Saturday 31 August 2013

The Long Hill

When we left you in the last blog on Friday 26th July we were about to go to Kokylia to pay the bill for the anniversary supper the previous Monday.  When we got there it was a bit early to eat so we went round to Kafeneo (Kokylia’s cafĂ©) for a beer.  Having practiced our Greek on Cifis (Joseph), one of the bar staff, (Dud’s ‘Greek’ always makes him laugh!) we eventually went through to the main taverna. It was very busy by now so we took over one of the two ‘locals’ tables that sits about six people (it was empty at the time). These tables are usually just for drinking but we decided to stay and eat there.  Whilst there an elderly couple came and sat with us (at our invitation) to have a drink whilst awaiting a free table. Well, we got talking to them (yes in Greek!!! – they didn’t speak a word of English - thank goodness for Wi-Fi & Google translate on my phone!). They were Yiannis & Yiorgina who live about half a mile down the road.  We shared wine, raki and meze with them and, we think (well, according to Yiorgo (of Kokylia)), we were invited to their house on Sunday!!  - what a lovely end to the day!

Behind me you can see the 'locals' table in use by locals on another night!

Saturday, 27th July, we went on guided tour of the new excavations at Gournia (see pics in previous blog when we went there with W&B - we are not allowed to show pics of recent excavations until they have been officially published). There were about 80 of us, but mainly American students from INSTAP who have been digging there.  It is always good to have the new excavations explained by an expert as we don’t always know what we are looking at (but don’t tell anyone that!!).

In the evening we were invited to a small party at Cecile’s, a delightful French boutique in the village. We had a very pleasant evening where we met Francois who runs an International College in London. Had a chat with the son of Cecile's partner who is half German but speaks good English, German and Greek!  Nico was also there (who had been working at Kokylia's for our first couple of weeks) and he told Dud he wanted to learn about the Minoans!  Nico had found the right chap!!  Much wine, raki and food later we staggered home up that long hill (the short cut - but it's rather steep!).

Cecile's boutique in  the 'day time'
Sunday 28th July. Now although we had been invited to Yiannis’ & Yiorgina’s house, in our raki’d state on the Friday, we didn’t know when or where!!  Either that, or something had got lost in translation. Anyway, after last night we thought a quiet day was in order.  Dudley bravely grappled with an enormous mosquito and defeated it.

the mosquito - it's certainly a big'un and if you look closely you can
see 'love', 'hate' and 'mum' tattooed on its legs!

On Monday, we went into village for quick drink at lunch time and to thank Cecile for the party on Saturday - we had made vague 'arrangement' to meet Francois, but Cecile said he was still sleeping!  So we went to Kokylia’s for a beer anyway. I know we showed you the Roman fish tanks last year but they were very clear today
one of the Roman fish tanks outside Kokylia's kafeneo

Tuesday, after a run we stopped off at Mochlos Mare where Panayiotis brought out a water melon for us and Sterie invited us for supper on Wednesday (tomorrow). Spent the day on a mixture of work and research for Southampton, it was quite a hot day but kept at it until early evening when had a much-needed drink on upstairs balcony before going off for dinner at Dimitris.  After supper, Dimitris gave us a drink of calvados, which was very nice (and quite strong!) - made the walk home up the hill quite tough!
this is how you buy rice in the supermarket - by the handful
(can't see British 'health & safety' agreeing with that!)
Wednesday, we set off for Anatoli to visit the site that Yiannis Papadatos is excavating this year.  Drove to Anatoli where we were met and taken up to the site at Gaidourophas, which was initially 'seen'  by Sir Arthur Evans and then John Pendlebury in the early 1900s but not excavated by either of them.  Yiannis gave us a tour of the ruins and pointed out what they had found and it seems to be a very important site.  It is located 900m above sea level, which is much higher than usual for a settlement, the highest being  400m (apart from Karphi which is a refuge).  We were then taken to Stavromenos by Costas, where there is most likely a peak sanctuary (religious site) - the views were stunning and you could see both north and south coasts of the island!  As with Gournia, we can't put any pictures of the excavation itself on the web, but here are some of the views.
view to the north from Stavromenos -in the far distance you can see
the hills surrounding Mochlos
view to the south and Ierapetra - the numerous white 'patches'
are plastic 'greenhouses' for bananas and tomatoes
the Stavromenos peak sanctuary site overlooks Gaidourophas, making
both sites an important part of the Minoan world.

We came back and went off for supper at Mochlos Mare with Panayiotis, Sterie and their daughter, Maria. Maria is currently applying for a Masters in International Management in the UK and has several offers so we were talking to her about the various universities.   After a lovely supper of mousakka (me), rabbit (Dud), vleta, salad etc. we came back and went to bed exhausted after our day in the hills !

Thursday, I was thinking of running but Dud wasn’t, so we didn’t (I’m easily put off!). Quiet day on computer …..  

Friday 2nd August, we did run. Went to see Tina at INSTAP around 3pm, really just to touch base and see what she wants us to do next week - measuring metacarpals (hand bones) - around 400 of them, each with 3 measurements to take!!  I quickly said Hi to Flint (Dibble) and arranged to speak with him next week about his bar-coding software (okay, yawn!).  On the way back we drove into Ierapetra to try and find the 'House Store' where Rosa is having some cushions made for downstairs balcony chairs. Finally found it (we had failed on a previous visit) about 5.30pm, but it was closed until 6pm. So we waited only to find that cushions were  not quite finished so will have to go back next week! Came back to Mochlos and got ready to go down to Kokylia as Friday night is BBQ night. All very nice food plus a couple carafes of wine and then Nicky brought us a large raki free of charge!  Long hill home with short rest on seats on the way up!!

the cushions - we knew you would want to see them - worth the wait!
Saturday, Rested – worn out!  Sunday, again quiet day on computer. Decided go to Dimitris for supper. Got home at 1.30 am – not sure how that happened !  Monday, definitely no run! Nor did we make INSTAP for bone measuring.  But we did get there on Tuesday and Wednesday, and finished the measuring on Thursday. Dud is metacarpaled out now – I think he will be happy if he never sees another hand bone again!
Metacarpals - just to show you what we have been measuring so you can
share in the thrill - 4 out of the 400 !
 In the evening we went down to Mochlos Mare to return some dishes (which had contained left overs of the supper we had there on Wednesday) and saw Panayiotis and Sterei and had couple (or maybe more) of glasses of raki with them before going into the village where we decided to have supper in the Kokylia’s Kafeneo - had a few selections of dishes, one half litre of wine and some raki – that hill was very long again this evening!

Friday, had a problematic day with the computer – where are the IT boys when you need them?! Eventually got it sorted.  Off for Monastiraki (a village about 5km away) to meet Tina for supper and report  to her on the bone measuring.  We had a very pleasant evening with her and she paid for our supper which was very nice as well.  Back home we decided to abstain from raki on the balcony!

Saturday 10 August, we decided to have bit of a lazy day, some reading and sitting in the sun.  Nick & Heather drove past to say they are 'back' from UK and we arranged to meet them in Kokylia for supper that evening.  Went out at around 7pm and had nice supper in Kokylia and then on way back I decided I wanted late raki in Dimitris! - N&H (sensibly!) declined and went home. We went home eventually, not sure when (that hill was very long again …).
Nick and Heather are back !
Sunday, definitely a quiet day - did some kindle reading – well, we are on holiday as well.  Monday, got quite a lot of work done and then spent the rest of day researching - have an idea about using bone measurements to work out the sex of animals if it is not known – sorry, am I boring you?  

Tuesday, went down to Nick and Heather’s around 7pm for a drink. Then to supper at Dimitris which was very nice - we shared the mixed meze starter between us and then shared a selection of meat afterwards.  N&H quite tired so left before us and we stayed quite late (there's a surprise) and had several free rakis, including one from Mikalis (whom we have seen somewhere before but can't place him!).

Wednesday, A level results day so very busy on the computer. Both Dud’s A level Law students got grade A’s which he was quite chuffed about (good teaching, he commented!)  Dud and Nick went off to Mochlos Mare to ask Panagiotis where Nick could buy some wood for one of his BBQs. He has spent a lot of money on the equipment but can’t find any wood to burn on it! Panayiotis ended up giving Nick a whole sack of wood, refusing any payment, and also giving him some wine and some raki to , as he said, “make the BBQ go better!”  I don’t think he meant for Nick to actually put the wine and raki on the BBQ, but I’m sure Nick understood!  Having tasted the wine when he got home, Nick sent us a text later to ask if there was a government health warning on it!


Thursday saw me doing some work on the A-Level statistics and generally keeping in touch via email. The folllowing day, Friday 16th – Nick came past during the morning so Dud went off with him for a drive to Sfaka, which ended up with a 'couple' of beers in Lastros and then at the 'Organic' taverna at the top of the Mochlos Road! According to Nick, they 'had' to go to the second taverna because they weren't given any meze (free food with the drinks) at the first one. Then Nick found out the reason there was no meze in Lastros - the waitress had asked, in Greek, if they wanted it and Dud had said no! In the evening N&H had invited us for drinks & meze, which turned out to be quite substantial food and all very nice it was - we also drank Welsh whisky!

Nick & Heather's pool by night

Sat 17th – Dud went off to help Nick with re-positioning and checking speakers for the wall-mounted TV (surround sound stuff).  However, it didn't go so well and Dud came back to get me to 'help'  - eventually we got it working (although we're still not quite sure how!).  In the afternoon we went into village to have a beer and small snacks and stayed all night!  Well, N&H left around 5.30pm as they were going out with Yiannis (architect) et. al. for supper next door at Bogazi's and we decided to stay in the Kafeneo.  We then met Dominiq who had done the paintings on display in Kokylia and we bought a picture of a  boat in a box that we had admired all summer. Nick had seen it for the first time that afternoon and also liked it and had asked Cifis to reserve it, but we 'over-ruled' that after Nick had gone and bought it from the artist!! This could have caused an international incident between us and Nick - but we will give to N&H as 'house warming' present.



boat pic - looks 3-D but it is definitely not!



















Sunday 18th – decided to go for a walk so set off towards Sfaka (about 5km away) and walked quite a way, but not as far as Sfaka!  However, by the time we had turned round and got back we had been out for 2 hours!  We stopped off at the 'beach' (very pebbly). In the early evening we went down to the Kafeneo to meet Dominiq (as arranged yesterday) who showed us his fabulous paintings of ladies-on-the-beach and we decided on the one we had first seen last year in the Art Gallery up the road, but had then been told it was not for sale!  We had a couple of drinks and a chat with Dominiq and then he went home  - so did we, but a bit later after more raki to celebrate our second art purchase!

the lady on the beach



view from the pebble beach on our walk, the 'small' island in the middle 
of the picture is the island we see from our apartment

Monday 19th – after lunch we decided to go for another walk and set off towards Sfaka again, but this time turned off in the direction of a Venetian tower, on the way to Myrsini (one of the villages you can see the lights of at night from Mochlos).  Didn't go all the way to the tower, but did walk around 5 miles in just over 2 hours (well, we did stop off for some 'sight-seeing' of a lovely church!).  Later in the day I was about to start cooking supper when we had a phone call from Panayiotis, inviting us down to have a drink with them as Sterie had made galaktekoboureka!  Whilst there we met Carol and Dieter from the USA who had just arrived for a 2 week stay so we had a nice chat with them.  Finally left quite late in the evening with Sterie chasing us up the hill as she wanted to give us some galaktekoboureka to bring home!!



this is the church we saw on our walk
Tue 20th – in the morning I went down to see Sterie as she had invited me to collect some produce from their garden.  I ended up with 2 big bags of tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, onions, garlic, melon, vleta (greens) and potatoes!!!  Had a glass of raki with Panayiotis (for the 'hill' he said!) - also had a prickly pear fruit to eat (from their front garden - first time I had eaten this, it was strange, but nice).  The reason I had the produce was because N&H were coming for supper and I was slow-cooking lamb, so apart from the meat all the other ingredients came from P&S's garden!  N&H came round early evening and we gave them the boat picture as a house-warming present, then had a very nice supper (if I say so myself) !

On Wednesday (21st) Dud got up to find that his back had 'gone' and he was pretty immobile for the next three days!  We stayed in for supper each night, but on Thursday Nick came round and drove Dud into the village (and back) so they could have a couple of beers!  (medicinal I'm sure).

Sunday 25th – Willie (Nick's neighbour in Istron) had invited us to join him at Kokylia's for supper this evening and first of all we went round for early evening drinks at N&H's where as well as Willie and Liz, we met John & Eloise who live in Kalo Chorio (next village to Istron).  When we got to Kokylia we discovered it was Willie's birthday! We had very nice supper and Yiorgos brought out an ice-cream cake for Willie at the end of the evening.  Another long hill home !

another birthday party - Willie is sitting next to Dud

Thursday 1 August 2013

Anniversary Waltz

Tuesday 16th July, we both went for a run and collapsed on the way back outside Panagiotis’ (Mochlos Mare) for a rest. Dud says he has always liked the sight of Mochlos Mare but never more so when he sees it on the way back from a run as he knows it’s nearly all over! Anyway, we were greeted by Panagiotis’ wife, Sterie, who came out with fruit and veg she had just picked from her garden for our breakfast and lunch.
Fruit and Veg from Mochlos Mare
Wednesday, we went to Heraklion airport to pick up Warner and Barbara (W&B). Took them to Manoli’s cafe at Knossos for lunch. We have known Manoli from our days staying in Knossos at Sir Arthur Evans’ Villa Ariadne/taverna a few years back (when Dud was student!) – he (Manoli not Sir Arthur Evans!) came to our wedding supper two years ago which was nice as Knossos is some way from Mochlos and he is very busy this time of year.
Peacock 'guarding' the West Porch at Knossos
We then dragged W&B around the Minoan palace of Knossos.  We got back to Mochlos around 7pm and whilst W&B had rest (well, they had been up since around 4.00am!) we went up to church ‘on the hill’ to light a candle for Dad's birthday. 
Lighting a candle in the church 'on-the-hill' for Dad's birthday
Walking up to the 'church-on-the-hill'
(see the dots of houses in the background, that is where we started from!)
We then all went for supper at Bogazi's listening to the music, where Warner had a lesson on the Cretan Lyre!
Warner learning about the Cretan Lyre
Thursday, I went for a run but Dud didn't (well, he had done quite a bit of driving yesterday – that was his excuse anyway!). All quiet on the email front today so we went off for lunch in the Kafeneo at Kokylia with W&B, but not before Barbara & I had to go and collect Dud & Warner who had got raki'd with Panagiotis – and this was in the morning!  How did it happen? - well, W&B had been shopping and walked back via our apartment. Dud offered to drive Warner down the road with the shopping to Mochlos Mare where W&B are staying.  Well, that was fatal - D&W met Panagiotis, raki was brought out....….need I say more!

When we eventually got down to Kokylia we had nice meze lunch.  We then came back for a rest ready for the evening, and arranged to meet in Mochlos Mare garden where we had a couple of glasses of wine in the garden and a chat with Panagiotis (who gave us wine and raki to 'take-away'), then down for supper in Kokylia - where we also bought some cheese from the back of van from Rethymno (and very nice it was too!).  Trying to get home we were ‘forced’ to have a drink in Dimitris' bar - this made the long hill home even more of an uphill struggle!

Friday, Dud drove us all up into the mountains for a real rural experience. Then back to Pixidia (on the main road above Mochlos) for a beer and a seafood salad ‘to die for’
W&B in the hills above the village of Anatoli
Seafood salad to 'die for' !!
In the evening we met W&B in Mochlos Mare garden for glass of Panagiotis' wine and then down to Dimitris for supper, where we met Nicole & Dominik (N&D), a young couple from Austria. Nicole had a beautiful voice (she had trained at the Vienna Academy of Music ) and she sang with Dominik playing the guitar-  Warner had his violin with him and joined in. It was great! Left very late after having drinks with N&D after the impromptu playing had finished.

Saturday - W& B were due to come to us for supper... However, in the early evening, I got a text from Warner to say that N&D had arrived at Mochlos Mare for some music practice - so supper went on hold and we invited N&D to join us for food after their practice.  Managed to get 6 round the downstairs balcony table and had good evening with a mini concert from W, N&D on our downstairs balcony after supper!
Nicole, Dominik and Warner 'in action' on our balcony
Sunday - we took W&B over to the Minoan site of Gournia which is always a fascinating visit. The Minoan town is in such a good state of repair (well, its basement walls are) that you can just feel the Minoan townsfolk walking the streets and going about their daily lives 3,000 years ago.  When we dropped W&B off at Mochlos Mare, Sterie came out with galaktekoboureka (a delicious cake/dessert) for our anniversary the next day which was very nice.
Gournia - from a distance to show the extent of the site
actually, I'm 'testing' whether the stone slab could have been
a preparation area in a workshop or kitchen!
'Tour Guides'
In the evening, we went down to Mochlos Mare garden for pre-dinner drinks and then to Bogazi's taverna for the music night.  Warner, with his violin, joined in with the 'band' and lots of jamming went on, more and more people 'joined' the band and we all had great time!  The Cretan band members were very impressed with Warner and asked him back next year (they weren't playing again at the taverna before he was to leave Crete).
Warner playing with the band
The band is getting larger..............

.............and larger!!

click to hear Warner playing 'live' 
- the tune is called Irinaki



here he is again, at the end of a 'jamming' session

Monday 22nd July – 2nd Wedding Anniversary Day! W&B came round at 1230 with a gift of cotton (very traditional and lovely) and we had a celebratory drink of 'fizz' with a piece each of the galaktekoboureka from Sterie.  We went into the village to see if the boat was there to take us over to the island but it wasn't as it was too windy and there were too many waves - oh well another time!  Come the evening, we all met down in Mochlos Mare garden for early evening drinks and Panagiotis gave me a single flower that had been growing in his garden which may be similar to the famous Minoan Lilies (see below on Wednesday for more on Minoan Lillies).
Perhaps a descendant of the Minoan Lily
Then it was time for the celebration supper at Kokylia for 12 of us.  We had lovely starters (chicken pie, rolled, stuffed aubergine, sausages with bacon and mushroom, tszatziki) then lamb for main course!  Absolutely fabulous food – Yiorgo at Kokylia always does us proud. Lots of wine and raki were not far away and Warner played his violin for Dud and I to dance to  the 'Anniversary Waltz', then we sang 'Those were the days' after which Dud serenaded me. It was also a full moon that night - all in all, a lovely evening.
Dud and I in the light of the full moon
the 'group' - sadly Barbara is missing as she is taking the photo!
Yiorgo (who owns Kokylia) serving the fabulous food that he had arranged
(slightly blurred as he's always on the move - but the only one we have of him
......at the moment!)
Warner in action
Dud and I dancing whilst Warner plays the 'Anniversary Waltz'
(Willie with his hand over his mouth trying to stifle a laugh at our dancing!)
Warner wrote a poem for us for the occasion and with lyrical zest read it out at the dinner table. We thank him sincerely for this as it was a lovely surprise. He has allowed us to reproduce it here:

                A CRETAN ODE

                Dudley and Sarah are the nicest couple you could wish to meet
                And each year they return to the Isle of Crete.
                They have settled in this little port of Mochlos:
                For without its friendly people,
                They would be at a loss.

                The couple share an interest in all things archaeological;
                Sarah particularly in bones: that’s matters osteological.
                Their quest for the secrets of the lost Minoans
                Has taken them to many a site of excavations.

                By day Dudley writes his book on the early archaeologists travels;
                In the evening however,
                After the wine and the raki,
                Productive activity unravels.

                Sarah meanwhile organizes a college timetable,
                And Dudley as well; if she is able.
                Together they make an excellent team
                Whether it is on a dig with a trowel
                Or a talk with a screen.

                Today we celebrate their return
                To the wedding location.
                Please raise your glasses
                And drink to this occasion.


                                                WFT, Mochlos, 22nd July 2013

Tuesday, and surprisingly we didn't feel too bad after last night's festivities.  Went down to Mochlos Mare to collect W&B and take a trip to the Richtis waterfall.  There was some difficult terrain at times but I hope W&B are looking back on it as worth a visit.  On our return we felt we had deserved our visit to Kokylia for a reviving cold beer and ice cream.  Early evening found us meeting up at Mochlos Mare for a raki and a chat with Panagiotis, where W&B learnt about some of Panagiotis' gardening techniques.  Eventually we went down to Dimitris for W&B's last supper.
Richtis waterfall
Wednesday, sadly W&B’s last day – but they had a late flight so still time to ‘do’ things. W&B wanted to see the church ‘on the hill’ and the fantastic views so we gently strolled up to it (see pic in previuos 'Wednesday' above). W&B then came round for a late lunch - I cooked up the leftover 'take-away' lamb from Monday with onions and tomatoes (from Mochlos Mare of course!) As we set off for the airport, W&B said goodbye to all at Mochlos Mare and promised to return! 

We stopped off at Malia at around 6.00pm to see the Minoan site but it was closed. Its website said it did not close until 7.30pm but I think its early closure may be something to do with the recent general expense cuts in Greece.  So, a good excuse for W&B to come back again to see Malia! However, not daunted, we went instead to Amnisos to see the Minoan 'house of the lilies' (so-called simply because of the lilies’ fresco (wall-painting) found there). This is normally closed to the public and you can only see it from the fence, but this time the gate was only ‘secured’ with a small piece of rope so we assumed this was an invitation to go in and look around. We hadn't been able before and wouldn't have if Malia had been open - so a result!
Dud 'explaining' that this is not just a pile of old stones!
it might look like 'just' a wall to you.............
and these are Minoan Lillies....
this fresco was found in one of the rooms
(and is now in the Heraklion Museum)

Having dropped W&B at the airport we set off back to Mochlos for much needed glass of wine on our balcony. We hoped W&B enjoyed their trip as much as we have enjoyed their company. It’s was a fairly busy week for them courtesy of ‘Bramber Tours’!

Thursday, we both went for a run in the early morning (yes, we have been running at least a couple of times each week!!) followed by quiet day catching up on work and an evening in for home-cooked food.  Friday, again catching up on work but Dud remembered he hadn’t paid Yiorgo for Monday night (can you imagine paying the bill a few days after an event in the UK!), so an excuse to go to Kokylia’s for the evening (not that we needed an excuse – perhaps ‘justifying a visit’ would be more appropriate!)...............

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Dancing Phalanges *

Sunday 30th June
Those of you who were not ‘with us’ on the blog last year may not know that, whilst in Crete in 2012,  we spent a few days at INSTAP (the American school of archaeology) in Pachia Ammos recording 100s of bones – toe bones (or phalanges to be precise). They are part of 1000s of skeletal remains (representing over 400 people) found buried as a secondary burial in a cave at Agios Charalambos around 3000 years ago in the Minoan period.  Dr Tina McGregor, for whom we are recording the bones, took us and her other helper, Sophie, to Agios Charalambos in the Lasithi Plateau to see where all the bones had had been found. It was a strange, but nice, feeling to see where the bones had come from and helped to make it even more personal that we are helping to give these people an identity again as it were.  Secondary burial, if you don't know, is something the Minoans were particularly keen on and it involved them moving the bodies of their dead sometime after the initial burial had taken place.  It is thought that the burial in the cave at Agios Charalambos took place over a relatively short period of time, possibly even on just one or two occasions (so they would have been big occasions then). Along with the human bones, a number of animal bones and other artifacts were found, such as drinking vessels, which suggests that this secondary burial was accompanied by feasting.  Great care must have gone into the re-burial since all parts of the human anatomy, including first-, second-, and third-row phalanges of fingers and toes are represented.

The large hole is the first part of the cave (rooms 1 & 2) that collapsed
To the right of me is a green plastic bag – this is the ‘new’ entrance to the cave which is now blocked off
( fortunately this meant that we did not have to find excuses not to crawl in!)
Tina returning from checking the ‘security’ of the blocked entrance
The ‘helpers’
After the cave we went to see the Natural History Museum in Lasithi. Apparently it has the only ‘stuffed’ Cretan wildcat in existence!  The museum was definitely compact but still very interesting, giving an overview of the flora and fauna to be seen both now and in the past.  There was a map showing the areas in Crete where remains of dwarf hippos have been found, which I found especially interesting.  Crete, along with other Mediterranean islands, is one of the places where certain species of animals in the past became much smaller, hippos being one of them along with elephants and deer.  The museum also gave us one of the funniest translation 'errors' we have seen in an while.  The caption by the Cretan wildcat says...."It preys upon small mammals (mice, hairs) but occasionally on birds and reptiles as well"  !!  The Cretan wildcat was thought to be extinct until, in 1996, a living specimen was captured and studied at the Natural History Museum in Heraklion for a few days until being released back into the wild.  To give you an idea of its size, a wildcat can reach a body length of 50cm to 60cm and a tail length of 30cm.

It’s not real – well it was once but not now!
Monday 1st July 
Most this week saw us at Pachia Ammos recording bones again – but we have moved up (literally!)  from the toes of last year to fingers this year!  Sophie had sorted a large number of them so our task is to take measurements and record any pathology that can be seen on them - and there is quite a lot of that!

Dancing phalanges’
(well you would see what we mean if you could see Dud’s fingers wiggling)*

Dr Dud looking like he knows what he’s doing (I say ‘looking’ …)
– fortunately he only has to measure them!
Tuesday 2nd July
Off to Pachia Ammos again – can’t get enough of these bones! Left the builders working on the driveway of the apartment and came back to a nice new slope/ramp to the driveway. Before the slope we kept running the risk of losing our exhaust when driving into the driveway.

New smooth entry slope/ramp to the driveway – luxury!

Wednesday 3rd July
In the evening we went down to Bogazi’s to hear the music. One of the musicians we knew from last year (Vangelis) was there again and remembered us from last year. Great music as usual and much dancing took place, although not by us!

Dancing girls – I enjoyed the music; Dud enjoyed the dancing girls 
Thursday 4th July was a quiet day which was just as well as Friday 5th July started off quiet but didn't end that way! Went down to Dimitri’s for supper.  Loads of people suddenly turned up around 10pm when we wanted to leave. Dimitri was too busy for us to pay the bill so he said ‘pay later’. We left and went for a raki or two  in Kokylia where the Americans were belatedly celebrating 4th July.  On our way home we saw Dimitri was less busy so went to pay bill and ended up in 'locals corner' with more raki !  Home eventually......

Saturday 6th July  was another quiet day then Nick and Heather came round to us for supper and the day – well, evening, livened up with a combination of  home cooked lasagne washed down with beer or cider, wine and finally raki! 

As for Sunday, 7th July, we intended a quiet a day watching Murray lose again at Wimbledon.  However, nothing went as we thought as, at around 5.30 pm, Nick and Heather sent us a text to say come over for a drink, and Murray.................well he won! We left N & H around 10.30 - the whole day was far from quiet!!

Toasting Murray's win at Nick and Heather’s BBQ area

Tuesday and Thursday we went for a run – we have been rather lapse with the running but now hope to be on a bit of a roll with it. Still recording bones at Pachia Ammos during the day times. Friday was our last day at Pachia Ammos for a bit though as we must get on with our own work, and also Warner and Barbara are coming over next week. Heather went back to the UK on Thursday and on Friday we got a text from Nick to say he was on his own in Kokylia’s and needed company!! In fact we were at an archaeological talk in Pachia Ammos but joined him afterwards at around 8.30pm. We (that is, Dud and I) left at around 2.00am but Nick, although he got up to leave with us, didn't quite make it past Yiorgo’s table (Yiorgo owns Kokylia) even though, apart for Yiorgo, there was no one left in the taverna. It seems that Nick has introduced Yiorgo to cider drinking! We later heard from Yiorgo that they finished up around 3.30am. I’m glad we didn't stay late!! Saturday was a rather late start and a very quiet day!

Sunday 14th July
Went down to see Panagiotis at Mochlos Mare (where we used to stay) about 8pm and found that he had some visitors from Zakros (about 1.5 hours drive away) - the 'girls' were out walking with Maria & Tommy the dog, whilst Nikos was drinking raki with Panagiotis.  We had a couple of glasses of raki and some fresh produce from the garden to eat with it, then went down to Kokylia for supper.  Later (c.10pm) Panagiotis et al. arrived at Kokylia for their supper too! As we were walking home, Dimitri called out to us to have ‘one for the road' with him, so we had one more glass of raki to round off the evening (listening to Pink Floyd!).

View from our top balcony of Mochlos island and village to the left
* why 'dancing phalanges' ? - well for those of you who watch Bones on TV you might remember when Brennan (Bones) entertains a baby in an amusing way.  You can see it here if you don't know what I'm talking about....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt9KKxJ2ARA