On, Off and On Again
My internet connection has been playing up all day today...I spoke too soon, there it goes again....and its back! I think it's the heat!
We have a horrible tendency in this country to complain about the weather what ever we get! And I am no exception, this is as hot as I like it but apparently its going to get warmer!
I guess I would not mind if I could go swimming in the sea everyday like I used to when I stayed in Greece. It was only for a year and was ages ago now....17 years ago in fact! Now I have scared myself! But the memory of my time there is very strong and seeing Greece on the TV makes me homesick for it.
My very good friend Izzy is visiting from Greece next month and I can't wait to get together with her, it's been three years since I saw her last. (Izzy, if you are reading this how can us being in Porto Heli together be 17 years ago?!?!?) I suddenly feel the urge to go look at some old photos!
Anyway aside from intermittent internet connection it has been a good day. We have a new digital TV aerial which, after we buy a new TV tomorrow, will bring us the joys of freeview, no more 4 channels for us! I finished a big piece of work I was doing and got it sent off, and I made arrangements to meet with our new emergency dog walker who sounds lovely and has three German Shepherds and a Newfoundland of her own!
Its not our favourite option but during the hottest months when the dogs cannot come with us to work, and on days when we cannot get back at lunch, it will be great to have someone who can take them for a walk and then spend a little time with them. It will be an occasional thing but useful to have the option.
Anyway, here are some old photos of Greece! Ok this first one is me and some friends on Pete the Cat's Cat! We were having a BBQ if I remember rightly. Can't see you T-Bone, were you taking the picture?
That's, from left to right, Graham (currently residing in Greece), me, Bill the Fish (currently residing in Indonesia), Pink and Lady (more of them to come) and Tony, our very good friend from Swindon. I don't know where Pete is!
This next one is my girl, Pink, my first dog.
This was taken only a few days after I met her. Pink was a stray that I adopted in Greece and brought back to the UK with me. She lived to be 13, or possibly older but we estimated her age to be 1 when we first met her.
She was not a very good stray. She was the runt of the stray pack and got picked on a lot. When we first met she was not interested in any attention she just accepted a drink and then was content to sit by my side. It was several months before she began to come out of her shell and bark and play with us. I think it surprised her almost as much as it did us! Although the first time we took her to a house and she saw a couch she knew exactly what to do! Climb on and spread out!
This was the view from the second beach we parked the camper up at. I was leaning against the rear of the camper as I took this.
This was where I had a swim every morning before I went to work. I worked in a hotel answering the phone, tending bar and cleaning. I worked 10am - 1pm and 4.00pm - 8.00pm Monday to Friday.
We had the whole place to ourselves.
I swam here a lot at night too. It is amazing to see the phosphorescents in the water and one night we watched fireworks reflecting off the water from a local display as we swam.
This picture has all sorts in it! Ok firstly Pink walking towards Bills car and looking very thin! Next is Richard, a lovely chap we met out there who if I remember right was a chef.
Next is Bill the Fish's car, a TR3 with California plates from his time in the USA. He had just had it re-sprayed.
In the foreground on the right is the camper I went travelling in. It was a Dodge and had a plaque by the door saying 'Custom Made for the Hinkleys'!
Top camper! We had a four ringed gas stove and oven, a full sized fridge. A shower and toilet room, two sinks, air conditioning (although it did not work) and central heating, which thankfully during out later travels to Holland in winter did work! We slept in the double bed above the cab with Pink and during our time in Greece had three lodgers for a time, although not all at the same time! There was Ian the tennis coach from London (top chap!) and T-Bone and Tony. Actually T-Bone and Tony had their own tent and camped by us.
They used to come in in the morning when it got so hot they had to get out of their tent and put the kettle on! We met them in Greece but became firm friends and still are to this day. (Do you remember T-Bone?)
Lastly in that picture, aside from Bill the Fish standing at the camper door, behind the camper is a Canadian couple we met who were on their honeymoon. They asked for wedding gifts to be money or kit appropriate for travelling and for their honey moon brought themselves a round the world ticket.
They stopped off in Amsterdam and bought this VW camper and then travelled around Europe in it. When they were done they took the camper back to Holland, sold it back and then carried on around the globe by air!
I am very sad to say I cannot remember their names but they were a lovely couple. The chap carved me a name tag for Pink which she wore on her collar and I still have it.
Ok, next shot is the first beach we parked at, until we were moved on by the people who owned villas on the hill to the rear of us who said we were spoiling their view. Fair enough really!
Actually a few months after we moved I went to a party at one of the villas on the hill behind this spot!
Anyway, I know it does not look like I am clothed from the waist down but I am! I promise!
I was washing Pink who had just rolled in a dead fish carcass she found on the beach, the smellier the better!
I used to take Pink to work with me and she used to chill out behind the bar while I worked and then come down to the beach with me for a swim and to sit in the shade in between morning and afternoon shifts. Sometimes we would go and sit in Izzy's shop in her wonderful deckchairs and shoot the breeze!
This final shot from Greece is from a very memorable day, not long after we arrived in Porto Heli, when we went out sailing on Mandragore. (62 foot ketch)
The boat was owned by a chap called Mark, who funnily enough got me my job at the hotel.
Mark had two people turn up and ask to charter his boat for a couple of days. He said yes and recruited us (me and Graham), the two new people in town he had met the night before, to cook and host for the day while he sailed!
It was a fabulous trip. We anchored over night in a small bay and went ashore to the local Taverna for dinner. I had sword fish steaks!
On return to the boat I lay on the deck and watched the stars. It was the clearest sky I have ever seen.
The next day on the return journey I was a little hungover and, not being a great sailor, a little seasick. Graham cooked their lunch, and did an amazing job, I was not able to go below deck as it aggravated my condition!
I had not adopted Pink at this time but we were accompanied by Marks wonderful dog, and Pinks future first love, Captain.
You cannot really see it in this picture but there is snow on the mountains to the right and the sea was so still and lilac!
Ok, this last shot was not taken in Greece but was in my Greece albums!
This is me, many, many moons ago! I do not know how old I was but we are talking young to middle age teenager. At this point I was still in protest about not being a boy!
I know that may sound a little odd but from a very early age I was really upset that I was a girl. For some reason I knew that because I was a girl it was going to be so much harder to do all the things I wanted to do and that somehow I was at a disadvantage!
I remain to this day a huge tomboy although have obviously become comfortable with my gender!
Being a girl has turned out ok after all! Maybe I was a man in my previous life and I started this life with memories of that, hence my disappointment!
All I can say about the clothes is that it was the 1980's!
Well that has proven the key to accessing treasured memories, emerge yourself in them! What a trip!
We have a horrible tendency in this country to complain about the weather what ever we get! And I am no exception, this is as hot as I like it but apparently its going to get warmer!
I guess I would not mind if I could go swimming in the sea everyday like I used to when I stayed in Greece. It was only for a year and was ages ago now....17 years ago in fact! Now I have scared myself! But the memory of my time there is very strong and seeing Greece on the TV makes me homesick for it.
My very good friend Izzy is visiting from Greece next month and I can't wait to get together with her, it's been three years since I saw her last. (Izzy, if you are reading this how can us being in Porto Heli together be 17 years ago?!?!?) I suddenly feel the urge to go look at some old photos!
Anyway aside from intermittent internet connection it has been a good day. We have a new digital TV aerial which, after we buy a new TV tomorrow, will bring us the joys of freeview, no more 4 channels for us! I finished a big piece of work I was doing and got it sent off, and I made arrangements to meet with our new emergency dog walker who sounds lovely and has three German Shepherds and a Newfoundland of her own!
Its not our favourite option but during the hottest months when the dogs cannot come with us to work, and on days when we cannot get back at lunch, it will be great to have someone who can take them for a walk and then spend a little time with them. It will be an occasional thing but useful to have the option.
Anyway, here are some old photos of Greece! Ok this first one is me and some friends on Pete the Cat's Cat! We were having a BBQ if I remember rightly. Can't see you T-Bone, were you taking the picture?That's, from left to right, Graham (currently residing in Greece), me, Bill the Fish (currently residing in Indonesia), Pink and Lady (more of them to come) and Tony, our very good friend from Swindon. I don't know where Pete is!
This next one is my girl, Pink, my first dog.
She was not a very good stray. She was the runt of the stray pack and got picked on a lot. When we first met she was not interested in any attention she just accepted a drink and then was content to sit by my side. It was several months before she began to come out of her shell and bark and play with us. I think it surprised her almost as much as it did us! Although the first time we took her to a house and she saw a couch she knew exactly what to do! Climb on and spread out!
This was the view from the second beach we parked the camper up at. I was leaning against the rear of the camper as I took this.This was where I had a swim every morning before I went to work. I worked in a hotel answering the phone, tending bar and cleaning. I worked 10am - 1pm and 4.00pm - 8.00pm Monday to Friday.
We had the whole place to ourselves.
I swam here a lot at night too. It is amazing to see the phosphorescents in the water and one night we watched fireworks reflecting off the water from a local display as we swam.
This picture has all sorts in it! Ok firstly Pink walking towards Bills car and looking very thin! Next is Richard, a lovely chap we met out there who if I remember right was a chef.Next is Bill the Fish's car, a TR3 with California plates from his time in the USA. He had just had it re-sprayed.
In the foreground on the right is the camper I went travelling in. It was a Dodge and had a plaque by the door saying 'Custom Made for the Hinkleys'!
Top camper! We had a four ringed gas stove and oven, a full sized fridge. A shower and toilet room, two sinks, air conditioning (although it did not work) and central heating, which thankfully during out later travels to Holland in winter did work! We slept in the double bed above the cab with Pink and during our time in Greece had three lodgers for a time, although not all at the same time! There was Ian the tennis coach from London (top chap!) and T-Bone and Tony. Actually T-Bone and Tony had their own tent and camped by us.
They used to come in in the morning when it got so hot they had to get out of their tent and put the kettle on! We met them in Greece but became firm friends and still are to this day. (Do you remember T-Bone?)
Lastly in that picture, aside from Bill the Fish standing at the camper door, behind the camper is a Canadian couple we met who were on their honeymoon. They asked for wedding gifts to be money or kit appropriate for travelling and for their honey moon brought themselves a round the world ticket.
They stopped off in Amsterdam and bought this VW camper and then travelled around Europe in it. When they were done they took the camper back to Holland, sold it back and then carried on around the globe by air!
I am very sad to say I cannot remember their names but they were a lovely couple. The chap carved me a name tag for Pink which she wore on her collar and I still have it.
Actually a few months after we moved I went to a party at one of the villas on the hill behind this spot!
Anyway, I know it does not look like I am clothed from the waist down but I am! I promise!
I was washing Pink who had just rolled in a dead fish carcass she found on the beach, the smellier the better!
I used to take Pink to work with me and she used to chill out behind the bar while I worked and then come down to the beach with me for a swim and to sit in the shade in between morning and afternoon shifts. Sometimes we would go and sit in Izzy's shop in her wonderful deckchairs and shoot the breeze!
The boat was owned by a chap called Mark, who funnily enough got me my job at the hotel.
Mark had two people turn up and ask to charter his boat for a couple of days. He said yes and recruited us (me and Graham), the two new people in town he had met the night before, to cook and host for the day while he sailed!
It was a fabulous trip. We anchored over night in a small bay and went ashore to the local Taverna for dinner. I had sword fish steaks!
On return to the boat I lay on the deck and watched the stars. It was the clearest sky I have ever seen.
The next day on the return journey I was a little hungover and, not being a great sailor, a little seasick. Graham cooked their lunch, and did an amazing job, I was not able to go below deck as it aggravated my condition!
I had not adopted Pink at this time but we were accompanied by Marks wonderful dog, and Pinks future first love, Captain.
You cannot really see it in this picture but there is snow on the mountains to the right and the sea was so still and lilac!
Ok, this last shot was not taken in Greece but was in my Greece albums!
This is me, many, many moons ago! I do not know how old I was but we are talking young to middle age teenager. At this point I was still in protest about not being a boy!
I know that may sound a little odd but from a very early age I was really upset that I was a girl. For some reason I knew that because I was a girl it was going to be so much harder to do all the things I wanted to do and that somehow I was at a disadvantage!
I remain to this day a huge tomboy although have obviously become comfortable with my gender!
Being a girl has turned out ok after all! Maybe I was a man in my previous life and I started this life with memories of that, hence my disappointment!
All I can say about the clothes is that it was the 1980's!
Well that has proven the key to accessing treasured memories, emerge yourself in them! What a trip!
What a great excursion into your past adventures! And to get to see you in a few pics! I LOVE the last one, too! Our neighbor, Geneva, has a white Staffordshire terrier with a pink nose named Pink. She is a sweetheart, though I don't mingle with them much.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blast from your past, Dancin! You be the bees' knees! ;oD
xo
Key Kyle! I am glad you enjoyed the post. I got soooooooo much fun out of doing it and was amazed about what I remembered once I started.
ReplyDeleteA pink nose is where my dog got her name from too!
It is so hard to believe it was that long ago, it really does seem like yesterday.
Well it is lovely and sunny here this monring, I hope the sun is with you too? Have the most wonderful weekend bud. Bye for now xxx
Nice story, the red car in the pic is actually a TR4 and very nice looking too. Got any old pictures of that European trip in the vw camper.
ReplyDeleteHello VW. Thank you for your comment and the correction. That's my memory at fault!
ReplyDeleteI am afraid we lost touch with the couple once they left Greece in their camper and this is the only shot I have. It was a really nice camper though.
Hello Dancin,
ReplyDeleteDo I remember???? how could I forget!! it was a lovely time. All these years later I often think about those times and how happy I felt sitting on the beach where we stayed. I remember one night having a BBQ on the beach with you graham Bill and a load of other people who have now been erased from my memory, I think we drove into Porto Heli later in the evening in Bills car for a few drinks at Minolies...... was that what it was called???.
If I remember right it was the night of the carnival/festival thing that was going on....lots of fireworks and a dodgy Greek rock covers band doing Metallica covers. We laughed our socks off because the singer obviously didn't speak English and sang all the words wrong.....haha!!! do you remember that??
I dont know where I was in that photo on Peters boat, maybe I took the photo, I don't really remember although I do remember waking up under the table one morning really hungover and everyone else was sat around having breakfast!!
They were brilliant times that will live with me forever I think. And as you have already said the start of a long lasting friendship which continues to this day...hoorah!! Talking of which we must arrange this visit........I'm being crap again, sorry!!
Hey T-Bone! Yes it was Minolies and thank for reminding me about the band and having breakfast over your dozing body! Actually I cannot remember if I was there for that second event or whether I was just told about it and have such a good image of it! Makes me laugh!
ReplyDeleteOh happy days!
Listen bud you are never crap but by the same token we would love to see you if you could manage a visit. If not you may have to put up with us coming to you!
Do you know talking about Greece still makes me feel like grabbing my passport and buggaring off!
Bye for now bud. xxx