Weekend

How was lunch on Sunday?

I hear from Ed that he has set up your phone and fixed the iPad problem – perhaps he knows more about iPads than I assumed. I hope the phone works as anticipated.

Back to work today for everyone in Greece. The camping, I think, is empty again having had more activity over the festive season than for a long time. I have been introduced to and got to know and meet more people, many of whom can speak English after a fashion. I think Georgia and Maria have gone from their chalet on the camping and the Swedish couple left for the airport this morning at 07:00. They come several times a year, not always together as she is a teacher so is tied to school holidays.

On Saturday evening, I was invited to indulge in Swedish mulled wine in the caravan belonging to the Swedish couple who visit frequently. Georgia and Maria were there although they had Katrina and Manos who were with them, so they came in relays so as not to desert them.

The caravan was very nice and roomy and 8m long. It was well appointed with loads of storage space and all the usual amenities. I’m not sure what it would be like to have to tow it but I suspect it will only stay on the camping so it’s not really a problem. Apparently they bought it in Thessaloniki and had it delivered to Crete by the company. They said it cost €14,000 which I didn’t think was too bad. Anyway, the mulled wine and traditional Swedish Christmas sweets went well and I was back at the van by 19:00 whereupon I continued watching the Swedish TV series about the woman’s body left on the bridge.

The weather this weekend has been exceptional with almost no wind and flat calm seas. Yesterday I was in shorts laying in the sun for a couple of hours. It was never too hot but it wasn’t at all cold either. Maria was brave and went into the sea for a swim and there were several [Greek] families on the beach playing with their dogs and digging in the sand. Not little children, but teenagers. The tide is very low at present, so the rocks are bare. There is a new moon, less than 1/3 last night. The stars were bright when I took Dave for his constitutional at 22:30 and it was not at all cold. The top temperature for yesterday was 20C I think and there was around 8 hours of sunshine.

Today, however, is a different story. Even at sunrise, there were clouds obscuring the sun and now it is very overcast and dull. I seem to be developing an interest in the weather and am considering upgrading my present weather forecasting device which is now becoming unreliable, for one which records more events including: rain, wind speed and direction, humidity and of course temperature. The professional ones cost hundreds but there are some quite good amateur ones for a lot less money. It is possible to connect the console to a computer and upload the results to a website for everyone to see.

You can also pool your results with other users in the same area to compare conditions.

Some useful Greek words:

Dawn = αυγή
Dusk = σούρουπο
Sunrise = ανατολή
Sunset = ηλιοβασίλεμα

Everyone in UK will be back at work today, although some were back on Thursday and Friday as I had some calls, so it might be a bit busy today….