Ceridwenscauldron

With a gladdened heart and following breeze we cast off for the volcanic centre of the Santorini. Boarding our caique Old Nick, Queen Mab and I took our normal stations and braced ourselves for trip fortified with a hearty breakfast of Greek pastries.

Arriving at the new volcano at the centre of the caldera, we set off for a little pillage, only find no gold or precious jewels in fact nothing more than a couple of craters and some sulphorous smoke. Still the view was worth the trudge up the 800 metres in the blistering heat.

Back on board we set off for old volcano and the prospect of a swim in the hot springs. this became a little less tempting when we discovered it involved a 25 metre swim to the shallows where there was nothing to stand on other than razor sharp rock so we had a beer instead.

Once the shore party was back on board we set sail around the Caldera to see Oia from the sea again and then the chapel of the Seven Small Boys, so named because seven nippers sheltered in the isolated cove there during an eruption. The chapel built to celebrate their survival can only be reached by small boat.

Then back to the new volcano where we were served some smashing grub, souvlaki, meatballs, salad, tzatziki and wine on the quayside. After lunch I had a good look at some of the native lizards scuttling through the lava searching for bits of leftover food and then watched the fish fighting over crumbs in the sea.

Arriving back at the Apartments imagine the horror of the salt rimed crew as we discovered the jacuzzi hadn't been filled, so we keelhauled the receptionist and she has promised the technician a flogging round the fleet if it isn't ready and bubbling by the time we get back from our bloggin expedition.

More of the same old same old, pool, lunch, village pie from local bakery, cheese, olives, spinach and capers, yum, layabout by pool, jacuzzi, make rude comments about Old Nick's lily white arse, out to blog.

Umm where to eat?

Not much to report shipmates as we have been very lazy hanging around the pool and having jacuzzis today.

However last night we tried a few bars and had a few cocktails and went back to the splendid Lava restaurant where we had Taramousalata, aubergine dip, meatballs, a stuffed big tomato and pepper, stuffed vineleaves and these fried tomato balls, which were more flat than ball shaped. I think they are made from a mixture of tomato, onion and potato and deep fried, anyway they were gorgeous, especially with some local rose and not bad value as the whole meal came to about 45 Euro.

Now for cocktails I'd recommend the ? Bar on the beachfront though its a bit pricey and the Soul Bar on the main drag which does a really good Sexy Greek for 3 Euro (avoid acoustic night if you like REM or Cat Stevens), not recommended is the Dorian bar where the cocktails although fairly cheap are at best approximate replicas and the music tends to be rubbish, like who wants to listen to Jonathan King?

We decided to visit the ancient town of Thira today. More difficult than you'd think.

First we had to get a boat to Kamari around the rock, it was very busy and a choppy enough for one poor woman to turn green, soon we were dumped on the beach and off we went in search of the bus to Old Thira. The tickets cost 10 Euro to be driven up the mountain and it was one hair raising ride as the road twisted and turned and the bus driver avoided idiots on quad bikes.

Old Thira (not to be confused with the capital) was originally built on the summit of the hill by the exiled Spartan Thiras, who modestly named it after himself, extensively built upon by subsequent generations of Greeks and Romans it was abandoned after an earthquake in the early Christian era. There are the remains of a theatre, several temples, sanctuaries and other buildings and some fine rock carvings. It must have been difficult though keeping the place provisioned dragging food and stuff up from sea level in the sort of heat we have had today.

Back to Perissa this afternoon and another Chicken Gyro from a family take away joint, great value at 4 Euro for a round pita stuffed with meat, lettuce, onions, chips and tzatziki. So stuffed it was time for a siesta before having another fizz in our private jacuzzi.

We have also discovered two brilliant restaurants here in Perissa - God's Garden and the Lava. At God's Garden, which is in a dark side street, Old Nick and Queen Mab had a huge Kleftico plate to share with loads of tender lamb falling off the bone, I had Squid and chips, very nice it was two and with a litre of local wine, coffees and a brandy for me only 51 Euro. There was also a very well behaved dog who slept beneath our table only waking up to be given some left over meat.

At the Lava, which is on the seafront, the owner took us into the kitchen and let us select some stuff to share, so we choose, meatballs and rice, stuffed cherry tomatoes, corn stuffed red peppers, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed vine leaves and aubergine stewed with tomato, onion and capers. Washed down with a litre of house rose we were well stuffed for only 51.80 Euro. It was absolutely delicious.

Now where will our adventures take us next?

Yesterday we set off for the island capital Thira where we enjoyed a mooch around the Prehistoric Museum (3 Euro admission) it was very interesting with lots of pottery and other artifacts including some splendid wall paintings from houses that had been preserved by being buried in the volcanic eruption. Queene Mab was very taken by the little golden ibex that had been cast by the lost wax method, quite exquisite.

From there it was on to the Cathedral of the Candlemass, the principle Orthodox cathedral of the island which houses some wonderful wall paintings. Then an overpriced ouzo (6 Euros each) overlooking the caldera in the sunlight.

After some more exploring the twisty streets we found the alleged highest bar on the island for a glass of lovely chilled white wine with one of the best behaved of the islands dogs, sadly the view was the wrong side of the volcano for the sunset so we moved on to grab a quick chicken gyro at the Toast Club (?) good value at 9 Euros for what could be best described as three chicken doners with Tzatziki and chips in them, plus two portions of chips on the side.

To catch the sunset we climbed up the staircase to the Louis Bar where at least we got some nibbles to go with the expensive ouzo (6 Euro each). The sunset was splendid though all magentas and gold. We polished off the evening in Thira with a half litre of house wine (5.5 Euro) at he Ouzeria taverna which was serving the most wonderfully aromatic food.

However by the time we got back to Perissa the Soul Bar beckoned and we popped in for some cocktails, which were not bad value at 5 Euros each, Germany beat Turkey so all the locals were delighted too.

Today by contrast has been quite quiet as its so bloody hot, I enjoyed a long walk up the seafront followed by an alfresco lunch of feta salad. tinned giant beans and aubergines cooked in a rich tomato sauce and hot cheese dip (whey cheese, feta, olive oil, vinegar and chili, will have a go at making something similar when I get back) plus some of the local wine. Then a snooze in the air conditioned comfort of our room and out again.

Must dash I think there may be a Sexy Greek (Ouzo, lime and lemon juice, garnished with lime zest in an iced Margarita glass) waiting for me.

After a lazy day around the pool we set of to sample the Santorini sunset by boat. Our holiday company (Thomson) wanted 79 Euros to put us on a boat with a free bar and food and a band, sod that we paid 40 Euros at a local travel agent and got the same minus the free bar and band but then drinking 90 Euros worth of wine goes well beyond what Old Nick and I can manage and shows what a rip off holiday company's trips are.

We boarded the Caique King Thiras at around 6pm and set sail into the caldera passing the capital of the island, Thira, where I wondered on how Queene Mab and I climbed from the harbour to the cliff top back when we were but wee travelers who arrived in Crete with two hundred quid between us back in the early 80s. From there we sailed on to Oia where we had watched the sunset from the land just the other day, after a not bad buffet meal we watched the Sun go down over the sea, quite sublime colours.

Back on dry land after a hairaising coach ride back to Perissa there was time for a few glasses of wine before drifting off to sleep.

This morning we decided to go to the next door resort of Kamari so we boarded the water taxi on the beach and set sail. 20 minutes later we were dropped onto Kamari beach. Well Kamari was OK but I'm glad we were staying on the other side of the mountain as it was a bit pricey and right next to the airport so every 20 minutes or so a jet would roar over the beach. stil we had a little explore and then returned back to Perissa for ouzo in our jacuzzi.

Life just don't get much better than that.

Day three and we are out and about.

First stop is the little church of Episcopi which is the oldest one on the island, having survived earthquakes, invasions and volcanic eruptions for over 900 years. As you would expect full of icons and votive offerings, just going to show the thin line between Christianity and pagan practices in this part of the world.

Then on to the ghost town of Messagonia which was deserted after the earthquake of 1956 at 10.15 in the morning. According to the guide the village was just as it was left when the villagers moved down to the coast. To be honest it looked much like any other town I'd been to here full of half wrecked buildings.

So onto the first major view of the day the town of Pyrgos which is the highest on Santorini, we trekked up to the very top near the remains of the old Venetian fortifications stepping carefully round a tethered donkey. Fantastic view across the island only to be surpassed by what we were to see later at Oia.

Then the compulsory stop at the Santo winery where we had a tour of the factory followed by a tasting of some rather nice wines including a very fruity honeyed white, a dryer white and the local desert wine VinSanto, very sweet and raisiney.

So we boarded the bus for the last stop of Oia (pronounced Ear geddit)This is an incredibly gorgeous town of twisty lanes and whitewashed houses and churches perched on the side of the caldera which forms the island. From the top you can see Thirassa, the island that with present day Santorini is all that is left from the cataclysmic eruption that devastated the Mediterranean in antiquity, and the two volcanic islands that have since poked their heads above the waters of the lagoon.

We had a fantastic dinner in the Roka Taverna fava for Old Nick and Queene Mab and a cheesy peppery dip for me followed by mixed meats and cheese baked in their own juices in a bakeproof paper parcel for Mab and a tender stew of beef, tomato and red wine seasoned with herbs, cinnamon and anise for Old Nick and I washed down with a very good local white all for 51 Euros which I thought was pretty good value. (A tip by the way don't choose a branded wine from the wine list it will cost more than twice what you will pay for a litre carafe of the local house wine, so you pays less and gets more and it probably tastes better too).

Sated we tried to get to the highest point for the sunset only to find everywhere crowded so we wandered around a bit and found a smashing vantage point where we could see over the whole caldera from of all things a bloody car park! Still the view was just a good as we watched the Sun slip beneath the waves of the Mediterranean.

Well after a frustrating journey we finally got here.

We set of early in the morning to arrive at sodding Gatwick Airport where the idiot security confiscated Old Nick's lighter as a fire hazzard and terrorist threat. After being examined by the shoe police we were ushered into a hall full of inflammable liquid in containers that can be broken into fearsome weapons, that you can buy as much as you like of to take on a plane. Pardon me if that seems a bit loony.

Naturally nothing was open aside from the bottle shop for several hours so we amused ourselves by trying to find the one flight indicator board that actually worked. This was positioned at he top of a flight of stairs so it was soon besieged by people wanting to know where to catch their flights creating what in my opinion was a real health and safety risk while the BAA staff kept right out of the way harassing people for wearing shoes.

The flight to Santorini was on the other hand quite pleasant and we arrived to find it was the hottest day of the year so far. After a quick lunch of Gyro pitta we hit the beach for a couple of hours. All black volcanic sand and friendly dogs who barked at the looky looky men.

After a couple of hours it was time for dinner so we found a reastaurant for meatballs and chips and so onto bed.

We woke to find the Sun streaming in. It was hot, very hot, so beach, gyros a brisk walk then back to the apartments for an ouzo and lemonade in the jacuzzi on our terrace. It don't get much better than that.

Must dash more ouzo beckons.

Loking at today's Metro I see that a garge owner in Exeter has put the price of unleaded up to £2 a litre. the garage owner says he is not profiteering but putting people off panic buying.

Well I know what I think

Er you better ask Old Nick to explain that there title.

Anyway this is what I did for last night's tea after finding some inspiration in what I could remember from Gordon Ramsey's show. You will need a pack of Sainsburys cheapo chicken portions, pack of shallots, punnet of cherry toms, pack of basil plus some nice breadcrumbs (I used up what was left of an organic brown loaf) olive oil and two eggs to make an egg wash.

Take the chicken portions, dredge in flour, then the egg wash and finally coat them in the breadcrumbs. Fry off the portions in olive oil till the meat and crumbs colour a bit, flip em over, then place in grill pan.

In another pan fry some chopped shallots, cherry toms and chopped basil (stalks and all) until the shallots soften. Add a little freshly milled blck pepper. Then pile this mix over the chicken portions and cover with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bung under the grill for about 10 minutes or as in my case until the cheese started carbonising when I switched the oven on full blast to finish off. Lesson learnt start in hot oven finish under grill in future, although I did catch the thing in the nick of time.

When Ramsey made his version he butterflied the chicken breasts (sliced open and spread out), the portions I used had already been sliced open, but I think they could have benefited from being walloped flatter with some kind of blunt object.

Went down very well with some warm potato salad with mint and chives and a nice bottle of Spanish red.

A little music to cook by was provided by those noisy chaps of the Damned from their very fine album Phantasmagoria.

A documentary about the greatest rock n' roller ever
see

http://www.lemmymovie.com/

How fantastic, on my way down to Sainsburys today I spied four small birds perched on my neighbour's porch. when I got close enough to see them properly they turned out to be Goldfinches which until this week I have never seen in the wild. (Believe it or not I saw my first one on Wednesday evening walking past the supermarket, but it was just one on its own)

I think this is pretty encouraging as we don't see that many songbirds round here, so this makes me think they must be breeding in the area along with the Chaffinches and Yellow Wagtails I have seen in our garden this year for the first time. We also have a Song Thrush for the first time in many years so welcome back to him too.

So our garden regulars are Wood Pigeon, Green Woodpecker, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Jay, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Collared Dove, Chaffinch, Yellow Wagtail and hopefully we will see the Goldfinches before too long joining them.

Fuck me that little twat really wants to be Paul Weller

Well sunshine you ain't!

Just been watching some of this on ITV2

Fuck me if festival audiences haven't got conditioned into going apeshit over the mediocre. Just as well there are some bus pass chasers like Iggy coming up to show these indy wimps how its done. Lightweights

And Kate Nash get elocution lessons dear

One of the positive things newt boy did before Boris took over was to take a couple of railway lines back into public ownership as part of the London Overground. Great idea the lines are now on the tube map in orange so lots more people will be aware of them.

However it going to take some time to bring these formerly private lines that have had bugger all money spent on them for years up to scratch. So I can understand why when we tried to get to Camden Lock today there were no trains from Stratford to Dalston. However what I don't understand is why when the replacement bus services are drafted in from outside London, TFL don't give the drivers a test drive so that they know where they are going. I have never in my life been on a bus where the driver had to ask for directions before, nor been on one where the driver can't be arsed to tell folks its the final stop and that they should get off. Although when its a replacement rail service you'd expect the bus to stop at the rail station not around the bloody corner wouldn't you? We had to ask some of the passengers who are more familiar with the route to tell us where the station was.

Still when we got to the station we were delighted to discover that TFL's corporate branders had painted the banister rails a nice orange, shame about the bus though.

According to the press this morning men lie about what they listen to on their I-Pods so that they can appear more trendy.

"I'm listening to the latest Coldplay download" and it turns out to be the Stones.

I have solved this problem quite simply by never having had an I-Pod (or a walkman for that matter)not that I'd admit to liking some dreary wimpish miserable indy crap anyway.

Its a sad state of affairs when you find you have more in common with the Torys than you do with Labour. Like many of you on here I take my hat off to David Davis for his principled if futile protest against Mr Brooooooon's latest victory in the so called War on Terror.

I find it really depressing that the likes of Peter Hain, Harriot Harmon and Jack Straw, despite their "right on" past lives seem to be determined to turn the UK into a police state with the longest period of detention without trial of any European country even Russia for crying out load! Mind you perhaps that is what the coops need to fill in all the paperwork the government has sadled them with.

But then I see Hilary Benn, the son of one of the most respected left wing thinkers this country has ever produced encouraging councils to apply to host nuclear waste bunkers with the carrot of loads of extra cash from the tax payer.

You know we could save an awful lot of carbon if we just got rid of the those two London evening free papers London Lite and the other one, think its called the London Paper or something like that.

Neither have any substance being mostly full of press agency feeds about celebs, but what really winds me up about them is the distributors who stand in the middle of Oxford Street's crowded pavement aggresivly thrusting the things into your face.

The environmental lobby bang on about cheap flights all the time, but don't make much noise about these bloody freesheets that just end up going from the door to the recycling bin, how much energy is wasted on these.

Hurrah we have internety things back thanksa to the new BT hub thing, even if it did require a chat with the very helpful Mohammed who, all the way from India, adjusted my settings so that the CD would work.

Just one thing though BT

Suggest you make sure the literature in the welcome packs has the right phone number printed on it before you send them out in future

God I hate this show. If its not bad enough that C4 will use it to fill hours of airtime that should be used for original programming (remember that its stuff like comedy, drama and documenmtaries that don't focus on useless wannabees)the attention seeking talentless twats will be all over the media, even on the BBC's webpages.

One thing that amazes me is the night time feeds on the show where people can watch the housermates kipping, whats the bloody point of that.

For good measure I also hate the Apprentice, Dragon's Den, I'm a Celebrity and all those docu bloody soaps.

Now if was famous, I'd like it to be because I had done something worthwhile like written a book, or acted in a film that made people happy, these idiots just want fame for the sake of fame.

Reality TV Make it end!

Now these are nice and simple.

Get a pack of mince, bung it in a bowl, grate in a red onion, grind in some black pepper and chuck in a handful of chopped fresh coriander and a teaspoon of cumin. Add a squeeze of Goosewing chilli sauce if you can get it (I bought mine in Chinatown, great big bottle for only £1.50 ish but any chili would do) and an egg white to bind it together.

Time to get messy stick your paws in and mix everything together, then grab a handfull of your mix, roll into a ball and then squash it into a patty on your grill pan thick as you like. Then grill the patties until done, should take about 10 minutes a side.

I served this with a warm potato salad with chives, pickled beetroot and a salad of red cabbage, red onion, coriander, pine nuts and tomato with a soy, toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar dressing.

For music try Tri-Sector by the now Dave Jacksonsax less Van Der Graaf Generator. Reduced to Organ, drums and guitar should it work? yes it does.

I was tagged by Kizlode to do this, so here goes:-

The Rules:
Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was married with an almost teenage daughter, working in St Albans doing corporate PR. not very happy about that amd looking forward to a holiday in probably Cyprus

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
Edit a piece of copy on Darwin, have a mooch in Waterstones at lunchtime, buy some food in Sainsburys, prepare tea for Queene Mab, Old Nick and the Powder Monkey, enjoy a few glases of wine.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Wasabi Peas, Monster Munch, Bandarilas (Spanish chilli pepper, pickled onion and gherkin on a stick), hobnobs Bombay Mix

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:
Make sure my family were alright, travel, give up my day job and become a full time writer.

5. Places I have lived:
Muswell Hill, Bow, Leytonstone, South Woodford, Ilford, Louhgton

I tag Rubychoo, Walkdon'trun, Miramaze, Firelight, Notbob

Breaking news pop pickers the station has been saved by Tony Iommi, Ian Anderson, Gary Moore and Fish, the former Marillion singer not fish as in cod and chips. that would be silly because fish don't have any money as they arte too lazy to get a proper job.

Kensington and Chelsea are going to allow cyclists to cycle the wrong way up one-way streets. They seem to take the attitude that they do it anyway and it does not cause any problems with cars. and if the idea is a success hope it will be rolled out over the rest of London.

Hang on a minute think about this cycles are almost silent. Down a one way street a pedestrian looks in the direction of the oncoming traffic steps into road gets hit by a bike going the wrong way. Who's fault is that going to be.

Kensington and Chelsea are completely ignoring the safety of people on foot who daily get sent running for safety when cyclists ignore the rules of the road, by cycling the wrong way, jumping lights, ignoring pedestrian crossings and mounting the pavement when the traffic gets in their way. I have been hit by a bike on the bloody pavement in the past!

People will get hurt and cyclists will blame everyone but themselves. Think again!

This fellow has asked me to join his friends list, so being a discerning chap I visited his blog and to my horror discovered that every entry has a weblink to some kind of commercial site. I don't think he's a real blogger at all somehow

So Garrie you can piss off

That boy Boris knows how to stay popular when standing down as MP for Henley in Oxfordshire

"It will be a huge wrench for me to leave Henley, which is of course full of the nicest, kindest and most wonderful people in the world"

untill he realises he has a new job and adds

"outside London,"

Watching the news last night I was shocked but not altogether surprised by the story of Brad Jayakodi who was made to change his T Shirt in the security queue at Heathrow Airport because the idiot on security took exception to his Transformers T Shirt. In this clown's opinion other passengers would be upset by the picture of a robot with a gun.

This ridiculous assumption was upheld by a supervisor and Mr Jayakody was told he would be arrested if he later put the T Shirt back on. Now I could understand perhaps if the T Shirt had a hard core porn image or a message full of fuck this and fuck that, but a sci fi robot based on a popular children's toy? Are BAA about to do the same to any child wearing a Transformers T Shirt or perhaps one of Elmer Fudd with his shotgun hunting wabbits.

I understand the need for security at airports, but in my opinion its not up to these people to censor what people wear. I guess the problem is that many of the people attracted to this kind of work get turned on by the seemingly unlimited power they wield and the opportunity to bully members of the public.

BAA claimed that no complaint had been received about Mr Jayakodi's treatment, but then is that a surprise when someone is in a hurry to catch a flight?

I saw a story in today's Metro that was doubtless placed by HM Customs press office telling us that you can only buy 200 fags to bring home from places like Bulgaria, Hungary or Slovakia despite their EU mambership.

Why is this? I thought if you could prove that they were for personal consumption ( and a good hacking cough ought to be enough for that) your duty paid limits froma another EU country were limitless. Can this be legal between EU countries.

Oh silly me I forgot its because Eastern European gaspers are dirt cheap and the government's minions in Customs just make up the rules to suit themselves.

I stopped smoking about eight years ago and one of the things that makes me happy about that is that I have not been handing my more of my cash over to the government to waste of foreign adventures supporting Dubbya, rebranding govt departments and trying to co-erce us all in to living the life of a monk.

Well today is the sixth day without home broadband. I have spent what seems like hours on the phone to our providers technical wizards in India, who seem to be of the opinion that the problem is our router as its the only non BT bit of kit we have.

When I asked why the old BT supplied modem didn't work either they told me it was because it wasn't compatable with the Window Vista that came with the new machine. So now we are signed up to another BT contract and should soon get a Vista compatable home hub to run enough lappys to drive the Ark Royal.

As if that's not enough the remote for the digi box stopped working, which may have had something to do with the glass of Morrison's finest Sicillian red I dropped in my lap on Saturday night. Typically there is no control panel on the box itself so without the remote its completely fucked, especially as it's stuck on bloody Sky 3 with its diet of Cops Eat Pot Noodle and second rate American shows.

On the positive side it does mean that I can upgrade to a digital recorder and replace both the old digi box and the ancient VHS recorder that won't record digi channels.

Prof Robert Winston and Ray Winston got mixed up?

Imagine Child of our Time with Ray Winston

"Oi you fackin kids, if don't wanna fick ear stop fackin around and do wot yer muvver says!"

Now that would be much more entertaining.