'Pilgrims Progress.....'

“……..I sat me down to write a simple story, which maybe in the end became a song

In trying to find the words which might begin it? I found these were the thoughts I brought along...”

Today it is Election Day in Greece and tonight there is a 'Supermoon'....
will everything here go crazy?  

(Picture taken from our garden)

As Greece goes through the economic hoops set for it by the EU we expect to find more changes and higher prices this year.  Friends who live here have already told us of exceptionally high fuel prices and strikes affecting public services.

One change that has directly affected us, is the ferry service from Italy to Corfu; for the past 5 years we have travelled by Minoan ferry’s from Venice to Corfu, it’s always one of our highlights sailing out of Venice.  So we were more than a little disappointed and confused to get an email telling us that Minoan have withdrawn the service due to financial constraints and that we would have to sail from Ancona instead, (400km further south), plus they will no longer call in to Corfu, so our ferry would drop us off at the Greek mainland port of Igoumanitsa and we would have to catch the local ferry from there to Corfu!

It would take more than this to put us off and we enjoyed the adventure of seeing new sights on the Italian coast on route to Ancona plus the adventure of disembarking at Igumanitsa (mainland Greece) and catching a local ferry

We left behind the cold, wet, windy UK spring weather (Keith & Paddy had to spend 2 very wet and cold hours packing and re-packing the car, (we never travel light)), and we sailed out of Hull for a stormy nights crossing to Holland.  

When we woke up on Monday morning in Rotterdam it was clear blue skies and the temperature rose by the hour as we headed towards Germany; the car temperature gauge reading got as high as 29 degrees!!

We drove down wonderful empty motorways as we crossed from Holland to Germany, because it was the May Day weekend, which is a European wide bank holiday and as on all bank holidays and weekends, heavy goods are not allowed on the motorways.

 The bank holiday was also a bonus because when we arrived in Heidelberg at Paul’s House......

...... there was the culmination of a weeklong festival.  We went into their village square before dinner to watch Lizzy’s niece, Antonia, sing in a local choir....

followed by several other traditional choirs who entertained the local population in a packed park in the middle of the town. We were also treated to a seasonal meal of local asparagus which is a delicacy at this time of year in this part of Germany.

In the old town of Heidelberg there is a tradition at this time of year to celebrate the spring solstice event known as Walpurgis, which featured in many folklore tales and in an epic tune, ‘Repent Walpurgis’ by prog rock band, Procol Harem. Traditionally in the evening, many young people from the town make their way up the hill to a natural amphitheatre, to camp out, celebrate and get drunk etc. as part of the celebrations that form Walpurgis Night!

See below a potted explanation from local historian and Lizzy’s brother Paul!

Walpurgis was an English nun (she died in about 788 AD) who went as a missionary to Germany and became abbess of Heidenheim; she is celebrated on the first of May, which is coincidentally the date of the rites of an earlier (pagan) festival, one of the Celtic quarter-days, in fact. On the night before May Day, Walpurgisnacht, the witch-world holds its most elaborate revels particularly at The Brocken, high-point of the Harz Mountains, in the presence of the Devil

The following day we set off to travel to Milan via Switzerland through impressive scenery of snow capped mountains, beautiful lakes, long tunnels and the sound of cow bells clanking away in the fields at the side of the motorway!

We received the usual warm welcome from Keith’s sister Deborah and family in Milan; we caught up on the winter's gossip, whilst Eleanora created the most delicious pies, with ricotta, gorgonzola cheese and broccoli. We retired fairly early as we needed a 5am start to beat the rush hour traffic of Milan and Bologna on route to the port of Ancona.  Again all went smoothly, and we arrived at the port around 11am straight onto a brand new ferry.

Ancona is a quaint port in a venetian style with some beautiful old buildings and architecture, the ferry was very quiet in terms of passengers , only a party of French school children, 4 or 5 lorry drivers, half a dozen brits and maybe 20 or so others on a 3000 capacity ferry! We upgraded to an outside cabin for less than £100 and had a great night’s sleep, waking up just off the coast of Corfu at approx. 8am.

We also met fellow English travellers Paul & Gail, who were coming back to their home in Corfu  for the summer and we shared the adventure of the switch to the local ferry from Igumanitsa.  Which in the end turned out to be quite painless and we arrived 2 hours earlier in Corfu than if we had taken the original ferry from Venice!  1 hour later we were home, accompanied by nest building swallows and swifts that had, like us, migrated for the summer.

Once we unpacked and stocked up with food, we caught up with friends and bar and hotel owners and Keith has his first gig booked this Tuesday.  So today we had a wonderful long afternoon on the beach with our friends Sue, Keith, Bob & Bev, with a picnic and wine and beer!

Lizzy’s  eldest daughter, Carmel, has come over from Oz to spend 2 weeks in the northern hemisphere for her friend’s wedding and also to visit us in Corfu. 

The night before we caught our ferry from Hull, we had a great family gathering in Leeds followed by Keith’s final UK gig, which many of the family turned up for, (the bar not realising this, thought Keith’s fame had spread far and wide and he had brought many fans to see him and as a consequence booked him for 2 more gigs when we return to the UK).

We are off now to collect our first visitors, Lizzy’s daughters, from the airport.  Pippa is coming over from Leeds & Carmel is in London, after a friend’s wedding so they will travel together from Gatwick to Corfu for a week’s holiday.

It feels good to be here!

“In starting out I thought to go exploring, and set my foot upon the nearest road

In vain I looked to find the promised turning ……….but only saw how far I was from home…………” 

"The Day we caught the train....."

"I never saw it as the start its more a change of heart
Rapping on the windows, whistling down the chimney pot
blowing off the dust in the room where I forgot I laid my plans in solid rock
Stepping through the door like a troubadour whiling just an hour away,
looking at the trees on the roadside feeling its a holiday.
You and I should ride the coast and wind up in our favourite coats just miles away......."

We are now getting into our usual routine over here:- with a late-ish start to the day; a bit of beach time; some great food, usually home cooking; then out to play some guitar; home at 1am; watch the ferries go by from the balcony; then sleep!

Our first friends to arrive this year were Ian and Rachel, (Ian worked with us in the UK in the winter time).

We knew they were coming over for a holiday but didn’t really know if we would meet up. They arrived on Friday for a 1 week stay in Arillas, the village over the hill from us. Keith had been out and about touting for work the week before, and had agreed to play at a new venue in Arillas (called Kaloudis Village); so imagine our surprise, when we walked in and the 1st people we saw were… Ian and Rachel, who were staying on the complex, and had seen the posters for the gig, but Keith couldn’t convince them he had laid it on especially for them!

When we arrived, the owner Vasillis, (who calls himself Billy) insisted we had dinner on the house before the gig! (We now have 3 venues a week that feed us for free before each gig ;O))
The gig was great, lots of banter with the audience. By the end of the night it was agreed that this would be a regular booking for the summer and each week the gig and the food have got better and better.
All the gigs so far have been fantastic, I don’t know if its Keith’s playing, or the new format of handing out the song lists, or that the venues and the people in them are just right for what Keith does, but the feedback at the end of each night has been amazing.

As Ian and Rachel had never been to Corfu before, we arranged to take them out and about one day, to show them some of the local sights, followed by lunch in a fish taverna. When we collected them the weather was a bit overcast with the threat of a bit of rain, so we did a quick trip up to Afianos, (regular guests will be familiar with this excursion into Lizzy’s little old lady paradise) Liz is still looking for that elusive ‘perfect little old lady’ picture.

And Keith for his perfect vehicle!

Next we set off to the deserted village of Ano Perithia, via some picturesque villages like Magoulades, with a World War 2 torpedo in the village square!

We chased a rain cloud all the way along the north coast until we turned inland and climbed up towards Ano Perithia, where we found sunny skies and of course great views up the mountain and down across the channel towards Albania.

During the 14th century, there were many attacks and pirate raids on Corfu. And the settlements and homes that had been established in the foothills of the mountains were vulnerable. So families sought refuge higher up and built second homes and communities, Ano Perithia became the perfect location for a ‘hidden’ village where you could see….but not be seen. The village has Venetian architecture and is surrounded by 8 churches. But by the 1940’s as these threats subsided, and many Greeks went to America, the village had gradually become more and more deserted and now no longer has any inhabitants. It does however have several tavernas for the tourists.

As it is early in the season it was very very quiet up in the village which made it even more charming and curious, all those empty houses, over grown and lost in the foliage, it was so beautiful and full of spring flowers, all of these disappear as the temperature increases leaving a hot dusty landscape during the summer months.

We managed to resist, sitting down in a village taverna for some local made walnut cake and headed for a sea food lunch. Ian & Rachel had not eaten much sea food on this holiday and they were keen to sample the local cuisine; so where better to take them than the 3 brothers in Astrakari, another of Lizzy’s favorite haunts for all sorts of reasons.
We were greeted handsomely by George and his family, we got the best table in the house (as we were the only ones there it was easy to do) although it started raining just as we sat down and Keith found the perfect position for the rain to drip down his neck through a small hole in the awning over the taverna.

As Ian & Rachel, but particularly Ian, had limited experience of eating sea food they were keen to try, so asked for our recommendations, they didn’t want fish! So we suggested a meze of cuttlefish and octopus in a spicy red sauce, calamari, and courgette and feta balls deep fried, they though it sounded great, although Ian sounded a bit wary but thought ‘what the heck I’m on holiday lets give it a try’. The food arrived and as we have eaten there many times before we knew what we were getting, it is beautiful food though it is served in a very rustic way, so calamari is not those homogenized battered rubber rings you get in restaurants in the uk, this is the real deal straight out of the sea lightly dipped in flour and deep fried, beautiful! The same with the octopus and cuttlefish it’s in a tomato and onion sauce quite spicy and very oily, and although the octopus legs taste like chicken (doesn’t everything) the suckers are still on so you know you are eating octopus.

To put it politely Ian was way out of his comfort zone, but to be fair he tried everything, even though before each mouthful he said “I am out of my comfort zone doing this”. We believe they enjoyed the experience, they both definitely loved the courgette balls and were pleased they’d tried the food; But maybe they were being polite?
As we took them back to their lovely resort of Arillas we drove through the main street of Sidari to show them what they ‘could have had’!!

"5 YEARS TIME........"

“….Oh well in 5 years time we could be walking around a zoo

With the sun shining down over me and you……”

We have been here 2 weeks today, and have been pretty much incommunicado, with no phone or internet in our villa as promised :O( ……and today we received a text from Pippa which just read “BLOG??? X” …….we’d better get on with it then ……..

So here we go again! This is our 5^th season inCorfu, and guess what?…. it still feels like magic.The day before we sailed from Hull to Rotterdam we stayed overnight at Paddy & Lorraine’s. And despite all our best intentions to take just the bare essentials this year, we have ended up with a car load of stuff, (bringing bits for Bob & Bev’s house in Corfu; a few pressie’s for Debbie and Franco; and 500 units of mosquito repellant c/o the company we work for in the UK to sell whilst we are over here).

So Sunday morning Keith & Paddy somehow managed to load the car. They spread everything out on the drive and amazingly after 3 hours of what looked like a complex Chinese puzzle, it all went in with just enough room for the two of us, with the overwhelming smell of citronella from the Mosiguard!We have a new house in Corfu this year. It is only 100 yards away from our old one, so we are still on the coast, up a hill with stunning views over San Stefanos bay.

Our new landlord is Nikos; he is the brother of our previous landlord and just as friendly and chilled. We have taken half of a beautiful property this time and Keith’s muso friend Andy fromPrestonhas taken the other half. He has come over this year with his wife Emma and their 2 year old daughter, India for his 1st season gigging inCorfu.

We drove in tandem with Andy without any dramas across Europe, through Holland, Germany,Switzerland andItaly, to catch the ferry fromVenice.

The weather was great, and the scenery spectacular, the only hold up was the 17km long San Gottard tunnel where a car had broken down deep inside it, causing several miles of tailbacks in both directions.

The only other thing of note were the Italian toll points, where Andy, on his own, in a right hand drive car and the toll booths are on the left, had to leap out, run around the car to pay, then jump back in and drive off, without causing any of the famous Italian road rage, he managed it all very well!.

As usual we were given superb hospitality by Paul & family in Heidelberg and by Deborah & family in Milan. Every year we have stayed at theirs on the way down toVenice and then again on the way back which has become a very special part of our trip. At Debbie and Franco’s we undertook a supermarket excursion to stock up on copious amounts parmesan cheese for our Corfu stay, although it was double wrapped and stored in a cool bag deep in the car, the smell of parmesan blended with the citronella oils, no wonder we passed through the border checks without anyone asking us for documents.

At Paul’s as in previous years the asparagus season had just begun and the local crop was ready and freshly picked. Paul & Milana, traditionally feed us a tasty dish of fresh asparagus with a home made garlic mayonnaise which Keith swears he could still taste when we got on the Greek ferry 2 days later.

We arrived early for the ferry and chatted to other brits doing the same trip as us and shared motoring experiences etc. we asked about the availability of cabins and we were told ask on board as it should be cheaper! So Keith left us on the quay side and wandered onto the ship, found the ships purser and asked about cabins. He was put 1^st on the list then made his way back out to the cars just as we were loading on, he jumped in to the car as it went up the gangway and we drove into the ships hold (can you imagine doing that on P&O?).

A message for Keith came over the tannoy just as we sailed and he was offered a 4 berth outside cabin for 75 euros! We decided to split it 3 ways 25 euros each (a bargain) Keith told them it was for 2 people so they had discounted the rate, and when we got the keys only 2 beds were set up, the top bunks were locked up to the bulkhead, but Andy being the enterprising chap that he is used a knife from his picnic box and managed to unlock one of the top bunks. Result!!! We had 3 comfy beds for the journey, and having spent 3 days on the road we all seemed to sleep the clock round.

We awoke Thursday morning to the sight ofCorfuIslandcoming into view through the early morning mist it was a beautiful site, our home for the next 5 months. Our newCorfuhouse is far more modern than our previous one, for example, we have hot water in the kitchen!! So we don’t have to fill buckets from the bathroom to wash up any more. It is still a traditional Corfiot villa but it has been well maintained. We have a large open plan kitchen, dining and living area, a large bathroom and a double bedroom. The garden is huge and the balcony and terraces are huge and beautifully tiled. As soon as we had unloaded the car, Keith unpacked his new toy we had brought over from theUK, his electric rotivator! After spending an hour or so building it up, and then being advised by both Andy & Liz that it wasn’t a good idea to use it wearing flip flops, he got to work on the garden!

Within hours Nikos (the owner) sent a guy over with his tractor to clear more land for us to cultivate; they drive tractors over here like they drive their scooters, on the edge and very fast, although Spiro the driver did wear a mask to keep the dust out!

The following day another old guy came to strim for us, which he eventually did, but not until he told us his life story. We have now planted tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and pepper plants, as well as spinach rocket and coriander seeds which are already coming up. With the extra land now cleared, Keith plans to grow other veg including lettuce, beetroot and lots of melons.

The season seems to be slow taking off this year; obviously things are changing here because of the Greek economic crisis, there is a real sense of uncertainty, but luckily Keith has managed to secure 3 gigs a week from last year and 1 new one and has the option of 2 more starting in June. And it looks as though Liz will be doing an airport transfer job for Thomson’s or Olympic 2 days a week starting in June. (Believe it when you see it)

“….And there’ll be sun sun sun…All over our bodies

Sun Sun Sun All down our necks

And Sun Sun Sun all over our faces

And sun sun sun so what the heck

Cos I’ll be laughing at all your silly jokes

And we’ll be laughing about how we used to smoke

All those stupid little cigarettes

And drink stupid wine

Cos it’s what we needed to have a good time…..”

"Thank you for the music......."

".....Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing....."

After all Liz’s birthday visitors left at the beginning of July …… the weather finally settled down, the world cup finished and the gigs got back on track.
We have probably had our most enjoyable season here so far, and this has been largely due to having a constant stream of great visitors, many thanks to you all, especially as you came to so many of Keith’s gigs!!!
And especially to our friends Bob and Bev, who also spend all summer here, and come to the Athens bar gig every week!

Here is a brief flavour of the past few weeks

Lorraine and Michael on a trip to Corfu Town after a week of sun bathing and chilling
Becky, Pig and Hannah ......“Mojitos are us” again and again and again



Shirley and Kathryn “ the ladies wot lunched” & drink Pimms!!! ...and a spot og gardening




Lorraine, Paul, Oli and Laura
Much fooling around in the water, boats. Rings, midnight swims, cocktails and karaoke





Jules and Pete boats and bikes and gigging with Keith



Andy and Emma, lots of sun and guitar playing


Sheila had a week of R &R before her next employment adventure
Sarah, Rebecca and Louise 'the 3 amigos' soaked up the sun, & some wind & rain, and souvenier shopped till we all dropped and Sarah was the toast of Corfu with her amazing singing





And today we are collecting out last visitors from the airport (Paddy and Lorraine….Again!!))
Keith needs the car for his gig tonight ....so I have hired another mode of transport to go and collect them from the airport ;O)

...."So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me"