rhodes. It’s unheard of for us but we’re actually on a package holiday, staying in the same place for a fortnight for the simple reason that this really is meant to be a holiday. Chance to relax, have a base from which we can explore – or just sit by the pool and sun ourselves. The area we’re staying in is a satellite development of the original village. It’s by the beach whilst the old town is inland. Again, it’s not where we’d normally stay but we’ve a great little hotel. (the Cosmos Maris) and the village is only a 25 minute walk away. We pop up there most days for a coffee in a great little local café which is an ideal place to sit and people watch as it’s on the edge of the town square and frequented by many locals, unlike the nearby tourist orientated restaurants, where people (mostly, but not exclusively Brits) are swilling beer and cocktails by 11:00. Instead, we sit with a cup of java (in my case Greek coffee) and watch the world go by. There’s normally a handful of old boys who turn up on their scooters and sit for hours chatting, occasionally swapping hello’s with some of the Greek grannies who regularly pass by to/from the local supermarkets. It’s quite funny to watch as many of the old dears are using prams as shopping trollies! The first time I saw it I did a double take. You don’t expect to see a silver-haired, black-clad, headscarf-wearing Greek granny to be pushing a buggy!
As well as tourist restaurants the village possesses a couple of local Greek tavernas, one of which does a roaring trade as a local-take out. The menu’s good and the prices are very reasonable. It’s run by a couple who must be in their 70s, so don’t expect fast service early-doors until the younger staff arrive!
We’ve been here a few days now and established somewhat of a routine, splitting our time between exploring and relaxing. Yesterday we walked East along the coast from Lardos to nearby Pefkos, which is a much larger version of a tourist town. You can tell the fact most visitors are English by the fact restaurants are advertising English breakfasts (complete with black pudding) and Yorkshire tea. Despite the fact it’s almost the end of season the main beach was packed. We didn’t linger, just stopped long enough to have a coffee and a snack at a place overlooking the beach, then continued walking up into the hills along the coast. I’d realised that the classic Hollywood war film ‘The Guns of Naverone’ was filmed nearby. In fact, the bay where it was filmed is now officially known as ‘Naverone beach’. It’s all cobblers of course. Alistair McLean, who wrote the novel invented ‘Naverone’ and a whole chain of fictitious islands for the plot of his yarn, but as this is where the film was made the name’s been adopted.
It’s quite a walk up into the hills above Pefkos to get to the viewpoint, the last mile is on an unmade road that’s little more than a dirt track, but when you get there, the views across both bays are wonderful and there’s a handy tree for shade whilst you take in the sights. But bring your own water and food as you won’t find anything after leaving Pefkos. The trek isn’t that popular. We were the only ones there and we didn’t pass anyone else either, but that made it part of the fun as we were well off the tourist trail.
Naverone bay seen from the cliffs above them. In the middle distance is the Acropolis at Lindos (see next picture). The beauty of a 400mm lens! Here’s a close-up look at the Acropolis at Lindos taken from the same location as the last photo (which used a 50mm lens). The cliffs of ‘Naverone’ – and not a gun emplacement in sight! That’s the wonders of Hollywood for you…
On the way back we passed a local taverna on the edge of Pefki where we stopped for a well-earned beer. Dawn was tempted by their Baklava and ice-cream, so we shared a portion, which was gorgeous. I don’t know if it was home-made, but it was far superior to what you can buy in the supermarkets.
Baklava and ice cream. Just the thing for topping up the blood sugar after a long walk in the sun…
Our spirits restored we decided to walk all the way home but stopped off at a little bar en-route and the smaller Plakia beach on the edge of town, where there’s the Blue Waves ‘cantina’ which is a little shack with a few shady tables set back from the beach. It serves the locally made Magnus Magister beer on draft which was a bonus for me!
Plakia beach seen from our table at ‘Blue Waves’…
By the time we got home, sweaty but happy – we’d covered over 11.6 miles. Not everybody’s idea of a relaxing holiday, admittedly – but we enjoyed it!
Over the next few days, we’ll be taking local buses to visit Lindos and Rhodes town which we’re both really looking forward to. The island’s got a fascinating history which we’re keen to learn more of. Don’t expect a blog every day, but there will be more updates – and pictures.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
My usual apologies for the lack of blogging recently but Dawn and I have been busy with other more mundane domestic issues (like a boiler playing up) as well as juggling the work/life balance and some social activities too. Not that I’m complaining, I’ve actually enjoyed the break although I’ve now got a backlog of spleen-venting stuff I want to blog about as well as some railway subjects.
Blogging’s not the only thing I’ve been neglecting. My exercise regime has gone to pot this week too – but that’s mainly been down to the weather. The week began with record temperatures but ended with several days of persistent rain – today being a case in point. That said, we’ve been in desperate need of a downpour or two as the last few months have been terribly dry so I’m not going to object. Besides, being more housebound has allowed the pair of us to plan trips for the future and fill out the diaries. Today we booked a long overdue holiday. Unlike me, poor Dawn’s not left this septic isle since a group of us went to Bruge, Belgium in October 2019. Today, Dee researched and booked us a fortnight in Rhodes for the beginning of October which will be much needed after the end of a very hectic couple of months. In the meantime, I’ve a couple of trips to Germany planned plus a week travelling around Britain for my bi-annual tour for RAIL magazine – as well as several press visits to various locations (including HS2 sites). Oh, and then we’re into the awards ceremony season. We’ll be at both the National Rail Awards and then our very own Community Rail Awards. So you can see why I’m not too bothered about having had (for me) a quiet week!
Another amusement whilst I’ve been home-based has been watching Brexiters performing every mental gymnastic under the sun to pretend the shit-show at the port of Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkstone has absolutely *nothing* to do with Brexit – which is a fabulous success according to them. Well actually, they don’t even try and claim that anymore. All they’re doing now is blaming everyone else (the French, ‘remoaners’ for not ‘believing’ in Brexit – as if believing in Unicorns make them real – and anyone else they can pass the buck to) rather than accepting responsibility for the mess of their own creation.
Have you ever heard of ‘led by donkeys’? They’re a group who’ve done some stunning videos that excoriate the Tory Government, Boris Johnson and the Brexit fundamentalists. Their latest one is from the queues into Dover and it’s a stunner, You can view it here. Hung by their own words….
Tomorrow we start a new week and I’m determined to get back into my stride (and travels) although the week will began as it ended – at home. I expect to get back into my blogging stride too. In the meantime, here’s an end of week picture of the day. This is from a previous visit to Greece, a country I used to spend a lot of time in but where I’ve not been back to since 2009. Here’s the town of Hora on the island of Naxos, seen at sunset on the 28th September 2001.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 