"On the road again....."

".........Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends.
Insisting that the world keep turning our way........"

As we came to the end of what has been a very successful season, (90 gigs in 18 weeks; an average of 5 per week) our last visitor arrived. Carmel flew into Corfu all the way from Oz, (via London, Paris, York & Leeds) Carmel and Liz ..........(our house is just over the hill behind them!)

She spent 3 days with us on the island chilling, as part of her 4-week trip to see family & friends in Europe. So we treated her to sea, sun, fine dining and of course a Keith gig.
The weather held fine for the duration of her visit. The first day though the sea was rough which gave Carmel chance to show off her body surfing skills she has picked up in Oz,

.........plenty of surf

but the next 2 days the sea was like a lake so swimming across the bay before breakfast was the order of the day. (Obviously not Liz ;O))

As we were winding down from all the gigging we had most nights free and we reintroduced Carmel to Jenny, they last met at our wedding 4 years ago, she is now running the Mythica restaurant with her partner Leo; and to Stefano & Athina and family at the Condor Bar. She also had the pleasure of meeting some of the other musos from the UK, who live this strange lifestyle of gigging all night, sleeping all day or just hanging out in bars. She was amused to find that we were known as Keith & Keithena (Liz) or Keith & Mrs Keith and Carmel became known as Miss Keith by some of the local bar owners.
We ate out with our friends Bev and Bob, and took Carmel to their house to see their new baby chickens. Keith, Bob, Bev and Liz in the Athens Bar

And of course we did the “Waves” Taverna lunch,

the Condor breakfast, and the final gig of the season was fittingly at the 5 star hotel “Restina Suites” for a chill out evening with a great atmosphere. Keith played at the 5 star every Sunday night all season

It was sad to say goodbye to people who have become good friends over the past 5 months but we can look forward to seeing them again next year as lots of work has been pencilled in for the 2010 season.

It took us no time at all to pack up our house having done this for the last 3 years. We stored away our belongings ready to do this all over again next year. Our house overlooks the sea and even in the height of summer everything is fairly damp, so all our clothes, bedding and towels are vacuum packed, and stored in breathable boxes, so that they don’t rot away during the winter. We gave everywhere a quick clean, turned everything off and locked the door for the last time until May 2010.

We set off before sunrise for the ferry and arrived at the port and loaded on at 7am for the 26-hour journey to Venice.

This is our ferry pulling in with its doors opening at the same time (will the Greeks ever learn?)
.....A Beautiful sunrise at the ferry port

........Our ferry from Corfu to Venice

Carmel watching the sun rise at the start of our 26 hour journey across the Ionian Sea

Keith managed to catch a few hours of sunbathing on deck, whilst Liz & Carmel caught up on their sleep. Carmel just about managed to shut the world out

Then we spent the evening in the dining room on board before retiring to our cabin for the night. We woke up to a superb breakfast in our cabin, before we all piled out on deck to watch Venice go past on both sides of the ferry.
The view of Venice as we sailed up the Grand Canal
Poor Carmel didn’t know which side of the boat to film from as there is sooo much to see.
We docked and made our way to the town of Verona where we had arranged to meet up with Shiela (Liz’s sister, one of our strategically placed relatives when planning our route home)
Sheila, Carmel and Liz in Verona

We had a few hours to kill so we saw the sites, including Juliet’s balcony!

and the Coliseum
We had several great Italian coffees and Pizza and wine for lunch with Sheila
before getting back on the road to Keith’s sisters home in Milan (yep, another strategically placed relative)
That evening, Keith went with Franco to watch his nephew Georgio play football whilst the girls (Liz, Deborah, Carmel and Eleonora) chatted and chatted. A fab meal later with kilo’s of home made tiramisu,
Deborah's Home made Tiramisu......yum!

we retired to bed to get a good sleep ready for the next leg,

This is just before we drove through the 17km long San Gottard Tunnel, one of the longest tunnels in Europe, which takes you from the Italian side of Switzerland to the German side of Switzerland

....then through the Swiss Alps to Germany and another overnight stop with our 3rd strategically placed relatives, Paul and Milena in Heidelberg.

Paul, Milena and Carmel had a lot of catching up to do having not seen each other for over 3 years; we decided this was best done over a meal. So that evening the five of us walked into the old town of Heidelberg. It is an amazing town full of old buildings and cobbled streets, ornate bridges over the river and lots and lots of restaurants and street cafes, all overlooked by a beautiful castle.

View across the river to the Castle in Heidelberg

It was a great evening; we ate fantastic local food and drank some pretty good German wine & beer! The following day we set off for the last leg of our journey to the coast, the long schlep to Rotterdam to catch the ferry home!

Once again the weather was kind to us, we detoured slightly to drive up the Rhine valley, then across Germany and a bit of Belgium & Holland. As this was the middle of September, the autumn colours were starting to come in with the trees changing from green to red and yellow hues; the massive wind turbines towered over the trees as the scenery changed from the rolling hills of the vineyards of Germany into the flat landscape of the Netherlands.

For the whole of the journey through Europe we’d had bright sunshine, clear skies, and open roads! A totally smooth journey! But as we got closer to Rotterdam the roads got bigger, with more lanes and the rush hour traffic was starting to build and it quickly became apparent just how big the City of Rotterdam is. It was quite stressful to drive through, (but still not as mad as the Italian motorways near Milan). This was a new route for us because we have always sailed from Zeebrugge before. We seemed to drive forever through endless miles of oil tanks and petrochemical works, before we reached the ferry port. We got on board, found our cabin, then settled down on the ”sun deck” with large drinks to watch the sun set over the docks and chemical works. And congratulated Carmel for surviving the 1000-mile road trip with us!

...... Rotterdam docks at sunset

We woke up Sat morning with the ferry in the Humber estuary,
and gorged ourselves silly, on a massive “eat all you can” breakfast buffet, before heading west on the M62 towards home!

More of the same next year!!! Love L&K

"........Just can't wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again..........."


ps ....see you Christmas 2010 Carmely Choc x

"Hey You!!! .....don't watch that......"

".........watch this! .......This is the heavy, heavy monster sound………..
........one step BEYOND!!!!!!"

Last year Gemma, Caitlyn, Finley & Arwen came to stay with us for what seemed like the whole summer, 6 weeks of fun! And it didn’t look like they were going to get out here at all this year. But Gemma, always one for a bargain, spotted a last minute deal, so they booked, it packed it and F***ing arrived!!
For 2 weeks our house was very busy and noisy and lots of fun!!
...especially at bedtime!!
And for 2 weeks it was sun, sun, sun….. so we did beach.... pool......
.....pool.... beach and a bit more beach. We stayed mainly in San Stef, as the beach we used last year in Arillas was washed away in the winter storms, leaving a tiny strip of sand and loads and loads of pebbles.
The beach here is perfect, especially for small children, the water is very shallow for a long way out, no rocks and hardly any current or undertow,
so there is less likelihood that they would get into any difficulties compared to the local pools. .....which can be full of Crocodiles!!!!
..........and Dolphins

The 4 of them quickly familiarised themselves with places they went to so often last year,
........Athina pool

and many happy hours were spent digging in the sand, swimming in the sea, and that was just Keith! He thinks that he can get away with digging up ½ the beach cos he has his grandkids with him, even though most of the time they are not interested in his latest recreation of Windsor Castle or the Hoover dam, until he turns his back and it becomes a race to see which of the 2 little ones can destroy it first. Still it keeps him quiet for a few hours (for a change)
Its amazing what a difference 12 months can make; last year both Arwen & Finley seemed too young to appreciate the full “at the seaside” experience, but this year they had the time of their lives. This year Finley has learnt to jump in the water and hold his breath (thank goodness) as last year every time he jumped in the swimming pool he swallowed ½ the contents and promptly brought it back up again! Gemma spent a couple of hours successfully teaching him how to hold his nose and dive as he leapt into the water.

Arwen wasn’t even walking last year so it has been a big change for her, running into the sea, splashing everyone in the water, she has turned out to be a water baby just like her brother and sister.
Caitlyn, being much older than the other two, enjoyed the bits she got to do without the 2 little ones, like going to a couple of Keith’s gigs with Liz, drinking cocktails (non alcoholic….. we think?) shopping trips (when the little ones were asleep), and mixing with older kids, both family and acquaintances she met by the Athina pool. At one of Keith’s gigs in Sidari she ended up playing pool and exchanging email addresses with a group of girls from Birmingham, her self-confidence has been amazing this year.
One night Liz took a night off from her role as tour/merchandise manager for Keith, and took Gemma and co to see a Michael Jackson tribute act playing in the Condor Bar in our village. They had fun, although Finley found it too loud and walked around with his hands over his ears all night, much to everybody’s amusement.
Just as he did a couple of nights later when they all trooped down to see Keith (Papoo) do his weekly gig at the Athens bar, Arwen danced, Caitlyn chattered (and chattered) to the adults, and Finley was frankly not amused and wanted to go home! (A man of taste)
The two weeks flew by,
and soon it was time to take them to the airport for the flight home,
it was such a good fortnight, a great example of having lots of fun without going mad and not spending loads of money, on eating out, trips out, or hiring boats or bikes ‘n’ stuff.

Keith was working on the night of the airport run so we dropped him off in Sidari, and then carried on to Corfu airport. I picked him up about midnight and we got back to our lovely, empty and quiet house for a nightcap on the balcony. When we woke up in the morning, the beach was suddenly empty the town felt so sleepy, It was soooo quiet, it seemed like not only Gemma and family had gone home but most of the other holidaymakers had as well. It is now September and the summer season is drawing to a close and in a few weeks we will be back in the UK reflecting on the summer just gone and who knows next year?

It all seems like “Madness”

“One step beyond”. Do do do, dodododododo….

"Pulling mussels from a shell"

......."They do it down on camber sands
They do it at Waikiki
Lazing about the beach all day,
At night the crickets creepy
Squinting faces at the sky
A Harold Robbins paperback
Surfers drop their boards and dry
And everybody wants a hat"

Phew! August is over and the end of the silly season!
We have had a deluge of visitors, just as Ele and Vanessa left………….. Do, Dan, Paul, Milena and Family arrived and then Gemma and the kids. One warm barmy evening, when our friends Bob and Bev popped round on their way home from work, we were throwing a BBQ and it resulted in 14 of us all on the balcony, eating, drinking and partying.


We enjoyed doing the usual sightseeing duties, and took Do and Dan to Kassiopi, then up to the Monastery on the mountain ........and then to one of Do’s favourite restaurants in Strinilas under the old Elm tree,
also a fish treat for Dan at the Three Brothers in Astrakari. Liz took them for a day out to Paleokstritsa for a browse round the monastery there, and then lunch in a village on the way home, away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist beaten track.

It really highlights different aspects of the environment here when we have visitors because obviously everyone’s needs and experiences are unique. From Liz’s Mum who is 80 next year to Arwen who will be 2 in October. There are challenges and issues every time we set foot out of our door.
Because, whilst the Greeks are very clearly, family orientated, they have no concept of good old British ‘health and safety’. Everywhere you go there are uneven steps with no handrails, or hand rails 3 feet high and nothing beneath them to stop toddlers falling off the cliff, unfinished roads, pot holes so deep you could hide in them, or great big ridges of concrete, left where a cement mixer had dribbled the last drops of its load onto the road surface, there are very few pavements and of course pedestrian crossings, painted on the road are “just for decoration”, there is at least one bar we know has a children’s playground right on the road side with a fence to separate the children from the bar area, but no gate to stop little ones running straight onto the road!
But whilst this is a challenging environment for my Mum, she felt as though she had stayed on a health farm by the time she left. She swam in the sea or the pool every day and did her exercises
And we managed to do quite a lot of walking. This is a very hilly island, so everywhere you walk is pretty demanding. Also the heat wave we have waited for all season has now arrived so it is very hot ‘n’ sticky both day and night. Paul and family arrived on the overnight ferry from Brindise at 5am, they were staying in the nearby village of Afionas, so we drove over at 8am to say hello and have breakfast with them. This is a great time of day to spot locals doing local things and we were not disappointed, there was a great photo opportunity for Keith with a little old lady and her donkey! We met Paul ‘n’ family, checked out their apartment, then drove down to the bay below (Agios Georgios) for food. We found a taverna on the sea front that offered full breakfast at a reasonable price; so 7 full fry-ups were ordered. Agios Georgios is a more cosmopolitan resort than San Stefanos, and they cater for more German, Italian and Dutch taste, so when the breakfast arrived it was eggs, English bacon, brockvorst, tomatoes and mushrooms!! Perfect start to a perfect Greek experience! Agios Georgios is a deep water bay, great for swimming straight off the shore and ideal for snorkelling, and perfect for sailing. We returned the following day, the sea was as expected, much colder than San stef, as it is a very enclosed bay and deep water but we all had a great swim, with Dan, Liam and Keith challenging each other to swim around the yachts moored in the bay. The sand here is very gritty and soft so sandcastles are out of the question and getting in and out of the water proved to be a challenge for those of us less agile, although Liam and Antonia were on hand to help the stranded onto the shore.

We had a family meal in a restaurant on netural ground between Arillas and Afionas, a taverna called the Night Owl. Which did not include a lot of the typical Greek oven dishes but was all charcoal grilled stuff, with some nice specialities of octopus stuffed calamari and souvalaki plus lots of local wine and Retsina, which I must confess we are starting to get a liking for. We all piled back to Paul’s apartment for a quick nightcap and a really sweet flute recital by Antonia, then home for a last ouzo on our balcony before bed. Paul and Milena walked over to our resort a few times and when Gemma and the kids arrived, a great inter family rapport developed. Caitlyn and Antonia played together in and out of the Athina pool; Liam mixed his time between playing with the girls and keeping Finley occupied. Leaving us adults to chill either by the pool, or on the beach and able to swim in peace in the increasingly calm and very warm sea.
Paul was persuaded by the older children that it would be ‘fun’ to hire a pedalo; so he was duly dispatched to cost it out; the deal was done and Paul, Liam, Caitlyn and Antonia set sail in a very choppy sea for an hour. They didn’t get very far but had fun taking it in turns to slide into the water and generally fool around 100 metres off shore, whilst Paul bailed the water out with his hat! One afternoon, Paul, Milena, Keith, Liz, Liam and Antonia decide to take a long walk to the far end of San Stef beach (yep, the bit where people take their clothes off)
As soon as we got there, Milena left her clothes on the beach and headed for the sea, as did Keith and then Liz; the youngsters were horrified and wanted to go back to where ‘normal’ people bathed, much to the amusement of the adults!

A visit to a Keith Mitchell gig is compulsory if you come and visit us here, so on Thursday night we all trooped down on mass to the Athens bar to do our duty and a good night was had by all. The last time Paul and Milena had seen Keith play was last Christmas in Harrogate, where the entire audience consisted of Liz’s family and our friend Shirley and her mate. So it was a treat and a surprise to see Keith work with a ‘real’ crowd.

Do, Dan, Paul and family left us on Friday, after we took them into Corfu town for a quick look round and an ouzo meze, then onto the airport. So now just a few more days of excitement and mayhem, (beach, gig, pool, beach, gig, pool!!!) with Gemma and the kids, then tranquillity for 10 days before the final countdown to our journey home when Carmel arrives from Oz and we travel home together through Europe and back to the UK.