The world from my window

On Thursday night in Athens I watch live webcam footage of Syntagma Square from our Airbnb, just a few streets away. Protesters are demonstrating about the Greek government's plans to approve a name change for the neighbouring country of Macedonia (Greece has a region of the same name. There's a lot of history and fears tied up in all of this ).  From the balcony, we can hear the chanting in the distance. But we are safe and cosy up here on the top floor. Snug as bugs in rugs. The apartment is clean, convenient and cheap. It's a brilliant location for exploring the centre of this sprawling city. You can book it by visiting this link . When we arrived in the Greek capital on Monday evening, I nearly cried when I saw the view from our roof terrace. The acropolis was lit up like a Christmas tree.  In Athens in January, there are oranges and lemons on the trees lining the streets. The traders in the market tempt you with fresh squid, John Dory and fish-like-a-bream...

We're on the M5 when we pass a bus chuntering cheerfully along on the inside lane. It bears the livery of Gibbons Coach Holidays . As we drive by, I peer as best I can into the windows, hoping to spot a posse of long-limbed monkeys swinging down from the luggage rack, and swiftly mooning in unison from the back window. In my head I can hear the lar gibbons that used to sing and whoop, whoop, whoop across the courtyard and valley at Cricket St Thomas in the good old days when it was a wildlife park. But we overtake before my imagination overtakes me. The next coach is Hatton Premier Class Travel and I envisage sedate, upmarket passengers, all wearing tiaras and monocles. At the airport, I'm flabbergasted not to be searched, as, usually, I set off every alarm going. My laptop takes an age to come through security and I have a minor panic attack fearing that all my writing and photos have been wiped from the hard drive during the scanning process. We weave our way t...

150th souvenir issue, 12 January 2019 It's the 150th birthday of the longest-running woman's weekly magazine in the world. Take a bow, The People's Friend . I have the joy of writing the Maddie's World column each week from deep in rural Dorset. It's lovely to be able to share the goings on in my very special part of the world with 400,000 'Friend' readers all over the globe.  W hen the 'Friend' was looking for a new columnist  four years ago and found me through this blog, I had to re-read the editor’s out-of-the-blue email to me at least three times.  'For some time now, we've been mulling over the idea of introducing a weekly columnist, but we haven't been able to settle on the right person,' she said.  'However, having looked at your blog, I think you might just be the writer we've been looking for! I like your ability to write with humour about the minutiae of daily life, but with a touch of emotional de...