Bit of a catch up required

People are always asking me “What have you been doing?” I rack my brains & the answer is usually nothing much. Tell me then why is it so long since I have found time to write my diary?

Well here goes –

In May Ian went up to Newcastle to see some aging rockers, no not A & J, but a group called Yes. I was asked but said NO. Instead I went birding to RSPB Otmoor. Had a great morning. I was really pleased with myself, as now I am able to identify a lot of birds by sight & song.

The following weekend saw us both on a coach going to Rutland Water on the lookout for Ospreys. We got some magnificent views and Ian even tried digiscoping.  Later in the day we saw a glossy Ibis a lifer for me.

 Need to find some photos to put here.

Two weeks later we are heading into London to meet up with Sarah & Jon.  Now I am slightly injured have sprained my sartorial muscle (look it up). So I am somewhat hobbling more than usual. We meet Sarah & Jon in Marylebone as they spent the weekend in London staying in a hotel for their wedding anniversary.

We are going to Lords not for cricket this time but for a tour round. It is only a mile but soon Ian & Sarah have left poor Jon with me struggling along behind. Anyway we soon get there and are astounded at how many people are there. 75 of us all together so we are split in 2 groups. The tour is brilliant; it was great to see the changing rooms and the long room and to hear the many anecdotes from the guide. It was so exciting to go into the Media room.

It was a nice sunny day and they were preparing the ground for a match the following weekend so there were quite a few people about. Not as many as a test match. Of all the grounds I have visited Lords is my favourite.

Next stop is a Spanish restaurant that had been recommended to me by some one at work. Now we have done a fair amount of walking and it is a warm day as previously reported. So it was not very good that we had to wait at least 20 minutes to get a drink. Points are being deducted rapidly. Anyway 2 glasses of pink sparkly cava later & we are feeling a bit better. The food was very good but we did go a bit mad and ordered quite a few tapas.

The Iberico ham was delicious and I recall some lovely aubergine dish, suckling pig, octopus, squid, chicken and several veggie choices as well. After a while I think the other 3 did pudding as well. Suitably stuffed we left the Scotts to schmooze with the celebs at the Chiltern Fire house while we caught the next available train to Marlow. Stomach full, wallet empty. A great day.

The following weekend sees the start of June and the Winnings joined us in Marlow for the weekend. We all went to Twickenham to see the Barbarians v England play rugby.

Despite meticulous planning and research by me, we ended up have to romp a good mile plus to the ground, as the buses were all full and no taxis around. I was still in hobble mode so we got to the ground quite a while after the others.

It was Eleanors 1^st professional rugby match and she liked it. The England side was not even the B team but all had a good time. Ian & Tom enjoyed pulling the team and tactics apart if nothing else.

It is now Mid June and HOLIDAY time. We are headed to Mykonos now here is a story. Where to begin?

Mykonos June 2014

Reason for going to a Greek Island ending in OS.

1.     We were given some BA air miles and it was the only place that we could find with the right flight times and price.

Full of fear of an 18-30 type location we booked the best hotel we could find. Boutique, pricey and away from the main beach and possible boom boom of any nightclubs. Job done.

This is just a sun holiday to refuel and top up the tan.

However a couple of months before we departed I received an email to say the hotel had been overbooked and we had been moved to another hotel. Which was slightly bigger, not boutique, right on the beach, cramped pool and no reduction in price. Despite ringing, emailing, demanding and cajoling we got absolutely nowhere. We could not find alternative accommodation so it was indeed with an even bigger fear that we set off for Mykonos and the Platinos Beach Hotel.

Waiting to board our flight we noticed that there were a lot of Americans waiting as well. Hmmm. Then there were 15 rows of business class seats all taken. No chance of an upgrade for Mr & Mrs F then. The flight was 90% residents of the USA and not an 18-30 stereotype to be seen.

Picked up from the airport by the hotel as promised the other occupants in the mini bus were yes American and staying in the hotel WE should have been in. I refrained from asking them when they booked.

Anyway we arrive at our hotel, it is blisteringly hot and the bright white & pale blue building shimmers in the late afternoon heat. We are given a small glass of sparkling wine (I am still sceptical of what we are going to receive here.) Our room however is a delight. We have the largest balcony in the hotel, the very large bed is made up with clean crisp linen and the aircon is blasting out very cool air.

There are 3 or 4 large luxury cruisers in the cove and the boom boom music is boom booming out. It was as I feared Oh dear. Ian tries to console me but I am not happy.

Welcome drink as it was poured. No I had not drunk half of it.

Bed

Balcony

View

We rapidly unpack and make our way outside to grab some supper from one of the many restaurants that line the sea front here. We end up walking to the far side and a typical Greek taverna where we eat in typical Greek style it was excellent. The walk back was not as pleasant as the walk there. By now it is dark & the cliff top path is a little treacherous, but you know me nimble as a mountain goat. Soon off to sleep in cool clean bed. Boom Boom has stopped.  But what was that noise, it sounded like a Peacock - too much Vino!

We soon find our feet, realise that the pool area is too hot & too cramped for us; the beach outside the hotel is also cramped. At Nicolas Taverna the sun beds are free not squished together & you can move them around. You also get the benefit of a walk there & back each day and a breeze that seems to elude the other beaches. I did plenty of swimming in the crystal clear warm sea and quite often had a dip in the hotel pool after the walk home.

We found out that despite being a party island Mykonos is more cosmopolitan than being Chavs’ Ville. Plenty of upmarket restaurants and quality food along with traditional Greek fare to be found. It appears to be the playground for wealthy Americans who travel via Heathrow for a week’s vacation and can you believe it Austrailians.
There are massive luxury cruisers all over the place & certain beaches are the place to be seen. The tenders (very posh speed boats) come & collect people from the quay outside our hotel. White leather seats and very tanned handsome men , suitably attired and with designer shades, driving them.

We can walk to 4 beaches from our hotel which we did  and also got a boat to one of the other beaches one morning. However the heat was blistering and we soon gave up and went to a cooler spot.

Some photos of Mykonos town.

Little Venice

Chic Greek cafe

It was a very hot holiday almost too hot for me, especially when I had a 24 hr. sickness thing going on. The people in the hotel were excellent and we could not fault the personal service that we received.  We did venture into the Nissaki Hotel where we should have been staying and it was indeed a cut above the other hotel. However they said we were welcome to use the facilities & even have our breakfast there. Still I was a bit put out after the visit, but I had to go you understand.

Cliff top walk

View across the bay to our hotel

Nikolas' fishing boat

Arty farty fishing net shot

Drying fish 

Peacock Rock

It was a peacock we heard on that first night. They are wild here and would call throughout the day. They lived up here on what is known to us as Peacock rock. It is right above the beach & Nikolas' taverna. If they made too much noise he would shout at them . "Quiet or tomorrow in the oven"

Nikolas Taverna

Just to update you on the boom boom. It was only that one night and never heard any during the day. There were no night clubs in Platios Gialos and even the Greek dancing nights finished early enough not to disturb. We slept well every night apart from the vomiting one.

We did have a lovely time; it was easy to get to and to get around the island. We caught the bus one day into Mykonos town. The tiny winding streets were packed full of expensive shops, none of your kiss me quick tat here! In fact we suffered slightly as a bottle of gin was about €23 – not even a Litre and tonic water was scarcer than hen’s teeth. The wine served in restaurants was on the other hand more than quaffable and a dignified amount of quaffing was done, not too much though!

Nicely toasted we returned home to a lovely warm & sunny Marlow.