As of tonight (Dec 21st/22nd) all flights to and from the UK will be cancelled indefinitely. This is because of the new mutation of Covid 19. Apparently (and hopefully), it is not worse than its older brother, but it spreads more easily. The UK health secretary, angry at the mass exodus from London, stated that those living in London and the south-east of England should consider themselves infected and behave accordingly! I heard on UK radio this morning that UK flights to and from Bulgaria are banned until 31st January 2021. In Greece itself, the worst seems to be over. 118 cases in Thessaloniki and 134 in Athens. Case numbers are no longer headline news. Today, for example, the main news story in www.iefimerida.gr is about the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine. 1,265,550 doses of the vaccine are expected by March. If each person requires two vaccinations, this means that around 630,000 people will be vaccinated, so it’s not really good news as only 7% of the total population will be vaccinated, maybe 15% if children 16 or under are taken out of the equation. Western Easter falls on 4th April next year with its Orthodox counterpart being celebrated on 2nd May. Personally, I cannot see any vaccination program being completed before the latter date. Anywhere. Not just in Greece.
One other story that caught my eye was from a village called Gerani in Crete where, following a tip off, police broke up an engagement party with around forty guests assembled in a restaurant. The officers were stunned to discover that the bride-to-be was one of their colleagues. The restaurant owner was fined €5,000 and each guest €300.
Musically, nothing is happening. Our whistle player, who works in Bulgaria, thinks he will have to remain there during the Christmas break. In any case, we cannot meet up legally until January 7th at the earliest. I have suggested that we do some online practising on Zoom just like the people in Malta: play recordings, mute our mics, and play along. We’ll see how they react.
Finally, I recently discovered this little gem. It’s great to hear young people keeping the tradition alive. Great vamping banjo on the first two runs of the first reel (The Blackthorn Stick) and the violinist in the final run giving the tune a gypsy swing flavour. It is by far the best and most enjoyable version I’ve heard of this tune.