It’s not tongue in cheek. That is the name of our rented house.

We have settled in now.

It has a lounge with two sofas , wide screen TV, WIFI, double bedroom up a spiral staircase and a twin set up downstairs.

We have elected to use the downstairs twin beds as there is an exit door immediately next to one of the beds which will allow a quick escape if we were to suffer another earthquake.

In addition we have since discovered the upstairs bedroom roof void is the preferred nocturnal location for Roland and his rat family. You can hear them squeaking and scuttling, so doonstairs it is for us.

Nicolas goes back to France for the winter in mid November so we have had him up for a BBQ while the weather is still good, and once for the rugby. He thinks it’s not rats but some cuddly possum like creature they also have in France. It’s NOT I’ve since seen the feckin tail as it headed out on the tiles one evening.

That said they are not inside the house so you get used to the noise.

It is a nice house probably just the price you pay for being out in the country.

Lily has now recovered and has also settled in nicely . I imagine it’s like Disneyworld for cats out here in the fields.

Another day in Paradise

Le Rugby BBQ night

Did they have fat Spartans back in the day?

 

The last BBQ of the season? maybe ……

It does come in three’s

Greece like elsewhere is now under lockdown & travel restrictions. If you have a Greek phone you must text a reason for your travel e.g. Supermarket, Doctor, Exercise. If you don’t have a phone you must fill out a paper form, select your reason and carry it and your passport with you.

However as a result of the earthquake these restrictions were not to be enforced in Samos presumably to allow for repairs to property and the like. We however happily conformed to the pan Greece rules, fair enough.

Now the story on masks was a different matter. The Government’s own literature was at variance with itself depending on what day it was. Two people in a car if from the same family did not need to wear a mask, and then they did. It was utter confusion.

We were heading down to Pythagorio and cars coming towards us were flashing us. It was the cops in a lay by. Louise was wearing her mask & I wasn’t. We got pulled and fined 300 Euros (150.00 each). I pointed out that Louise was wearing hers so it’s negotiated down to 150.00.

I then point to all the other cars passing – Nobody in any other car was wearing a mask.

So now he is forced to pull another couple of cars.

The first one turns out to be the police captain and his wife…. you can guess – off he goes sanction free.

The next says his wife was returning from hospital and couldn’t breathe – off he goes sanction free.

He now wants us to move on and I refuse until he pulls someone else and fines them, which he does to the next poor guy, who understandably is not happy.

I explain we have the paperwork that says family members do not have to wear masks in cars. He says I need to talk to the Police Captain.

On entering the police station we cannot see the Captain today so return tomorrow, which we did. We are shown into the Captain who says I will look into it come back tomorrow. We return the next day fill out a form and the fine is apparently quashed. All very polite but what a fiasco.

We never saw the police blocks ever again and nobody is wearing masks yet! lol

Samos marina is good but the service is a bit haphazard.

As long as you are prepared to live with that it’s fine. It’s easier for us because we are here and can pop down for deliveries etc and the guys are nice.

It’s just that there is no management and the staff seem to suit themselves, e.g. I was booked to come out at 11:00 and eventually Gabriel, the lift operator turned up at 12:15, siga siga .

It’s more difficult for our friends Paul & Lorraine, Sara & Brian and Nicolas who can’t get e-mails answered, works instructed, payments acknowledged and receipted.

It’s usually up to us to chase the guys on their behalf.

That said I would over winter here again but not in the water because of the Lily / dogs situation and I don’t think the boats are monitored overly much during the winter.

The marina , Brian Sara & Pepper