The world from my window

It’s breakfast time in Fiskardo, Kefalonia. There’s been a massive thunder storm in the night and now it’s pouring with rain. And Alexis Tsipras has just been re-elected, with Syriza taking just over 35 per cent of the vote and its coalition partners, New Democracy, not far behind with 28 per cent. Nikos the waiter doesn’t think much of the result. But, then, it was a poor turnout for what, looking through European eyes, seemed a pretty crucial election. Only 56.5 per cent bothered to vote, the highest abstention rate in the history of Greek parliamentary elections following the fall of the dictatorship in 1974. According to greekreporter.com : Voting in Greece is mandatory by law, however, it is rarely enforced. This year’s low turnout rate potentially reflects that Greeks did not believe that their vote would make a difference, since any government would have to enact the policies of the new Greek bailout agreement that was singed in late August. In addition, this is the th...

It's been ages since I've written a blog post, and I apologise for that There's been lots going on in Lush Places and lots going on in my life. All good things, I hasten to add, but sometimes real life takes over. There's been new work on the horizon, which I've grabbed with open arms because I need the money and the human interaction. There's been collaborative writing in The Lady Shed , with my latest post about the Greek elections here . I've signed up for a TEFL course after being inspired by those wonderful children in Peru. Whether I'll ever use the qualification I don't know, but at least I'll have it. I'm going to revisit my masters in classics and ancient history with The Open University later this year and I'm going to be writing and publishing more things Greek. I've missed Corfu these last few months. And I'm singing again. Laaaaaaa! Some doors are closing, others are opening. Open me, open me, close me...

It's been a busy few weeks at the Villa Oleander. We've welcomed and said goodbye to our first guest of the year, picked up my vintage VW Beetle (more of that in another post), which has jumped back into life thanks to the restoration skills of a local garage, found and bought a Greek car, helped our neighbour build an apothiki, sorted out a route for driving back to the UK, welcomed and said goodbye to my mother and sister and welcomed my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who will be staying here for a couple of months. I'm pleased to say my dear old mum was treated liked royalty. 'They are angels,' our cheerful lady in the kafenion said of Mother and my sister. Earlier, in the AB supermarket in town, we bumped into another villager who insisted on buying a bottle of wine for the aged parent. 'For the mother of Margarita,' he said, patting my shoulder. 'She is the same age as the Queen Elizabeth.' She is indeed. I didn't like to te...

Everyone's talking about it. There are elections coming up on this island in a few weeks' time. You can tell, because the grass verges are being trimmed and the potholes are being filled. And there are posters everywhere. 'One prostitute is worth a hundred politics,' one Greek sage said to me last year. 'At least she is honest.' Understandably, in Greece these days, there is a great deal of cynicism about politicians in the birthplace of democracy. Men in sharp suits have been touring the village. 'Pah,' said a local. 'They take your money and put it in their pocket.' But to the politicians, elections are serious business. Although perhaps not. Having once been accused of sedition by a friend who claimed I'd defaced an election leaflet at his home, I am always on the lookout for inspired political posters. We had a faceless Tory once (just once? ) in South Somerset. And, back home, Sue Farrant (Lib-Dem) was turned in...