It's all Greek to me!

Bristol Airport was crowded, mainly because no-one had managed to take off for about sixteen hours. We were patiently waiting to check in our baggage when a smiling lady told us that they had to pause for a while: they had to move all the bags that were already checked in. And they did! The ladies with clipboards discarded them and began shifting luggage. I think I could see the pilot in the distance, loading bags onto the trolley! Later the ladies returns and picked up their clipboards and check in recommenced. Within three hours we were sitting hopefully in the departure lounge, waiting for a Gate number to replace the "Delayed" entry on the departures board. I heard a rumble of jet engines in the distance, a ripple of elation buzzed through the crowd: a plane had taken off! After six hours, which included a 40 minute wait at the bar for essential supplies, we are told to report to gate 8: 

"You're flight has been cancelled." smiled the charming lady. "Go home and come back tomorrow! If you are too far to go home, find yourselves a hotel: we haven't got the staff to find one for you. And don't forget to collect your bags so that you can check them in again tomorrow!"

Scenes like this were being repeated all over the U.K. on a daily basis as the holiday season began. Hundreds of flights were cancelled last minute, delays of many hours and no food on board were the 'new normal'. 

We were heading off to Greece for ten days so celebrate brother in law Robert's 70th on brother in law  William's yacht. And it wasn't Greek to me! The reasons for the widespread delays were not too difficult to fathom. Many people, including pilots, had been laid off through the pandemic and the recruitment of catering staff, security personnel and most of all baggage handlers was proving rather more difficult than airport management companies had anticipated. Unemployment is under 4% in the UK at the moment: there is a massive shortage of unskilled labour, every pub and cafe is advertising for staff. Of course, this has nothing to do with the millions of Central Europeans who left after Brexit and cannot (or don't want to) come back. It's just the pandemic hangover, you understand. 

We did find ourselves a hotel and we did fly the next day with only a three hour delay, so that by 8pm we were on board the good ship Armathia, anchored just off the shore of Greek island of Skiathos. A lovely week of swimming, lazing around, some excellent greek food (the fish is just fantastic out here but then so is the lamb and pork!) The beer, especially Mythos beer, is excellent and the wine is very drinkable. 

One highlight of the week was Robert's birthday celebration, which included a climb up to the 'Mamma Mia" church on the adjacent island of Skopalos. The climb up the the church was quite a challenge for him but he gamely made it, supported by a team of pullers and pushers. And he got to ring the bell outside the church! It was a bigger challenge getting him back on board, as the wind had risen and a swell of around a metre gently played around the landing deck. We made it back eventually! In the evening, back in Skiathos, a celebration dinner took place. They managed to rustle up a birthday cake at short notice and  the whole restaurant sang happy birthday to him! 

William had purchased an inflatable water slide which, he assured us, would be easy to inflate and dangle over the side of the boat. With a bit of head scratching and grunting this was achieved and it proved to be a very fast and efficient water slide. The current injury list includes bruised ribs, sever sinusitis and I managed a cut lip and lost filling! Fran very wisely chose not to participate in this blood sport, using recent hip surgery as a feeble excuse!

 

One of the most relaxing days saw us take the RIB on the twenty minute trip across Skiathos harbour to a luxury beach resort on Tsougria Island. There was some discussion among the millionaires present as to whether we could justify €20 each for a front row lounger under an umbrella, when the second row was only €15! The sea, which was at the perfect swimming temperature, was a few metres away and the sun shone so brightly that the sand was too hot to walk on with bare feet. Luckily there was a bar fifty metres away and the beer was very cold.

Fran and I also had a additional few days in a hotel and managed to explore the island a little including a minibus up to the monastery, which was situated on a hillside high above the town. Other than that we did very little except find a favourite cafe on the waterfront and watch the ferry boats landing. Some of the larger trucks which were being reversed onboard almost drove over us on the cafe terrace but the quality of driving on display was first class. It was highly entertaining, especially when some poor tourist in a hire car got stuck in the middle of the impatient Greek drivers. It was crazy but they can turn a ferry around in half an hour: it would be interesting to see Greek methods introduced to Fishguard or Picton!

We flew back to Bristol with only a three hour delay and no food on board the plane. William had volunteered for the long drive home: we arrived back at Roose at 5.30am! After a few days gardening and general catching up, I am in serious need of another holiday! 

We did manage a trip up to Cardiff last weekend where around 160,000 Welsh folk had gathered in the stadium, over two nights, to worship at the shrine of the still great Tom Jones and The Stereophonics. With crazy cocktails in The Alchemist before the gig and a great night out afterwards, including several drinks in the KIWI club ( where a NZ driving licence gets you in for free), there was only one place to finish the evening: a midnight feast on Chippy Row! This is of course, a Cardiff must do! 

Sunday was rather slow!

PS: Covid is everywhere, with a new variant is rising steadily! No-one is wearing masks any more, testing is not compulsory, isolation for a few days is "advised". Estimates are that 1 in 45  people had an active infection in Wales last week, so there must have been several thousand at the Stereophonics gig! Deaths are running at 50 odd per day: I guess this is the "new normal".

Petrol is nearly £2/ litre. ( NZ$ 3.90)

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