Hydra and the Deste Foundation

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Quirky, classy, impossibly picturesque, Hydra is one of Greece’s truly magical spots. A great barren mass of mountain with steep sides, a hint of whitewashed church on the summit, and the spectacular bay in which the car-free town nestles like a little Portofino. Transport is by donkey or by foot, and the people who live in the highest-lying houses have enviably toned and trim figures…

How to get around on Hydra

Hydra has always attracted artists, interntional laureates, bohemians, writers, Athenian nobility,  and oddballs – Leonard Cohen moved here in the 1960’s, and fitted right in with the off-beat and laid-back glamour of the island. Brice Marden is now a permanent fixture.

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ANDROS for insiders.

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Despina, who is normally  the merriest and sweetest of souls, was giving me the death stare over linguini at Joe’s Cafe in Sloane St. “Promote Andros? Encourage tourists?? May I ask why on earth you would want to do something like that???”

I felt like a 12 year old called in to see the headmistress in her study right this minute please and pull up those socks and straighten your tie on the way..

“I would only bring the right kind of tourists,” I said rather defensively, “No riff-raff obviously…”
The death stare flickered for a moment…
“People who would want to go to the Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art and  look at the Matisses and Picassos, browse in the Kairis Library,  and visit the Kydoniefs Institute,” I persevered,  “People who would appreciate the refined cooking and the picture- postcard stone villages, people who would not litter the powdery golden sand beaches, people who would light a candle at the 13th Century monastery of Saint Panteleimon, people who would wear nice clothes, people who you could invite to drinks and would know how to behave on a yacht, people who would not get paralytic or sunburned, people you might even know…”

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Spinalonga – Crete’s tragic leper island, and more of Joanna Lumley!

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I don’t know who was doing the research for Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey, but in spite of the sometimes baffling choice of things for her to be amazed at/cry over/laugh at/drink or eat, there were some pure gold nuggets on Thursday.

The island of Spinalonga lies off the North-Eastern coast of Crete, just along from the Gulf of Elounda and all the smart hotels, and couldn’t offer a more poignant contrast to their bubble of international, modern luxury. The island served as a leper colony through the 18th and 19th century, and even into the 20th century, the last leper leaving in 1957.

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Pavlopetri – City beneath the waves.

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It must be Greek season on UK television – and we do need some good press, so we are very grateful; the BBC  just aired  its documentary about the Pavlopetri excavations currently taking place in the shallow water off the southern-most tip of Greece -For those who missed it, here is the link:  Pavlopetri

The oldest known submerged city in the world could easily be touted as the Lost City of Atlantis, but thankfully is not, as it is fascinating in its own right. The ruins of a city founded more than 5,000 years ago in the Bronze Age and early Minoan age, are being dug with the help of the latest underwater robotic technology, and final results are expected to be published in 2014.

Click HERE for a youtube video tour.

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Losing your heart in Antiparos.

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Our guest blogger is  Kate Monro, author of the wonderful “The First Time,”  which is a collection of tales about losing one’s virginity. This  blog is about losing one’s heart though. Quite different.

POSTCARD FROM ANTIPAROS – KATE MONRO

‘There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you have altered’. Nelson Mandela.

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Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey

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“You are probably like me and know something or nothing about Greece” is how Joanna Lumley’s new TV series kicks off – so true, yes, but which is it Joanna? Something  or nothing? After that though, it got going and was tremendous fun. I never knew that there is a village in Evia where there are still 40 old villagers who speak Whistle – just like the Clangers for those of you who remember them..

“Weeee eee whooiii ” means “Come here Kyriakos”, “WHoooo Wheeeyeee” means “No, I am over at Pavlos’ having a drink.” Five goats did come though, so they speak Whistle too. The ladies apologised for the mix-up as they shooed the goats away, “It is much harder to whistle now we have false teeth.” I am not joking.

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Greek attitudes to tax explained

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There is genuine bewilderment in the voices of English, Swedish, Dutch, Canadian, German and other Fiscally Solid journalists and clients, who ask me why Greeks don’t want to pay taxes, and whether I think that their attitude will ever change. I have great sympathy for these questions, (especially from the Germans who are doing the paying,) as there is a huge gap in understanding separating the cultures, rather like in the old Greek and Chinese fairy tales, where two tragic lovers are transformed after death into two bright stars, destined to gaze forlornly at each other across the Milky Way throughout eternity, but allowed a meeting once a year when the heavens wheel into the right position. The Fiscally Solid and the Greeks are two such stars, yearning but unable to touch. The heavens do seem to have been yanked into position though, and what is perhaps going to be an annual meeting between the bright stars of the IMF/ECB and the Greek government is taking place. Perhaps it would be useful to share here my explanation.

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Filming on Paros

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20th September

That’s enough jet-setting for one trip.  I said that arriving in Paros from Mykonos is like returning to the real world after an escapist dream, but in fact, an Italian film is being shot here by Berlusconi’s company Medusa films, called “Immaturi – the Journey,” which is a sequel to the hugely popular “Immaturi”, starring Paolo Genovese. I went to Naoussa for sunset to take pictures and meet up with our Paros concierge, and found the harbour lined with film trucks and cranes and “bellissimo this” and “bellissima that,” “Ciao amore’s,” “Ma no, t’ho gia detto, managgia, non bevo sto caffe Greco – ‘na schifezza…” and lot and lots of “Zitto, per piacere, per piacere, PER PIACERE, ma cavolo non capiscono??”

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Jetsetting on Mykonos

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Mykonos September 19th.
Five Star Greece goes to a wedding..

Just as well I left the donkey and straw hat behind on Ithaca –  Mykonos is en plein fẻte, with the biggest wedding the island has ever seen dominating the island. Bill Clinton is reputed to be there, and many, many billion dollars worth of guests. Sleek and shiny yachts are lined up in the harbour, with watchful crew holding binoculars. The big hotels have all been taken over, and at the airport, limousines with chauffeurs and darkened windows wait for their guests.

On the first night, Elia beach was taken over and turned into a giant beach party; a catwalk built across the sand for the guests to make a grand entrance, and Seal flown in to play for the party. Two days later, they were still clearing up.

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