It’s been a fun few days of rain and cold. Interesting place to visit, done it now and no need to return.
And now a 90 minute delay in Reykjavik airport while we wait for a plane to arrive. Mrs Fogg as usual with a head in a book.
Last night we went to the lovely Matarkjallarinn Food Cellar which does an awesome 6 course tasting menu with accompanying wines (https://matarkjallarinn.is)
And yes that is a picture of the last supper, while we ate our last supper. The irony was not lost on us
It’s June and it seems that for half this year it’s either been raining or I’ve been poorly with colds or flu. No surprise then that our super large garden has gone a bit rogue with giant nettles and endless weeds invading the borders.
The worst borders are near the house on the dreaded slope. No problem says I, I’ll sort a gardener to come do a full clear out and to strim the bank. Great idea…..
I’ve called 5 local gardeners who advertise their services. No response. I’ve called a further 3 – oh you are 10 miles away, that’s too far for me, sorry nope. I’ve actually had a gardener come round who even lives in the same village. Got a quote, agreed to proceed and then……silence. I’ve tried a further 4 leaving messages and sending texts and still no replies.
So, it’s a do it ourselves job then. On the warmest day of the year so far I donned long sleeved stuff, long trousers and gloves and set to work fighting 6 foot nettles and thistles. I’ve stretched and stings everywhere but after about 3 hours I can see progress.
The border is not yet finished and the worst bit is yet to come. Where the spring ends up is an utter quagmire. I stuck the garden fork in to dig out a persistent sucker of a weed and it almost sucked the fork in with it.
Wellies required then. I’ll have a go another day. But, progress is progress. Who needs a gardener eh??
Before and after rescuing the willow treeBottom is after fighting the nettles – can see soil again
So with the mess around and faff that was Bali (thanks to Emirates poor management and control of the situation), this is just what we needed, a week to chill in a pleasant location.
This house is huge, fully equipped (well apart from the broken multigym and pool table without balls), split over 4 floors with 5 bedrooms and wonderful views.
Local eateries are nearby, but most of all I’ve had time to chill with Mrs Fogg (who is awesome as y’all know), in readiness for part 2 of 2024.
It had to be done….we found a Harley Davidson garage in Crete. Well, a Harley Davidson chop shop so we had to go to try to get a Crete Harley T-Shirt. So a 2 hour drive to Chania this morning.
Chania is lovely! It was first taken over by the Ottomans in the 1600s and then by the Venetians who wanted a ship building area so they built a huge set of warehouses large enough to build their ships in – a few are still there. The ancient Ottoman walls and mosques as well as Venetian architecture are all present and it has a feel or Venice or Rome about the old town.
Food was pleasant down in the harbour and a great spot to people watch. Although it was our first cloudy day temperatures are still really high and well into the 30s
With a 2 hour drive back to the villa it was my chance to practice Greek driving, Nigel Mansell style….such fun apart from the bits where I closed my eyes.
Welcome to Crete the land of Super Mario Cart where every driver is a nutter! Undertake, overtake on blind bends, ride on your bumper, you name it, anything to move one car space closer to death
We wanted to do at least one winery visit while in Crete so found one close to the villa called Lyrarakis Winery. They offer wine tastings and a local Cretan food picnic so we decided to go on spec.
Luckily they were pretty quiet so after a brief wander around one of their cellars (it’s pretty much for show we reckon), a fuss of a local stray dog that’s moved in (so friendly and cute) and a welcome wine we were provided with a huge picnic hamper and taken off to the picnic area in the middle of the vines.
What a fab experience! We sampled three different wines with our brilliant picnic all explained by our host – accompanied by stuffed vine leaves, fried and stuffed courgette flowers, pork gyros in pitta bread, feta and spinach cheese balls and a mix of cold meats, nuts, cheeses, figs, bread and fresh feta and tomatoes.
For dessert, we had Greek pancakes stuffed with creamy cheese covered in local honey served warm with walnuts and accompanied by a glass of fizzy wine.
What a wonderfully relaxing afternoon, in 35 degree heat sat in a shady spot in a vineyard with the mountains in the distance.
And yes, of course we bought a few bottles to bring back to the villa….it would have been rude not to.
Tonight Mr Fogg has fired up the charcoal BBQ and is about to have a go at cooking what the butcher described as baby cow chops – veal to you and I. They look delicious
