Irish music and life in northern Greece
30th November. It has finally happened. We have an underground railway, 9.6km long with thirteen stations. I switched on the TV to watch the opening ceremony expecting a quick 20-minute speech from the PM followed by the pressing of a button. It did happen except that there were about six speeches and a religious blessing... Continue Reading →
16th November. I can’t believe I haven’t written anything since late summer. Politically, the shenanigans within Syriza have dominated the news. I wonder if the madness is spreading to New Democracy. This morning I said to my wife that the only thing that can undo the governing party is the party itself. Then I wake... Continue Reading →
Autumn has come early. Today (18th September) is what the Scots would describe as ‘dreich’ – wet and miserable. My wife and I escaped the heat of late summer as we were on the road in Europe on a mission: Operation Odin. We delivered our son’s dog to him in London. Here is the dog's... Continue Reading →
Northern Greece has escaped so far, but the area north of Athens is in flames. It is never clear how these fires start. Arson is certainly a factor. High temperatures can be another trigger. A third might be smoking. I have noticed lately that a lot of people smoke in their cars, often with the... Continue Reading →
Recently I posted the word σταρχιδισμός, which means “je m’en foutisme”. There is no neat equivalent in English, and certainly not a very Anglo-Saxon counterpart to “insouciance”. My small village has a street market every Friday. And every Friday arse-holish parking becomes a serious issue. Every Friday some lazy bastard causes chaos by parking on... Continue Reading →
April 17th, 2024: In this update I will talk rubbish. In a previous post I spoke of Greeks’ penchant for dumping crap on the pavement. I attached a news report with household effects dumped on what Greeks call the pavement or sidewalk, το πεζοδρόμιο. Within 50 metres of my home in one in one direction... Continue Reading →
I took this photo of a tree in our communal garden. This was at the end of February. Apparently, it is a Japanese acacia. I’ll take another pic when it flowers. It’s a lovely tree whose branches are very long-reaching, the length far exceeding the height of the tree. Winter is now well and truly... Continue Reading →
In the UK the illegal dumping of rubbish is called ‘fly-tipping”. You take the unwanted items to a remote area and dump them. The ‘fly’ refers to the sly illegality of the practice. No such problem here in Greece where we have blatant tipping. Just throw everything in the street. https://seleo.gr/seleo-thema/%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%AF%CE%BA%CE%B7-%CF%80%CE%AD%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BE%CE%B1%CE%BD-%CE%BF%CE%BB%CF%8C%CE%BA%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%81%CE%BF-%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%BA/ There are some great... Continue Reading →
18th February. I am in Toroni with the dog. I came here just after Christmas to make sure the house was OK, and this weekend is my first outing of 2024. The winter months can cause a lot of damage to vacant properties. We’ve been lucky this year as, to date, winter has been quite... Continue Reading →
31st December 2023. A mild winter so far. It would be perfect if Covid was not making a comeback. My daughter, who loves her granny and who prefers to stay with her rather than with her beloved parents, discovered late on Christmas Eve that she was positive. Not willing to put her grandmother at risk,... Continue Reading →
The excrement was everywhere. On the floor. On the door. On the walls. On the toilet seat. In and around the lavatory bowl. Add a little blood to the recipe to complete the scene. The Charge of the Shite Brigade. A fellow patient had fallen in the toilet. Following surgery to remove my gall bladder,... Continue Reading →
28th October. Greece’s second National Day, the first being the 25th of March, the start of the revolution against the Turks in 1821. Today marks No Day (Όχι Μέρα), 28th October 1940 when Greece’s dictator, Ioannis Metaxas, said ‘No’ to another dictator, Mussolini. The Italian ultimatum was not exactly a demand to surrender – the... Continue Reading →
Before I turn my attention to the Thessaloniki Metro, I want to look briefly at the Greek kiosk (περίπτερο) again. I wrote about the institution in 23/005 LinNG. An article just published in Greek Reporter goes over the declining numbers again. The article is a little bit romanticized too, describing the περιπτεράς (kiosk licensee) as... Continue Reading →
6th August: It is still very hot. Halkidiki has been put on yellow alert for forest fires. No barbecues until further notice. Surprisingly, people were also warned not to throw cigarette ends out of cars. Why? Shouldn’t that be a matter of common sense? And shouldn’t it apply at all times and seasons, not just... Continue Reading →
Summer is here and we are in the middle of a heatwave called Cerberus. About three weeks ago there were three deaths and one life-changing injury in northern Greece. In Perea, next door to me, a young Syrian dived off the jetty into the sea. He’s now paraplegic. Three older people were also pulled out... Continue Reading →
The elections are over. An overall majority for the New Democracy government, a slight increase in the vote share for PASOK and the KKE, the election of one extreme right and two far right parties, and the re-election of the demented Zoe Konstantopoulou who, having scraped into Parliament with 3.17% of the popular vote, declared... Continue Reading →
For an election period, things seem quite quiet. The first round was a disaster for the opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, the biggest chancer in Greek politics. It’s a terrible situation when you don’t want the government to win and when you want the opposition to lose. No joy at all. Here in Thessaloniki, Tsipras did... Continue Reading →
Graffiti used to be a simple affair. Political graffiti in Greek and football graffiti mainly in the Latin alphabet. For instance, ‘IRA’ did not signify support for Irish Republicans – it was short for Iraklis, a transliteration of the Ηρα of Ηρακλής (Hercules), Thessaloniki’s third football team. There was plenty of it, and practically every... Continue Reading →
The “periptero” is a fixture of Greek life which might slowly be disappearing as more convenience stores like 4all and Today are muscling in on it. Although similar in concept to the French kiosque, the περίπτερο defied translation. Long ago when I was working in an English-speaking environment in Thessaloniki, it wasn’t uncommon to hear... Continue Reading →
Street names tell you a lot about a nation’s history. In my hometown in Ireland there is a Parnell Street and an O’Connell Street, named in honour of Charles Stewart Parnell and Daniel O’Connell, and these street names will be repeated in most Irish towns. On emigrating to Glasgow, I made a number of mistaken... Continue Reading →
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