Summer Holidays were here for our
grandchildren and we were included in a family holiday in Crete flying out of
Gatwick. A decision taken to break the journey half way with Talya and Bryan
Nicolay, we departed for their home on the Friday. Taking after her mother despite working in
London, Talea was ready and waiting for us with a delicious dinner. Bryan had a
night surgery and only joined us on bedtime.
Unfortunately they had an important social engagement for Saturday night
and due to distances they departed immediately after lunch and left us the run
of their house.
Not far from their address was a
lake where Cable Tow Wake Boarding took place and a fun afternoon was spent
watching the kids come to grips with this sport…
Sunday morning we set off for
Gatwick, glad we hadn’t left it later as we snarled up in the traffic of the
London Outer Ring road. Glad too that arrangements to meet for lunch with
Louise and Guy Mitchell had whittled down to a quick meeting in the airport
and, sadly it was short and sweet but special. Before we knew, Dan had us all
in a panic, haring down up and down the tunnels of Gatwick to find the right
departure gate before the flight closed! Gasping for breath and adrenalin
pumping, we found Easy Jet hadn’t yet opened its gate….
The Island of Crete – far bigger than we’d imagined
Late at night we landed in
Heraklion. Daniel had organised for two hire cars to be waiting ready to load the windsurfing boards- three long, tightly packed bags aboard before heading to the edge of
town for the night in Sophia Hotel- just perfect.
We also stopped at a large
supermarket as we began the downward journey towards the coast and to Lea’s
horror as she shut her car door, she heard a strangled noise behind her and
there was Roo with his fingers trapped in the door… He had come from the front
of the vehicle to see how Otto’s go-pro was doing and placed his hand across the
corner of the windscreen. Awful moments and, with his Mum already in the store
unaware of the incident I charged after to her to hopefully find ice… Dan shot into the shop and simply grabbed a pack
of frozen peas!
Casa di Mer set in amongst an Olive Grove close to Kouremenos Beach. We
had two lovely apartments next door to each other overlooking the sea a couple
of hundred metres away and a swimming pool when the heat got to us….
An utterly blissful holiday with sun, sea and
sand on our doorstep not to mention an incredible number of family run tavernas
lining the beach front. For a good part of the morning the stretch of beach in
front of us was empty. As temperatures soared during the afternoon locals from
Palekastro came to bob in the sea and keep cool just as we’d seen them do along
the coast outside Athens.
At the southern end of Kouremenos
Beach, below the distinctive landmark Koorpi Kastri Mountain was the very
popular windsurfing area that has drawn the Ramsden’s back for the past three
years. Gone Crete Windsurfing run by
couple Christos and Marion, had become friends and every day the family congregated around the surf shop early morning, to ensure a piece of the limited shade.
We left them to it, happy to read and relax on our balcony or down at the pool.
The heat was energy sapping and any thought of travelling further afield proved
too much to contemplate, much as we’d wished to go in search of Elfie and Chris
Eleftheriadis from our Kariba days – living on the western edge of Crete. It
was enough strolling northwards to the
little fishing harbour of a morning, most times we preferred to keep our cool
and only walk at evening time, joining the family for an hour or two at ‘sundowner’
time when a cold beer , a G and T even a mojito did not go amiss! The usual winds that kept windsurfers very
happy were not to materialise during our visit. The two boys found the wind good
enough and for Kiki, eager to have lessons each day- conditions were perfect. By the time the family reluctantly left the
beach towards last light, we’d be showered and ready for a night out and starving…
Such was the lazy and wonderfully
relaxing rhythm of our days. Every night a different restaurant sometimes in
neighbouring villages along the coast or up in the town or, if we were far too
hungry, a mere walk away … all produced excellent home cooked, typical food of the region. A
wild and more remote area that is only just beginning to attract the tourist so
it is low key and beautiful to the likes of us.
Dining in the village of Agkathias, Otto joined us to check out the
little church further up the hill and took this photo. We were to come across many all built in the
same style just different sizes.
Staring out at Koorpi Kastri, George and Otto planned an early morning
hike from this vantage point!
Mission accomplished – George and Otto made it to the top well before
the heat of the day. Days later
Daniel and Kiki made the trek up Koorpi Kastri too.
Palaikastro Town square with traditional musicians and dancers
entertaining the crowds
The annual Feast of Saint Mary
took place on the Saturday night with the tiny square and roads through
Palaikastro closed off to traffic as the community turned out in force to dine
beneath the stars served by the different restaurants. We decided not to eat in the crowded town but
curiosity drew us up there after dinner and we happily watched the
entertainment. Our night was made when Zorba’s Dance ended that section of the
night- so very loveably GREEK to us…
Justine and Daniel were keen to show us Zakros Beach set in the Sitia
Natural Park which covers most of the eastern end of Crete.
The most surprising part of this
incredibly popular beach was not only the Cretan Date Palm forest on entry to
the bay; down at the beach, we found a regimented and well laid out car park
for a fee which we were happy to pay. The trouble the council had taken to
protect and provide was very evident… board walks, gazebos and all
services. We could easily be forgiven
for thinking we’d suddenly arrived on a Thai beach with all the loungers set up
close to the water’s edge and stretching back to the forest edge. George and Kiki walked up the head with their
watercolours to paint and the rest of us moved as far north of the beach to be
away from the steadily growing madding crowd. Little shade, MacGyver and sons
tried to fix up a temporary shelter using a large rock for Justine and Lea to
read. Within the azure sea, happy hours were spent on rocky platforms keeping
cool.
Kiki taking her first steps
towards a career in entomology!
Enjoying art lessons with her
grandfather, Kiki’s love of animals took her in a new direction when she found
the pool filter trapped with drowned insects. George began separating all the
insects she found into their different families by showing her what external
characteristics distinguished each type. This led to a drawing being made of
each type of insect (dorsal and ventral aspects included) and the labelling of
each body part; the compilation of a table showing the number of each type
found and a listing of their common and scientific names! Using a couple of
tooth picks they even did a dissection of a cockroach in order to examine and
draw its internal organs. Kiki’s rapt attention, even foregoing the prospect of
windsurfing in preference to her morning entomology lesson, was quite something
to behold!
Elikas Bay took some finding and
excitement was added when the army began calling down the mountain to say we
were on prohibited land. Not that we understood until a man leaving in another
car walked back and informed us that they had been told to leave. We left the
area immediately and returned to the other side of the bay to wander amongst
the rocks – daring others to jump from the highest ones and just enjoying the
water and scenery.
We held our wedding anniversary
dinner in Hiona, just the other side of Kastri Mountain to Kouremenos Beach.
Party time celebrating our 47 years
with the family in a lovely restaurant perched on the edge of the sea.
Ten wonderfully happy and
carefree days spent in Crete came to an end soon after with a bit of a bump.
Driving back to Tetney in the early hours of Friday 21st George
unexpectedly, began to feel very clammy and run a fever. All very tired after
the flight and a day of travel back to Heraklion we thought a good sleep would
soon put him right. George continued
with an on/ off fever during a week when
home was like a railway station and we were all distracted by friends and
family house guests that we simply passed it off as a virus and George would retire
to bed with the next bout of short lived fever without complaint…
The long awaited Cotswolds
weekend arrived and as planned, we set off in convoy with Dan’s brother
Matthew, Sue and their daughter Natasha. Another of Dan’s brothers - Ben from
France also tagged on with his two daughters Lola and Phoebe. Our journey
brought us into Moreton-in-Marsh where we were to share a delightful and most
comfortable ‘Red House’ situated above shops with Matt, Sue and Natasha while
the others slept in the motor home and campervan on the street below. This
broad street – Fosse Way, was once, one of Britain’s major Roman roads. As soon
as we’d settled our luggage we headed out to find lunch in the direction of
Stow–on-the-Wold ending up in the lovely but very busy Bourton-on-Water for the
afternoon. Come evening as we relaxed in
Red House Dan suggested a walk through the town. Always ready to explore further Lea joined
Dan and Matt – she should have known better! Their idea was walking from pub to pub tasting G and T’s and
in for a penny , in for a pound; that is exactly what we did, arriving home
just in time to join the mob for the walk up to the restaurant for our dinner
date – all 15 of us. Ben’s restraint turned out to be a decision to cross the
Channel back to France during the night.
Day of the ‘Big Feastival’ had
arrived and we all squeezed into the motorhome to make the short trip to the
farm of Alex King (ex - Boy Band, Blur) a goats cheesemaker of renown for the
region.
The foodies were there to watch
the chefs in action particularly Raymond Blanc and Jamie Oliver and the rest
were into music with many Bands scheduled throughout the afternoon into the
night. No sooner had we gained entrance
to this massive and widespread venue than George suddenly began another fever
and decided to return to the motor home.
Thank goodness it was there in a relatively quiet car park some distance
away; as that is where he was to stay feeling pretty grim for the ten hour duration.
Meanwhile despite the overcast weather and rain we were all happy to endure…
Highlight for Lea was a front row seat in the AEG Big Kitchen that began on her
three legged stool when the rain thundered down soon after 1p.m. Until, she speedily upgraded to the front
bench as it was vacated. There, in sheer delight and disbelief, she stayed
until 6 pm enjoying different demonstrations until the very reason for being at
the Feastival arrived. The French Chef
Raymond Blanc’s hour and then Jamie Oliver followed with his guest Gennaro
Contaldo (one of the Two Greedy Italians). Such was the popularity of these
Chefs , the crowds were not only packed into the open ended marquis they
stretched far beyond – everyone craning to be part of the moment. There was no
way for Justine and Sue to even squeeze through to sit at my feet… During
Jamie’s hour and in keeping with his good eating mantra he endorsed a young
Hunter/ Gatherer who arrived with his basket of ‘bush food’. This was of
particular interest as this past Spring Sue took Lea and Justine on foraging
trips for wild garlic, elderberry flowers and samphire and taught us how to use
it. Sue’s patience in frying elderberry
flowers in tempura proved far too fiddly for our liking. Wild garlic, however, became
a family favourite throughout the short season and we returned time and again
into the Lincolnshire Wolds to gather these wonderfully pungent leaves and use
them in a variety of ways. Firm favourite was a risotto followed by sweet
potatoes served with a coconut oil and wild garlic butter. YUM- roll on spring!
Samphire was to provide many unusual salads.
Intriguingly this Hunter/ Gatherer provided huge puff balls - definitely
thought to be an untouchable in Africa but it fried in slices and served up as
the base for bruschette by Gennaro!
By the time Lea returned to the
music arena the crowds were thick on the damp ground and the numbers heaved
around the stage, not to mention the queues lined up at the many food
tents. Atmospheric and fun with bubbles
of different sizes floating in the air the night passed fast for us. By the time we returned home the light
drizzle had turned to rain and by morning any thought to enjoy the Bank Holiday
in Chipping Campden was washed out. Never-the-less we took the opportunity to visit
“the most beautiful village street now left on the island” and see what we
could of this ancient town, designated a conservation area with its unusual 17th
century Market Hall before turning for home in rain that never left us.
The next day, Lea insisted George
see a doctor as the sporadic temperature and fevers had gone on for too long.
Driving in for the early appointment the fever returned and peaked for the
worse. We were shocked to find that his
temperature registered 41.5 and worse, not only was he was very dehydrated, he
rapidly became disorientated. He was admitted to Grimsby A and E and speedily attended
to with oxygen, drip and antibiotic. Chest X-ray and blood tests followed. He
was cleared of pneumonia and admitted to the acute ward. Early indication was
malaria. We battled to accept this possible
diagnosis, nine months down the line from any possible malaria until, both our
son Keith and Travel Clinic expert Di Nicolay confirmed a recurring malaria
dating back to 1969 was possible under stress. Sure enough P.vivax the rare,
recurring malaria was found in his system and with the help of London Tropical
Diseases, Grimsby Hospital was able to stabilise him until the specific
medication required by this strain was obtained. On discharge George promptly googled P.vivax
in the Amazon Jungle and it was there.
He is inclined to believe a mosquito there re-infected him and it did
not date back to the bad dose he suffered in 1969 recurring again in 1976.
