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Greece Being Greece…

Tom Winnifrith
Tuesday 10 September 2013

I think you know that I love Greece as does the Deluded Lefty, I mean the Mrs. What is there not to love about this place? Hmmmm.

There is the Greek two kilometres. How far is it to the nearest taverna from our hotel? We asked the man at the local taverna which did not actually serve food and did not seem terribly strong on the drink front either. Two kilometres he said. Our hearts sank.

Both of us have been here often enough to know that even when a sign says two kilometres it might actually mean five kilometres – it is just a random gesture thrown up casually like a pebble on the beach. And so off we strode in the midday sun.

After a short while we came to an area where – in the Good times – the local municipality had built a pavement by the side of the road. It had also erected some ghastly faux-vintage street lights. It was not as if there were any houses nearby but in the good times, EU money funded such schemes. The pavement is now overgrown and none of the lights work but it is a reminder of the good old days.

Why when the EU cash was flowing no-one invested in a sewerage system that allowed one to flush loo paper down the pan rather than place it in a bucket is something I never figured. I guess that was not a vanity project. But I digress...

Knock me down with a feather, when after only around one kilometre we stumbled across the taverna. For the first time in my life a Greek distance estimate was wrong the right way. As an added bonus it was a downhill walk after lunch.

Then there is our hotel which is one of the smartest I have stayed in in my life. This is posh Greece. Hmmm.

So that means that the internet works. Sometimes. The Mrs thinks that this is a good thing. Except when she wants for the nth time to check if any more wedding photos have been uploaded to her wedding photo site. Oddly most of those that have been uploaded have been of the stunning bride rather than the groom. I cannot think why.

The hotel has just called to say we are checking out today. No we are not I said. But our records show…. Well they are wrong said I. And put the phone down. They called back to say their records were correct. No they are not said I and put the phone down. They have just called again to say that their records were wrong and that they hoped we enjoyed another night here.

That means another night of inviting the hotel kitten into our rooms where we have secreted some meats we half-inched from breakfast in order to give the little creature its first decent meal in weeks. And another day of doing not very much at all.

Only one phone call with Dan Levi today. And one from a former colleague at the old place. Breaking news on that front on Monday. For now it is back to the honeymoon. I am behaving myself. And Greece is Greece.

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About Tom Winnifrith
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Tom Winnifrith is the editor of TomWinnifrith.com. When he is not harvesting olives in Greece, he is (planning to) raise goats in Wales.
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