Living in Skopelos

Been a while…

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:17:37 +0000

…since the last post on this side of the blog but there are reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, I often have periods of lethargy in relation to writing, be it blogs, emails, letters or diary. A lot of this can be attributed to lack of me time due in no small part to the presence of Junior. Last week she was off school for two days due to a national strike and then a Skopelos holiday, this week she has yet to go to school due to a fever and loss of appetite. She appeared better today but I didn’t want to send her to school as she hadn’t been eating anything and was still feeling a little weak, however I have now fed her up and will be shipping her off bright and early in the morning Of course, when junior is ill, my life stops. It takes me back to being a child when all you really want when you feel rubbish is your mummy - hard on daddy I know but that’s generally how it goes. So I haven’t been out of the house since Sunday and I feel like a caterpillar preparing to break out of its chrysalis and talking of caterpillars (nicely led into I think), I took this photo the other day.

There were 25 of the little fellas and they all walked end to end for quite a distance until they came to a small puddle. Then they seemed to lose all sense of decorum and want scattering in all directions - quite fascinating to watch though.

Foreign goodies

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:29:17 +0000

Since Sean came back from England we have been feasting on the vegan food he brought back, trying not to eat it all too quickly. As well as the essentials of tea, peanut butter and brown sauce(!) he also paid a visit to a couple of health food stores in London and came back with vegan cheese, vegan cream, vegan bangers and rashers, chocolate spread, jellies etc etc. Needless to say, his luggage allowance was solely taken up with food and he just wore the clothes he had! He spent rather a lot of money on the vegan delights but we don’t have them very often so that’s okay

I don’t think that age old question of “what do you eat?” gets any easier with time. I used to say “everything except meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheese and milk” but people are rarely satisified with that so instead here is my list of some of the food I have eaten this week;

vegan rashers and mushrooms on crusty bread
homemade veggie burgers with melted vegan mozzarella on a bun
homemade pizza with mushrooms, onions, tomato, sweetcorn and vegan mozzarella
vegan sausages on a tortilla wrap
peanut butter sandwiches (yum)
copious quantities of homemade oat biscuits.

That’s not everything obviously but it’s all I can remember! I’ll try and take a few more pictures instead of gobbling everything up and then remembering I should have photographed it first.

Wonderings and Wanderings

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:11:00 +0000

I took the dogs for their walk this morning after dropping Junior at school and apparently no-one has mentioned to the people of Skopelos that Greece is in dire financial straits. From my short walk I spotted 4 houses currently under construction, add that to the other 2 or 3 I see when in the car on the way to the school and it would appear that Skopelos is in its own financial bubble. I really don’t know where people get their money from, the properties can’t all be for foreigners, and if they’re being built for tourism purposes, do they really think they can re-coup the expense when Greece (especially Skopelos) is no longer a cheap holiday destination for people from Europe and the US. It will be interesting to see how the tourist numbers stack up this year. Last year, although tourism was down all over Greece, it went up in Skopelos. However the majority of visitors were not here to spend, hence more people does not equate to more money.
Any visitor this year will be shocked at the price of fuel. It went up a few days ago from 1.29 a litre to 1.41! It’s a good job the island’s only small and there aren’t many places to go!
Sean is still in England but should start heading his way back sometime tomorrow, though God knows how long it will take him to reach Skopelos. He’s sent a few pictures from his travels so I’ll share them with you.
The first one is the back of Meteora taking whilst driving to Igoumenitsa

and yes he is still driving whilst taking that picture!
In Switzerland he stopped overnight with a friend and sent this picture to show Junior what a winter wonderland looks like.

Beautiful I’m sure you’ll agree.
The weather is warmer here and junior and I were at the beach (yet again) yesterday. How is it that she can never manage to play for long at home without wanting to involve me, but put her on a beach and she’ll happily run around, climbing and digging for hours?

Trying times

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:53:40 +0000

There has been a lot of coverage lately, both at home and abroad, about the state of Greece’s finances. A lot of the commentary has mentioned the black economy and also the general attitude amongst the Greek people that means they are only interested in what they can get and not at all interested in what they can give. I know that the ‘me’ society is pervasive in all parts of the world but I have never seen it so blatant as it is over here. This is not only evident in relation to money but also in the way they drive and the way they treat their surroundings. You will see rubbish strewn by the side of the road even though there are bins situated around the island where you can dispose of any household rubbish for collection by the refuse truck, you will see all ages, from children to old people, casually discarding food wrappings and other assorted rubbish on the street once they have finished with them.
I know every country believes they are hard done by and that their services and goods are more expensive than elsewhere in the world but that is generally due to government taxes and the costs from big business, things that can seldom be changed. Over here you feel you are being ripped off by the people and for no good reason apart from the fact that they want money and they perceive you as being an easy target. There are far too many people who want to generate money without having to do any work themselves and I have to say I mightily resent people trying to extract money from me when I don’t owe them any. Obviously I’m referring to something specific here but after talking to lots of other people it appears this problem is endemic and it really is a shame when you can’t carry on your day to day life without being harangued for money by people with no morals.
The problem of living on a small island (one of the problems), is that people will talk and they will generally talk rubbish. Unfortunately, when there isn’t much in the way of entertainment, people like to gossip and it suddenly becomes like chinese whispers and by the time you catch wind of what is being talked about it bears no resemblance to anything approaching the truth. I suppose I find this interest difficult to understand because I’m not interested in people - at all. I like to know what friends are doing but as to total strangers or passing acquaintances, I don’t care.
After talking to others lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that you don’t have to be ’strange’ to live on Skopelos but if you stay long enough you do change and it probably becomes difficult to manage anywhere else where the society is not so enclosed.
Rant over
It’s carnival time here at the moment and Junior had a party at school on Thursday when she dressed up as a fairy princess and danced herself senseless for over 2 hours’. It really is a joy to watch her and I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter but because she walks into a room and immediately involves herself in what is happening. She never clings to me or sits on the sidelines, she’s so full of confidence and life that she brightens mine every day.
Hopefully the weather will cheer up before the weekend as it’s the carnival procession on Saturday and last year Junior was full of a cold so didn’t get to see anything. Sean is on his way to England for a job (and some essential food shopping of course) so Junior and I have girlie times planned for the next week!

Winter cold

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:25:41 +0000

Well the snow has nearly gone from around the house and it never even reached into town! However it is still cold and although I know it is nothing to compare with the temperatures in the rest of Europe, winter in a house built for summer is not pleasant. We have electric heaters on and both junior and I have our hot water bottles (one of the world’s finest inventions I believe) but still it is not pleasant. Junior can’t even go to school for a warm because they closed it yesterday for a week due to swine flu. Yes, you did hear right - swine flu. The senior school was already closed a couple of days previously. Junior has a cold but I stress the word cold, and I suspect the vast majority of children who were absent from school also have a cold. Oh well, junior’s teacher is sending homework by email so at least I’ll be able to keep her moderately busy!

Micro climate

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:10:11 +0000

As we woke up again to yet more snow, we expected to find the rest of the island similarly affected, or at the very least town. However as Sean took junior to school he said the snow disappeared after 5 minutes’ drive down towards the sea. The disappointment junior felt can only be imagined - leaving a garden full of snow to go to a school without a merest flake! I have been wandering around the snow - well walking the dogs anyway - and took some more pictures for those of you who think Skopelos only has sunny weather.

Snow on Skopelos

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:14:27 +0000

We finally appeared to have caught up with the rest of Europe weather wise. This is how it looks out of our living room window at the moment.

Needless to say I’m not particularly excited, junior is beside herself and Sean is over the other side of the island on a job where the snow is 15 inches deep! Oh well, best go and get wrapped up to walk the dogs

Anniversary 2

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:40:02 +0000

Today is the second anniversary of our move to Skopelos and Sean is stuck in Volos! He was supposed to be on the ferry this morning but the weather turned overnight and the boats are no longer running. If you couple bad weather with a not very full boat then you get no sailing, however if you couple the same bad weather with a full boat due to it being Saturday, then you get sailing! Sean has been told that if the weather is the same tomorrow then the ferry will still be going although it won’t be going to Alonissos. Poor people of Alonissos seem to get the cacky end of the stick.
I didn’t expect the turn in the weather as junior and I were on the beach yesterday where, although cold, it was bright.

Okay, that big dark cloud should have made me realise a change was on the way but I just thought it would rain, not throw up gale force winds.
We were both well wrapped up against the cold but we still had to run around quite a bit just to keep warm. I love running on the sand (especially when no-one’s looking) as I just feel like a child again, helped by the fact then when junior and I are alone together I become a 6 year old as well. I don’t mean I abdicate all responsibility but rather I see things as she sees them, see the pleasure in dragging a stick along the sand, drawing pictures on the beach, throwing pebbles and climbing rocks to claim the beach as our own.

Junior has now spent 2 years’ in Skopelos after spending her first 2 years’ in Ireland and then the next 2 in England. What have I learned after my 2 years’ here?

1. I should have started to learn Greek whilst we were still in England, before we moved here and got bogged down in the minutiae of life.
2. Just the process of moving to a small island does not mean life will suddenly become more relaxed.
3. If you need money to survive then you have to follow where the work is.
4. Island life isn’t for everyone - it depends if you can live with everyone knowing your business, or if they don’t know it, then making something up!

There are lots of other things I have come to realise as well but I can’t put them down without being accused of libel! Junior is happy though, life is good for her, although Sean and I seem to be in the same position as we were in England, him out or away working and me holding the fort at home. Time for a change? I think so.

Grow your own

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:37:18 +0000

When people find out I live in Greece they always have one comment, and that is “you must get great tasting vegetables”. Strange I know, but true. I suppose it is a strongly held belief that if you live in a warm climate with suitable conditions for fruit and vegetable growing then, of course, you will be faced with a veritable plethora of great tasting food. Not so. Unless you grow your own on this island then you have to make do with what is available in the shops, and believe me, sometimes that isn’t even worth buying. In summer the veg seems to wilt before it reaches the island and in winter it appears to suffer from the cold. When you do find some decent vegetables you are so grateful that you forget to look at the prices and end up being ‘gobsmacked’ when it comes to paying.
On Saturday I selected the following from one of the local shops

Not a particularly awe inspiring display I know, just some basics for the following few days, and yet here is the till receipt (excuse the dirt, it was in with the spuds!).

Difficult to work out what’s what when it all just says vegetables, but the 3 bananas - yes just 3 - were €2.37. I’m thinking of having them framed and displayed on the wall
It’s not always easy living on an island!

New year resolutions

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:49:24 +0000

Surprisingly for a vegan, one of my new year’s resolutions is to eat better. I may not eat badly according to most people’s standards but it is all too easy to become complacent when you’re faced day to day with trying to work, care for a child and provide food which even the fussiest 6 year old will eat!
So since the beginning of the year (I know it’s only been a few days), I’ve been trying to prepare fresh, nutritious meals. I’ve not taken many pictures because sometimes they’re not photogenic enough but you can take my word for it on the way they tasted
Leek and potato soup doesn’t make for a stunning pic but it tasted good and even junior ate some when it was served with fresh, warm, polenta bread,

although she found the bread and butter pudding which followed, altogether too filling.

I love bread and butter pudding and as Sean does too we didn’t get up from the table until it was all finished, and then we staggered, rather than walked, away!
Having bought two massive leeks and turned one in to soup, I then found an interesting recipe for leeks with bulghur wheat. I didn’t expect great things but it tasted really good hot and then cold the next day - I always make too much. Another dish which served two days was baked pasta with tahini sauce, in fact Sean has taken the leftovers with him to Volos so he has something to eat on the ferry. He also took the baked jam pudding we had yesterday which was basically a big jammy flapjack - even junior liked that one.
Now I’ve just got to find something to do with the sprouts - no rude suggestions thank you